• Many B2B portfolio marketers struggle to strike a balance between strategy and execution
  • Identifying opportunities for growth in new markets separates portfolio marketers in high-performing organizations from low performers
  • Our new model streamlines the process of developing growth strategies, thus helping portfolio marketers provide more strategic guidance to their business

When high-wire artist Phillipe Petit walked a tightrope between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974, the world was captivated, and the extensive global media coverage reflected the excitement. A critical tool to Petit’s success was a 26-foot balance pole that was prominently displayed in images in the news.

Tightrope walkers and portfolio marketers have something in common: They both need tools to strike a balance. In the case of portfolio marketing, balance is needed between strategy and go-to-market execution. With agile workflows producing innovation at breakneck speed, many portfolio marketers are required to lean too far into execution at the expense of providing strategic direction to their business.

A New Model for Discovering Growth

In our 2020 Summit session “Rocketing Into Orbit: How Portfolio Marketers Help Organizations Discover New Growth Opportunities,” we’ll introduce a model for identifying and sizing new markets and buyer segments with the highest propensity to buy an organization’s portfolio of offerings. The model provides a balancing mechanism that allows portfolio marketers to spend more time upstream to recommend new growth opportunities while still fulfilling their execution-related responsibilities.

Our session will guide portfolio marketers with a step-by-step process to answer four key questions that portfolio marketers should ask when devising a growth strategy for their organization’s products, solutions and services.

  • Where are we today?
  • Where do we want to be?
  • What are our best opportunities?
  • How do we get there?

Growth Strategy Separates High Performers

If there’s any question about the value of having portfolio marketers take on growth strategy as part of their remit, the answer lies in recent SiriusDecisions research. Portfolio marketers in high-performing organizations are more than twice as likely to consider market discovery, analysis, and segmentation as their primary responsibility when compared to low performers.

The Gap Between Long-Term Strategy and an Operational Plan

Another challenge this model addresses is the fact that many B2B organizations lack clear ownership and a repeatable process for linking long-term strategy to annual planning. Portfolio marketers must identify market opportunities and vectors for growth for the organization’s offerings to contribute to high-level business objectives. This is a critical aspect of their role, especially during annual planning in which revenue targets need to be backed by viable and longer-term growth strategies.

Clients of the SiriusDecisions Portfolio Marketing service have access to experienced analysts who can help them adopt, operationalize, and optimize this new model.

Join Beth Caplow and me for our Summit presentation to see and hear more!