3 Keys To Preparing Your 2016 Marketing Strategy

 

Your Marketing Strategy is pivotal to this process.

As we found in this year’s research report, the top 10 percent of teams are preparing to make beat the 2016 estimates with Strategic Alignment. Ready to adapt to these trends early? Download the report right here.

 

As the fourth step in Strategic Alignment, Marketing Strategy pulls from Market Research and feeds directly into the Sales Strategy.

 

So, before you nail down your Marketing Strategy, it’s important to be sure you can deliver what your team needs, as well what other departments need from you to accomplish their goals.

 

Here’s what you need to know to prep your Marketing plan for 2016.

 

One of the main goals of the Marketing Strategy is to inform the Sales Strategy.

 

Where does Marketing Strategy fit into the hierarchy?

The hierarchy of Strategic Alignment flows as follows:

 

  1. Market Research
  2. Corporate Strategy
  3. Product Strategy
  4. Marketing Strategy
  5. Sales Strategy
  6. Talent Strategy

 

According to this outline, your Marketing Strategy depends on the insights from Market Research, Corporate, and Product. And the following two strategies can’t be fleshed out without insights from your team.

 

What do I need to accomplish?

Your Marketing Strategy must outline how your team will drive demand in the marketplace for the company’s products and services.

 

This process requires making choices about which market channels to invest in and which ones to forgo.

 

That takes care of what your team needs to accomplish in this six-step revenue growth process. But one of the main goals of the Marketing Strategy is to inform the Sales Strategy. So, how can you be sure to make that happen?

 

What questions must I be able to answer in relation to the company?

Sales relies heavily on your Marketing Strategy. For example, Sales can’t decide which programs to invest in without knowing how Marketing plans to drive demand for the products.

 

In order to be sure your team fits seamlessly into the hierarchy of Strategic Alignment, ask these five questions:

 

  1. How is the Marketing Strategy using the insights from Market Research to drive allocations of resources?
  2. How is the Marketing Strategy taking direction from the Corporate Strategy to drive the allocation of resources?
  3. How does the Product Strategy impact the Marketing Strategy?
  4. What does the Marketing Strategy need from the Sales Strategy to be successful?
  5. What does the Marketing Strategy need from the Talent Strategy to be successful?

 

Best-in-class marketing leaders can produce a copy of their well-articulated Marketing Strategy, including answers to the questions outlined above.

 

Then, you can have no doubts about how your team will contribute to making the 2016 quota. And Sales will be ready and raring to solidify their plan for the year ahead.

 

Now that you have what you need to prep your Marketing Strategy, dive into the entire Strategic Alignment process on page 27 of our research report, which you can download right here.