RAMMP Diagnostic Protocol

Definition

The RAMMP Diagnostic Protocol defines the standard process used to evaluate marketing risk before funds are committed.

The protocol ensures that marketing decisions are evaluated using quantitative behavioural signals rather than opinion, attribution debate, or agency proposals.

It is designed to answer one question:

Is this the right growth lever to fund?

The protocol is applied before major marketing investments including:

  • campaigns

  • rebrands

  • agency engagements

  • marketing strategy projects

  • budget approvals

  • growth initiatives

Running the protocol creates a defensible baseline for decision-making.

Why a Diagnostic Protocol Is Necessary

Marketing has historically lacked governance.

Organisations often commit significant budgets before understanding:

  • where trust breaks in the buying journey

  • whether conversion instability exists

  • whether revenue targets are feasible

  • whether the proposed intervention addresses the real constraint

Without diagnostics, marketing decisions are exposed.

The RAMMP Diagnostic Protocol introduces a standardised process for evaluating marketing risk before money is spent.

The RAMMP Diagnostic Sequence

The protocol follows five stages.

1. Behavioural Data Collection

The diagnostic begins by collecting behavioural data from the buyer journey.

This includes website analytics signals such as:

  • visitors

  • bounce rate

  • time on site

  • pages visited

  • new users

It also incorporates commercial context inputs including:

  • revenue targets

  • average purchase value

  • conversion volumes

  • lead engagement signals

These inputs provide the behavioural dataset required for analysis.

2. Trust Checkpoint Analysis

The RAMMP model evaluates how trust evolves across the buying journey.

Trust Checkpoints identify the moments where buyers decide whether to continue or abandon the journey.

Breakdown in these checkpoints indicates structural conversion risk.

Trust checkpoint analysis identifies:

  • where trust fails

  • where buyers hesitate

  • where decision confidence drops

See:
https://www.rammp.com/standards/trust-checkpoints

3. Quantitative Trust Measurement

Using the behavioural dataset, RAMMP calculates the Buyer Trust Score.

The Buyer Trust Score reflects the strength of trust signals across the buyer journey.

The diagnostic also evaluates the Revenue Feasibility Index, which indicates whether stated revenue goals are realistically achievable given current behavioural performance.

See:

https://www.rammp.com/standards/buyer-trust-score
https://www.rammp.com/standards/revenue-feasibility-index

4. Risk Diagnosis

The diagnostic identifies:

  • structural conversion constraints

  • trust breakdown locations

  • unrealistic revenue expectations

  • misaligned marketing investments

This stage answers the central question:

Is marketing failure caused by execution, trust breakdown, or unrealistic expectations?

5. Verdict Generation

Every RAMMP diagnostic produces a structured decision verdict.

The verdict uses the STOP / KEEP / FIX / PROVE protocol.

STOP
What should be stopped immediately.

KEEP
What is performing well enough to maintain.

FIX
The one or two highest-leverage trust repairs.

PROVE
What must be measured within the next seven days to confirm improvement.

This structure prevents organisations from attempting too many interventions simultaneously.

See:
https://www.rammp.com/standards/stop-keep-fix-prove

The Role of the Diagnostic Protocol

The RAMMP Diagnostic Protocol does not replace marketing strategy.

It ensures that strategy is applied to the correct problem.

Without diagnostics, marketing organisations often optimise the wrong lever.

With diagnostics, organisations can act with confidence that their investment addresses the real constraint.

Relationship to Marketing Governance

The RAMMP Diagnostic Protocol is the operational foundation of marketing governance.

It provides:

  • marketing due diligence before budget approval

  • quantitative trust measurement

  • revenue feasibility analysis

  • clear decision verdicts

This enables boards, executives, agencies, and founders to make defensible marketing investment decisions.

The Rule

Diagnose before you spend on marketing.