Domain 2: Marketing Planning
Posted by Communications2 on Feb. 9, 2024 / President's Message / Subscribe 0
Marketing Planning
Written by Sarah Kapp | SMPS Utah Director of Sponsorship
You finished last year strong with your first significant marketing planning session for the upcoming year. Everyone was excited and ready to jump into action, but then, the Holidays hit. You all ate too much and had too much fun dancing disco at your local dance club called “Groovy Shoes.” You come back to your firm, and thousands of emails bury you. As you reach for the Alka Seltzer, one of your leaders stops by your office and says, “Just got an RFP. Let's go ahead and start pulling information for it.”
Your head whips around in an imitation of your favorite horror movie. Your wide eyes dart toward the 2024 goals that the team (including this leader) discussed just last week. How could they forget that prepositioning for pursuits was a goal? As you point to the goal and raise an eyebrow, the leader looks at you innocently and says, “Oh yeah, when are we going to start those?”
When it comes to business or marketing planning, we create it, then forget it. With good intentions, marketing and business development professionals spend weeks compiling information and strategy. Then, they work with their teams to build plans to carry their goals into the next year successfully. Rarely the strategy includes actionable activities, Return on Investment (ROI), or a review process.
Here are three steps to improve a successful execution:
1. Ready, Set, GOALS & Action items.
As Domain 2 1 suggests, “Executing your marketing plan is as important, possibly more important, than your strategy.” Remember how your team came together to create your marketing plan? Whether moving into a new market sector or improving current relationships, the first step is always setting attainable goals with frequent action items to bring your firm success. To make progress on your plan, you must visualize what success with your goal looks like. Once you have a clear picture, what can you do this week, next week, and next month to get closer to that goal? Then, set the due dates to make it happen. How much must you and your team accomplish to achieve each step? Is it meeting with a client weekly, positioning an extensive pursuit, or providing research for an identified target market?
2. ROI—Return on Investment or Return on Invested Capital (ROIC)
Now that your team has goals and action items, how do you track ROI or ROIC? As a marketing professional, you must be able to put a monetary value on your efforts. While this is not an easy task, some marketing activities can have a delayed return or be difficult to track; start with the obvious question: what do you know the cost of? The budget is going to either drive or hold back any project.”
Once you have your numbers, bring your team together to analyze the other initiatives that cannot be tracked through money. As Domain 2 1 discusses further, “If you want to assess your marketing and business development (BD) efforts, you need to examine a variety of factors.” Communicate these with your team and leadership to ensure expectations are met and results are meaningful.
3. Rs—Results, Review, Revisit
Now that you have a clear path with action items and ROI established. We are done! No (sorry), you are not. How do we know it is working? Track your results—using the ROI and marketing/BD measures to keep numbers and measures cohesively. Review your results, then meet with your team and leadership to review and assess. Revisit the plan—is this still the direction you want to go? Do we need to adjust or pivot to a different option?
Now, let's go back to our story. Your leader just asked when we are starting those goals (keep control here). Smile, calmly turn, and say, “I scheduled an appointment to speak with you about pursuits we need to start prepositions for. This RFP is too far along to position for. Let's look at the opportunities that we have action items and goals for.”
By being prepared with actionable goals, you can redirect and achieve results with lasting value. This will ensure the success of achieving your business and marketing goals, improve results, and take your team to the next level. Domain 2 1 reminds us, “Your plan is the pathway to achieving growth; keeping them current is an investment in your success.”
1 SMPS. “Domain 2/Chapter 7/ Section 7.1,7.2,7.4.” Society for Marketing Professional Services, 2nd ed., SMPS Publications, Alexandria, VA, 2023, pp. 101–104. Domain 2.
0 Comments