Best-in-class (BIC) marketers excel at alignment and accountability: They know to align with the business outcomes that matter to the C-suite, and they know what to accordingly measure. (To learn about the research behind that claim, see results from VEM's 2015 marketing performance management study or view the summary.)

Just about five years ago, marketing consultant Simon Sinek introduced his concept of "The Golden Circle," which has three rings:

  1. Why: This is the core belief of the business. It's why the business exists.
  2. How: This is how the business fulfills that core belief.
  3. What: This is what the company does to fulfill that core belief.

Sinek posits that most companies do their marketing backwards: i.e., starting with "What" they are going to do (events, content, etc.) and then moving to "How" they do it (what channels they use). His primary point: start with "Why."

And we wholeheartedly concur. BIC marketers start with business outcomes, because business outcomes answer the question "Why?"

With so many marketers in the thick of marketing planning, now is a good time to revisit how to apply both the Golden Circle and the best-practices of alignment and accountability to ensure your 2016 marketing efforts make a difference for the business.

How to Apply the Golden Circle Concept to Your Marketing Plan

1. Start with Why

To select the right programs and activities to undertake, first determine what business outcomes you need to have an impact on. A business outcome reflects the specific, quantifiable efforts your organization must achieve if it is to realize the business targets and declare success. A well-crafted business outcome consists of three parts:

  • Definitive customer-centric objectives that will affect specific business targets, such as revenue
  • A clear and precise measure of success
  • The timeframe for accomplishment

Most organizations will have at least two outcomes: one for keeping existing customers and one for acquiring new customers. The more granular you can be about which customers, markets, and products, the more clarity you have around what constitutes success. How closely do your business-outcome statements match the following?

X number of existing customers in each of our top 5 segments adopt the new ABC product by FYE resulting in Y dollars in revenue and increasing share of wallet by Z percent.

2. Decide How

Now that you know what bets your company is making, the next step is to decide how Marketing is going to make a difference. In your marketing plan, there are two key components of the How.

  • Goals: These determine how Marketing is going to contribute to the outcome and how Marketing's success will be measured. Marketers do not market to buckets of revenue, they market to people... so make your objectives as customer-centric and behavioral-based as possible: e.g., Increase the referral rate of our tier 1 existing customers 40% by YE20XX to accelerate the sales cycle by 10%.
  • Strategy: Now that you know your goal, the next question is to adopt a strategy for achieving it. There are so many potential strategies, from customer-centric strategies, such as ambassadors and persona, to influencer strategies to product strategies, such as bundling. Coming up with the strategy is one step; bringing that strategy to life is another. And that's when the What comes into play.

3. Add the What

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How to Apply the 'Golden Circle' to Your Marketing and Performance Measurement

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

image of Laura Patterson

Laura Patterson is the president of VisionEdge Marketing. A pioneer in Marketing Performance Management, Laura has published four books and she has been recognized for her thought leadership, winning numerous industry awards.