Remember when we could look ahead to a new year, lay out a long-term marketing strategy and be certain about the blueprint? We had a handle on the market, which channels we’d leverage and what would improve our brand reputation. We could anticipate where we’d have to devote a little more energy. We relied on history and experience to back-up our understanding of customer preferences and expectations.
Even just a few years ago, long-range marketing plans were a kind of comforting bedrock for our teams . . . but not anymore.
Now, many CMOs look twelve months out with trepidation. In fact, planning is one of the topics I am asked about most frequently. Given that the marketing landscape is constantly evolving, how can we provide accurate forecasts? Is it possible to design a long-range digital strategy when technology keeps bounding ahead? Can change agents be both nimble and locked into plans?
Questions like these underscore the delicate balancing act that has become the new normal for today’s CMOs. Here are the two best ways you can maintain your equilibrium:
1. Adopt a new approach.
Yes, marketing has changed. And yes, the terrain is continually shifting. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t chart a course. You just have to adopt a new approach.
Today, cookie-cutter plans won’t work. Long-range forecasts are less valuable. History doesn’t necessarily repeat itself, and experience is only part of the equation. Now, your plan needs to be shorter than ever before, and it needs to be grounded in both the art and science of marketing.
Of course, it’s still essential to identify long-term business objectives and rough out a strategy that stretches out over the year ahead. But, you must schedule quarterly reviews, as well. Plus, and perhaps most important of all, you must . . .
2. Let data and metrics drive the business.
In today’s volatile marketplace, your team must be aligned behind metrics, and your moves must be based on data-driven insights. Focus on these three steps:
Identify business objectives ---> Monitor meaningful metrics ---> Implement initiatives
Remember: Data empowers you to navigate the bumpy landscape . . . and it keeps you accountable. Equipped with today’s technology, CMOs can:
- Drive focus and early value. Automation allows you to extract relevant information from the digital firehose.
- Build measurement into the process. You can’t manage what you don’t measure, and automation helps develop metrics and benchmarks.
- Show results. The C-suite demands accountability. Automation enables deeper analytics which in turn, help demonstrate ROI.
- Collaborate. Once aggregated and analyzed, data is easier to communicate and share.
- Innovate. Automation creates the awareness required to optimize future campaigns.
And, naturally, all of that funnels into the planning process.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not someone who likes to rush the last days of summer! But Labor Day is here, Q4 is just around the corner, and most of us already have our sights focused on 2013. It’s time to start looking ahead, but get those shorter-term quarterly reviews on the calendar, as well. Execute, evaluate, evolve . . . guided by data-driven insights.
