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Execute Your Marketing Plan Or Your Marketing Plan Will Execute You.
When the New Year arrived, three people joined the neighborhood gym. Each had a different plan to get back in shape. The first person was going to do interval weight training. The second was going to take aerobics classes. And the third was going to follow a trendy workout technique that was all the rage in Hollywood. You know who ended up with the best results?
The person who actually showed up at the gym.
A business’s marketing and advertising strategy often follows the same pattern. Nearly everyone plans to rev up their marketing. Yet, in all too many cases, there’s no follow through. Something else takes precedence and the component that makes the single biggest difference in a company’s growth is put off…until another marketing mental note or informal outline is created several months or years later.
We’ve all seen terrible commercials on TV or cheesy print ads in magazines. And we’ve all wondered who on earth approved that ad. Why would anyone buy the product or service based on that atrocious marketing? But the truth is, that business is going to sell a lot more product than their competition who remained mute on the sidelines.
D+ products promoted with C- creative work will always make mince meat out of A+ products with an A+ (B+, C+, D+ or even F+) marketing plan that never actually gets executed!
Through the recession, Spark advised clients to market as much as they could afford. History shows that advertising consistently throughout a down economy gives companies huge advantages over competitors that put their efforts on hold. Even better, those that increase their marketing efforts during this time maintain a lead for up to five years after the economy improves! This appears to be the case again. We’re seeing our clients gobble up market share from those who still remain dormant. We like to think our brilliant creative work was the sole driving force of their success but, most likely, it was simply that they chose to develop a plan and they take action.
Most MBA programs will tell you that business is 10% vision and 90% execution, so here are a few tips you can use to make sure you spend a lot more time in action mode and a lot less time in planning mode.
GO BITE-SIZE
Forget that 3-5 year plan. Heck, forget that 1-year plan! Come up with a marketing plan for the next 90 days. You can do a lot between now and then. Revitalize your website. Create online videos. Send out a press release. Email a letter asking for referrals. Take one hour to brainstorm ideas – no more – and then starting figuring out tangible steps to get it done.
HOLD PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE
A lot of times, marketing directors or business owners need input from others before moving forward. You might need a bio of a board member or a photo from a vendor. Trust me, you’ll never get everything you need the first, second or ninth time you ask. Keep after them. Don’t settle for, “I’ll get that to you later this week.” Most of the time what you need just takes a few minutes to get. It’s just not someone else’s priority. Have the stragglers commit to a “due date” and hold them too it. Then hound them like Tony Soprano going after his gambling money, if they don’t follow through. One cog can derail everything. Don’t let that happen.
FORGO CONSENSUS – You are not building Mount Rushmore!
What stage kills successful execution more than any other? The approval stage. Too often, businesses seek consensuses from too many people or a unanimous approval. This is a bad idea for two reasons. First, incorporating everyone’s viewpoint waters down the final product and makes your advertising less attention-grabbing. More importantly though, there will always be at least one (and probably more) people who won’t get back to you or want more time to think things through. News flash: you don’t need them. The best way to determine if you’re message is on target is to put it out there. Retool for the next time, if needed. At least you’re finally making decisions based on actual results, not hunches. Think back to the gym example from above. Instead of spending two months researching the best exercise routine on the internet and surveying everyone from your spouse’s trainer to your kid’s soccer coach, just get in the gym and go from there! The person with the best end result will be the person who shows up and does something.
Think less. Do more. Of all the clients we’ve worked with over the years, the ones who execute grow faster 100% of the time.