Quarterly Rocks - The Effective Way to Get Aligned and Done in Marketing

Marketing Leadership is more than just telling marketing coordinators and vendors what to do.

It’s steering the ship in the right direction with all members on board (including those outside of marketing, as most marketing initiatives are tied to business goals).

Creating quarterly rocks, or other common names - quarterly objectives or goals is a strategic approach to drive success within a business and marketing. These rocks serve as the foundational milestones that guide your efforts and help businesses stay focused on achieving their overarching goals. 

Here's a framework to help you form quarterly rocks.

Define Clear Objectives
Identify specific, measurable objectives that align with your long-term business and marketing goals. These objectives should be challenging but attainable within a three-month, or 90-day, timeframe.

Prioritize Key Initiatives
Identify the key initiatives or projects that will contribute most significantly to achieving your objectives. Prioritize these initiatives based on their potential impact and feasibility.

Allocate Appropriate Budget & Resources
Assess the resources required to accomplish each quarterly rock, including budget, hours, people, and technology, as needed. Allocate resources accordingly to support the successful execution of your initiatives.

Assign Accountability
Clearly assign who owns each rock for individuals or sometimes teams within your organization. Accountability ensures that everyone understands their role in achieving the quarterly objectives.

Monitor Progress
At STXMKT, we run weekly meetings tracking our progress on tasks and efforts that are directly tied to rocks. Sometimes it’s important to implement a system for tracking and monitoring progress towards each quarterly rock. Sometimes a project management tool like monday.com or ClickUp can be a window into these efforts.

Communicate and Align
Encourage open communication within your team or organization to ensure everyone is aligned, removing blockers, and moving forward with confidence.

Evaluate and Learn
At the end of each quarter, conduct a thorough evaluation of the results achieved from quarterly rocks. Identify successes, challenges, and areas for improvement, and use these insights to inform your strategy for the next quarter. Sometimes rocks can be a cadence to continue in a new channel, or optimization of something already running, or even just a project that is driven by the marketing strategy.

We’ve worked in Agencies, Corporate, and a couple of various marketing ecosystems. This is the most effective when it comes to consistently completing the items the business needs. If your business can effectively create quarterly rocks that drive success in your marketing efforts, sales are often enabled for growth, and ROI measuring is often easier. Consistent execution of quarterly rocks can lead to steady progress toward your long-term goals and ultimately contribute to the overall success of your organization.

If you need help with organizing your marketing efforts - reach out to us at stxmkt.com, whether we’re the right fit or not, we won’t steer you in the wrong direction.