LiftOff Q&A: Smarter Annual Marketing Planning
Whether it’s your very first time making an annual marketing plan or you’ve been flexing your planning muscles for many years, the process can feel overwhelming. But it doesn’t need to be! With the right approach, it’s a great opportunity to set a clear vision for your business and gain alignment on key goals and strategies with the senior leadership at your organization.
For our clients with a fiscal year that follows the calendar, we’re about to enter the marketing planning season—a favorite time of year for our Client Strategy & Service Team. To help provide some planning tips and tricks, we sat down with two of our own marketing pros: John Kautz, Managing Director and Head of Client Strategy & Service and Jill Headley, SVP of Client Strategy & Service. Read on to get tips on planning prep, learn common mistakes to avoid, and discover how to make the most of your marketing budget.
Q: For clients just getting started with their annual marketing plans, what references should they have available before they begin to ensure a well-informed execution?
John Kautz: It’s important to come to the table with a business review of the past year—or even a few years—so you can see trends. You also need at least a draft of your future plans and goals. Are you launching new products or services? Are you sunsetting anything? Entering new markets or targeting new audiences? Being prepared to look back and look forward is a great place to start.
Jill Headley: I like to encourage our client partners to conduct a competitive and industry landscape assessment—even if they did one a year ago. Is a new company or product gaining market share? Did a new campaign or rebrand gain traction with customers? Could new partnerships aid in growth? What other macroeconomic forces impacting your competitors could create a near or long-term opportunity for your business?
John Kautz: And of course, don’t forget about the most recent year’s marketing performance—what worked, what didn’t, and what insight can you take into the new year?
Q: How does Buffalo Groupe help client partners during the planning process?
Jill Headley: The best support we can provide is to be their trusted partner. That means we strive to roll with their process, ask and answer hard questions, be their external sounding board, and help them meet tight deadlines and last minute demands.
John Kautz: Also, we bring not just monthly reports to the table but quarterly deep dives—whether it’s for digital marketing, PR, or creative work—so clients have a clear picture of the previous year’s performance.
And we bring senior strategists from multiple disciplines who can see beyond just marketing into broader business and industry trends. Because we work heavily in industries like sports, travel, and real estate, we’re tapped into audience insights and market trends that can shape the plan for the coming year and beyond.
Q: How far in advance should clients plan for the year ahead?
John Kautz: Ideally, start twelve weeks before the plan is due up the chain in your organization. That allows time for iteration and even “socializing” the budget with leadership before formal approval. It also gives the agency enough time to support you with data and recommendations.
Jill Headley: John is right; I’d especially push for twelve weeks in two specific instances:
1. If data or research is needed to fill in intelligence gaps
2. If it’s a time for “big thinking”
Some years, modest goals are perfectly acceptable, but when the company is sensing stagnation, more time may be needed to allow for creativity and innovation. This longer timeline allows for this additional thinking.
And honestly, that’s what we do best! We bring in our top strategists and leaders who can offer fresh insights and perspectives and deliver big thinking, original ideas, and creativity to the plan when a client team may be feeling stuck.
Q: What are your top tips for setting meaningful goals related to annual marketing plans?
John Kautz: Everyone knows the SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound), but the two areas that often get overlooked are:
• Measurable – Create a measurement plan upfront so you know exactly how you’ll track success. For digital marketing, it’s easy to measure lots of things—but make sure you consider which ones actually matter to your brand or business.
• Attainable – Be realistic about what can move the needle. Some businesses have clear leading indicators; others don’t. You need to know what’s realistically achievable and what “good” looks like.
Then, make sure there are regular milestones for reviewing performance—monthly, quarterly, whatever makes sense for your brand or business.
Q: When should you divide up the total marketing budget across various disciplines?
John Kautz: It may come as a surprise, but we believe budget allocation should come near the end of the process, not the beginning.
First, set your business goals. Then create strategies to reach them. Then determine the tactics that support those strategies. Once you know those pieces, you can allocate the budget accordingly. For example, if a particular goal has a 20% growth target, shouldn’t the budget supporting it increase too?
Jill Headley: I agree and will add that in an era of performance marketing, marketers may find themselves yielding to the siren’s call of loading up performance budgets to satisfy ROAS at the expense of building a brand. We get it! Performance marketing is measurable and responsive therefore less risky by nature (a CFO’s dream). But people buy from brands they trust, and that requires commitment, time, and ongoing investment beyond performance marketing.
Q: In your 30+ year careers, what are the biggest mistakes you see clients make with annual planning?
Jill Headley: First, building a marketing plan that is disconnected from the rest of the business plan. If marketing strategies and tactics are not designed to address the organizational challenges, opportunities, revenue production or even the pet projects of leadership, then your team and their work becomes non-essential to the organization.
Second, building a marketing plan that is disconnected from the customer. The whole purpose of marketing is to win hearts, minds and wallets which begins with customer intelligence! With proper focus and resource allocation, customer insights are relatively easy to obtain, analyze and transform into powerful insights that inform actionable marketing strategies.
John Kautz: The biggest one? Labeling anything as “contingency” in a budget. Instead, assign a clear purpose for every dollar. If you truly need flexibility, bake it into line items that are tied to specific goals. And certainly include enough budget within the year to “follow the data” toward creative or strategic iterations, as needed.
Final Takeaways
Annual planning is most successful when it’s:
• Started early (at least 12 weeks before first drafts are due to leadership)
• Grounded in last year’s business performance and next year’s goals
• Backed by clear measurement plans Focused on aligning strategies, tactics, and budgets
• Transparent—every dollar has a purpose
When you connect marketing to business outcomes, it’s easier to get the buy-in you need.
Want support building out the best marketing plan for your business?
Reach out to Buffalo Groupe to learn how we help brands plan with confidence.