The marketing plan is complete, leadership and your team are aligned… now you’re ready to execute. Execution is undeniably the hardest part.

You don’t have to look any further than the 10/18/15 meeting of the Patriots and our beloved Indianapolis Colts to understand that. (I won’t rehash what happened, just click the link if you don’t know).

My point is… execution is hard and even the best plans fall short if you don’t have the team and strategies aligned. Here are some tips that I’ve used along the way to help align the function and execute on plan.

1. Operate like a PMO (Project Management Office)
   • Excellent project management skills are crucial to your function’s success.
   • Document your ongoing tactics and campaigns in an online format that can be accessed by everyone.
   • Use this document to kickoff all 1:1 and Team Meetings so that you can focus on the outcomes you need to be driving on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis.
2. Use technology to stay organized and transparent
   • Take advantage of affordable software like Smartsheet and Trello.
3. Pass responsibility to functional owners
   • Make sure functional owners are responsible for their tactical plans.
   • Not only does this add an additional layer of investment, it’s also a good way to assess professional development and potential skill gaps.
4.  KPI’s for everyone on your team
   • This can get tricky when you’re talking to a graphic designer but trust me…everyone needs to know how they are being measured and what KPI’s your using to determine success.
   • Make sure everyone on the team knows each other’s KPI’s so they can help motivate and assist their colleagues.
5. Keep your team energized
   • Execution can be a marathon, not a sprint, so make sure you’re finding ways to energize your team along the way. For example:
     • Continually invest in their professional development
     • Celebrate milestones along the way
6. Don’t skip on the evaluation of campaigns, tactics and team
   • Take time to evaluate wins/losses on a monthly and quarterly basis.
   • Pay attention not only to the KPI’s, but also the resources (including people) that contributed.

Leading a team and executing a marketing plan can be HARD work…it can also be the most rewarding work you do as a marketing executive. A high performing marketing function isn’t created over night…but with the proper framework and persistence it can be achieved.

Make sure to check out our 6 part series about Building B2B Marketing Functions.

For more information about building your B2B marketing function contact info@threedotsmarketing.com or visit www.threedotsmarketing.com.