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Fall 2012 B2B Newsletter

Dear B2B marketer:

Turning past Labor Day always makes me reflective. The gardener in me gets wistful as the last flowers bloom, the Minnesotan in me fears the first snowfall—and the marketer in me starts gearing up for the inevitable busy season as offices fill up after summer vacations and cabin Fridays.

Thriving during any transition means looking forward, not back. The start of Q4 is a great time to review progress on annual goals and start planning for 2013. At home and work, I take time for “fall cleaning” to get organized for the months ahead.

Even these small steps create positive momentum.

Diane

P.S. If you haven’t visited the new ThinkSpring office space in St. Louis Park yet, drop by when you’re in the area or contact me to set up a time for coffee or our next project discussion.

 

Diane Fiderlein

Diane Fiderlein
Marketing strategist and founder ThinkSpring Marketing

FRESH THINKING

Build your best marketing budget

Six tips to smooth the process and win approval

Build your best marketing budgetAfter six years of marketing consulting, I am still surprised by the number of sophisticated, established companies that operate without a marketing plan or formal budget. Whether your organization requires it or not, the budget process is a smart investment.

Good budgets achieve the three Cs

Developing a budget is about more than just numbers; its an exercise in consensus, credibility and confidence. Consensus comes as the organization agrees to marketing goals and priorities; credibility builds as marketing outlines measurable activities and past results; and confidence occurs as stakeholders see a clear link between their priorities and how marketing will support them.

A sound budget:

  • Aligns marketing efforts with organizational goals.

  • Empowers marketing staff with clear priorities and spending parameters.

  • Streamlines the execution of marketing campaigns.

  • Enables strategic relationships and volume discounts with key suppliers.

Beware of fast-track methods

There are several approaches to budgeting, and the strongest starts from scratch. Beware of fast-track methods that simply increase or decrease last year’s total by a percentage, or base marketing expenses on a percentage of revenue. Macro changes like these rarely account for fluctuations in sales, one-time expenses such as product launches or acquisitions, or efficiencies gained by automation and testing. These approaches also undermine connectivity—the critical process of showing how the proposed budget number correlates to a desired outcome.

Ideally, build the marketing budget from the ground up. List proposed activities, identify a cost range for each and group them in meaningful categories, such as by market segment or product line. For measurable elements such as lead generation campaigns or events, show outcomes. Then combine your financial spreadsheet with a short narrative that tells the story of your request.

Link budget requirements to minimum and stretch goals

Leverage these additional steps to ditch the drama and achieve a smooth budget process.

1. Measure and plan all year long. Budgeting just once a year makes for an arduous workload. Save yourself time by tracking key expenses, campaign results and future ideas as you go. Schedule a day once a quarter to review and organize your information in preparation for your annual planning cycle.

Forrester Survey2. Make finance happy.  It goes with out saying that if your ultimate approvers have preferred templates or formats, you should use them. Talk to finance early to understand their timing, required information and ideal budgeting process.

3. Involve stakeholders. While marketing controls the budget, it belongs to the organization. The biggest factor in determining the right numbers and gaining support is involving stakeholders. Allow adequate time to meet with each sales team and product manager to learn their needs for the coming year. Work collaboratively and dig for specifics that will impact the marketing budget, such as product launches, new sales territories, expansion into new markets or emerging competitive threats.

4. Be sensible about scope.  Budgeting contains too many unknowns to predict line items down to the last nickel or request binding proposals from vendors. Instead, use historical costs to develop estimates. For new initiatives or technology purchases, look for industry research. And don’t hesitate to involve agency partners in your planning process—sharing your goals can yield valuable insights on most the cost-effective approach to execution.

5. Prioritize your requests.  Don’t leave it up to others to determine which activities are most important. Clearly show how your requests support sales and revenue targets. Calculate the minimum investment required to reach targets, as well as what it will take to achieve stretch goals. Providing this context makes it harder to eliminate line items and may enable you to request additional funding as you demonstrate results.

6. Don’t take it personally.  Remember that budgeting, like all corporate initiatives, requires both action and diplomacy. Prepare for compromise and be willing to work collaboratively. Expect questions from stakeholders, take time to educate them on the rationale behind your requests and don’t react defensively.

Good communication and adequate planning time make for an efficient and positive budget process. Once your plan is approved, maintain the same transparency with stakeholders by communicating progress and results.

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FROM THE SPRINGBOARD

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Check out Seen+Heard on Fridays for a link to some of the best B2B marketing thinking on the web.

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About ThinkSpring Marketing
ThinkSpring Marketing delivers sound strategy to improve marketing effectiveness, resolve issues, launch products, and generate confidence and momentum. Founder Diane M. Fiderlein helps business-to-business companies make big ideas manageable with a practical, “under the hood” approach to marketing readiness that creates a springboard for results.

Contact Diane M. Fiderlein to develop a plan, advise on strategy, or launch your next great idea.

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