Strategic, or Just a Game?

Community Guest Blog post by By Sami Jajeh

We’ve come to that time of year again when budgeting is in full season, and it made me think about how organizations approach budgeting differently, particularly as it relates to marketing.

I was talking with a CMO recently, and he said, “I have the ‘CFO cut’ built into my budget, so we should be good.” You see, this CMO has figured out that come the mid-Q3 timeframe, the CFO is going to get nervous and ask for money back from the budget. So, he has learned to put that money in ahead of time, so he could ‘give it back.’ Sounds like a game, doesn’t it?

Oftentimes, we are asked by our clients to think outside the budget, to plan as if there was no budget in place. Rather, they want us to build a plan that will execute at a level that ensures the goal is reached. Having gone through this exercise a number of times, the outcomes tend to fall into one of two scenarios:

(1) The budget is truly fixed, and the thinking and strategy to determine what was really necessary to make the objective happen was a theoretical exercise and a waste of time, or

(2) The exercise was strategic and sincere. The CEO takes the feedback and goes to the board for approval to expand the marketing budget and take the market by force.

It might not surprise you to know that scenario #1 plays out much more often than scenario #2… maybe this is why so many marketers look upon the budgeting process with disdain, thinking it is “fixed” or a game in of itself.

Maybe it is time that marketers challenged the process and asked the strategic question, “What are we truly trying to achieve this year, and will we invest appropriately to make it happen?” For example, if we want to double sales, but will only increase the marketing budget by 5%, is that truly realistic?

Perhaps marketers should worry less about following the budgeting process and more about leading the strategic discussion.  Maybe then, the budgeting process will become strategic.

Arketi Group is a public relations (PR) and digital marketing firm that helps business-to-business (B2B) technology organizations accelerate growth through intelligent strategy, public relations, messaging, branding and demand generation. Consistently recognized by BtoB magazine as one of the nation’s “Top BtoB Agencies,” Arketi’s core belief is that marketing generates revenue. Clients benefiting from this approach to BtoB marketing include Aderant, Cbeyond, Craneware, CorFire, GMT Corporation, Knowlagent, RelayHealth and Xerox. Sami Jajeh, principal at Arketi Group, provides clients with senior-level expertise and marketing advice from a technology businessperson's perspective. Sami combines both an MBA's critical thinking skills and extensive technology marketing domain knowledge to solve tough, strategic marketing questions. From comprehensive marketing plans to competitive analyses to corporate re-launches, his work positions companies to gain revenue momentum and strong growth. Sami brings more than 20 years of experience in strategic and product marketing, marketing communications and PR, and sales and business development. For more information, call 404-929-0091 ext. 202 or visit www.arketi.com.