Don’t Feel Like Reading? Not a “details” person? No Problem!
Here’s the Answer:
Take time to develop your marketing plan, because it will help you make the most of your advertising.
I hear these words getting mixed up all the time. Are we advertising? Are we marketing? What the heck are we doing, and how much should we spend?!
I’ve never been the kind of guy concerned about titles, so call it whatever you want. PotAYto…PotAHto…TomAYto…TomAHto. Just make sure you’re doing the process the right way!
First of all, you need a plan. If you want to call it by the right name, you’ll want to call it your Marketing Plan. Your marketing plan should be long term and needs to be your business’ guiding light addressing the who, what, when, where, why, how, and how much! The plan should last for years, requiring small tweaks and updates to reflect changes in your market, customer base, or, as we’ve recently learned, the world. The good old micro vs. macro influence (That’s another blog topic…).
Marketing requires customer research, competitive research, media research, lots of research! It includes community involvement, charity alignment, and public relations. It requires tailoring your message to defined and targeted audiences, defining success, measuring results, and making strategic adjustments along the way. It needs to be calculated and consistent, allowing time for the plan to play and succeed!
Far too many businesses will work their a$$es off building a plan, let it run for two months, and then abandon it with a classic exclamation, “IT’S NOT WORKING!” Slow your roll guys, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Have some patience and dedication, and build a lasting business with a lasting plan.
Then there is this “itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka-dot bikini” portion of your marketing plan that becomes much easier after developing a marketing plan. Advertising!
Anyone can go out and place an ad, and guess what…it might even work! However, it’s not going to work forever. If it does, it’s because the ad stumbled it’s way into the foundation of a marketing plan. Running a newspaper ad for three weeks might increase a select portion of your business for a short time, but it’s not going to become the giving tree that just keeps on giving. It won’t consistently increase your business or make you the #1 top-of-mind retailer in your market.
While advertising may only be a small part of the overall marketing plan, purchasing the correct advertisements to reach your target audience with appropriate frequency is critical. Is it an art? Is it a science? It’s gotta be both! Either way, this is your media plan…yes, yet another plan that happens to be yet another part of your marketing plan.
To Sum This Up: Take time to develop your marketing plan, because it will help you make the most of your advertising.
P.S. I happen to work with a pretty amazing team that can help you through all of this!