Summer is a crucial time for chief marketing officers (CMOs) and marketing leaders to regroup, reassess and plan for upcoming business periods…all while making sure to get some vacation in so they’re fired up for the fall! This year, we’re dealing with record-breaking heat across parts of the country while it’s still snowing in others. That means you’re either in the office, headed out of town, or near a body of water or holed up inside to find relief from the elements.
Regardless of where you find yourself this summer, the reality is that smart thinking can happen anywhere. In catching up with CMOs and VPs of marketing, I’m finding some thoughtful prep work is happening. Here are some smart ways that I am seeing CMOs using the summer months to prepare for fall and beyond.
Strategic Planning:
With the new fiscal year approaching in many countries, summer is an excellent opportunity for CMOs to review the previous year’s marketing strategies and plan for the upcoming year. They can set new goals, strategize the best methods to achieve them and identify potential hurdles. Setting up a few planning sessions to get this foundation in place is key!
Conducting Market Research:
Summer is an excellent time to explore market trends, customer preferences and competitor strategies. Marketing leaders can use this time to gather as much information as possible to effectively inform future marketing strategies.
Budget Planning:
Use this time to finalize the marketing budget for upcoming business periods, allocating resources for different marketing activities based on their priority and expected ROI.
Mapping Out Conferences and Seasonal Campaigns:
Depending on the business, summer can be a low season or a high season. Regardless, it’s a great time to start planning to get the most out of the investments made for fall industry conferences.
- In the general tech world, TechCrunch Disrupt is Sept. 19-21
- In the fintech world, Money 20/20 is Oct. 22-25
- In the cannabis world, MJBizCon is Nov. 28-Dec. 1
- And right after a busy fall comes CES, Jan. 9-12, 2024
It’s also a great time to begin planning for seasonal marketing campaigns like back-to-school, Halloween, a thankful November or even winter holidays.
Customer Engagement:
Summer is also a great time for CMOs to focus on customer engagement initiatives. This could be through customer surveys, social media engagement or loyalty programs. Working with a data scientist to help define your customer base and truly connect in meaningful, data-backed ways is something that helps get sales and marketing nicely aligned!
Pilot Testing:
Marketing leaders can use this period for testing new marketing strategies or campaigns on a smaller scale before they are officially launched.
Building Partnerships:
Use a slower summer period to foster relationships with stakeholders and partners, both internal (such as sales or product teams) and external (like vendors, influencers or media contacts). A trip to another state may be an opportunity to connect with an existing or new partner. Leverage that travel!
Reviewing Technology:
Summer can also be an ideal time for CMOs to assess current technology and tools by looking at what’s working well and what may need updating or replacing. This includes the use of data analytics tools, CRM systems and other marketing software. In some cases, updates can mean drafting best practices for using these tools to improve internal use, reporting and consistency.
Team Building and Training:
Heads of marketing often use the summer to strengthen their teams. This could be through team-building activities, training sessions or hiring new team members. This is also a good time to identify any skills gaps in the team and comb through resources to assist with upskilling or reskilling.
Self-Education and Professional Development:
CMOs, like all professionals, can use the slower pace of summer to brush up on industry trends, attend conferences and engage in professional development. Take in podcasts or content you may not have had time for as you travel or find yourself with some extra downtime. HubSpot’s INBOUND conference in Boston (Sept. 5-8) is a fabulous event for marketing professionals.
Plan for Work-Life Balance:
One of the best gifts marketing leaders can give to themselves, their teams and their friends and families is to establish a calendar in advance to help forecast for and manage the fall. You can do this by reflecting on how well you juggled life last fall and assess if anything needs to shift. This looks different for everyone, but a good starting point is to jot down your professional and personal goals, outline what you need to achieve them, and score yourself on how well you’ve historically met the needs of achieving noted goals. If you are falling short anywhere, map out a plan and the support you need to make sure you’re striking a good work-life balance.
By maximizing the use of summer in these ways, CMOs and other marketing leaders can ensure they’re prepared and ready to hit the ground running when the business calendar starts to ramp up again.
