Where should marketing leaders focus their limited time and energy? Let’s take a moment to pause and reflect.
- A recent survey by Brandmaker posed an interesting question to CMOs: “Which of the following activities would you and your team like to spend more time on?”
- Two answers tied for first place: marketing strategy and marketing operations.
- Scott Brinker is not surprised: “If there are two overarching responsibilities for marketing leaders, they are (1) deciding on the right things to do and (2) doing them right.”
- Brinker makes a good point. But our theory is that if you phrased that question differently and asked CMOs what they’re actually doing all day, the answers would be quite different.
- So what are the pitfalls that are getting in the way of these big responsibilities? And what can you do avoid them? Let’s review a few.
- Common pitfall #1: too many meetings.
- Mitigation tip: Consult this handy flowchart to answer the question “Should this be a meeting”? And encourage your team to do the same.
- Common pitfall #2: Bright shiny new things.
- Mitigation tip: Follow your strategy, not your whims.
- Common pitfall #3: Poor prioritization
- Mitigation tip: download our prioritization workbook for marketing leaders and sharpen your to-do list.
- Our takeaway from Brandmaker survey—we all know what we should be doing. The real work lies staying focused and skipping over the hurdles that stand in your way. Master that skill and nothing can stop you.
