Look Before Your Leap: Why Marketing Planning Is Critical to Your Business
We often meet with new clients who want to immediately jump into the tactical or execution phase of marketing, without a clear marketing plan.
“Let’s start posting on social media!”
“We need a blog!”
“Our competitor has a podcast. So should we!”
“Let’s buy TV ads and billboards today!”
As a business owner, I can relate to the sense of urgency to “do something quickly.” But as a marketing professional, I counsel clients as to why starting first with a solid marketing strategy – one that ties clearly to the business’s goals—will be more effective and cost efficient in the long run. It also helps you set out your objectives and tactics that best meet your business goals and sets a framework for evaluating what falls within your strategy, and what doesn’t.
A marketing plan helps you focus on what’s most important to your business.
You wouldn’t launch a business without a plan (and expect to succeed.) Nor should you begin marketing your business without a clear communication strategy. And, most importantly, the two plans should work together. As your business evolves, pivots or grows over time, so will your business goals. Developing a marketing plan that can not only support your business goals, but also evolve with your business, is critical. As the plan is developed and adopted by the entire organization, it serves as a guide for where you’ll invest in your resources (time, people and budget,) so you can easily look at whether a blog, podcast or TV ads make the most sense for your goals.
A marketing plan ensures you’re talking to the right people at the right time.
During the marketing planning process, you’ll identify your primary customers and develop profiles – or ‘personas’ – that help you identify and understand their motivation to consider/purchase your product or service. This exercise helps you determine to whom you’ll target your messaging, and the most appropriate ways to reach to reach this audience. For instance, if you’re launching a new fly fishing platform for women, you’ll take some time to develop an understanding of the types of women who might be interested in your product. Maybe you’ll target both avid anglers who know their way around a river, as well as beginners who might need some instruction and information to help them feel comfortable picking up a new hobby. You’ll need to develop messaging that appeals to both audiences, and determine the best ways to reach them by considering when and where anglers consume content, as well as how to reach women seeking an outdoor adventure for the first time, for example. Your marketing plan helps you prepare your strategy to ensure you’re providing the most compelling messages to your audiences when they’re most receptive.
A marketing plan helps you clearly understand (and articulate) your value.
Imagine meeting a potential client, or investor, or journalist on an elevator and you have less than one minute to sell your business. Can you do it? This is a simple example, but it illustrates just how important it is to think through and develop appropriate and compelling messaging about your business. Marketing planning includes the prep work that means you’re able to articulate your “value proposition” (or, what makes you different and better than your competition or the current status quo) in a way that resonates with your audience.
It may be tempting to dive right in to new (or old) marketing trends and tactics—especially if you see your competitors making marketing decisions. But by taking the time to develop a marketing plan—one that ties to your business goals and guides your overall strategy—you set yourself up for success instead of leaping into ideas that might be ineffective (and costly) in the long run.