Learn how to create synergies across the go-to-market strategy by leveraging your Map of Influence.
Whether you’re new to a company or are an experienced marketing professional, understanding how your role impacts other teams and departments is a key factor in being a successful marketer. The concept may seem simple, but the task of really understanding how marketing fits into each aspect of a company can be overwhelming. That’s where your Map of Influence comes in. What is your Map of Influence? I’m glad you ask….
What is a Map of Influence?
The Map of Influence details how you can be more influential within your own company — both within your team and with other departments. It will help you better understand WHY you should be working collaboratively across the organization instead of in silos.
Creating a Map of Influence will help you better visualize your impact on different departments and make more thoughtful decisions when unforeseen circumstances arise. Why is this important? Often marketing is the department others come to solve problems. Instead of solving one problem, you can look at your Map of Influence to make decisions that can have a much larger impact.
Some people have a physical Map of Influence (who?? me??), others have a simple framework (maybe post-it notes stuck on their computer?). Whatever it looks like, find what works for you and your team and make sure everyone is on the same page. This will help you have productive conversations and fewer meetings for the sake of meetings because we all know how much I hate those.
How to build your personal Map of Influence?
Now that you understand WHAT is a Map of Influence is, let’s discuss how you can create your own.
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- Identify everything you can and do touch within the organization. Start by looking at the channels and programs you already own. Identify the components, programs, and content that will be the most impactful. When I say most impactful, I’m talking about things that will touch the customer (in a good way), areas where you or others on your team have expertise, and touchpoints that will shorten the sales cycle, bring in more qualified leads, or garner a higher price tag. More importantly, things that will lead to meeting the overall company goals and objectives.
- Prioritize these touchpoints.
- Shit You Own: Anything you individually own, you should prioritize first. Don’t forget to think about the programs, content, and tactics your team, coworkers, and marketing organization own — bring in other team members for this point if needed.
- Levers: Then identify the levers, something you can “pull” or “push” that you know will help grow the company. These are predictable programs you know will lead to predictable outcomes.
- Channels: When prioritizing your touchpoints and potential areas of influence, think of the different channels you have access to and can leverage. Again, start with ones you already own, like social media.
- Expertise: Look for areas of expertise you already have. Are you an amazing writer? Then focus first on tasks where your writing skills will shine, and that won’t take you as long to create, develop, or implement. Are you a numbers geek? Then prioritize tasks where you can leverage this skill, such as building an ROI calculator or better internal and external reports.
Share Your Map of Influence
Yaya! You have created your Map of Influence! Now, what do you do with it? Share your Map of Influence with folks on your team and others in the company whom you trust and who can help you reach your goals.
For example, go to your manager and tell them you’ve been thinking about how you can be more strategic and effective in your role. Then share a few examples of the touchpoints and your plans around implementing them. They may be able to guide you and get you resources you didn’t have access to, or maybe they can introduce you to someone (or a whole team) whose involvement will bolster your plans’ success. Now pick one or two touchpoints, preferably in the order you prioritized, and put them into practice. If possible, start with the ones you can do without significant new resources and can quickly show results.
Slowly incorporate these enhanced touchpoints, based on the go-to-market strategy, into your daily routine.
Remember: always refer to your Map of Influence — apply, rinse, and repeat.
