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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.

5-Legged Journey to Marketing Magic

October 3, 2018/in Business, Management, Strategy, Training

“It’s not just about the destination. It’s the journey.”

Oftentimes, the companies and individuals I work with feel overwhelmed by the marketing plan process. It can be a daunting task that involves multiple stakeholders. Sometimes, just getting everyone together in the same place at the same time can feel monumental. But, the plan itself does not need to be overly complicated or overwhelming. Some of the best marketing plans are actually quite simple – clear and concise. Let’s pretend we are going on a ROAD-TRIP (shot gun!)…

A marketing plan, much like a road trip, has three basic sections: (1) the objective – where are we going or our “destination”, (2) the strategies – what route are we going to take to get there, and (3) the specific tactics – what vehicle will we drive. Oh, and as a bonus during the strategy section, we may want to consider alternate routes in case there is traffic or road blocks.

What happens during the course of writing a branded marketing plan is the magic of it. It’s the joy of the journey and the most fun part! A well-crafted marketing plan is written in collaboration with people across the business and forces conversations on meaty, strategic topics. It forces teams to recognize trade-offs and align on priorities. So, the real beauty of the marketing plan lies not just in the plan itself but also the process of getting there (that’s the Road-trip part!). I want to share my approach to this journey, so you and your teams can achieve marketing magic – a clearly articulated destination and a plan of how to get there with everyone in the car with you.

Journey Leg #1 – Where To?
Setting clear objectives can often feel esoteric. “Grow the business” – “Get new users” – “Drive Traffic”. Yes, these are all objectives, but they can feel overwhelming and as they are, they don’t really help the team understand what to do or how they can contribute. It’s like telling someone to “just drive south” without telling them how far or what the fastest route might be. I find the best way to set objectives is to break it down… then break it down again. If your objective is to grow 5% in revenue, break it down into dollars, then break it down by quarter, then potential products and channels, etc. You get the idea. The more specific the objective, the easier it will be to develop compelling marketing and sales initiatives! Align as a team on the break down so everyone agrees and is headed to the same place.

Journey Leg #2 – Who Cares?
Now that we are grounded in our objective, who is buying? Set aside, for a minute, who we are selling to today, who do we want to sell to? Sometimes the person who is buying from you today might not be the one buying tomorrow. Or maybe there are new growth opportunities by re-framing who you are selling to. Never do this at the expense of your current customer or buyer but be as aspirational as possible in order to grow. And keep it simple with a sentence like “For people who look like this and act like that and need this…”.

Journey Leg #3 – Why You?
Now, the most critical conversation of all. Why choose you? What are the areas where you stand out from competition and win? To answer that question, you need to understand the competitors and what they are great at. There may be some areas where being at parity with the competition is ok and you have to nail the basics. But there should be areas where you are differentiated and the clear choice. It’s those reasons why people would choose to spend a dollar with you versus other options. Those are the things that stand out and where you have the capability to shine. This is the cornerstone of your communication strategy. It tells you what to talk about.

Journey Leg #4 – Why Not?
The most fun and magical part of the process are the initiatives and ideas that bring your strategy to life. What are the specific action items that we can start doing to implement our strategy? Be sure the tactics are going to help achieve the objective from “where to”. Don’t get distracted by ideas, recommendations or suggestions that aren’t focused on your goal…it’s just a distraction? This will likely require trade-offs. Estimate the value of each idea and build them into your plan. Make sure your total estimates exceed your goals. Everything you do may not work, so build in room to experiment.

Journey Leg #5 – Well Done!
The last leg of our journey is all about knowing when we are there. How do we know if we are successful? As you define your tactics think about how you will measure the success of that effort against the objectives you’ve aligned to. Measure often and don’t wait too long to adjust if something is not working. There are always alternate routes. Oh, and one last, important note. Make sure to celebrate achievements along the way. It will make the journey all the more magical.

At The Marketing Posse we thrive on helping companies create marketing magic. If you need help getting started or navigating the planning process, please reach out. We are here for you! The fall season is a great time of year for teams to have this dialogue and to create solid plans for the next year.

The New Marketing Landscape Is Here to Stay

April 29, 2016/in Business, Innovation, People

Everyone knows the marketing landscape has evolved significantly in the last 5-10 years, but it seems like some marketing organizations haven’t “evolved” as much as they have “revolved.” Traditional marketing organizations are at a loss for talent as restructuring, cost cutting, and turnover have become more prevalent than ever before. Newly minted graduates and millennials are more interested in being part of the “bigger picture” and they are inspired by the startup world. Interestingly enough, despite the significant growth of small businesses and startups, these organizations are not only financially challenged to hire seasoned marketing executives, but often times aren’t really sure what they are looking for.

It’s not uncommon for brand marketing, e-commerce, customer acquisition, CRM, social media, and an exhausting list of skills to be expected of job candidates today. Marketing roles are becoming more complicated, paving the way to a sea of grey area. With the turnover and instability in marketing leadership, younger marketing professionals often lack the leadership and mentorship that would help them grow and develop their career. It comes as no surprise that the life span of a Chief Marketing Officer is less than 2 years…so, should you feel accomplished when you hit that 24- month mark?

The truth is, this new marketing landscape is here and it’s not going to get simpler anytime soon. Our goal at The Marketing Posse is to act as an extension of your marketing department. We understand that some organizations need the “Worker Bees” but can’t afford the “Queen Bees.” That’s why our team is here to provide strategic business planning, brand positioning, marketing solutions and talent development at a level that works for you. The Marketing Posse gives you:

Access to senior level talent when you need it

Experts with multiple talents in today’s world of endless channels

Flexibility to staff each project with the level of talent it requires
Customized scopes to develop and execute plans your budget can afford

We can help support your team with consistent leadership and guidance, without a full time price tag. Let us work with you evolve when and how you need to.

Danielle Vona

danielle@themarketingposse.com

It’s a Journey, Enjoy The Ride!

February 1, 2016/in People

Try thinking about your career growth as a road trip. You have a destination, although you may not always know exactly what it is. You need a map to guide you, but going off road is ok and can be fun. The vehicles you drive are the jobs you have and the companies you work for. Your mentors are rest stops where you can check in and ask for directions. There are four key lessons I have learned through the journey of my career path; these may not apply to everyone, but they sure did apply to me.

Be Great. Many ambitious young professionals are worried about how to get promoted. They are focused on how fast they are going to move up in business and what their next role or promotion will be. Concentrating on being great in your current role is the best way to get you noticed. Building your personal brand equity will get you where you want to go faster than anything else. Be highly proficient at the job you are in right now. Create future demand for yourself by being known as a GREAT professional today!

Be Visible. Make sure your work is visible to the right people. Volunteer to sit in on meetings and be a part of teams working on important initiatives. Be a team player in those situations so that your contributions to meetings and teams are valued and recognized. Volunteering to be a mentee/mentor can offer up higher visibility and personal growth. Before you know it, you will be driving those important initiatives.

Be Yourself. Every role in your career will be an opportunity for your personal growth and development. Take advantage of the wealth of knowledge in the people that surround you, leadership, peers, vendors, they all have something to teach you if you’re open to the lesson. And, when difficult experiences occur (and they will) try to be in the moment and appreciate the value the experience has to offer. These difficult experiences are often more valuable than the easy or enjoyable ones. Use the learnings to map out the kind of leader you genuinely are and want to be.

Enjoy The Journey. We are often so focused on planning our destination that we miss the value of what’s happening right now. “I don’t know where the time went” or “stop and smell the roses” are classic examples of missing the moments and living for tomorrow. This has held true for me for the last fifteen years. Every role, and every project I’ve been part of, are the twist and turns of my journey. Don’t get so focused on the destination that you miss all the cool experiences you have along the way…they are the best part!

As you think about the development of your own career, where you have been, where you are now and how you get to where you want to go, remember to celebrate your accomplishments, be a strong team player, use your authentic voice and enjoy the ride! The Marketing Posse is a resource for people and businesses passionate about career development and mentorship. Providing one to one or small group mentoring sessions, leadership and guidance on real time issues and initiatives, helping to build teams of talented and motivated individuals through customized training and development, and facilitation of training workshops on branding, marketing, and leadership.

To learn more, contact:

Danielle Vona
danielle@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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3 Tips to Get Your Marketing Plan to Stick

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