Getting things done in marketing is rarely just about the strategy. Most of the time, the real bottleneck is not the idea. It is the approval. It is the person who was supposed to review something and never responded. It is the deadline that slipped because no one felt the urgency. It is the request that went out with zero context and got buried under 75 other emails.
Accountability is one of the most overlooked skills in marketing. Not the kind that shows up in a performance review. The kind that actually gets projects across the finish line.
The Request Is the Problem
When a marketing strategy keeps stalling because the people responsible for delivering on it are not following through, the first place to look is not their calendar. It is your communication.
A message on Slack that says “hey, can you give me your thoughts on this?” is not an ask. It is a wish. It has no deadline, no context, no project name, and no stated outcome.
Marketers are trained to understand their audience. They know how to craft a message that motivates action, speaks to what someone cares about, and moves them toward a decision. But the moment they turn inward and send an internal request, that entire skill set disappears. The same person who would never send a vague ad to a cold audience will fire off a two-line Slack message and wonder why no one moved on it.
What a Strong Internal Request Actually Looks Like
When you need someone outside of marketing to review, approve, or contribute to something, they need a complete picture. That means telling them what the project is, why it matters, what you need from them specifically, and when you need it by.
A practical approach: give two deadline options. Not because people will always pick the later one, but because offering a choice removes the feeling of being forced into something uncomfortable. It also signals that you have thought about their bandwidth, not just your own timeline.
If you are working with subject matter experts from a technical department and asking them to review a marketing asset, meet them where they are. Explain what the piece is for, who the audience is, why their input matters, and what the outcome looks like if they help. That is not overexplaining. That is respect.
Bring in the Right People Early
One of the most common reasons approvals fall apart is that the right people were looped in too late, with too little information, and no one above them knew the ask was even happening.
If you are pulling bandwidth from someone’s team, their manager should be copied on the communication. Not to throw anyone under the bus, but to give the request visibility. When a deadline is missed and you have been communicating clearly and in writing, that paper trail protects you. When there is no trail, you are the one who looks disorganized.
A practical tip: schedule your reminder email to go out the morning of the due date, before the workday starts. People clear small tasks first thing in the morning. Use that to your advantage.
When Things Are Missed
Missing a deadline once is a planning problem. Missing it repeatedly is a systems problem.
When a deadline passes without delivery, follow up the next business day with a clear email to everyone involved. Acknowledge the miss, restate what you need, and give a firm end-of-day deadline. Keep the tone professional. If you have a superior copied on the chain, you do not need to editorialize. The facts speak for themselves.
If you are dealing with a CEO or C-suite contact, adjust the framing. Their attention is pulled in many directions at once. Lead with what the project is connected to and why their input keeps it moving. Keep it brief, make the ask easy, and give them a way to delegate if needed.
Accountability Is a Marketing Skill
Accountability is not about chasing people down or escalating every delay. It is about building a system where your projects have enough context, structure, and visibility that the people around you can actually show up for them.
Marketers are often the ones carrying the message, the momentum, and the measurable growth of a business. That role only works when the internal machine moves with you. Spell out the ask. Set the deadline. Copy the right people. Follow up without apology. That is not being difficult. That is doing the job properly.
