Proving the Value of Your Marketing Plan
Your boss cares about one thing: results. If you’re trying to secure buy-in or funding, for your next campaign, show your boss your marketing plan is viable by clearly articulating your goals, providing persuasive metrics that show how your strategy will boost sales and increase ROI, and outlining the resources you’ll need to succeed.
1. Make Sure You’re on the Same Page
Begin by stating the goals of your campaign, and describe how these tie into the company’s goals. For example, if the company is trying to expand to new locations, show how your plan will engage prospective customers in those areas.
As you describe the goals of your campaign, be sure to explain any concept with which your boss might not be familiar, such as content marketing or marketing-qualified leads. After you explain each concept, ask if they have any questions. This is critical to keeping your boss focused throughout your presentation.
2. Ground Your Argument in Persuasive Metrics
If email marketing is central to your campaign’s success, don’t simply tell your boss, “email marketing is one of the most effective strategies for boosting ROI.” Tell them, “email marketing yields an average 4,300 percent return on investment,” cite the source of that metric, and explain the email marketing best practices you plan to employ. If you’re going to invest in video, explain that 64 percent of users are more likely to buy a product after viewing a video, or that video embedded in an email increases click-throughs by up to 300 percent.
3. Explain What Resources You’ll Need to Succeed
CEOs and C-suite executives are always hesitant about spending money. If, however, you explain clearly how those expenditures will be put to effective use and result in achieving the goals of the company, your boss will be more likely to loosen the purse strings.
Be sure to tell them about any internal or external staff you’ll need to help. If you need to work with a digital marketing agency, show your boss case studies that prove the value of that vendor. If you need to invest in HubSpot marketing automation software, explain how that software will help you achieve your goals. Finally, attaching specific dollar amounts to each requested expenditure will make your argument more credible.
Conclusion
You and your boss might approach marketing solutions from different perspectives, but you have one thing in common: you both want to succeed. Show them that you care as much as they do about the success of your business by doing your homework, checking your facts, and creating a presentation that is at once compelling, articulate, and easy to understand.
