The Importance of Strategic Planning for Marketing & Communications
Marketing and communication efforts have the biggest impact when they are directly linked to a company’s strategic plan. Moving forward in marketing without purpose is akin to drifting afloat on the ocean, hoping to find land without charting a course.
Ensure your company can drive business forward by aligning tactics with your core priorities. Use these steps to develop a comprehensive marketing and communications strategy framework:
Context Setting
Explore what marketing and communications plans and metrics your company is currently utilizing.
Take the time to level set the market environment and broader industry trends.
Mission & Values Development
What is the core purpose of the company?
A mission describes what an organization does and aims to achieve.
Explore 50 examples of mission statements.
Next, identify the top 4-5 values that directly support your core purpose.
Values define the fundamental principles and beliefs that guide how the organization operates and makes decisions.
Key Priorities
Identify strategic focus areas for the organization:
Examples: customer experience, financial performance, operational excellence, innovation and product development, talent and culture. Take time to set priorities.
What are your short-term priorities versus long-term priorities?
How do these priorities move your focus areas forward in alignment with your values and mission?
Take inventory to see if resources are properly allocated to those top priorities or are they being diverted to areas that aren’t as important?
Measurable Objectives
Build a metrics framework that indicates what success looks like.
Identify objectives.
Establish SMART goals: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.
Integration & Action Planning
What are key themes and messages needed to meet your objectives? How do these messages align all the way back up to your key focus areas and mission?
What tactics do you utilize when sharing those messages?
Put together a detailed timeline of when to flight these tactics and to achieve your goals.
Want to explore how Storia Strategies can support your strategic planning? Let’s connect.
