Fact: Best-in-class marketers are better than their peers at aligning Marketing with business outcomes, and clearly conveying their impact and contribution (accountability) to the organization. Alignment and accountability are inextricably linked and are the cornerstones of any successful Marketing organization. Without business alignment it’s impossible to quantify Marketing’s value and to select the right metrics.

Your Marketing plan is one of the most powerful alignment tools available. Additionally, research has shown that companies with a Marketing plan experience a 24-30% improvement in sales over those without a plan.

Yes, I Want My Growth Idea

The Plans of BIC Marketing Orgs Meet 5 Criteria

Composition vs. Notes

As a Marketing leader, you are the conductor.  You are responsible for either composing or bringing a composition to life that will be pleasing to your all your stakeholders.  Without the composition, you risk each performer playing their individually producing beautiful notes that are very likely are not working together. Your Marketing plan is your organization’s composition. It must be far more than a list of notes each section of your orchestra will produce.

It’s time to work on your plan if what you currently have reflects a list of actions or an itemized calendar of activities and costs – that is instruments to be played along with a set of notes.

We know from our work that the Marketing plans of Best-in-Class organizations meet these five criteria:

1. Identify priorities, prioritize resources and enable organizations to select the best customer and market opportunities.
2. Serve as the foundation for the activities that create and nurture the promise of value to the customer.
3. Provide a direct-line-of sight between marketing activities and investments and business outcomes and results.
4. Are a living roadmap that is anchored to the overall business’ outcomes and focuses on customer value, growth, and profitability.
5. Guide the selection and creation of your marketing metrics and marketing dashboard.

Does Your Marketing Plan Meet the Criteria

Open up your current Marketing. How does your Marketing plan stack up against our criteria? It is crucial that your Marketing plan meets ALL of these criteria to ensure that you are connecting the work of Marketing to business results and ultimately driving revenue.

Could it use some improvement? Request a marketing plan assessment to find out what to address first.  A good planning session can make all the difference. Consider holding a Marketing planning session.

Our proven patent-pending Accelance® methodology and application was designed specifically to support alignment efforts, and ultimately produce an outcome-based Marketing plan. We welcome the opportunity to help you prove and improve the value of your Marketing. Let’s get started!

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