Put That Marketing Plan Where the Sun Doesn’t Shine

A while ago we talked about why marketers need to rediscover the discipline of writing a marketing plan. My thesis was that while good plans happen through thoughtful analysis and discussion, great ones emerge when we take the time to write them out. Teeny, tiny graphs in a 115-slide deck don’t count.

So what do you do when your plan is finished; when your Corporate Overlords have blessed it; when the Hand-Wringers have moved on to another victim; and when the Productivity Prevention Department (IT) isn’t looking? Why, you throw it in a drawer, of course.If you work in a publicly-traded company, you already know that you’re only as good as your last quarter and that shareholders will be howling for a flogging if things aren’t ticking along. Even if you work far away from the scrutiny of the markets, somebody not so far away is probably about to get cranky about something and it will be your job to make it right. Cranky people don’t care if you have a plan. Even if you’ve figured out how to make index tabs with your laser printer, they just won’t be impressed (I, on the other hand, will think you’re a genius). So what next? May I suggest a PowerPoint deck?

PowerPoint, for all its abuse at the hands of Project Managers, is still an extremely powerful tool for explaining stuff and, if you do it right, for getting your way. The ability of a good presentation to wallpaper one’s arse is also not to be underestimated.

The quarterly plan is the place where you take your beautiful annual script and use it as the framework for the improv act that is the reality of most marketers.  First, go through your plan and pull out the numbers. These shouldn’t change much (except when our friends Whim and Caprice blow through town). Break them down into quarters and to each quarter assign a theme. The theme should be one of your priorities – revenue growth, market penetration, product leadership etc. Pick just one per quarter: that way you still have time for lunch.

Now build a few slides for your tactics and be sure you show how each one contributes to hitting the numbers. Any that you can’t actually tie to a number either leave out or call it a Brand Equity Investment. Yes, it’s basically bullshit but nobody will admit to not wanting to invest in it. Add some photos, keep your type nice and big and do it again next quarter.

The key here is to continually tie your improvised flailing back to your annual plan to avoid being NOT STRATEGIC. This regrettable pejorative is the seasonal backlash that shows up, usually in Q4, when your ditch-to-ditch efforts to satisfy everyone are suddenly considered random and you’re just NOT STRATEGIC.

Now is the perfect time to pull out that annual plan, line up the themes and demonstrate your strategic genius. Now wasn’t that easy?