Joonas Hakkarainen
Processes might feel boring. The word can evoke images of rigid hierarchies, endless checklists, and a loss of the creativity that fuels marketing. However, when implemented effectively, processes amplify creativity and drive marketing efficiency. They help you elevate your marketing function to world-class status. In this article, I explore why the fear and prejudices towards the processes exist and why it’s crucial to identify, document and follow your core processes.
The stigma surrounding processes in marketing
In my experience, processes often carry a negative stigma in marketing. While their value is acknowledged, many teams still resist implementing or adhering to them completely. The main reason is that many marketers think process equals training manual or step-by-step instructions. Some fear that processes mean strict instructions, stifling creativity and autonomy. However, effective processes are designed to empower, not constrain.
Overly detailed processes can stifle motivation. The idea is not to create a training manual to be followed 100 % on autopilot. Instead, focus on defining the desired outcomes and exit criteria for each step of the process. This empowers individuals to leverage their expertise. What is the targeted outcome of each step? What are the exit criteria to be met? How to achieve these outcomes is then left to the individual's knowledge, skills, and experience.
Many marketing leaders and teams say they do have processes in place. But the question is, are they documented and followed by everyone?
Lack of documented core processes is often a root cause of ad hoc, unclear roles and responsibilities and vague expectations
What if there are no documented and defined processes at all? Well, if you’re a team of 1-5 people, you might do just fine. If the roles and responsibilities are clear, just have the weekly meetings and that’s it. As marketing teams expand, the absence of clear processes inevitably leads to things getting complicated. If there are no clear processes on, for example, goal-setting, planning or go-to-markets and ABM, it often leads to ad hoc, unclear roles and responsibilities and struggles in proving the value of marketing to business. It leads teams to focus on one campaign at the time instead of seeing the bigger picture.
If the campaign planning is done on the go, launches are often postponed. If we don’t have a process in yearly planning and we lack clear goal-setting, how do we know whether we succeeded or not? And how to build the bridge between marketing and business outcomes?
However, not everything you do in marketing should have a documented process. The core process is something that happens repeatedly and in which you need to excel. It’s the mechanism that helps you achieve your vision for marketing and bring value to the business. There are typically a handful of them in marketing, 3 to 5 most important ones.
Core processes give marketers a tool to stay focused and say no
Documented core processes give marketing function a common way of working. If anything about the most important process is unclear, you can double-check it. When onboarding a new person, they smoothen the start from the get go. Also, they help you to shift your focus from single campaigns and activities to the bigger picture of marketing. You as a leader have one more tool to see how the function is performing related to the yearly priorities and targets.
We cannot live completely without ad hoc. But we can manage it if we have clear priorities. That’s one of the key things in clear processes. For example, when the yearly plan is good and built following a documented planning process and the goals for the year are clear, it gives marketers a tool to navigate through busy periods and question ad hoc requests from stakeholders. When facing requests, you have a tool to ask “Why is this important? Does this support our this year’s priorities that further support business targets? If not, can this wait for a better moment?” If this tool is missing, it’s easy to fill in your calendar with different requests.
What are the core processes in marketing?
There’s no right or wrong answer and every function should identify their most important ones. Typically, the most valuable for marketing functions include:
- Planning process:
How do we make plans for a year, a quarter and a month? What answers should each plan answer? How to make sure the plans align with business priorities? - Goal-setting process:
What is a good goal? How to make sure the goal aligns with business results? What format should the goal have? SMART? Who is accountable for the goal and who can change it? - Campaign planning process:
What is the objective of a campaign? What is the target audience and the key message? What is the timeline? What are the roles and responsibilities for each participant involved in the campaign? How to execute the campaign? - A GTM or ABM process:
Where is marketing’s support needed the most? What are we aiming to achieve there? What do we need to know before moving to the value proposition and roadmap? What are the exit criteria and time estimates for each step of the planning?
Read more about the most important processes and operating models in marketing.
Summary
Overcome the prejudices towards processes by defining them clearly, documenting them and most importantly, making sure they are followed by everyone. Not all processes need to be documented but the ones you see are directly contributing to bringing value to the business. Process should not equal a training manual in marketing. Focus on the outcomes and exit criteria. They give your team a way to do things the right way. And it provides you, as a leader, clarity to lead your team or function.
Read our case article and learn how we helped our client and their multi-regional marketing function elevate their campaign performance by a new planning process.
Ready to transform your marketing function? Discover how we can help you implement effective core processes.
