083 The Problem With Your Marketing Plan

On this episode, let's talk about what the problem with your marketing plan might be in specifically three areas. Number one, calling it a “plan” might be a problem. Number two, it's actually a legendary marketing plan that is about more than just marketing. Lastly, number three, your relationship with your CFO and finance team might be a problem, but I'm hoping it won't be when we're done. Create A Marketing Framework Chris describes what a “plan” entails and how an actual marketing plan should be fluid and should be consistently open for changes and adjustments. He suggests calling it more of a “framework” than a plan. Lastly, he gave some important valuable points on which marketing activities to invest on. “So as you start thinking about planning and budgeting, put things into big buckets, but assume change. That's why calling it a framework might be a more powerful thing.” - Christopher Lochhead Involving Everyone On The Team A marketing plan (or framework) is more than just marketing. Chris describes how you should have a valuable relationship with the Head of Product or Engineering and Finance in plotting your plans for the company.  “Drive a highly cross functional process with the team, interacting with marketing, sales, finance, customer support, and potentially other organizations to gather their input.” -  Christopher Lochhead Develop a Relationship With The CFO Collaboration with other executives within your firm is very important in executing your marketing framework. Chris shares first hand experience as a CMO and how he developed a relationship with their CFO. He has some significant tips on how to adjust marketing investments that ultimately benefit Finance. “If you work well with your CFO, marketing can be a place to park cash.” -  Christopher Lochhead To know more about the problem with your marketing plan, download and listen to this episode. Bio: Christopher Lochhead is a #1 Apple podcaster and #1 Amazon bestselling co-author of books: Niche Down and Play Bigger. He has been an advisor to over 50 venture-backed startups; a former three-time Silicon Valley public company CMO and an entrepreneur. Furthermore, he has been called “one of the best minds in marketing” by The Marketing Journal, a “Human Exclamation Point” by Fast Company, a “quasar” by NBA legend Bill Walton and “off-putting to some” by The Economist. In addition, he served as a chief marketing officer of software juggernaut Mercury Interactive. Hewlett-Packard acquired the company in 2006, for $4.5 billion. He also co-founded the marketing consulting firm LOCHHEAD; was the founding CMO of Internet consulting firm Scient, and served as head of marketing at the CRM software firm Vantive. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Lochhead on Marketing™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe on Apple Podcast! You may also subscribe to his newsletter, The Difference, for some amazing content.