Having worked in the restaurant industry, I can tell you that most bars and restaurants have a staffing plan that basically calls for more staff when there’s more likelihood of high demand. To me, shocks help explain why a lot of what marketers go through in the planning process is silly, wasteful and even dangerous. At 2:00 PM. MORE >>

Later, evaluate each program to see if it should be in your final strategic marketing plan. In large companies where each marketing program has its own manager, you can link your main strategic marketing mind map to each program's own planning mind map. Tags: Strategic Marketing Plan Selecting effective marketing programs. MORE >>

As B2B marketers enter the 2012 strategic planning season and begin shaping executional plans, it is important that we get it right. The goal is to create a strategy that survives the full year (and beyond) and gives you a framework for more tactical planning, execution and optimization. Value. Time and resources. Alignment. MORE >>

The marketing planning process is – judging from our conversations with members to the traffic on our website – one of the stickiest parts of managing brands. To summarize our advice, becoming a rockstar marketing planner requires two things: Understanding marketing planning. Building an actionable plan. MORE >>

Every good strategic marketing plan includes two elements: strategic direction and plans for moving the company in the new direction. Unfortunately, many companies can't seem to convert their marketing strategy into the marketing plans that guide their day-to-day marketing programs. Completing the strategic marketing plan. MORE >>