I believe the old adage is “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. Nothing could be more important to think about when developing the strategic marketing plan for your company.
Too many times this year have I been brought in half way through a project that was all tactics and no strategy. Companies were being reactive to the environment they were in because they had no strategy to carry them through the rough times. The grocery store industry is a prime example of this. Their direct mail and advertising tend to be based upon reacting to what others are doing in the market. However, if they planned their strategy months in advance and developed a calendar of where and when certain items would be on sale, they could lead the industry instead of being involved in margin dropping reactive marketing tactics.
Through effective marketing plans, budgets can better be set, effective strategy can be developed, development of creative can be done at a more leisurely pace and development of marketing materials can be done in a far more cost effective way. All this leads you to not only be seen as a leader in the marketplace, but it also helps you keep margin where it belongs, in your pocket. It also allows you to get better closure rates on your call to action which also increases your bottom line.
A perfect example is October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Happens this time every year. Many of my clients marketing plans for the month of October were cemented and acted upon months ago. We were able to procure product offshore and save thousands of dollars. However, certain clients of mine will wait until September 20th to start talking about their plans. They will rush through creative, have to settle on promotional marketing items that are still available due to inventory levels and will incur rush fees to make sure that campaign deadlines are met.
Which of these processes makes more sense to you?
The first allows you to have your CFO sign off on the budget a year in advance therefore allowing you the freedom to implement as necessary. The latter has to scramble for last minute budget dollars and may miss a valuable marketing window.
The first builds long term client loyalty through consistency and adherence to brand objectives. The latter leads to brand confusion and apathy.
Let us work with you to develop long term marketing strategy and implementation so that you and your organization succeed and of course that we Get YOU Noticed!
