Strategic Planning Roadmap: Start Here

Are you tired of feeling like your marketing efforts are going nowhere? Do you wish there was a clear roadmap for your team to follow? At Two Rivers Marketing, we’ve developed a five-step strategic planning process to ensure that our clients have an integrated, smart, and compelling plan to follow.

We’ll walk you through the steps and show you how a strategic plan can change your marketing game. Download the complete planning process roadmap with start-to-finish directions for your team.

Step 1: Set Goals and Objectives

In this step, we ask the question, “Where are we going?” The answers should clearly state the goals and objectives of the project so everyone can focus on achieving them. Two Rivers works with our clients to clearly state one or more marketing communication objectives that align with your business goals so each is actionable and measurable.

Each goal and objective should include a singular focus, key metric, timeframe, budget, and — most importantly — a compelling reason why that goal or objective is important.

Step 2: Understand the Situation

In this step, we ask the question, “Where are we now?” The answer will help us better prepare for the work needed to achieve success. We’ll do what’s needed to understand and document your market, your competition, and your customers.

Typical actions here include auditing past efforts, reviewing available data, mapping the customer experience and sales channels, and talking to key stakeholders.

Step 3: Identify Obstacles

In this step, we the question, “What stands in our way?” The answers explain what could prevent or delay the project’s success. Mapping those obstacles helps us devise marketing, media, and communication strategies to overcome them.

To do that, Two Rivers helps our clients achieve a thorough understanding of barriers in areas like the current market climate, customer preferences, customer challenges, and internal dynamics.

Step 4: Determine Strategies and Tactics

In this step, we ask the question, “How will we get there?” The answer is our action plan. Working within the project’s budget and timeline, the Two Rivers team uses the information obtained in the first three steps to tailor success-driven strategies and tactics from our full suite of services. Which often means brainstorming!

This work may include timelines, budget overviews, an outline of responsibilities, and a full list of strategies and tactics.

Step 5: Measure and Adapt

Finally, we ask the question, “How will we track progress?” The answer is in the key metrics we chose in Step 1. Two Rivers uses a variety of tools to regularly measure those metrics to see if we’re on track to achieving success.

If we are on track, we keep doing what’s working — but we’ll also keep measuring the metrics to make sure we stay on course. If we are not on track, we’ll study why certain tactics aren’t performing as we hoped and strategize for better results.

Let’s Talk

As a client, there’s a lot you can do to prepare for annual strategic planning. Check out our checklist of important inputs for the strategic planning process.

Ready to discover what’s possible with proper planning? Reach out to Two Rivers and let’s drive change for your business.