A Plan for Possibilities

"What's comin' will come, an' we'll meet it when it does."?Hagrid

This article is delayed, no doubt. Popularity on social media, LinkedIn included, is often awarded to the positive and Pollyanna, but I am a realist, not a pessimist. I've had a difficult time crafting this article, because it's not all sunshine and rainbows.

2023 is landing like a deflated spy balloon, and how businesses get through this will depend on how they prepared in 2019, ‘20, ‘21, ‘22.

Opps. No strategy, or systems and process? There is no time like the present.

(Polyanna moment of positivity below. )

The more life one has, and I mean years, the more opportunity one has to gain experience. Simply put, the older you are, the easier it becomes to recognize the patterns over time. If you study these things, it is even more evident.

So, here is the update, we experiencing a major shift - in business, in the economy and perhaps lifestyle. Not a bump, a shift.

Influencing this shift are several things including geo-political stuff, technology, the finance world, generational changes in the workforce and the way we communicate. Without falling down the deep wells of who, what, where, and when, I think most people can agree “something different is afoot.”

At this moment the following things are happening in the business world:

1.)??Some businesses (few) are seizing this opportunity and able to take advantage.

2.)??Some are frozen by it, and are pretending it will 'all just go back.'

3.)??The rest will adapt and evolve.

In the third category, which is where most fall, pace and planning matter to survival. This is where marketing comes in.

Marketing is a crucial part of your overall strategy for success.

Marketing can create opportunity and business growth, but it is often confused as a simple, tactical facilitator of sales. While marketing does, and should, work with sales towards revenue growth, it is much more holistic in nature.?

Marketing includes the communications that create the atmosphere of your business, enabling your business to message, channel, measure, scale, pivot and grow.

Example: in a virtual world of which half of all commerce is currently living in, consider this, many products and services are sold long before a consumer contacts the business, and sometimes even before a product is made.

Marketing does the heavy lifting. It can articulate the value proposition visually, virtually and dimensionally, test the market, create lead generation, nurture the lead, preorder and more.?

Before any human creates something, or steps out of the office on a sales call, your product can be sold.

I call marketing “The Gestalt,”?the?all. It is a little egocentric (I know), but I feel it is that important to the success of your business.

2023: Q1, SO WHERE ARE WE NOW?

Business is a bit sluggish.?There is a fear in the air. Inflation is up and the cost of everything from gas to insurance, wages to bank fees, is taking its toll on the buyer market but, 'What's coming will come.'

Challenge is where the opportunities lie.

Focus on overcoming the challenges and pressing the strategy, rather than shifting responsibility and blame, which is all too often the case.

Have a plan, trust the plan, and work together towards the common goal of revenue growth. Make thoughtful adjustments for obstacles, but stay the course for the long-term win, assessing success on several real metrics like efficiency and positioning in the market.

Power and Purpose

Business with sustainable marketing action plans, outlined strategies, and continuous communication that include the total organization are powered for success.?

Total team trust and transparency are essential. All too often leaders keep the plan secret. Everyone is in the same boat, so if it’s going to go anywhere, the oars need to work together. Organizational understanding of the challenges, plan of action, strategy, and roles each person and department play help to create purpose.

A sense of purpose is the main driver of employee motivation, because at our core, people need to be needed.

Focus on 3 Facilitating Factors

1. Coalescence surrounding sales and marketing objectives, specifically when determining and gating target market identifiers such as the Ideal Consumer Profile.
2. Understand and agree on how to measure traffic and successes, including where and when to adjust programs, as well as when to hold the line.
3. Unifying the organization around a plan with revenue-centric goals that include effective and efficient actions.

Market conditions are not perfect, they never are, but panic does not help.

MEET THE NEW FRONTIER HEAD ON - IT IS COMING ANYWAY

Plan for what can happen.

‘Planning for what can happen, is far more powerful than planning for what?will?happen,’ says my friend and wealth enhancement advisor, Charles Massimo.

Nothing is perfect, not your efforts, not your people, not supply and demand. There will be obstacles, but don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, often that is where there are new opportunities for success.

Stop looking for a silver bullet.

There are no short-cuts, you have to do the work. For certain, there are some great technologies and tactics out there. Pipeline, lead gen, intent, journey emails, SEO, the list is endless, but each of these tactics are parts of a whole and should be used within a strategy.

Build a sustainable system that works with your model – otherwise you could be putting a rocket on your radio flyer wagon, and you won’t get 10 feet before the wheels fall off.

Don’t buy the snake oil.

Don’t hide.

What’s coming will come – go out and meet it.?

Remember, history favors the brave!

A Fractional CMO Mollie Barnett works with businesses and/or their marketing departments to help create the best model strategy for individual needs. With an extensive network of expert vendors, each plan is engineered to fulfill and scale based on the individual model, position, goals, resources an objectives.