You have a Go/No Go decision plan for proposals, so why not do the same for your marketing decisions?
Are you guilty of treating your marketing plan as an intricate, year-long plan with every campaign detail mapped out? 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 know where you want your business to be in the next three to five years and your business plan is clear, you set the stage to develop an easy-to-implement Go/No Go decision plan for all 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 understands it, it’s easier to ensure all marketing efforts support 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 matters even more. If your team takes time up front (vision and strategic planning) to clarify business plans, 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 helps you cut out the noise and stop wasting your team’s valuable time on initiatives that don’t move you toward your business goals.
How do vision and business plans support marketing efforts and vice versa?
What you’ll often find when working on marketing plans is that business leaders latch onto an exciting marketing campaign. This is wonderful. We want your internal team to be excited about their messaging because that enthusiasm will naturally flow to 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.
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 cut through the noise in both your plans and your marketing to create a quick (and effective) plan forward.