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So, you’ve got a great marketing plan, which is ready to go. But you need it to be signed off by your CEO. Doing your job isn’t just about delivering, but taking people in your business on the journey with you.
Well managed stakeholders will then be able to add value to your projects rather than feeling like the gate keepers to sign off.
But it isn’t easy - we’ve pulled together some of our top tips on how to manage your key stakeholders; how to get the best out of their experience, how to remove bias from the conversation and how to raise your own confidence when going into these conversations.
Are they a big picture thinker? Into the numbers? Do they want to be in the weeds or just topline? Know their preferred style as this will influence everything from your narrative of the discussion, to the format you choose to use. For example if they just care about the numbers, get to that quickly and avoid what could be interpreted as the marketing fluff.Blue sky thinker? Focus on your strategic storytelling. Plus, try to anticipate the questions you think they want answered before they ask them.
Your stakeholders are likely to be busy - flitting from one thing to another. Today they might be all about marketing, but then it’s sales, procurement, HR etc. This can also mean that getting a final view on something before it evolves can be a challenge. A great document which we use at Genie Goals is a Strategy One Pager. This is a chance to summarise your plan underpinned by an overarching business objective and how you will measure success. Not just for sign off, it’s a great tool to revisit if you have any stakeholders views that have evolved.
If you are having one of those moments where everyone’s a marketeer and you are being pushed to do a new piece of activity which doesn’t align with your strategy, simply pull out the document to manage the discussion. It will help give you the confidence to challenge them on where it fits in your strategy whilst removing personal opinions.
More often than not you will be speaking to individuals where this isn’t their area of expertise. Check yourself on the language you are using, dump the jargon and bring clarity and transparency in your challenges and risks. All those things that you know about the industry that you think everyone else knows which might impact performance, it’s important to include these for context. Don’t expect them to be as connected as you are to the challenges you are facing.
If you have a challenging stakeholder to manage, find your ally. Do you have a CEO who struggles with marketing but has a strong finance background? Make friends with finance who can help support your message and challenge your thinking. This will not only help add credibility to your plan but also develop your skills as a marketeer.
It’s easy to focus on shouting about only strong performance but it’s important to share all results - positive and negative. This builds trust with your stakeholders and again gives them context on the wider challenges you are facing. Digital marketing isn’t easy and if you only shout about the good results your stakeholders will only ever expect success. Things didn’t go to plan? Ensure you clearly explain why and share any learnings you have for next time.
Final top tip! Often you get a limited opportunity to share a project with your stakeholders - usually for sign off. It’s important to keep your stakeholders up to date with projects. Find a format that is easy for anyone to pull out the key information without needing someone to present it.
Above all, remember, you are the expert - follow these tips to have confident conversations without bias in order to get the most out of your stakeholders input. Good luck!
