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3 Tips to Get Your Marketing Plan to Stick

February 7, 2019/in Business, Design, Innovation, Management, MARKETING, People, Strategy, Technology, Training

Just the other day, I read a stat that 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail by February. 80%!! What a staggering statistic when you think about all the good intentions and efforts that go into starting the year off right. A marketing plan can be like a New Year’s resolution. It will fall to the wayside if you aren’t investing the time to make it a working plan. It is so easy to lose sight of the important things and get caught up in the “needs of the moment”. The task of building the plan is a tremendous undertaking and one that requires active steps and a concerted effort to bring to life. Now is the time to be intentional and make it stick. Besides, there is too much good work and thinking in that plan to let it go to waste.

Here are my top 3 tips for getting your marketing plan off and running. I like to call it plan the work – work the plan (P.S., I didn’t invent that, I just love it). This is the time of year to get to work on working the plan.

TIP #1 – LET TECHNOLOGY BE YOUR SECRET WEAPON

How are you tracking the work? Have you created a detailed account of deliverables, key dates and project owners? Consider what technology solutions are available to you or that you can go acquire to help you track plan milestones. These tools are your friends. You can assign tasks and notify task owners. Here at the Posse, we use Asana to manage our projects and set tasks. We can set alerts in the system so that task owners know when a due date is approaching. We also can have “conversations” about the work in the program so that anyone who is involved with the project can stay up to date. The beauty of a system like Asana or Basecamp or any other project management tool is that it forces you to think through the execution of an initiative. It takes some discipline, but once you have identified the tasks and entered them in the system, the execution is much easier and more efficient. Most importantly, when you look at your tasks for the day, you know they are tied to a bigger plan and you are focused on achieving your objectives instead of just “today’s fire drills”. By the way, the fire drills will still be there, but now you can balance and prioritize what needs to get done with what should get done.

TIP#2 – SCHEDULE AND HOST “CHECK-IN” MEETINGS

No technology solution can completely replace face-to-face conversations. That is why even if you have a sophisticated project management tool in place, it is still important to check in with the team and revisit the plan periodically to ensure that it is on track and top of mind. I’ve been in organizations where these meetings can be tedious, long, and people dread participating in them. There are numerous articles and books, to tap into to have a more productive meeting, but I recommend something different. If the objective is to hold yourself and the team accountable and make the plan a priority, then keep it short and simple and don’t be afraid to make it fun. Make it a pizza meeting and focus on results and challenges only. Celebrate successes with the team. Bring leadership along and if you are leadership, check-in with your teams or find ways to show your team that you are prioritizing the work plan too.

TIP #3 – PLACE SOME SMALL BETS AND BE FLEXIBLE

Now that you have the marketing plan broken down into manageable tasks (that was in tip #1), place some small bets, but stay flexible along the way. The Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of a plan is “a method for achieving an end.” Sometimes you may get into the work and find out that there is another method that should be considered or maybe the end goal is still correct, but the way you are going about it isn’t working. Rather than making a commitment to the plan, commit to the end goal. Flex your methods and place some small bets to see what you can test and learn. Let’s imagine you have a holiday program that starts in Q4. You aren’t going to begin implementing the plan until much later in the year, but there may be things that you could do now to test the plan. Are there some “plan b” options that you should be considering? It is better to find out early that plan adjustments are needed rather than trying to rewrite your program strategy in November. Be ready to adjust based on the business needs and performance. Something will go wrong or at least, not as planned. So, be flexible and don’t be married to the plan, just to the goal.

Let’s wrap this up, shall we? It’s February and the year is officially in full swing. It can be hard to stay on task when the day-to-day stuff can sometimes take over. So, make time to work the plan you have developed. First, leverage technology to get organized and be efficient. Second, hold yourself and your team accountable (but make it fun!). And lastly, place bets, but be flexible if you run into challenges or are not getting the results you need. You got this!

Cheers!

Danielle Vona
danielle.vona@themarketingposse.com

And P.S. – if you don’t have a plan at all, give us a call…it’s not too late., we are happy to help you get off to a great start for a successful 2019. At The Marketing Posse, we love a good plan. But, we love a good plan that is well executed even more.

Will You Be My Mentor?

December 18, 2018/in Mentorship, People

‘Tis the season of giving…and giving back. One of my favorite ways to give back in business is through mentorship. Not only does it feel inspiring to help others, but it is a learning and development opportunity for both the mentor and the mentee. Over and over, you will hear that the mentors get as much out of these relationships as the mentee. So, how do you find a mentor? And once you find one, then what do you do to maximize the relationship?

FINDING MY MENTOR(S)

Some say it seems more difficult for women to find mentors and sponsors, but it really can be tricky for anyone. I’ve found that the strongest “mentoring” relationships are simply based on real and reciprocal relationships.

The naturally formed and long-lasting relationships with former managers, partners, and co-workers have been the cornerstone for me. These people are all mentors though they may not have the formal title. In my career, they have served as sounding boards– whether it’s getting an objective opinion about how to handle a political situation, a difficult leadership problem, or even starting my own business. There are a variety of people that I’ve turned to for advice. And a mentor is exactly that. It’s someone who has experience and talent that you would benefit from. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all mentor – different people can serve different career needs. And just like there isn’t a cookie cutter mentor, mentors don’t need to be senior level VIP’s, they just need to be people whose expertise, experience and advice you respect and trust. I often canvas a wide group to get advice, then mull over their respective opinions to form my own. There’s “give and take” in these relationships. A few months ago, I was approached by someone I consider a mentor to me. He wanted my opinion regarding consulting and going out on his own. It was awesome to be able to provide insight to someone who has provided so much guidance to me.

If you are just starting your career or just looking for a good mentor or two as you grow and develop, here are a few thoughts on how to find them.

WORK – At the Office: Look within your own organization, particularly for those individuals who are in different disciplines. These people can often provide the most objective advice since they’re removed from your function. Some of the best career guidance I’ve gotten as a marketing person was from a senior level person in IT.
HOME – Family and Friends: Find mentors in unexpected places, like family and friends where you may already have relationships that you haven’t thought to leverage. These people are more than happy to help you and share their wisdom.
EVENTS – Network: Attend alumni or professional events and see if there are natural relationships to be developed. Networking is a great way to explore a variety of people who you may “click” with. Finding a mentor through networking may take some time and planning, but you can make it a goal. For help networking, see our November Blog here.
LOOK FOR – I Wannabe You: Target someone with traits or talents you would like to emulate. It doesn’t have to be your specific job. You might want to learn from a mentor who is a brilliant communicator or who does an amazing job managing people. Think about what kind of leader you want to be and find people with those attributes to help mentor you.

Now that you have identified a mentor, how do you go about getting their advice and building a meaningful relationship?

MAKING THE MOST OF MY MENTOR(S)

I have found most of the best practices to be about two things. First, it is about communication, and second, it is about committing to the process and what you want to get out of it. As the mentee, you need to take responsibility for driving the relationship. Here are 4 great ways for you as the mentee to take charge!

FIRST, Ask for What You Want – Whether it is “will you be my mentor?” or would you be willing to give me some advice on “x” …you simply have to ask. You might be surprised how open people will be (and often flattered). If you are asking them to be your mentor and you don’t know them well, put some thought into what you need from them. What are you really asking for? For example, you might need an hour of their time once a month where you share challenges and get their perspective. This makes it easy for a potential mentor to say, “yes, I can do that”. Help them help you.
SECOND, Have and Share Goals – Make sure you know what you want to get from the relationship and don’t be shy about sharing that in your very first meeting. You might say something like, “what I appreciate about you is…”, “so I hope that when we are together, I can get your thoughts on…or I can learn…”. This not only helps the mentor understand your expectations, but it is also likely to have them thinking about you when you are not around, so they are ready to share relevant information and insight with you.
THIRD, Reinforce the Value – It’s a good best practice to let the mentor know that they are helpful and that their time is and has been valuable to you. You can certainly do that by simply telling them, but it has a lot more impact if you can do this through examples. “I took your advice on x and here is what happened.” Reinforcing you are listening, taking action and looking at results is the most meaningful way to tell them their advice is valuable.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST, Show You Care – Get the basics right. These relationships are important, and these people are spending precious time with you. Don’t be late or cancel meetings. You may want to debate an issue with a mentor, which can be great, but you don’t want to argue with their perspective. If you don’t agree, that is okay, but it should never lessen their perspective. And, of course, always say thank you and be gracious.

At The Marketing Posse, we know how important talent development is, which is why we provide strategic guidance and mentorship to enhance and optimize your marketing team. We offer:

One-to-one or small group mentoring sessions to provide leadership relative to real-time issues and initiatives.
Team building for your talented and motivated individuals through customized development programs.
Development and facilitation of training workshops on branding, marketing, leadership, etc. based on the needs of your group.

Contact me to continue the conversation.

Cheers!

Danielle Vona
danielle.vona@themarketingposse.com

What can we learn from each other?

January 1, 2016/in Business

Serving a variety of organizations, both large and small, has provided some unexpected perspective. If you can take the best of both worlds, it would be pretty magical. Startups use disruption to make positive change possible and big companies can benefit from keeping an eye on the cadence and the speed of startups. That said, large companies have processes and resources that the smaller companies aspire to. Working with and leading large marketing organizations as well as working with small startup teams, has afforded me a front row seat to observe both. Startups are better at speed and efficiency and large organizations succeed at building consensus, leading diverse teams and in making thoughtful data driven decisions. So what can we learn? Here are my top 3 entrepreneuer learnings for large companies.

Move quickly with less time restraints. While we’ve all worked at organizations where things needed to be done by yesterday, an entrepreneurs’ timetable is even faster, hours and days count. One great meeting might lead to major changes in the company and this can provide an ongoing level of excitement and electricity to get it done and get it done today! At even the fasted paced large organizations, things tend to move much slower, there’s a process, conversations need to be documented, t’s need to be crossed and i’s dotted. Empower your people to make decisions and keep things moving!
Make decisions from the gut. Many entrepreneurs don’t require consumer feedback to make decisions and use their gut to make the “right choice.” They have an idea and are focused on making it happen; not getting everyone to agree that it’s a good idea helps them make decisions faster. Large organizations often take the time to gain cross-functional buy-in, team alignment on decisions, and consumer/customer feedback on ideas. This is where a blend of both would be ideal. Do some validating, but don’t get bogged down. You know your business. Make a decision based on the best information you have…you will probably be mostly right!
Disrupt the status quo. Entrepreneurs aren’t hampered by “how things are always done”. They reframe issues to suit their needs and never stop asking “why does this have to be done this way?” This allows them to think outside of the box and create new and better, faster ways to run their business. The processes required by many large organization’s infrastructures can help standardize work, but also can slows the entire engine down. Be open to always asking entrepreneurial questions like “Do we need this? If so, Why?”. Keep what’s good, and re-invent what’s not.

As marketing people, we often pride ourselves in our understanding of the “right” process, our ability to build consensus, gain alignment, lead diverse teams and make thoughtful data driven decisions. In large marketing organizations, these are key tenets of marketing executives’ reputations and used as evaluation criteria. In the startup world, on the other hand, it’s clearly a different set of criteria that drives success. It is more about how fast decisions are made, staying on top of the industry knowledge so that we can make educated choices “from the gut” and being creative in how we get everything done.

Big company thinking can help reduce the risk for startups with processes like consumer validation and category expertise. While an entrepreneurial mentality can help big companies cut through the red tape and simplify getting initiatives to market.

At The Marketing Posse, we understand what it takes to work across all kinds of organizations. We act as an extension of your marketing department and provide strategic business planning, brand positioning, marketing solutions and talent development. We can flex to meet your business and needs, whatever they may be.

To learn more, contact:

Danielle Vona
danielle@themarketingposse.com

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