The North Star lined up approximately with the North pole of Earth. It’s famously known for being used by hikers, sailors, and of course, boy scouts, for navigation purposes. A traveler will start out on the right path, but, after being faced with various obstacles, they get turned around. Maybe it’s a slight deviation from the intended path, or maybe you end up going in the complete opposite direction. Either way the North Star remains your reference point. When you need to make sure you’re still on path, you look back to the sky to reorient yourself.
In marketing a product or business, you’re going to run into obstacles. Some may slightly throw you off course, and some may stop you in your tracks. When these come up, it’s easy to get off track. You start out heading towards one goal, then you either slowly get yourself further and further away from that goal. Or maybe you throw your hands in the air in frustration and come up with a new goal.
Sounds like you’re getting a little off path, huh? Where’s the North Star when you need it.
This my friends, is why it’s critical that, before you even utter the words “Social Media” or “Twitter” or even think about opening your doors to customers, you come up with a plan. I’m not talking about having a 2 hour brainstorm meeting with your business partners and talking about the direction you want to take your business.
I’m talking about putting pen to paper and actually writing out a plan. Something that, when you’re faced with a problem or even with an opportunity, you can return to it and see if it matches up with your initial goals. If it does, have at it. If it doesn’t, time to say “no.”
So what are some characteristics of this marketing plan?
It’s Concise
You don’t want to have to go back to a 20 page marketing plan every time you make a decision. There is a place for this sort of detail, and you should probably have an extended, in depth version of this plan, but there’s something to be said for being able to sum up your marketing plan in a few sentences. For starters, I’d say try to work the plan down to a one page document. Once you have this, take the key aspects of this and try to fit it in one or two paragraphs.
By trimming your plan down this much, I guarantee that you’ll have a focused, clear vision when you’re done. It will force you to really think about your brand/product, it’s purpose, and the personality that your brand will take on, making it much easier later on to determine whether or not a course of action fits into your plan.
It Answer’s the Questions
What are you selling/marketing, what need is it fulfilling, and why should people care about your product over similar offerings? Who are you selling your product to? How are you going to market it? What sort of tools do you plan on utilizing (social media, mailings, newspaper ads, media buys, guerrilla tactics? How much do you plan on making per unit? What’s an ideal ROI? When would you like to see your goals reached?
That’s a lot to fit into a couple of paragraphs, huh?
It’s Malleable, but Not Destructible
Unforeseen things are going to come up in the future that will cause you to make some minor adjustments to your big fat marketing plan, but this shortened version should remain, for the most part, unchanged. You came up with this plan for a reason, right? That’s why it’s of the utmost importance that you think this thing through thoroughly at the outset, and then, when you’re done, think through it again. I’m sure it’s awful tempting to change that plan around when you see it’s not working at first, but some things take time to fine tune and really gain traction. You don’t want to quit on a good idea before it has time to come to fruition.
It Inspires
Whether it’s your C-level executives or your employees that are on the front lines, this plan, or pieces of this plan (I’m sure the cashiers don’t care what your ROI goals are as much as your CFO) should be able to give them a sense of direction, a sense of purpose for their job, and get them excited for your brand. This may be more like a mission statement than a plan, but it’s something that your whole organization can rally behind. It could do everything from inspire your next new product to simply inspiring your employees to pamper your customers.
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So there you have it. Now, you have your marketing plan. Your North Star. So, next time you’re brand finds itself turned around out in the forest, look to the sky and find your North Star so that you can use your map to get right back on track.
What are some other characteristics of a solid marketing plan that you would suggest? Do you disagree with any of these? Have you made your own marketing plan before? Share your insights and thoughts in the comments below!
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{ 4 comments }
Look at you stretching out the word count and for good measure. It's unpleasant to see how many companies are diving into Twitter and Facebook, et al because everyone else is doing it. How involved in social media is Apple? Yet, they seem to be doing okay. It's easy to get waist deep in this space and think it's the solution for everything under the sun, but the truth is a solid plan (using the approach you've outlined here) will enable a mktg manager or a business owner determine what tools are really necessary to achieve success. Good stuff hombre!
Haha I've been trying to write some posts where you can really read the first half and take something away, and read the whole thing for some specific applicable steps and stuff. Hopefully I didn't draw it out too too much.
And I'm glad you mentioned that b/c that's something I was trying to get across here. Set up the plan first, then look at what tools you need to execute it. Thanks for the comment!
Look at you stretching out the word count and for good measure. It's unpleasant to see how many companies are diving into Twitter and Facebook, et al because everyone else is doing it. How involved in social media is Apple? Yet, they seem to be doing okay. It's easy to get waist deep in this space and think it's the solution for everything under the sun, but the truth is a solid plan (using the approach you've outlined here) will enable a mktg manager or a business owner determine what tools are really necessary to achieve success. Good stuff hombre!
Haha I've been trying to write some posts where you can really read the first half and take something away, and read the whole thing for some specific applicable steps and stuff. Hopefully I didn't draw it out too too much.
And I'm glad you mentioned that b/c that's something I was trying to get across here. Set up the plan first, then look at what tools you need to execute it. Thanks for the comment!
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