You have a Go/No Go decision plan in place for proposals, so why not do the same for your marketing decisions?
Are you guilty of looking at your marketing plan as an intricate, year-long plan with every single campaign detail planned? If so, you’re not alone, but there’s a better (and more effective) way to approach your marketing plan, and it starts with identifying and articulating your business’ vision and specific business plan initiatives.
When you have a vision of where you want your business to be in the next three to five years and your business plans are clear, you set the stage to develop an easy-to-implement Go/No Go decision plan for all of your marketing activities.
Why should we start with a vision and business plan before diving into marketing?
The very long answer short, if you have a super clear vision of where your business wants to be, and your entire team is aware of that vision, it’s easier to ensure that all marketing efforts are supporting that vision and/or plan. If you can’t assign a vision or business plan pillar to the marketing strategy you’re looking to implement, then you’re wasting your time.
It’s no secret that most marketing teams are understaffed and in the A/E/C world, often get lumped into the proposal teams. That’s why easy decision making becomes even more important. If your team can take the time on the front end (vision and strategic planning) to get clear on business plans then marketing effort decisions become no-brainers.
When conference proposals arise, your team can easily decide if it’s worth speaking, a booth, sponsorship, or all of it.
Marrying your business plans and marketing plans allows you to cut out the noise and stop wasting your team’s valuable time on initiatives that are not moving you towards your business goals.
How do vision and business plans support marketing efforts and visa-versa?
What you’ll often find when working on marketing plans is that business leaders will latch on to an exciting marketing campaign. This is wonderful. We want your internal team to be excited about their messaging because that enthusiasm is going to naturally flow over, into the rest of the team and the intended audience.
But if you have a solid business plan in place you can tweak the messaging of your campaign to support your initiatives or if you have to come back and be the ‘bad’ guy by letting leaders know their campaign ideas aren’t supporting their previously stated goals, you have a solid foundation to stand on.
It’s important to keep in mind that marketing plans are living documents. They can (and should) be tweaked to accomplish business goals.
How do I make marketing decisions simple?
- Have a solid three to five year vision in place
- Develop a business plan backed by market research, with tangible goals.
- Effectively communicate the business vision and plan to your internal team.
- When marketing campaign ideas arise, compare them to your business vision and plan. Do the marketing efforts support the vision and plan? If so, GREAT – it’s a “Go”. If not, then it’s a ‘No Go”.
Bottom line? If you’re ready to feel confident that all of the time and effort you’re pouring into your marketing efforts will be worth it, start with a business plan. If you need help developing your business plan, I’ve got the perfect solution. In just 45 days we can work together to develop a clear business plan that you can easily articulate to the right people. We’ll drown out the noise in both your plans and your marketing for a quick (and effective) plan forward.