Your 1st 2015 Marketing Meeting Agenda

With the new year comes New Year's resolutions. One resolution that many business owners or marketers might be considering is: getting back on track with my online marketing.

You've probably heard it before...

When the new year starts we're going to start blogging again!

or...

We're definitely going to get our email marketing back up and running in January.

Yes, people say these things but they don't always happen. Just like many other resolutions they start to disappear after a couple of weeks. In regards to online marketing, it's got to stop. If you aren't serious about it your competition may be. Let's get 2015 off on the right track by starting your 1st marketing meeting off right.

Disclaimer: This meeting cannot be a "let's reflect on our Holidays and our time off" meeting. Do not schedule it for the first day back at the office. You'll need focus!

Disclaimer 2: This must be an effective meeting. What do I mean by that? 1) Have a clear objective. 2) Be sure that everyone that should be involved in marketing decisions is there (that means overall decision makers as well) 3.) Use the below agenda and stick to it. Additionally, start and end on-time. The time for this 1st meeting is 1 hour. 4.) Do not allow distracting mobile devices to be present. 5.) Send a recap including responsibilities and outcomes.

Disclaimer 3: ...just kidding. There's not another one.

Your 1st Marketing Meeting Agenda of 2015

1. Introductions And Overview/Why (Time/Duration: ________)

• In medium to large organizations, some of the team members may be meeting for the first time in this meeting. Make sure everyone knows everyone and their positions in the organization.
• Paint an overall picture of the environment you are currently operating in:
  • Competitive landscape (online and offline)
  • Overall sales projections and recent performance
  • Details on current marketing efforts
    • 2014 marketing successes
    • 2014 marketing failures
• Share the big picture view of what will result from a solid inbound marketing effort and what you view as a successful outcome

2. Business Objectives You Want The Marketing Efforts To Support (Time/Duration: ________)

• If you haven’t shared your company’s goals for the year, 2-3 years, etc… do so now to the extent that you can.
• Strategic goals for your 2015 marketing efforts. These must be measurable goals such as, increase online leads by 35%.

3. Group Discussion & Consensus List Of The Following Topics (Time/Duration: ________)

• What are some of the specific marketing tactics we'll use to achieve our strategic goals (content marketing, PPC, SEO, etc.)?
• Who will be in charge of these tactics?
• Will these tactics be handled in-house or outsourced?
• What can we do to ensure our strategies and tactics ARE ACTUALLY IMPLEMENTED?
• What will we do to measure effectiveness?

4. Recap, Assignments, Due Dates, Next Meeting (Time/Duration: ________)

• At this point in the meeting you will have had quite a bit of discussion and as a byproduct come up with many ideas/questions. Recap them.
• Be sure it is VERY clear who’s doing what for the next meeting (e.g., getting answer about this/that, finding current values for metrics a/b/c, etc…)
• Be sure it is VERY clear when you expect to have answers for each area, but let the team members have input on it.
• Schedule the next meeting to continue the process.