If it’s riskier to execute solely on marketing tactics without a marketing strategy, why are so many B2B marketing teams still defaulting to tactics?
Does the following scenario sound familiar?
Marketing is getting pressure from sales/investors/fill in the blank to “get more leads”.
So the marketing team jumps on it and spins up another lead gen campaign. Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs) are broadly defined and you think you have a pretty good value proposition based on internal stakeholder feedback.
A paid ad campaign with a landing page, a lead “magnet” piece of content and nurture emails will do the trick. And sure enough, leads start coming in, but the sales team says they aren’t qualified or ready to buy. And now marketing is being questioned about why valuable budget dollars were spent on an ineffective campaign.
This problem isn’t new and often the marketing team feels like they are experiencing the movie Groundhog Day. They are constantly on the defensive. What went wrong and how can we change this seemingly endless loop?
Start with a Strategy
Everyone can usually agree on this principle, but when it comes down to what is really needed to build an effective strategy, the push back can be surprising and daunting:
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- “We already have a marketing plan”
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- “We don’t need to talk to customers or the industry, we know what they want”
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- “It will take too long”
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- “The team is too busy focusing on revenue”
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- And of course, “we just need leads…fast”
When we’re talking strategy, two terms are commonly used in marketing planning: “go-to-market strategy” and “marketing strategy”. And where does a “marketing plan” fit in? Often these terms are used interchangeably, but understanding the real difference between each, why they are critical and the risk of not having a strategy are key communication points to ensuring executive team and stakeholder buy-in.
Let’s take a closer look.
Term | Purpose | Key Components | Risk of Not Doing |
Go-to-market Strategy |
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| You continue to use assumptions in your messaging and segmentation and fail to define a compelling, unique value proposition to the right audience which can result in:
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Marketing Strategy |
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| You default to an ad hoc, tactical approach that can lead to:
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Marketing Plan |
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| You execute tactics inefficiently and ineffectively resulting in
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When you look at each of the above through this lens of “risk of not doing”, it’s clear that a defined GTM and marketing strategy reduces overall risk and provides a process for course correcting to improve the odds of success. It doesn’t have to be a long, arduous process, but you do need buy-in from key stakeholders or you are likely to encounter resistance.
Marketing leaders who can articulate the importance of each are equipped to push back on the next “we need leads now” request. By focusing on strategy instead of tactics, they have an opportunity to provide leadership and direction across sales, customer success and product to align and collaborate on growing the business together.
But the work isn’t over once you have the plan in place. To be successful, it can’t be a “check the box” exercise and then forgotten for the rest of the year as urgent, ad hoc requests come up from sales and the executive team. Follow best practices for project execution to establish discipline and a regular cadence to review progress and performance against target metrics.
Of course, changes to strategy are inevitable, so be sure to build in flexibility with your review process to adjust as needed. Just make sure that the changes you make are mindful and that you are considering the implications to the overall plan. For example, if you add in a new program or tactic, are you taking out something else? If so, how will this impact your performance?
Staying on course with your marketing strategy or plan can make all the difference to achieving your targets.
Need help with your strategy? Schedule a 30 minute call with me to discuss your needs and determine next steps.
