The MOST Grid© is a strategic planning tool developed by Jon Ragatz to outline marketing strategy.

In its simplest form, shown here, one can clearly see what the major marketing objectives for a company or brand are and what strategies & tactics are associated with each (hence, the color coding used). In addition, the MOST grid outlines who will be responsible for each tactic and estimates how much this will cost. All on one page!

Some of the things we keep in mind while developing a MOST grid:

Strict adherence to what constitutes an objective (what one wants to do), a strategy (how one wants to do it) and a tactic (specifically, what one needs to do).

Making sure marketing objectives are SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound.

Consideration of the human resources (existing, to be acquired or to be outsourced) needed to achieve these objectives

An early estimate of what the costs of achieving these objectives will be. Often forgotten, for example, are production costs needed for media and collateral materials. Or, human, material and agency costs associated with "free" PR and use of social media.

 

The importance of proper planning in marketing cannot be underestimated, and the use of this tool, by a trained developer like myself, will help provide more realistic and achievable marketing plans, and guide their implementation.