Building an outcome-focused marketing roadmap is crucial for any business looking to achieve specific goals and drive success. But why is this differentiator so important? What sets apart a regular marketing roadmap from an outcome-focused one?
A roadmap is a visual representation of a product’s strategy and the steps required to achieve it. By focusing on outcomes, you can ensure that your product is aligned with your overall business objectives and that you’re making progress toward achieving them. This allows companies to drive better business outcomes in the long run. In this blog, we will cover specifically how to build an outcome-focused marketing roadmap with best practices.
Pro Tips for Outcome-Focused Marketing Roadmap
An outcome-focused roadmap should never be static. Great product leaders will make data-driven decisions to tweak the roadmap based on key performance indicators (KPIs) in order to drive continuous improvements and deliver the biggest possible impact.
With that in mind, when you think of how to build an outcome-focused marketing roadmap be sure to do the following:
| ✅ Pro Tips | How to apply |
| Connect roadmap items to OKRs: | Define the purpose of all your roadmap items and tie them directly to an overall outcome (not just a metric). |
| Remain flexible: | Allow your roadmap to change in response to new information. A roadmap is not a fixed plan, but a living document that should remain responsive to changes. |
| Involve stakeholders: | Frequently share your roadmap views with various stakeholders. Remember that the roadmapping process includes everyone from product managers to engineers to the sales team and beyond. |
| Use user-friendly jargon: | Stay away from any abbreviations or words that only a select group would understand to keep your outcome-focused roadmap collaborative. |
| Keep the intended user in mind: | Include who will use it (both internal customer + external persona) and the action you want to drive. |
| Include context: | Your description should outline the labor that will go into the item, why it is worth your time, what the purpose is, etc. This makes prioritization easier and the purpose clear. |
| Decide based on company and market trends: | Perform annual lookbacks to enable data-informed decisions. And then make changes as necessary. |
Choosing the Right Tool for Outcome-Focused Marketing Roadmapping
When you choose a tool for outcome-focused roadmapping, you are also choosing a mindset and methodology.
Outcome-focused roadmapping is crucial for successfully driving your outcomes. And just as important is the right type of tool. Outcome-focused roadmapping requires a portfolio roadmapping tool to drive better business outcomes by connecting your objectives with initiatives and providing visibility over your whole portfolio with flexibility and clarity.
At Dragonboat, we help teams effectively transform into an outcome-focused practice. Check it out via Dragonboat’s free trial today or schedule a demo with one of our product expert consultants.
