Any business owner knows how important marketing is to a business. It’s not necessary to surviving but it is necessary to growing as a business. Do you want your business to survive or do you want it to grow?
Marketing is getting a message about your business or brand out to a group of people with the goal of converting into a sale. We’re all in the business of marketing. But not everyone does it well. You might have a marketing strategy in place, but it’s not bringing in the results that you want. Many times that marketing doesn’t work, there is one missing link to the equation. What’s that one thing? One word: Planning.
We all know businesses need business plans. But they also need marketing plans as well. A marketing plan plots out business goals. It then makes clear all needed marketing ideas to achieve those goals and how you’re going to make them happen. Here are four simple practices that will improve planning for your marketing.
Put it in Writing
The old saying goes, “A short pencil is better than a long memory.” How many times did you have a great idea over lunch only to lose it when you get back to work? Writing ideas down makes sure that ideas never leave us. Imagine what would happen if someone did not write down the slogan “Just Do It” for Nike. Your plan doesn’t have to be technical. If you’re a small business owner, a notebook and pen will work. Just make sure that you have something to come back to.
Communicate the Plan
Writing plans down will not make things clear for you only. It will also make it easy to communicate and clarify plans to others. Getting your plans right involves getting endorsers, partners, employees and customers to jump on board. Planning makes that on boarding process a whole lot easier.
Set Marketing And Business Goals
A good plan is one that has a goal in mind. You need to write down your financial goals, reach goals and impact goals. The reason why most business owners don’t write goals is they are afraid that they won’t reach it. We fear the disappointment that comes with it. Well that’s better than never having anything to shoot for. Writing goals makes you shoot for the stars. And if you land on the moon, at least you got to travel to outer space.
Measure Marketing Results and Adjust
Speaking of space travel, did you know that lunar missions go out of trajectory 80 percent of the time? It’s that every time they lose their way, they adjust their direction. If they didn’t then astronauts would land on the sun instead of the moon.
It’s no different with business. We will lose our way at some point- a campaign won’t work, a sale might backfire or a social media post might get trolled. What’s important is you adjust and correct your efforts. Measure and make necessary changes. That’s where a plan helps. When you have a plan, you know where to adjust and how to adjust.
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