Is Your Marketing Haphazard or Strategic?

By Pat Altvater, AFP Marketing

We’ve heard the old saying attributed to Benjamin Franklin, “Failing to Plan, is Planning to Fail.” In the past, if someone asked me for a favorite quote, that would be mine. However, I have a new favorite now:

“Strategy without tactics is a daydream; tactics without strategy is a nightmare.”  ~ Mark Schmukler

I’ve seen both, strategy without action and tactics without strategy, and he’s right, neither turns out well. To be successful with marketing, we need an integrated plan that starts with strategy and includes the right tactics to implement the strategy.

I’ve created the Intentional Marketing Planning Method™ that has three steps to ensure that strategy and tactics are both implemented and work together. Having an intentional focus results in a way of thinking about your business and life that's committed, purposeful and deliberate.

The three steps of the Intentional Marketing Planning Method™ are Analyze, Act and Account. Here’s a brief description of each.

Analyze

First, identify our ideal customer, determine the problems we solve for them, the results they achieve from working with us, and establish goals for the year. Most people have identified their perfect customer several times over, but an important and often overlooked aspect, is articulating why we are the best choice for them. It’s called our USP (unique selling proposition); it’s how we differentiate ourselves from our competitors. It could be based on the experiences we’ve had that we now help others through, it could be because of the niche we’ve chosen, or the way we deliver the solution, or it could be other aspects, including time frame of delivery, guarantee offered, etc. Once we know our USP, we portray that uniqueness in all marketing efforts.

Much of this “analyze stage’ is done as part of strategic business planning when determining goals for the year and evaluating the part marketing plays in achieving those goals.

Act

Next, we move from strategizing to doing. Once goals have been determined, select the tactics that will be used to achieve them. For example, if an objective is to get 20 new leads per month, one of the tactics might be Google ads. Thus, on our calendar for the year, we’d plot out exactly when and for how long the ads will run.

One of the most important keys in the ‘act stage’ is to assure the tactics are implemented with the right intention. Too often, I see people do something because it’s what everyone else is doing, but they don’t enjoy it (for example, Facebook Live videos) and consequently, they don’t approach it with a positive attitude and enthusiasm, thus the tactic rarely yields desired results.

There are hundreds of tactics to choose from. Back at the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown, I created a video for social media and included the opportunity for people to get my tactics list by commenting below the video. It’s also available to watch on my website along with the tactics sheet download; feel free to grab a copy.

Some important considerations regarding planning marketing tactics for the year are to:

1) repurpose content you create to get maximum bang for the buck, and

2) use an integrated approach. For example, let’s say many email addresses are collected from an activity (tactic) - a webinar, speaking engagement, networking meeting, or trade show. Then over several weeks, a follow up sequence of emails (tactic) is sent to those addresses that each includes a different video, blog or podcast (tactic), supporting our expertise. All of those steps are supported by social media (tactic), by connecting with the leads online and strengthening the relationship by posting relevant content.

One way to look at tactics is to pick six; one that is done daily, weekly, bi-monthly, monthly, quarterly, and annually. The goal at the end of this step is to create the marketing and social media calendars that plot out the activities for the year.

Account

In the ‘account stage,’ actual activity is compared to the plan (are you doing what you said you would do?) and results are compared to goals (are your tactics working?). For example, are we getting the 20 new leads each month? Tracking should be done at least quarterly, if not monthly.

To be successful at tracking, the goals need to be measurable. We need to be mindful of this when establishing marketing campaigns and if the results are repeatedly falling short of the goal, be prepared to dig deep to find out why and pivot if necessary.

However, don’t expect results right out of the gate; some tactics build trust quicker (like video) than others. New studies show that on average people need to hear about a company or product over 9 times, before they are ready to buy.

One other caution, this is marketing we are talking about and NOT sales. If the number of leads desired is achieved but the number of clients is not what’s expected, it could mean that sales training is needed.

If you would like assistance creating your Integrated Marketing Plan for 2021, please reach out to me at [email protected]. I’m also in the beta stage of a new online course that results in a completed Intentional Marketing Plan. If you’d like to be part of the beta group, please let me know.