It’s time to reassess whether your marketing plan is on target for reaching your business goals
School’s out, summer has begun and the heat is on. Is your business hot as well? Or are sales slowly simmering?
We’re halfway through the year, so it’s a good time to review your marketing plan. Is it in line with the goals you set forth at the beginning of the year? What’s working? What isn’t? Do you even have a plan in place?
Regardless of how large or small your marketing budget is, a marketing strategy is unquestionably a critical component to business growth. An effective marketing plan identifies your target market, what your goals are over specific time periods, how to acquire new customers, how to capitalize on new growth opportunities and where to spend your marketing dollars most efficiently. Once the initial document is prepared, you’ll want to make revisions based on regular reviews and changes in your business.
Is your business on the road to success?
Every business owner has a defined set of goals to meet, whether it’s reaching a specific level of sales, increasing market share, securing a certain number of leads, etc. Your company’s marketing plan serves as a strategic blueprint for achieving those goals. A business owner with a plan has a distinct competitive advantage over one who is just winging it.
“A company without a marketing plan is a lot like running a marathon where you know where the finish line is but not how to get there,” explains Roy Strunin, Lead Marketer, Marketing Direction. “You can be the fastest runner and have great endurance but if you don’t know the route you won’t be the first runner to cross; in fact, you won’t even be able to find the finish line!”
Your plan should describe the steps taken to reach the next stage. According to Entreprenuer.com, the plan needs to provide a “roadmap” that’s as specific as possible with definable milestones. These milestones should be thought out over the short and long term to keep the route clear. “A business plan is not a novel, poem or cryptogram, states author Andrew Clarke. “If a reasonably intelligent person with a high school diploma can’t understand your plan, you need to rewrite it.” Having a clearly defined path to success for your business is vital to understanding if your business and marketing plan is actually effective.
What to do when things aren’t going according to plan
Inevitably, things change. Industry trends change, new marketing technologies evolve, and the business climate may be affected by unforeseen circumstances. Changes to your product offerings could also lead to changes in your marketing plan.
“It’s good to have a two-year plan but meanwhile things can happen while you’re executing it…like a pandemic,” states Roy. “Are you still on the right road to achieving the goals you’ve defined, or do you need to recalculate the route? You adjust as the situation around you adjusts.”
Roy recommends reevaluating your plan at least twice a year. Think about when you enter a destination into your car’s navigation – you want to know the best route. If there are accidents or construction delays along the way, the navigation adjusts accordingly.
Roy suggests keeping in mind the following when conducting a mid-year review of your marketing results:
- Goals
- Sales forecast
- Marketing budget
- Tactics
- Timeline for execution
Your goals may be the same, but has demand for your product/service waned? If so, you may need to revisit your strategies and tactics.
For example, after analyzing the metrics you built into your plan, you determine the current campaign isn’t working as well as you would like. Perhaps a simple tweak to the call-to-action or positioning statement is all that’s needed. However, don’t be too quick to scrap everything, cautions Roy. You must know where you’re coming from in order to know where you want to get to.
“All too often I see clients who—after getting a lead from an Instagram post—want to shift all of their budget from their current marketing channel to Instagram!” Roy exclaims. “Don’t jump ship just because of one result or you’ll be like a ship floundering in the wind without a sail.” Sometimes an anomaly is just that – a one-time fluke occurrence.
Stay on track toward your destination
As you approach the second half of 2022, look at your marketing plan and performance. Is business headed in the right direction, on track toward achieving goals and meeting budget expectations?
Reviewing key metrics and the progress toward your marketing goals can help gauge a better overall view of how to adjust your strategy.
If you have questions about developing and implementing a marketing plan or analyzing specific metrics of your plan’s performance, Marketing Direction is here to help.
