Mission Possible: A Marketing Plan that Won't Fail

We’ve all heard the term “too big to fail,” but what about too great to fail? That’s you; that’s your business or organization, and you are too great to fail. But how do you create a marketing plan to reach your goals, when it seems like it’s mission impossible??

We’re going to help you take your marketing plan from mission IMpossible to mission, POSSIBLE! It won’t fail because you’re going to keep updating, tweaking, and making the improvements that are needed to reach your objectives, and continue to be successful in the future.

But why do you need to create a marketing plan, anyway?

Where do I start??

Let’s say you are going to build a house. You wouldn’t expect the builders to just start throwing nails, boards, and concrete together, would you? NO! You’d just wind up with an expensive mess for all your efforts, and the same thing will happen if you don’t create a marketing plan.

Just like you wouldn’t build a house without the future occupant in mind, you don’t want to build a marketing plan without identifying your target audience first. The old adage, “build it, and they will come” may be true in some circumstances, but in marketing, it’s simply not true. If you build it they may not come, and if they do, they won’t be the ones you want! So before you put your marketing plan together, you need to identify your target audience, and then identify with them. That means you need to understand whom you are trying to attract and get them to go to the right door (or page), at the right time. How old are they? What’s their socioeconomic status? Where do they get their information? What platforms are they on, and where do they go to solve their problems or get their needs met? Once you identify all of this, then you are ready to start showing your blueprints to your builder, and breaking ground!

Now that you have identified your target audience, what do you want them to do? What’s success look like? This will depend on your company, your ambitions, your capabilities, and your needs. Maybe you are looking for more brand awareness, website clicks, conversions, or referrals, or sales (the list can go on). You need to uncover, and document what your goals are, or how will you know that you have reached them?

You’re probably familiar with KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and SMARTER (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-Specific, Ethical, and Recorded)?goals. These are the gems you are going to be using to evaluate and enhance your marketing tactics as you go. Observe, report, track, and change (or don’t change if something is working. By tracking and assessing the performance of your strategy, you are empowering yourself to pivot, tweak, and make the moves that are going to make your company great!

What goes into my marketing plan??

Now that we’ve uncovered whom we want to attract, what we want them to do, and how we are going to be evaluating our performance, what is going to go in the middle of this marketing success sandwich?

These days, a potential customer needs to see your brand or messaging 11-13 TIMES before they can even acknowledge that they have seen it before. That’s wild, right? It used to be a lot less, but now due to the ever-increasing amount of advertising that’s in front of each of us every day, you just have to do more to cut through all the noise. But that doesn’t mean reaching them 11-13 ways at once, or in one way. Marketing is a long-term investment, not necessarily a pull handle that dispenses awards on demand.

Remember your target audience? You know now where they get their information, and where they are spending their time. So you know you need to create a rich, dynamic marketing campaign to reach them, which will include the right mix of the special ingredients that it will take to appeal to them.

It’s a mix of science and intuition that’s going to make your marketing plan a success, and because you understand your audience, you are going to understand what media, what platforms, and what outlets are going to give you the best opportunity to reach them (and with KPI’s and SMARTER goals, you’re going to keep tweaking it until you get it perfect)!

But do I REALLY need to…?

Now let’s talk about media, content, and messaging! It’s time to start picking colors, laying sod, and decorating that house you had built, so that it’s attractive to the people you want to live there. There are so many platforms, apps, outlets, mediums, and ways to reach people, how do we know we are using them correctly when it comes to digital marketing?

Social Media:

If there was any remaining skepticism about the utility of social media, COVID-19 changed all of that. In record numbers, people were (and still are!) flocking to social media accounts to learn, find products, research products, buy products, and find out where they can get services. If you aren’t on social media, and you aren’t showing it the love and respect it deserves, how will your target audience find you? Great social media is a perfect blend of quantity, quality, whimsy, value, and entertainment. That means content, imagery, strategy, and ongoing engagement and maintenance, not just an occasional Tweet or share!

There’s no excuse to take that risk (especially in a challenging business environment!) so if you haven’t already, put some resources and talent behind your social media accounts; you can thank me now, or later!

Video:?

With advances in technology, for a while there it seemed like high-quality video production was on the decline. But just because anyone CAN do something, doesn’t mean that everyone can do it well! The internet is replete with examples of bad videography, even with great tools! And while the scrappy, organic, DIY video has a time and a place, it doesn’t TAKE the place of a professionally scripted, shot, and edited piece of videography! And keep in mind that the demand for video is only going to increase, not decrease. Can your audience find you?

Search Engine Madness:?

Videography, photography, graphic design, content, and more are all essential for both digital and traditional marketing initiatives and campaigns. But why do we need to tweak, tune, experiment, and explore all these things in order to be effective? Because of SEO (search engine optimization). Remember, your target audience needs to be able to find you. So how are they going to be able to do that?

These days, a potential customer needs to see your brand or messaging 11-13 TIMES before they can even acknowledge that they have seen it before. That’s wild, right? It used to be a lot less, but now due to the ever-increasing amount of advertising that’s in front of each of us every day, you just have to do more to cut through all the noise. But that doesn’t mean reaching them 11-13 ways at once, or in one way. Marketing is a long-term investment, not necessarily a pull handle that dispenses awards on demand.

Remember your target audience? You know now where they get their information, and where they are spending their time. So you know you need to create a rich, dynamic marketing campaign to reach them, which will include the right mix of the special ingredients that it will take to appeal to them.

It’s a mix of science and intuition that’s going to make your marketing plan a success, and because you understand your audience, you are going to understand what media, what platforms, and what outlets are going to give you the best opportunity to reach them (and with KPI’s and SMARTER goals, you’re going to keep tweaking it until you get it perfect)!

Now go forth, and succeed!