An Entrepreneur’s Compass: The Power Of A Strategic Marketing Road Map

This article originally appeared on Forbes.com as one of Christine Pilkington's contributions as a member of Forbes Business Council. You can find the original article linked at the bottom of the piece.?

As a fractional CMO, I’m often called in to help when a prospective client—usually an astute business leader—has a complex marketing problem. It might be that they’re not sure if they have the right team to take the company to the next stage of growth. They might wonder if they are maximizing the technology in their marketing stack. Or perhaps they are unclear on whether their marketing strategy is actually working. Generally, these entrepreneurs are paralyzed: afraid of making a mistake, but not sure where to start. In these situations, no matter the size, industry or level of revenue, I recommend building a marketing road map.

What’s a marketing road map?

For our purposes, I’ll make this distinction between some commonly used terminology: Marketing strategies tend to be focused on a marketing initiative, such as a campaign or product launch. It’s a go-to-market strategy focused on how marketing intends to approach that initiative. The companion marketing plan would outline the steps to implement that strategy with date-specific tasks and milestones.

A marketing road map, on the other hand, zooms out and looks at the department overall in the context of the enterprise. In addition to campaigns and day-to-day marketing tasks, it should consider the following:

• Marketing people: Do you have the right team on the field? Whether it’s internal hires or external agencies, does your company have the optimum mix of skills and experience to power your business needs?

• Marketing tech stack: Are you maximizing technology to its fullest potential, and do you have the right mix? Is it configured properly?

• Marketing operations: What systems and processes are in place to increase productivity and the department’s overall success?

• Business transformation and change management: Once you’ve identified gaps, how will you manage the transition? What specific initiatives must be undertaken and in what order?

Ultimately, your road map will outline a series of projects and people required, along with timing and budget, to help you manage that change process.

Why does it matter?

In the whirlwind of business dynamics, a road map stands as a beacon of clarity, aligning teams with a shared vision and purpose. It transcends abstract goals, shaping them into tangible projects that foster unity and provide clear direction. Often overlooked, this indispensable tool translates goals into actionable initiatives, ensuring smoother operations across departments.

The road map can also catalyze innovation and change, steering away from ad hoc efforts. It diagnoses operational gaps and guides resource optimization, strategically directing hiring and other core business activities.

Finally, it serves as a persuasive tool, outlining key metrics and key performance indicators, becoming unequivocal proof of return on investment. This strategic document galvanizes support across the organizational spectrum, acting as a bridge between marketing and your board or leadership team, quelling skepticism and contributing to the company’s broader vision.

How do I create a marketing road map?

The marketing road map itself is unimpressive in its format: It’s generally a spreadsheet with a few key columns or line items on a project management board. The hard work is all in the preparation:

Develop problem statements.

While you may have a sense of what needs to be fixed, you may not have the full picture. I recommend workshopping with your teams to understand target audiences, value propositions, competition and more, while also carefully looking out for marketing blind spots. It’s important to agree on the key problems—generally, there are a handful—you are trying to solve and then put them into words using what I call a problem statement. These statements can be fairly broad: “I don’t know if we have the right mix of people and skills on our marketing team.” Or more specific: “Our conversion at checkout is low. We would like to improve it.”

Identify activity streams.

Once you understand the problems, you can map out the high-level activity streams needed to solve them. This might be a larger project to look at the marketing team structure, identify a new customer relationship management system, undergo a brand refresh or any initiative that might aid in achieving the company’s business objectives or address the problem statements.

Plot out projects.

Finally, you want to break down the activity streams into specific projects. For example, we determined that one of our clients—the head of marketing—had too much on his plate and was unnecessarily doing media buying. From there, we defined a stream to identify and hire an outside media buying agency. However, searching for an agency, initiating them and then ultimately removing this from his plate spanned several quarters. By scheduling the projects—also often called rocks—into quarters, you simplify reporting and make the overall process easier to keep track of.

Don’t forget to update it.

Your marketing road map should span a whole year. However, ad hoc projects will pop up from time to time. Be flexible and use your discretion to update the road map on a regular basis. Just be discerning and honor the original priorities set out at the beginning of the planning process.

In the relentless pursuit of entrepreneurial success, a marketing road map emerges as the unsung hero. It not only mitigates common objections but becomes the cornerstone for strategic growth. Picture a car heading out onto an open road without a map—it might take the long way or arrive at a completely wrong location. Similarly, a business without a marketing road map risks meandering on sideroads. As you navigate the entrepreneurial highway, let your marketing road map be the compass that guides you to success, ensuring every effort drives you closer to your business goals.

This article was originally published here.