Hey marketing team, here’s your two-minute warning! If you’re like most of us, you’re barreling into the end of the year, budgets ablazing, hell bent on reaching your financial goals by the end of the fiscal year.
It’s an intense time, you’re tweaking campaigns, optimizing performance, maybe even throwing a few Hail Marys. It’s easy during this time to be so focused on finishing THIS year strong that we forget to set aside time to plan for the future. We all know successful strategic planning takes focused time and a clear head. But how do you build that into your already hectic fourth quarter day?
Here’s how to win the planning game….
Think about the time of day when you are most focused and make an appointment with yourself to work in 30-minute uninterrupted blocks. Half an hour doesn’t seem like much, but when you’ve closed all the open windows on your laptop (yes, even email and social media), turned off notifications and are fully tuned into the task at hand, you’ll be surprised at what you can accomplish.
Make a list of all of the data you need to inform your planning before you get to work. Nothing slows down a productive work session like not having the facts and figures you need at your fingertips. Pull the numbers you need ahead of time and you’ll have fewer excuses to call a time-out once you get started.
For many of us, the biggest obstacle to starting is not wanting to put anything less than perfect on paper. Think of your plans as draft documents that will be updated and tweaked as you go. Start somewhere, anywhere, it doesn’t even have to be at the beginning. Once you begin to see the framework coming to life, it’ll get easier and easier to flush out the details.
If you get stuck, we’re here and we’ve got the ideas! Sometimes all you need is someone to help you evaluate your playbook. Other times you need someone to help you brainstorm the entire formation. CSM is here for either or both.
See you in the end zone!
We’d be happy to talk with you more about marketing goals for both now and in the future!
Have a question about marketing? We would love to chat.
