Call it intuition or instinct, that “I know this will work” feeling is often all you need to make the right decisions in life.
But marketing is different.
Relying on a hunch is not a reliable option. What you need to succeed is an educated marketing plan to guide your marketing effort.
If marketing planning is about making informed decisions, you must stay updated with the latest trends. And you must keep up with a rapidly changing marketing landscape.
This article explores the importance of data-driven decisions, trends, and marketing technology. Its goal is to help you get the most from your marketing plan.
But before we begin…
The Power of Data-Driven Decisions
As a CMO or marketer, you’ll have to agree that data is the foundation of informed decision-making in modern marketing. You have to leverage data to create an effective marketing plan.
For example, collecting market research data can help you with strategic analysis, goal setting, and choosing a marketing strategy. And if you study your customer behavior data, you can limit targeting errors.
In other words, data brings you clarity. It unravels complexity and makes the marketing planning process (almost) fun.
How does data affect your marketing plan?
Data affects many aspects of your marketing plan because it’s the key to predicting your customer’s future behaviors. It gives insight into your customers, making your marketing plan more realistic.
What’s more, data gives a new dimension to your marketing plan. Chiefly, it offers a more granular view of your marketing spend. For example, your funnel data (lead gen, lead attrition, and customer lifetime value) helps evaluate how much you should spend on each marketing channel.
Finally, data reinforces your assumptions, helping you develop a marketing plan with foresight. Used well, your data will guide you toward the highest possible return on investment (ROI).
What’s the most valuable data for marketing planning?
The most valuable data for marketing planning includes customer demographics, purchase history, and campaign performance data. You can make data-driven decisions about your marketing budget, KPIs, and strategy using these data points.
Consider leveraging the following KPIs to create a winning marketing plan:
- Marketing ROI – to know how effective your marketing effort is
- Traffic to MQLs – to understand which platforms are performing best
- Number of marketing content – to know exactly how much you’re producing
- Conversion rate – to set realistic and precise marketing goals
Using Market Trends for Effective Marketing Planning
You may be in trouble if you ignore market trends before you put together your marketing plan.
Whenever you put a plan together, having the ability to look far into the future and “predict” what might happen is invaluable. Putting together a marketing plan is no different.
Now, that doesn’t mean you have to be clairvoyant, but you need to be able to read the signs.
So, how do you read market trends to create a marketing plan?
There are many ways to read market trends. The most effective for marketing planning is consumer sentiment.
The consumers give you a profound knowledge of what they value and, in turn, help you envision what is to come.
To stay ahead of the curve, you should invest in the tools and resources necessary to understand your customers. This could include conducting customer surveys, analyzing customer data, and using customer relationship management software (CRM).
Today, consumers expect different things from brands. For example, studying millennials’ and Gen Z’s buying patterns can help you put things in perspective.
How do you read market trends to create a solid marketing plan?
Reading market trends boils down to knowing your customers (which we discussed above) and understanding your competition.
You can analyze your competition by asking the right questions:
- How is my competition accomplishing its goals?
- How are they reaching out to their audience?
- What are they doing that we’re not?
- Can we use their strengths to make our marketing more efficient?
- Where are they advertising?
- Who is their target audience?
- How have their products/services evolved over time?
- What product/service features are they focusing on?
That’s a lot of questions to answer. But it’s the only way to “predict” market shifts and foresee the future state of your industry.
Choosing the Right Technology for
Marketing Planning
The marketing landscape is ever-changing, so choosing the right technology is becoming crucial. In the future of marketing planning, marketers will need to effectively use technology to stay ahead of the curve.
Marketing technology includes a greater emphasis on personalization, automation, and artificial intelligence. To choose the right technology, you must consider your organization’s specific needs and marketing budget.
Here are some of the best practices for using technology in marketing planning:
- using scenario planning to determine the impact of different technologies
- choosing technology that integrates with existing systems
- focusing on technology that drives ROI and growth
Get a Grip on Your Marketing Budget for Better Planning
As one of the leading MarTech platforms worldwide, MARMIND can help elevate your marketing organization and control. It’s a marketing cockpit that enables you to steer your marketing effort in real-time. It combines plans, budgets, and results in one platform, making it easier for you to develop your marketing plan.
Conclusion
The future of marketing planning is all about making informed decisions based on data, understanding customers, and choosing the right technology. As a CMO or marketing head, it’s your job to guide your organization toward success. So, staying up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices is crucial.
By leveraging data, understanding your customers, and choosing the right technology, you can increase your brand authority, drive ROI and growth, and stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly changing marketing landscape.
Author
Peter Fechter
Peter is Digital Marketing Manager at MARMIND and mainly responsible for website and lead management. When he's not busy creating content, he is developing new strategic approaches for campaign planning.
In this video, we show you the 5 main features of MARMIND’s budget & cost module – and how it can be used in the best way for your marketing purposes:
- Top-Down Budget Planning
- Spend Management & Forecasting (Bottom-up Basis)
- Set up reconciliations from actual costs to planned/committed costs
- How to set up scenarios
- How you can integrate budget forecasts, ROI and performance KPIs into other views and into reports