Ready, Fire, Aim—Wrong!

Sure, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. But isn’t it a better idea to get it right the first time?

That’s where a strong marketing plan comes into play, especially for the operations side of the house.

As budgets get tighter, marketing operations come under more and more scrutiny, notes Gary M. Katz, founder and CEO of Marketing Operations Partners. Regular operations reviews can serve as checkpoints in the planning process — and help mobilize employees around the marketing strategy.

“People need to work toward a common measure,” says Katz. He notes that the planning process is always a plus for operations, as long as companies stay decisive and have a clear sense of direction to avoid getting caught in “analysis paralysis.” This can typically happen in large companies, where everything requires more collaboration among a variety of units. “Planning tends to be more informal in smaller companies, and more flexible.”

A key factor in planning is creating measures for success and carrying those all the way through the marketing process. Marketers should consider strategies covering all possible outcomes.

“Are we going to be able to add more money to the budget if it works? Can we add staff, expand different strategies and do more?” says Nichole Kelly, director of social media, Ascend One Corp. “And what am I going to do if everything hits the fan and we need to re-evaluate? You need to come up with two or three things to cover each scenario.”

Quantifiable measures of success are vital, but don’t just create a plan that will make you look good, notes Mitchell Goozé, president and founder, Customer Manufacturing Group Inc.

“In some cases, the plan is there so that people have something they can declare victory against — not so that the company can really achieve a goal,” says Goozé.

Consider the Times

Most of the marketing budget for any enterprise, whether big or small, goes into the various steps of marketing operations, says James David, an independent marketing consultant based in Toronto. That fact, and the current economic climate, should definitely be considered.

“One thing we should acknowledge is that marketing planning cannot be done for a year, considering the situation we are in,” says David. “It should be more granular, and upfront contingency planning should always be there to bail the marketers out.”

Tom Camp, COO of Executive Edge, recommends avoiding a disconnect; planning might typically be done once a year, tied to the budget process. Year-round, everyone — including sales and marketing — should be kept in the loop about what you need. Keep your priorities clear and your spending targeted.

“In marketing operations today, the real issue is how to link all the separate and diffuse needs in the process,” he says. “Where does the money go? What does each prospect cost you?

As with all parts of the marketing process, getting C-suite buy-in is crucial.

“You need confidence in the plan at the executive level,” says Kelly. “At the first sign of a problem, if people start questioning things and want to start over, you’re going to lose any efficiency you gained by having a plan in the first place.”

And make sure people are involved across the organization.

Planning can’t just be an activity done “in the backroom by some super-smart Ivy League grads,” warns Katz. “It needs to be something everyone is involved in. If you separate the planning from the implementation, you discover that getting ‘real’ buy-in isn’t very effective.”

Fast or Slow?

Kelly advised looking at the company’s culture. Is the business a fast-moving enterprise that can adjust to market changes, or does it move slowly and take forever to approve new ideas?

“In any scenario, game-changing things can happen, and you may be forced to scrap a plan,” she says. “But if you have confidence in the plan and have thought out all your contingencies, you’ll be able to adapt and move forward.”

Executing a plan is key to operations as well, adds Kelly. “If things go south, we need to see if we really did what we said we were going to do, and then respond and re-evaluate.”

Of course, you can’t account for everything in a plan.

“Some things you can’t control, like influences from society, the government, the economy, etc.,” says Goozé. “Companies [need to] develop a strategy allowing them to take advantage of external activities that are positive and to mitigate those that are negative.”