Stop Building Random Streets: Quarterly Marketing Roadmaps That Actually Ship

Quarterly Marketing Roadmaps That Actually Ship (A.K.A. Stop Building Random Streets)

Let’s talk about random acts of marketing.

The City Planning Metaphor: Random Streets vs. A Real City Plan

Random streets (reactive marketing)

Random streets are what happens when every request becomes a road.

You get:

• Dead ends (campaigns with no follow-up)

• One-way streets to nowhere (content that doesn’t connect to offers)

• Construction everywhere (too many initiatives, none finished)

• No signage (confusing messaging, inconsistent CTAs)

• Traffic jams (handoff delays, approvals stuck, missed launch windows)

It looks busy. It feels busy. It’s also why your “Q2 roadmap” becomes “Q2 vibes.”

A city plan (a prioritized quarterly roadmap)

A city plan starts with intent: What are we building, for who, and why?

You get:

• A few main roads (priority plays that drive outcomes)

• Utilities installed first (tech + data so campaigns can run)

• Zoning rules (what belongs in the quarter vs. what waits)

• Construction phases (timelines that acknowledge reality)

• Inspections and permits (governance so shipping doesn’t implode)

The goal isn’t to plan forever. The goal is to ship on purpose.

The Framework: A Quarterly Roadmap That Holds Up in the Real World

A roadmap that ships has three parts:

1. Inputs (what you consider)

2. Decision rules (how you choose)

3. Outputs (what you publish and run)

Let’s make it simple enough to run and strict enough to protect.

1) Inputs: The “City Survey” Before You Build Anything

Before you add a single task to the roadmap, gather the inputs that prevent fantasy planning.

Business inputs

• Revenue targets and pipeline goals (the “why we exist” numbers)
• Product priorities (what must be sold, launched, retained)
• Sales realities (cycle length, objections, deal blockers)
• Customer signals (support tickets, churn reasons, win/loss notes)

Market inputs

• Seasonal patterns (your “weather”)
• Competitive moves worth responding to (most aren’t)
• Audience shifts (what’s changed since last quarter)

Performance inputs

• Last quarter’s results (not the vibes)
• Channel benchmarks (conversion rates, CAC, CTR, etc.)
• Content performance (what pulled weight vs. what just existed)

Capacity inputs

• Team bandwidth (actual hours, not hopes)
• Vendor/support coverage
• Tech constraints (what can and can’t be built right now)

Rule: If you can’t describe your constraints, your roadmap is fiction.

2) Decision Rules: How High-Performing Teams Choose What Gets Built

This is where most roadmaps die: everything feels important, so everything gets included.

City planners don’t do that. They don’t build the stadium before the roads.

Here are decision rules that work:

Decision Rule A: Tie every initiative to one of 3–5 quarterly outcomes

Examples:

• Increase qualified pipeline in Segment A
• Improve conversion rate from trial to paid
• Reduce CAC on Channel X
• Increase expansion revenue in Tier 1 accounts

If an initiative can’t map to an outcome, it’s a side quest.

Decision Rule B: Score initiatives with a simple filter

Use a quick scoring model:

• Impact: How directly does this move the outcome?
• Effort: How hard is this to ship?
• Confidence: Do we have proof it’ll work (or a test plan)?

Then be honest. If everything scores high, your scoring is lying.

Decision Rule C: Dependencies decide sequencing

Ask:

• What has to exist before this works?
• What breaks if we launch without it?
• What’s the smallest version we can ship first?

Decision Rule D: Protect “Build vs. Run”

Every quarter needs both:

• Run: campaigns, content, optimization (keeping the city alive)
• Build: automation, tracking, foundational assets (upgrading infrastructure)

If you only run, you plateau. If you only build, you starve. Congrats, you’ve invented marketing misery.

3) Outputs: What a Quarterly Roadmap Should Spit Out

Your roadmap shouldn’t be a 90-line spreadsheet that only one person understands.

A shippable roadmap outputs:

A) Quarterly “City Plan” one-pager

• 3–5 outcomes (north stars)
• 4–8 priority initiatives (the main roads)
• Key risks + assumptions
• What is explicitly not happening this quarter

B) A timeline with phases (not just dates)

Think:

• Weeks 1–2: Foundation + prerequisites
• Weeks 3–6: Primary builds + first launches
• Weeks 7–10: Expansion + iteration
• Weeks 11–12: Optimization + wrap + learning loop

C) A dependency map

Nothing fancy. Just clear:

• Must-haves before launch
• Cross-team handoffs
• Tech/tracking prerequisites
• Approval checkpoints

D) Ownership and governance

Every initiative needs:

• One owner (not a committee)
• Contributors
• Approval path
• Definition of done

If “done” is fuzzy, launch day becomes a group hallucination.

How the 5 FMK Lanes Show Up in Roadmap Building

This is where the metaphor gets useful. A city plan needs roads, architects, utilities, traffic systems, and inspections. Marketing’s no different.

1) Strategy & Planning: Priorities and Campaign Architecture

This is zoning + city design.

Roadmap questions this lane answers:

• What are the quarterly outcomes?
• Which audience segments matter right now?
• What are the 4–8 priority plays?
• How do campaigns connect (awareness → consideration → conversion)?
  
  

Outputs you want:

• Quarterly priorities
• Campaign architecture (what runs together, in what sequence)
• Messaging hierarchy (so you’re not saying five different things at once)
  
  

2) Creative & Content: What Must Exist to Support the Plan

This is the architecture and materials.

Roadmap questions:

• What assets are required to launch each initiative?
• What’s the minimum viable creative to ship on time?
• What content supports the campaign before and after launch?

Outputs:

• Asset list by initiative (landing pages, ads, emails, case studies, webinars, etc.)
• Production timeline (draft → review → revisions → final)
• Reusable building blocks (templates, modular copy, design systems)

Quick truth: a roadmap without a content plan is just a to-do list wearing a blazer.

3) Technology & Automation: What Must Be Built or Integrated

This is water, power, and sewage. Unsexy. Absolutely critical. Ignore it and… things back up.

Roadmap questions:

• What tracking must be implemented first?
• What automation is needed to deliver the experience?
• What integrations or data flows are required?

Outputs:

• Tracking plan (events, UTMs, attribution approach)
• Automation builds (nurtures, routing, lead scoring, lifecycle stages)
• Tooling decisions (and what you’re not adding this quarter)
  
  

4) Performance & Analytics: What Will Be Measured and How

This is traffic control and city sensors: what’s working, what’s clogged, what needs rerouting.

Roadmap questions:

• What does success look like per initiative?
• What are leading vs. lagging indicators?
• What’s the review cadence?

Outputs:

• KPI tree (outcomes → metrics → inputs)
• Measurement plan by initiative (what we track, where, and why)
• Weekly performance review rhythm (not “when we remember”)

5) Governance & Compliance: QA and Approval Paths So Shipping Doesn’t Implode

This is permits, inspections, and safety code. Not glamorous. Keeps the city from collapsing.

Roadmap questions:

• Who approves what, and how fast?
• What QA is required before launch?
• What compliance rules apply (brand, legal, industry, platform policies)?

Outputs:

• Approval matrix (asset type → approver → SLA)
• QA checklist (links, forms, tracking, rendering, deliverability, etc.)
• Launch protocol (pre-flight, day-of checks, rollback plan)

Yes, governance slows you down a little. Not having it slows you down a lot.

Three Common Failure Modes (and How to Fix Them)

Failure Mode 1: The Overstuffed Roadmap (a.k.a. “Let’s Build Manhattan in 12 Weeks”)

Symptoms:

• 25 initiatives, 0 finished
• Constant rescoping
• Team is “busy” but outcomes don’t move

Fix:

• Cap priorities at 4–8 initiatives max
• Force trade-offs: if you add something, something leaves
• Break big bets into phases (v1, v2, v3)

City planning principle: You don’t open every road at once. You open the ones that change traffic flow.

Failure Mode 2: Unclear Ownership (a.k.a. “Everyone Owns It”)

Symptoms:

• Meetings multiply
• Decisions stall
• Launch dates slide quietly into the ocean

Fix:

• Assign one DRI (directly responsible individual) per initiative
• Define: owner, contributors, approver(s)
• Publish decision rights (who decides scope, budget, timing)

City planning principle: A committee can approve a bridge. It cannot build one.

Failure Mode 3: No Measurement Plan (a.k.a. “We’ll Know It Worked Because It Felt Good”)

Symptoms:

• Reporting is inconsistent
• Attribution debates replace learning
• Optimization becomes guessing

Fix:

• Define success metrics before build starts
• Set leading indicators (CTR, CVR, MQL rate) + lagging outcomes (pipeline, revenue)
• Schedule weekly reviews and a quarterly retro

City planning principle: If you don’t measure traffic, you can’t fix congestion.

The 30-Day Reset Plan: From Random Streets to a Real Roadmap

If your current system is chaos (or chaos wearing a Notion doc), here’s a clean reset. No heroics required.

Week 1: Survey the Land (Inputs + Reality Check)

• Pull last quarter performance (what worked, what didn’t)
• Align on 3–5 quarterly outcomes with leadership
• List current commitments (campaigns already in motion, hard deadlines)
• Confirm capacity (who’s available, what’s constrained)

Deliverable: Quarterly inputs doc + capacity snapshot

Week 2: Design the City Plan (Priorities + Dependencies)

• Draft 6–10 initiatives, then cut to 4–8
• Map dependencies (tracking, creative, approvals, integrations)
• Identify quick wins vs. foundation work
• Define “what we’re not doing” (protects the plan)

Deliverable: Prioritized initiatives + dependency map + “not doing” list

Week 3: Build the Shipping System (Ownership + Governance)

• Assign one owner per initiative
• Build a simple RACI or approval matrix
• Create QA checklists by channel (email, paid, landing pages, etc.)
• Set weekly operating rhythm (30-min roadmap review, same time every week)

Deliverable: Operating system: owners, approval paths, QA, cadence

Week 4: Lock the Roadmap and Launch the First Phase

• Publish the roadmap one-pager
• Finalize the 12-week timeline with phases
• Kick off 1–2 priority initiatives immediately
• Set dashboards and reporting so Week 5 is about learning, not scrambling

Deliverable: Quarterly roadmap + first launches in motion

If you finish these four weeks and feel “less busy,” good. That’s the point. Busy is not a KPI.

If You Want Help, Here’s What Working With FMK Looks Like

We’re not here to hand you a 40-slide deck and wish you luck.

Working with FMK typically looks like:

• We help you choose the right priorities (and kill the nice-to-haves politely)
• We translate strategy into a quarterly plan that accounts for dependencies
• We make the creative and content pipeline real (not aspirational)
• We ensure your tech + tracking can actually support what you’re launching
• We build measurement and governance so shipping becomes repeatable

Sometimes that’s a full quarterly roadmap build. Sometimes it’s fixing the operating system so your team can run it without us. Either way, the goal is the same: less chaos, more shipped work, better outcomes.

No cape required.

The Takeaway: Build a City, Not a Pile of Roads

Reactive marketing is what happens when every request becomes a street.

A quarterly roadmap that ships is a city plan:
a few main roads, the utilities installed first, traffic measured, and permits handled so launches don’t collapse under their own weight.

Stop laying asphalt wherever someone yells loudest.

Pick the plan. Build the city. Ship the quarter.