How to Stick to Your Marketing Plan

For a lot of marketers, the hardest part isn’t developing a marketing plan. It’s the execution of that plan. We’ve focused on why teams fail to execute in the past, but now we want to switch gears. Let’s look at what you can do to make sure you stick to your marketing plan.

Use a project management system

First things first: You need a project management system. This allows you to solve the issue of who is responsible for what. It also allows you to plan better and develop transparent timelines.

When the execution instructions for a marketing plan come from one person, and those instructions are in various documents or email threads, it can get messy. Nothing gets done, because nobody is sure what to do and what order to do it in. A project management system eliminates that confusion. You can order your tasks and communicate with team members to make sure that campaign elements are completed in the right sequence.

Just make sure all elements of your plan are documented. While it’s important that you have a project management system, you also need to make sure you use it appropriately.

Check in regularly

No matter what stage your campaign is in, check in regularly to see your status. Are things behind or ahead of schedule? Are your campaigns performing as expected? Regular monitoring enables you to make adjustments as necessary. You don’t just hit “go” on a campaign and step away permanently. Be involved in your campaigns.

Report and optimize

Part of staying involved in your campaigns as time goes on is putting reporting in place. This will allow you to gain better insights and optimize over time. Reporting provides motivation for you and your team. Develop KPIs and goals around so you know precisely where you need to optimize. This will enable you to see if you are achieving your goals. Reporting also means you can prove the worth of your marketing campaigns to key stakeholders who are just looking for results.

Optimization is an absolute necessity in digital marketing as things change over time. You will need to make changes. Reporting allows you to make educated decisions with ease.

Be consistent

Be consistent in the way you structure and name your campaigns. You should also be consistent in your reporting—don’t alter it week over week. Make it easy to compare results over time.

If you want everyone working together harmoniously you need things to make sense at-a-glance for everyone involved. Not just you. Consistency in your organizational structure will allow anyone to step in at any point and contribute to your campaign when necessary or understand your results.

Contact DemandZEN to find out how we work hard to stick to our marketing plans.