A Sound Annual Marketing Plan Begins With Process

As a new fiscal year dawns, marketers are presented with a pivotal opportunity: to craft an annual plan that not only propels business objectives forward but also optimizes resource utilization. However, this potential often goes untapped, as many marketing organizations opt for disjointed, tactic-heavy “plans” that keep teams busy but yield limited impact.

Recognizing the critical importance of a structured annual planning process is paramount for marketing success. In this comprehensive guide, explore the Forrester B2B Marketing Planning Process—a logical approach to annual planning that ensures marketing’s endeavors advance overall business strategy and objectives while aligning with other revenue-generating efforts.

Each step of the process is meticulously outlined, empowering marketers to unite various marketing functions around shared goals, plan specific actions, and anticipate potential risks.

1. Review And Align On Business Objectives: Initiate annual planning by gaining alignment with sales and product leaders on overarching business strategy and objectives. Forrester’s research highlights the significance of alignment among sales, marketing, and product functions, correlating with accelerated revenue growth and heightened profitability.
2. Define Marketing Intent: With a clear understanding of business objectives, delineate strategic directions and approaches that marketing will adopt to support them. The B2B Marketing Planning Process encompasses six strategic approaches, each aiming to achieve distinct business objectives.
3. Establish Marketing Priorities: Translate strategic approaches into actionable priorities, considering finite marketing resources. Conduct value analysis exercises to organize and prioritize potential projects across stakeholders and time frames, thereby ensuring alignment with short-term results and long-term ROI.
4. Set Marketing Goals: Define specific goals and measurement criteria that delineate marketing’s contribution to business objectives. Goals may vary across planning segments, encompassing revenue, profit, retention, new customer acquisition, and more.
5. Determine Key Actions: Transition to tactical planning by identifying campaigns, programs, and actions that align with marketing goals. Review current and proposed initiatives, ensuring alignment with global, regional, channel, and functional teams.
6. Identify Risks And Dependencies: Anticipate potential obstacles that could hinder plan execution, considering factors such as process gaps, team competencies, measurement metrics, and communication with sales and product groups.
7. Govern And Evolve The Plan: Embrace a resilient planning process that accommodates change. Regularly revisit the plan to identify what’s working, what’s not, and necessary adjustments, particularly amidst evolving market landscapes and strategic insights.

By adhering to this systematic approach, marketing teams can navigate annual planning with precision and purpose, driving meaningful business outcomes and fostering ongoing collaboration across functions.

Make Annual Planning A Foundation for Success

While it may seem appealing to overhaul current activities during the planning process by introducing new messaging, campaigns, and content, it’s crucial to resist this temptation. Instead, the focus should be on identifying what is effective and maintaining those aspects.

A structured planning process, firmly grounded in business objectives, offers a methodical approach to implementing changes. Given the typically lengthy B2B sales cycles, frequent alterations to campaigns, messaging, and content can disrupt operations.

Forrester offers an extensive array of tools and templates to support every stage of the annual planning process. These resources are specifically crafted to aid marketing leaders in prioritizing initiatives, clearly articulating marketing commitments, evaluating effectiveness, and facilitating adjustments as needed. Additionally, hands-on guidance is provided throughout the planning journey to ensure optimal outcomes.

The Table of Contents of “Seven Steps To An Effective Annual Marketing Plan” Guide:

• A Sound Annual Marketing Plan Begins With Process
  1. Review And Align Business Objectives
  2. Define Marketing Intent
  3. Establish Marketing Priorities
  4. Set Marketing Goals
  5. Determine Key Actions
  6. Identify Risks And Dependencies
  7. Govern And Evolve The Plan
• Make Annual Planning A Foundation for Success

Number of Pages:

• 6 pages

Pricing: 

• Free