Crystal Clear Communications Blog

Every year, usually in the fall, marketers create their strategic marketing plan for the following year. They get the plan approved by leadership, hoping to execute every activity on it in the year ahead.

And then what happens? We are more than halfway through 2024, and many marketers I know have been so busy executing on competing priorities that they haven’t looked at their strategic marketing plan since getting it approved. That seems to happen to many of us every year.

So why should we take a step back and revisit our strategic marketing plan? Because it’s likely that a lot has changed since we created our plans. I encourage you to dust off your strategic marketing plan and ask yourself these three questions:

• Are you doing what’s important versus what’s urgent? You created your strategic marketing plan to accomplish what’s important, but chances are high that you’ve had to tackle many urgent issues since creating your plan. As you review your plan, ask yourself if you can balance the urgent and the important.
• Are you on track to spend your budget effectively? Revisiting your strategic marketing plan can help you ensure you’re not over- or under-spending your budget while you still have time to make adjustments. Wondering how to increase your marketing budget? See this blog.
• Have there been changes in the market or your company’s priorities? If there have, you’ve likely already shifted your marketing activities. But you still need to revisit your strategic marketing plan because chances are you may not get to everything on your plan. If that’s the case, you may want to inform leadership that you need to adjust the plan to accommodate the new priorities.

I don’t remember much from my college courses, but I do remember this from Theories of Persuasion: Awareness is easy; behavior change is hard. If you’re not in the habit of revisiting your strategic marketing plan, here are some tips to help you change your behavior:

• Use your calendar. At the beginning of each year, block one hour each quarter to review your strategic marketing plan.
• Incorporate your plan into your metrics reviews. If you report metrics monthly or quarterly, pull your plan into your report. Your metrics should tie back to your plan anyway, so incorporating the plan into your report ensures everyone knows where you are against the plan.
• Tape your plan to your wall. I know most people don’t print things anymore, but this one is worth it. Being able to see your plan every day helps you stay on track and reminds you to adjust it as needed.

It’s important to review your strategic marketing plan regularly to keep up with changes, ensure you spend your budget wisely, and stay on the right track.

Have questions about marketing and communications? Get answers weekly or email me at ariana@crystalclearcomms.com.