It’s that time again! Budgeting and planning season is almost here!
It’s about to be Fall and that means Marketers across the country, in companies large and small, have one thing on their to-do list…
What will you do next year? What will your go-to-market strategy look like and how will your marketing campaigns support your business goals?
As Marketers and company leadership start to turn their attention toward budgeting and planning for next year one thing should be at the forefront — Agility. Marketing plans can’t be fixed and locked-in months ahead of their creation, execution, and delivery.
Nothing is isolated or transactional. That would be easy. Every action affects something else.
Brand Marketers should be re-evaluating their approach and tactics frequently based on what’s happening in their marketplace, sector, and the wider landscape. I’d also suggest looking — not just at the now, but also 2 to 3 to 6 months out on a constant basis. Because as we’ve seen (and will again), your marketplace (your buyers and customers) will be affected by outside events — and that can and does affect their ability to move forward with their buying decisions. I know because I’ve worked with clients who have experienced this first hand.
Having your Marketing Budget approved is one thing. Having a budget that’s flexible and dynamic with wiggle-room is better.
No one has a crystal ball.
Lock-downs. Empty offices, showrooms and manufacturing facilities. Work from home or out of work. External events that turn our world upside down, have shown us all that being able to quickly adapt to unforeseen — long-term and short-term — events is essential to maintaining brand awareness and top-of-mind presence — wherever your prospects are in the sales pipeline.
When something impacts your plans, be it global, national, or a competitor, being able to adapt and bounce back rapidly is key. Not being aware of the impact or what’s going on for 10 days and then taking another 7 to 14 days to respond, just doesn’t work — Everyone else has moved on and the opportunity to do something was then… not now.
This isn’t an endorsement or recommendation but there’s a really helpful guide on Agile Planning that Allocadia recently put out. I recommend you take a look… especially now as marketing departments prepare for their planning season. It could give you some ideas for how you can be prepared and how to respond, that you can build in to your next year plan — You’ll be glad you did, when a change of plans and direction comes knocking.