You Need a Marketing Plan [video]

Marketing is such an essential aspect of business, so it boggles my mind that as we near the end of 2023 innumerable small businesses really don't know how much power they have — in their marketing.

The biggest giveaway is they don't have a marketing plan in place, let alone a good one, which can lead to a Pandora’s box effect of unforeseen problems and financial drain.

When I talk with small business owners about their marketing and what they're doing to grow their business, I often see the entrepreneurial hazard of falling victim to bright shiny objects as a major obstacle getting in the way of positive results.

We’ve all been trained to seek instant gratification — thank you, social media — so I get the desire to want to try out what appears to work for others and then move on to another idea that also looks promising.

And rinse and repeat.

Digital is instant, but it doesn't mean the results are.

Living in a world of algorithms and machine learning where ChatGPT can spit out articles in almost a blink of an eye, doesn't mean the algorithm is going to push your content to the top with similar speed.

And with entrepreneurs being pretty susceptible to Bright Shiny Object Syndrome, we love to take ideas and just run with them — we don't want to miss out. FOMO is huge.

Been there, done that, got the T-Shirt.

Several, actually.

The tendency to just keep trying marketing strategies and not giving them enough time to work effectively is a big downfall.

A lack of focus is the catalyst.

With lots of responsibilities — so many hats, spinning plates, and balls in the air, it can be an absolute struggle to stay focused on one thing, making it difficult to wait for the fruit a strategy may bear.

Marketing strategy not working? Fix it, or nix it —

How do you decide?

A marketing plan will make decisions easier. Do you have one? Imagine a flow chart — if you just answered “No” then follow the arrow to “Get you one.”

ASAP.

Business plans are common, but marketing plans are almost as rare as hen’s teeth in the small business world. Marketing that’s akin to throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks may have the odd spark of success, but a plan — a road map to keep you on track from where you are now to where you want to be — is the game changer.

Before you put a strategy or tactics into action, determine what results you're after and how you're going to measure their success. Whether it's looking at the return on investment, cost per engagement, number of downloads, or the lifetime value of a customer — there are those and many other determining factors that you could use, but decide on your metrics to give you insight into how effective your strategies are.

And you've got to know your audience, they've got to understand your Value Proposition — what makes you different from your competition. You've got to be in the places where your audience hangs out — where they can find your content. And if you're on too many platforms, as a small business owner doing marketing yourself, the amount of time you have to spend on multiple platforms is a lot.

Once you've come up with your strategies, let them percolate for a while.

But my thought today is — hang on in there. Have a marketing plan and stick to it. It will result in better business and marketing decisions and sales.

So, get you one!

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If you don’t have a marketing plan, or your plan isn’t working the way you want, let’s chat about how it can work for you and grow your business.

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