Whatever Happened to Marketing Strategy?
The realities and pressures we all face in today’s economy are not easy. Too many times, the reaction of B2B Marketers is to pull out the fire house and start fighting the latest fire. I think one of the most important factors to success in B2B markets is simple: Strategic and Integrated Marketing Plans.
Oh and that means thinking ahead. (Disclosure: as a dedicated rant, this post is full of copious amounts of sarcasm).
But this is hard, isn’t it? It requires us to think with forethought to determine and to communicate our business goals. Sometimes this means we actually have to write something down. And it requires us to define a strategy to achieve those goals. From the strategy, a plan is created with actions, owners and dates. And then, we monitor the results and adjust as needed. Flexibility is built in to accommodate an ever-changing business landscape.
This is not hard. And this is not impossible despite today’s competitive markets and slow growing economy. Yet, if you look around, you see wasted effort, tactical thinking and reactionary measures.
Nowhere is this more evident than in Social Media. But you are smart. You know that Social Media is Not a Strategy where the author comments:
it’s not that companies tweet or post photos to flickr that is behind their success; it’s the fact that these efforts further their overall strategy of content creation, customer acquisition, and product positioning.
And yet some of us have to even say the words: ”Twitter Is Not a Social Media Strategy“ where the author has to point out that “A Twitter account is not a social media strategy”.
I once worked for a great guy who I was lucky enough to follow up the ranks as he became Chief Marketing Officer of a large company. He made everyone write a business plan. If you wanted funding: write a business plan. Having a meeting to pitch a new idea: write a business plan.
This was one of my great work-life lessons: never lack a strategy. Just as important: be able to articulate it. And if you want to get something done, plan for it.
Michael Brenner is the author of B2B Marketing Insider and serves as Sr. Director of Integrated Marketing for SAP. Michael's blog is dedicated to sharing the ideas, topics and marketing strategies that drive real results like sales, leads, and higher customer loyalty. Follow online at http://www.B2BMarketingInsider.com Follow on Twitter: @brennermichael @B2BMktgInsider
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Great post, Michael. As a long-time B2B marketer it seems like we’ve been so pressured to do more faster, that we have somehow ended up saying “there’s no time for strategy when we’re moving so fast.”
This has turned into an excuse and I think we are on dangerous ground as a result. Firedrill, reaction, reaction. No doubt we need to move quickly in today’s world, but that shouldn’t be an excuse to skip the strategy.
Michael,
I couldn’t agree more. This is IMC 101 but as you pointed out we often witness BtoBs illustrating “wasted effort, tactical thinking and reactionary measures.” As a mid-management marketer who is often involved in the execution of programs, I want to see a roadmap! Tell me where you want to go, what the objectives and expectations are and let’s plan out how to get there.
Paige, thanks for your comments. I agree we live in a fast paced world. The argument I always use is that effort without a strategy is waste. We need to move forward with urgency but in the right direction.
Amanda, thanks for stopping by and I love your passion for needing a roadmap! Keep fighting.
Great post. I really feel that the difference between a good marketing professional and bad one is strategy. It seems like most people are like the kids that dream of become a professional athlete because they watch their favorite player put on show every game. Then you realize that the piece of glory you see is the tip of the iceberg and that person puts in tons of time of hard work and dedication behind closed doors to get to that point. If you want the idea of seeing your idea become a reality you have to do more than creative thinking to get it there. I’m learning that right now as I’ve just launched a large campaign for my company which I started planning for back in March.
Hi Will, thanks for stopping by. Good luck on your new campaign. I’m sure it will be a success since you planned for it.
Michael:
Finally, finally, finally someone has articulated that old fashioned idea of planning before acting. It seems the world of “fire, fire, aim” has been transformed by the operational types whose visions stretch only as far as the next month’s sales goal.
The only thing I would add to your observation is that planning takes intellectual honesty and courage. I know people are worried that saying “wait” or making waves may cost them their jobs. But not sticking to the basics, not writing business plans could cost careers because marketers won’t have results in their current positions to help them get the next one.
Thank you Prof. Byers. You are absolutely right about the need for courage. The urge to “yes” our way to mediocrity is so strong that it appears to be the way of the majority. But I believe with strong leadership and by setting a good example, we can impact enough decisions to make a differece.
I appreciate this article and agree with all of the comments posted. From experience, marketers don’t plan because they don’t have a pragmatic “template” that keeps it simple and fosters rapid consensus/approval. They spend too much time thinking about what should be in the plan rather than writing/building the plan itself. Good leaders provide their teams with guidance and coaching for getting the job done, so that the result is a “living” document everyone in the organization can get behind and to which all related tactics are aligned.
Good question!
These days, we really have the feeling that B2B marketers are all about following trends: we should have a blog, we should do lead nurturing, we should have a group on linkedIn. OK, but WHY.
This is what your CMO was getting at by requesting a business plan from everyone and I love that example.
I also like that you stressed on the importance of articulating the strategy. There are too many companies that claim to have a marketing strategy, but nobody can tell you what it is.
My question is: what are the top 5 questions that would force someone to articulate his/her strategy?
I’ll give my 2 cents but would love to hear from anyone active in this discussion.
1. How does this marketing strategy align w our business objectives?
2. Who should we market to?
3. What is the Unique Value Proposition we want to convey to those people?
4. What are the tactics we want to use?
5. How will we measure if we use them well?
Sounds like something that could fit on one page, no?
Thanks again for a great post.
Thanks Kimberly. Your comment on leadership is a great point. I also agree with what you said regarding the living document. Plans are not “set it and forget it” but need to be constantly monitored and adjusted.
Hi Geraldine, I like the old Integrated Marketing Communications acronym TPM: Target, Position, Message. Who are we targeting? What is our unique position? What messaging framework articulates the value we can provide to the target audience with our unique position? I agree we need to identify tactics and measures as well but these 3 words are what I try to articulate in any marketing plan.