A Mid-Year Marketing Check-in
By Vice President of Account Services Megan Schreckenbach
Where has the year gone!? Summer is officially over (albeit 95-degree days in Houston); the kids are back in school (hooray for that one); football season is SO close; and there are 17 Saturdays until Christmas (in case you were wondering).
It’s a natural time for many of us to reset at home and get back into a routine. As we look towards Q4, this time of year also calls for a marketing plan check-in to revisit and make adjustments as needed to finish the year strong.
Why a review?
Here are some tips for completing a successful marketing plan review.
- Take a Look Back
- First, take a look back at where you’ve been. Along with reviewing marketing efforts to date and associated ROI, analyze sales performance to date and review how this stacks up to your initial goals.
- Check-in with Sales
- Meet with the sales team to ensure alignment. Consider jumping on some sales calls and implement any shared recommendations for marketing initiatives.
- Revisit Organization and Marketing Goals
- The marketing plan is often tied to organizational goals so addressing these overall goals is an important step. Consider it a mid-year SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis). Ask your team:
- What changes are now affecting our organization that might mean you need to adjust your goals?
- Are there new target audiences that we need to take into consideration?
- Are some of our goals no longer relevant?
- Are there any new goals we need to create?
- The marketing plan is often tied to organizational goals so addressing these overall goals is an important step. Consider it a mid-year SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis). Ask your team:
- Touch Your Analytics
- By taking a good look at the data available for measuring the effectiveness of your marketing tactics, compare your actual results vs. your intended results. Discuss what worked or did not work and what needs to continue. What do we need to focus on that we might have missed?
- Look Closer at Your Top Audiences
- Who marketing serves guides what is produced, so is our knowledge of the audiences still accurate?
- Have your audiences been impacted by anything lately?
- What new challenges are they faced with that we can support?
- Who marketing serves guides what is produced, so is our knowledge of the audiences still accurate?
Finish the year STRONG.
This exercise will leave you with a refreshed outlook and a better roadmap for the rest of the year, and we’re here to help!
At Foster Marketing, we are actively working on innovating our cost-effective, creative solutions. With decades of experience as a full-service marketing partner, we know how to provide you with the best guidance in integrated marketing communications strategies, digital marketing, public relations, trade show and event marketing and advertising and awareness efforts.
Planning for next year? Or the next 5 years? You should be. We can help. Call us at 281-448-3435, contact us online or connect with us on LinkedIn.