Why a Mid-year Marketing Communications Review is Vital in 2023

Jump into a conversation with a group of marketing communications professionals and the one thing just about everyone can agree upon is that 2023 is a stark contrast to 2022. In nearly every category, market momentum has shifted and created some challenges making it necessary to recalibrate.

About a month ago, results from the Gartner 2023 CMO Spend and Strategy Survey revealed and validated many of the trends we have seen play out in the first half of this year. The key takeaway? Seventy-one percent of CMOs say they lack the budget to execute their strategies in 2023 fully.    

“Suppressed budgets, increasing costs and lower productivity are squeezing CMOs’ spending power,” said Ewan McIntyre, Chief of Research and VP Analyst in the Gartner Marketing practice. “As volatility becomes the new normal, many CMOs are pricing disruption into their 2023 plans.”

This means about three-quarters of CMOs are facing increased pressure to “do more with less” to deliver profitable growth in 2023.

This is precisely why this year, more than last year, marketers can benefit from mid-year reviews and resets of strategy, tactics and resources. The business environment is in a state of flux, and market dynamics are no different in 2023. Businesses that can successfully navigate these changes will be the ones to thrive.

With a mid-year marketing communications plan review, you can make the necessary updates to refresh your efforts for the second half of the year.

My advice to marketers is to:

• Review marketing results for the first half of 2023 against KPIs and make adjustments.
• See what has been accomplished. 
• Check what has not been accomplished and why (i.e., lack of lead generation, competitive pressure, pricing, etc.) 
• Review what’s working and what isn’t working.
• Assess and allocate resources against the most critical or profitable campaigns and initiatives.

At the same time, marketers can reassess target audiences by asking:

• How are sales and marketing efforts being impacted so far in 2023 by unforeseen trends?
• Are they facing different challenges that align with specific product or solution offerings?
• Is there anything new each audience may be seeking in a brand given the unpredictable environment?

This exercise can be accomplished by leveraging user group feedback, focus groups, surveys, sales force audits and other data points to collectively determine how and where to pivot marketing resources and strategies to architect a mid-year course correction.

In short, now is the time to regroup with your agency partner, refresh or adjust your marketing plan, and move forward in the most focused way possible to ensure that resources, priorities and measurements are aligned through the end of the year.

Feel free to contact Pierpont for a fresh perspective on how to best update and optimize your strategic marketing communications efforts for the remainder of the year.