B2B Marketing Plans That Get Results

Winning marketing plans must articulate a situational understanding, include goals, strategy, tactics, an implementation plan and include measures that define success and return on investment. Here’s a simple guide to building powerful marketing plans.

I’ve worked as a marketer for two Fortune 500 companies, several large corporations and a couple of start-ups. I’ve yet to see a business to business marketing plan written by anyone other than myself that effectively articulates a comprehensive approach to the assignment. I’m not bragging, this is the reality I’ve witnessed over and over. In part, this reflects marketing’s inability to think strategically and apply appropriate tactics that met the complex needs of the B2B organization. It’s also a by-product of marketing’s internal process which is disconnected from sales.

Generally, marketing will do a brief rather than an in-depth plan. The breif is inclined to include simple, high-level information like “what” (a campaign, a finalist presentation, etc.), “deliverables” (a flyer, a PowerPoint deck, a direct response piece), “when” (when is it due) and a vague “purpose” (to create awareness or win business).

Well-designed marketing plans go into great detail, articulating the finest points of the initiative. Extending beyond just creative deliverables, the plan should include all teams and resources needed to achieve success. Comprehensive marketing plans that demonstrate a deep understanding of the business and how to improve the condition of the sales organization will gain the trust and buy-in from leadership. Best of all, they provide a roadmap to winning. 

Here is a simple guide to building powerful marketing plans that get results.

1. Situation Overview/Executive Summary. Either of these terms work as they serve the same purpose: What is the situation we find ourselves in that necessitates a marketing effort? This section should set the stage for the rest of the plan. What environment are we in? What market conditions exist that necessitate our action? What are impacts to the company, customers and partners that call for action? What are our competitors doing? Lastly, what is the current state of our company, its performance, opportunities, threats, competitive advantages and disadvantages, etc. 
2. Goal. This one is simple, but is often overlooked or is vaguely defined. Goals need to be very specific and should include both KPI’s and operational goals. By that I mean that marketing should measure response rates, engagement, clicks, etc., but must include goals for things like products sold, membership gained, customers retained, measurable achievement of a strategy priority, etc. There are real dollar values associated with achieving these goals that can be quantified. Operational goals will tell us the revenue gained and can then be compared to the marketing cost (see measures below for more). This is where most teams fall down. Whether that’s because marketing doesn’t want to be held accountable if their efforts fall short (I’ve seen this) or just aren’t comfortable guessing. It shouldn’t be a guess. By aligning with sales, marketing can get great information on the value of acquired business, understand common close ratios and have confidence in setting a goal that will achieve a positive ROI.
3. Strategy. Ask 10 marketing people to define strategy and you’ll get 10 different answers. The word “strategy” comes from the Greek strategia which means generalship. Compare that to the word “tactics” which has its origin in the Greek word tactica meaning arranged. Hence, our strategy should be the master plan, while the tactics are arranged to support the strategy. Most marketing teams are happier swimming around in tactics, which allows them to be creative and deliver materials that support the strategy that’s been defined by sales or someone else. Marketing must own the strategy along with sales. Strategy should include the following components:
   1. Target Market
      1. Identifying the target audience for the product/service offering is critical in that it defines what value-based need the customer has that the company aims to fill. Where in the customer journey do we plan to meet-up? Are we targeting a certain demographic, geographic, company size or business vertical of our total market pool?
      1. In addition to customer targeting, many B2B organizations have strategic partners who must be considered. For example, health insurance companies may offer a wide range of plans to the consumer, but almost all sales go through broker partners. It’s critical to include a unique marketing approach for these partners.
   1. Value Proposition
      1. How do our products or services create unique and superior value for our customers, collaborators and our own company? Define value not just in terms of features and benefits, but rather how those features and benefits create an offering for that specific customer that stands out from what the competition offers.
4. Tactics. Tactics should be selected and arranged to give us the greatest opportunity to reach our intended audience with a unique message that will resonate with them and help us achieve our goal.
   1. Product/Service. What are we selling? Include all aspects of the product or service that create value in the mind of the buyer. 
   1. Service. Separate from service as a primary sales offering, we have service as a benefit of the purchase. This could be post-sale support, warrantees, etc. 
   1. Brand. Include brand elements such as name, logos, packaging proposals, etc., but also brand associations, if appropriate. If your brand can claim social or emotional benefits to the buyer, leverage away. Things like stability, company history/years in business, prestige may matter to your buyers.
   1. Price. Price may or may not be included in B2B marketing plans. Many B2B organizations customize pricing so highly that it makes inclusion impractical within marketing deliverables. If price is a motivating factor or if the marketing effort is client-specific, it should be included and leveraged to full effect in the marketing of the product or service.
   1. Incentives. Any incentives for the customer or channel partners should be included. For customers, this may include things like discounts, rebates, rewards, etc. For channel partners, this may include bonuses, contests, advertising support, etc.
   1. Communications. Couple all the details above with the range of communications that will reach the target audience and make sure they’re measurable and you have a real winner.
   1. Distribution. Through what channels will the product or service be available?
5. Implementation of the Plan. Pulling the trigger on marketing deliverables does not constitute a robust implementation plan. Are there physical systems that need to be in place before launching a marketing effort? What about internal, organizational dynamics? Do teams need to be mobilized for the effort? The entire end-to-end process of executing any program must be detailed. 
6. Measures and Return on Investment. This is a critical step that both defines the success or failure of the current initiative, but also identifies performance gaps that must be closed for any future programs. As mentioned above, marketing should focus on KPI’s relative to the types of deliverables. In other words, if you’re doing programmatic you’ll want impressions, clicks, conversions, costs and reach. But you’ll also want to measure the value of the conversions which is the return on ad spend. In my book, nothing else matters. I could deliver marketing KPI’s that exceed all standard metrics by 20%, but if the marketing campaign loses money, what’s the point? Not every program will be a winner, but I shoot for 100-300% or better ROI. And don’t forget, there are often opportunities to course correct during a campaign. Plan check-ins on performance and make those changes to improve your chances of success. That could mean refining existing tactics, updating messaging or re-thinking the entire marketing mix.

Follow these steps to creating a marketing plan and you’ll be well on your way to delivering initiatives that will delight sales and get the kinds of bottom-line results that you can brag about.