Honest, transparent, achievable and attainable marketing planning.
As the saying goes, you can't expect to get different results if you continue to do the same thing over and over again. That's why I use a fantastic planning model to help my clients define their strategic approach. Familiar to all classically-trained marketers but adopted by very few organisations as it requires an honest and objective approach (which can open key stakeholders up to criticism). Many 'marketing plans' are developed without the necessary analysis, making them doomed to failure from the very outset.
I have found SOSTAC® to be a fantastic way to devise a great go-to-market strategy that works to achieve marketing objectives and develop your tactics while being robust and fluid enough to allow for continuous assessment and adaptation.
What I love most about the SOSTAC® planning model is that it is the perfect way to break down the complexities of a marketing plan into tangible actions that all key stakeholders have a say in developing and have an element of control over. It facilitates the delegation of tasks across an organisation, allows for accountability, plays to individuals' strengths and skillsets, and encourages collaboration. It's a no-brainer as far as I am concerned!
By incorporating your organisation's values, current resources, and customer needs, the SOSTAC® planning model helps you create a unique and right plan for your business.
So, what exactly is SOSTAC®?
SOSTAC® is an acronym that stands for:
Situation Analysis
Objectives
Strategy
Tactics
Action
Control
An honest exploration of each of these areas can help develop a route to success and help guide you through creating tangible, practical and realistic aims and objectives.
Using the SOSTAC® model
The model can be used for several different areas of planning; I will focus on how it can be used to develop a digital marketing strategy. I will break down for you what every stage involves when it comes to digital marketing, giving you a flavour of what you can expect from working with The Digital CMO.
Situational Analysis
What macro and micro forces are influencing your organisation's current standing?
What is your current (digital) marketing position?
What's worked and what hasn't worked?
This is the perfect time for you to conduct a SWOT analysis (Strengths Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats), competitor review, an examination of your audience(s) and the creation of buyer persona(s), and the perception of your brand for internal and external stakeholders. Do you have access to independent industry research? All of these elements combine to give a detailed view of your current situation.
As we start 2021 in the middle of a global pandemic, your organisation's current position is undoubtedly very different from what it was at the beginning of 2020. Like it or not, the COVID-19 pandemic provides a great example of how the external (macro) environment can impact trading conditions and your route to market.
Objectives
What is your vision for the future of your organisation?
In light of your situational analysis, what improvements do you need to see in your organisation’s current performance in order to achieve success?
If you need to pivot your business model to ensure you remain buoyant, setting SMART objectives (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Time-specific) can help you develop a clear pathway to success. With realistic milestones that facilitate progress and allow for continuous assessment, your objectives should be designed to reduce overwhelm and increase productivity; in small achievable steps.
Strategy
This is where the action happens! Now that we have assessed your situation and developed your (SMART) objectives, how will you get there? Crucial to all marketing plans (no matter the planning model), this is the strategy that will summarise how you will achieve success.
Key to this is your approach to:
Segmentation - how do you want to divide up your target market?
Targeting - what segments/verticals of the market do you want to focus on initially to gain traction?
Positioning - how do you want your brand to be perceived in different verticals?
Looping back to the first phase of the planning process when we delved into your different buyer personas, it is at the strategic stage of the SOSTAC® planning process where your different buyer personas come into their own.
Tactics
This is where we start to get our hands dirty (and is my favourite part of the planning process)! Now you have defined your strategic approach, how exactly will you execute it?
What communication tools will be used?
What is your message, and is it consistent across all channels?
What content will you develop and what channels will you use to promote it?
Will you adopt digital display advertising? If so, what type and what is your budget?
Are you present on social media? If so what is your reach and engagement? What can you do to grow your audience and increase brand awareness?
Do you have the team in place to execute your strategy? If the answer is no, do you have access to freelance resource you can trust to help you get to where you need to be?
The choice of channels and tactics is growing daily, giving you great freedom to test different approaches to succeed.
Actions
This is where you delegate responsibility to all key stakeholders responsible for executing your plan. All parties will understand their responsibilities, and it is crucial that all individuals and agencies collaborate to achieve the same goal and that software and timescales are aligned. Working in an agile way with regular status meetings and adopting the latest technology that encourages collaboration is my favoured approach - and it works!
Pointers include:
Who is going to do what?
What are the deadlines?
What is the resource allocation for each activity?
What are your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)?
How are you going to track performance?
Control
How will you know if you are achieving our SMART objectives? The control section of the (digital) marketing plan identifies how performance will be monitored by referring back to your KPIs. This section links to the objectives section of the plan. If you are working with The Digital CMO, then my role will be to bring all of this activity together every month, providing the opportunity for formal review in reports and meetings.
Does activity relate to your SMART objectives?
How are you measuring performance?
Have you tested different audiences and optimised activity accordingly?
Will further messaging work better to help you hit the sweet spot with your activity?
Do your KPIs need adjustment?
Has your situation changed, and are your objectives still relevant?
Working in a truly collaborative, transparent and honest way, SOSTAC®, when used correctly, can inform all aspects of the planning cycle. It facilitates agile working practices and elicits trust with my clients. Collaborative working and transparency are crucial to success, so all parties are clear on what needs to be done, how it needs to be done, and their responsibilities. When new information is presented in analysis and research, the plan can be redefined, adapted and improved.
Looking for a Strategic Marketing Partner?
If you are looking for different results, or you need help formulating your marketing strategy and don't know where to begin, The Digital CMO can help. If you have a project you would like to discuss, send me a message and we can schedule a time to chat.