3 Ways to Improve Marketing Performance With Your Executive Superpowers

Q: Why do we do things like:

• Automate manufacturing processes
• Replace manual labor with machinery
• Use a calculator instead of long-form division
• Train our dogs to fetch beer so we don't have to get off the couch?

A: Less waste. Bigger ROI. More efficient. So satisfying.

Turns out, you can automate your business growth to improve marketing performance (just like an CNC manufacturing line or beer dog). But improving revenue is only the beginning - automated business growth means you can focus on your executive responsibilities, get home in time for dinner, and ultimately pass a more valuable business to your children or a buyer. (Get the full rundown here.)

Improve Marketing Performance With Your Executive Superpowers

You're an executive (or pretty darn high up in the food chain). You don't have time for writing blog posts or posting on social media or analyzing keywords. Here are three things you can do to improve marketing performancewith limited time, extensive influence, and administrative expertise.

1.  Approve a Qualified Marketing Manager

Getting Sally from HR to handle your marketing sounds like a great move, but you probably won't see much ROI from her efforts. Marketing performs best when handled by an expert (like most things in life). It takes time and/or money to create a qualified marketer - so be prepared to invest in talent.

What makes someone qualified to handle your marketing? Here's some info on insourcing vs. outsourcing your marketing.

2.  Approve a Healthy Budget

Marketing is definitely a case of "you get out what you put into it." It requires a decent investment up front, but it quickly pays for itself (and then some). You have to find the strength to let go of that money now so you can see a lot more in the future.

Not sure how much to invest in your marketing? The Small Business Administration published an article on budgeting for marketing, saying:

1. Many businesses allocate a percentage of actual or projected gross revenues – usually between 2-3% for run-rate marketing and up to 3-5% for start-up marketing.

2. The allocation depends on industry, the size of your business, and its growth stage. 

3. Small businesses with revenues less than $5M should allocate 7-8% of their revenues to marketing.

4. This budget should be split between brand development costs and the costs of promoting your business.

5. This percentage also assumes you have margins in the range of 10-12% (after you’ve covered your other expenses, including marketing). If your margins are lower than this, then you might consider eating more of the costs of doing business by lowering your overall margins and allocating additional spending to marketing. It’s a tough call, but your marketing budget should never be based on just what’s left over once all your other business expenses are covered.
   
   

3.  Promote Marketing Ownership Throughout Your Organization

If everyone's invested, everyone will work together to get results. Marketing affects more than your yearly revenues - it can also impact your employees' wages, benefits, and career advancement opportunities.

It's in everyone's best interests to make the marketing machine run smoothly. You can promote ownership by:

• Inviting leaders from all over the organization to participate in marketing meetings
• Taking all input and feedback seriously
• Taking advantage of hidden talent when you see it

Teamwork makes the dream work. 

Executive Decisions

While you won't be in the weeds implementing your marketing strategy, you can still have a major impact on the ROI it produces. Your marketing strategy cannot move forward or succeed if you don't:

1. Find a qualified marketer to handle your strategy
2. Take the plunge - invest enough to actually get results
3. Inspire your employees to get involved in business growth (in their own ways!)

Believe it or not, we have a few executives here at protocol 80. If they didn't check these boxes, well, you probably wouldn't be reading this post. 

Not convinced? Here's a case study showing the impact of an expert manufacturing marketing strategy over just six months. You can also download the case study here.