What do scuba diving and marketing have in common?

When I tell people about my passion for scuba diving, they often ask about fear. “Aren’t you afraid of …?” Sometimes they ask about sharks, sometimes about the depth of the dives, sometimes about the unknown creatures lurking in the ocean. My answer is usually the same: I learned from experts. They taught me the steps to be safe, to be confident, and to be a good diver. I didn’t just pull on fins and jump overboard.

Unfortunately, a lot of people think they can do that when it comes to marketing and communications. Slap some words in an email template, blast it to the world, and you’re a marketer. Or, a business doesn’t pause to consider the impact of an announcement or business decision and finds itself blindsided by unwanted, or unflattering, press. You may not end up in a watery grave, but you certainly aren’t a communications expert—and the impact on your business could be devastating. (Admit it, we have all watched this type of corporate trainwreck unfold while thinking, "Didn't anyone think that through?")

Plan the Dive, Dive the Plan

Marketing is intrinsically linked to sales, business development, long-term company strategy, and data, perhaps more than some people want to admit. Every decision you make as a marketing expert should have customer engagement and sales growth clearly in the middle. In scuba diving, the rule is simple: Plan the dive, dive the plan. Marketing and communications are very similar. By taking a day or a week to think through what you are saying, how you are saying it, and to whom you are saying it—you can avoid a world of hurt.

What does a marketing plan look like? It’s not quite as fun as a dive plan, and rarely involves a beautiful reef or spectacular ocean dwellers, but it is very similar. When we plan a dive, we talk through where we want to go and what we want to see. Then we evaluate the risk, the timing, the gear we need, and any obstacles we might encounter. Only after we think through each step do we plunge into the ocean.

Invest the Time, Reap the Benefits

For marketing, you’ll need to sit down with your team (or yourself) and think through the marketing project steps one by one. You may have multiple marketing and communications plans in the works at any time, and they may be very different, just as my scuba partner and I don’t have the same dive plan for every dive.

Start by considering your goal—brand education, product announcement, event presentation, roadshow, thought leadership, content marketing, nurturing existing clients, reaching potential clients, etc. Then, identify your target audience and the best way to reach them. Set out a timeline for the content of all types. Consider blogs, videos, graphics, and social posts—be creative and leverage multiple media. Then lay out your plan for creating content that builds to a crescendo in conjunction with your goal. A marketing plan doesn’t have to be complex, but it does have to be thorough. Not sure how to start? HubSpot has a?fantastic set of downloadable templates.

Each marketing plan is unique, and only you know what is critical for your business and where and what you want to invest. But trust me, whatever that amount is, it will deliver better results when you simply take the time to write and then follow a plan.

Gotta’ run—the ocean is calling!