On Michael Brenner’s Blog, B2B Marketing Insider, he reminds us that today officially marks the half way point in the year, and that this means that your marketing plan has just a few more chances to be analyzed, reviewed and refined in order to help you meet your objectives for the year.
He notes that one of the biggest reasons why he sees B2B marketing planning veer off course starts right at the beginning. The problem lies in how budgets are distributed.
Or as he puts it: money is the root of all marketing plan evil. Here’s what he proposes for your B2B marketing planning to solve this problem:
“Well I think I’ve got the cure right here…it’s called a business case: If you want money, create a business case […]. There are many ways in which budgets are allocated. And no model is perfect. But at some point, most organizations engage in evergreen or what I call “left to right” budgeting: what you got last year is the precedent for what you get this year – plus or minus a few percent. No business case needed. Ughhh! […] When you don’t have to justify your budget, bad things can happen quickly[…] And with no strategic business plan, these teams quickly start producing content and campaigns no one wants or securing media that is ineffective.”
His 5 tips on how to build a business case for your marketing budget as part of your marketing planning:
- Quantifiable goals tied to the overall business strategy
- An articulated high-level plan to achieve those goals
- The resources required to execute the plan
- A detailed project plan that defines actions, owners and timing milestones
- The flexibility to monitor and adjust
If the above type of marketing planning can be accomplished then we are in a much better place:
“[…] we are aligned to strategic business outcomes. We have a clear marketing objective. And we know how we are helping our company to get there. We are not spending money to justify our jobs. We are getting results that prove our worth.”
Read full article: http://www.b2bmarketinginsider.com/strategy/b2b-marketing-plan-evil
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