Marketing plan presentations need to be a continual work in progress

If you expect to be asked to one day present your marketing plan to colleagues, directors and other stakeholders then start preparing now. Even if you think that the task is some time off, or may perhaps not even happen, start preparing now.

The act of presenting makes us sharper business people. It forces us to really think about what we are doing, why we are doing it and what outcomes we are striving to achieve.

Marketing is a function which is continually under the spotlight. When times are good we are expected to deliver growth. When times are bad marketing can face criticism and cuts, deserved or otherwise.

As we have seen in recent years, things can change very quickly. Pandemics and wars added to many other factors have produced a volatile and continually changing business environment. When markets change businesses must be aware of those changes and makes adjustments as required.

Marketing people at all levels need to have the ability to articulate well. Very often the focus of marketing communications is on people outside of the company through advertising and social media. As marketers, we can be so busy in the day-to-day activities that we can struggle when asked fairly basic questions about what we are doing and why when asked by business owners and senior people. In such moments we can lose credibility. We must learn to be good communicators to both external and internal audiences.

The lesson is that no matter how busy we are we need to devote some time to prepare for that unexpected visit, phone call, web meeting, or even water cooler moment when someone important asks a direct question.

To present your marketing plan well, you first need to have a plan. Marketing plans can range from the most basic ‘back of the napkin’ type to highly in-depth. The main thing is to have some sort of plan that you can articulate clearly and concisely. People need to ‘get it’ quickly. Marketing has perhaps more of its share of jargon and complex concepts. It is easy for people to lose interest quickly. We need to adjust what we are saying and what we are showing depending on who we are talking to. Each presentation must start by understanding the audience and what their needs are.

Approaching presenting in this way helps to make us agile and adaptable communicators. We learn the importance of providing information to people in a way that they will be able to access it, view it, absorb it and share it with other decision-makers.

Hargreaves Marketing design and produce marketing plan presentations and also provide coaching on how to deliver marketing plan presentations and handle question and answer sessions. Should you need help in developing marketing plans, we can help with that too. For more information, please contact Adrian Hargreaves.