Chick Tip: Battle or Game Plan?

A solid plan is not just for sports and if you watched the Panther’s game this weekend, it is clear proof that not all “strategic plans,” work!

In a perfect world, business owners would have plenty of time and energy to regularly review their balance sheets and analyze expenses, cutting unnecessary spending as they spot it. In reality, we often zero in on expenses only in a scramble to get back to sustainable profitability when the economy stagnates and growth stalls. But panic can lead to costly mistakes, and I must caution that while paring down may be necessary in the current climate, business owners should be careful not to cut so deep that they poorly position their firms for an eventual rebound.

A good marketing plan is like a battle plan or a game plan; it should serve as a guide and a blueprint for the actions you need to take to grow your business. It should also have some flexibility because as you start testing and measuring tactics, you'll need to shift strategies from time to time, to capture or gain share in a particular market.

That said, a good plan doesn't need to be complicated. Remember, the best marketing is a synergistic combination of good strategy and tactics, and you can't do either one effectively without the other. Don't be tempted to stray from these fundamentals. Enticing yet highly subjective ideas like "image," "branding" and "creativity" are important marketing tools, but they're not as vital as getting a firm footing in the basics--which ironically start on the accounting end of things. On a few of our initial marketing calls with MPS member attorneys last week, there were questions as to why we would want to know your goals for 2009. Here are some reasons:

A marketing plan should avoid the following:

1. "Fluff" - fluff is anything not specifically related to a number, strategy or tactic. Generalities also qualify. Saying your target market is "everybody" or "adults 50-plus" isn't specific enough and will lead to problems down the road. Start to think in terms of a niche. Instead of "everybody," scale down and be more specific, "adults 50-plus" turns into "adult women at least 50 years of age who make the decisions for their families. She may shop on line and is likely involved in her church or community”.

Remember, marketing is all about buying customers. Imagine going into a grocery store and buying everything. You may want to, but in reality, your resources would never allow it. In marketing terms, this means buying your ideal customer with the resources you already have. So figure out who your ideal customer is and how much you can budget to buy that customer. Then come up with a plan and stick to it. Know that most of your competition won't have the discipline to do the same thing--or will follow a plan that has been filled with too much fluff.

2. Not doing the numbers: Marketing is all about math, and math is all about numbers. Taken a step further--business is all about numbers. If you don't know your numbers, you won't succeed in business. Creating any marketing plan without knowing how much it'll cost to acquire your customer, what your average sale needs to be, what your profit margins need to be and how many times your average customer needs to buy over a lifetime will set you up for failure. If you're going to run a $3,000 advertisement, how many leads and sales will you have to make to cover the cost of the ad, let alone make a profit?

3. Relying too heavily on creativity: Creativity is fine, and in my opinion, there's nothing more creatively fulfilling than succeeding in business. But focusing too much on creativity at the expense of tactics and outcomes can hurt your business.

4. Thinking marketing is only advertising: While advertising is part of any marketing plan, marketing is much more than strictly advertising. Marketing is not only how you sell your products or services, but also the way your receptionist answers the phone and how you set up your internal company culture. In addition, it's the strategic and tactical aspects of identifying and segmenting your ideal customer base, discovering your competitive edge and USP (unique selling proposition), setting your pricing strategy, sales strategy and promotional strategy, creating and tracking a system for repeat business, and testing and measuring all of these to leverage effort and maximize ROI.

Note that if your advertising doesn't yield an ROI, you've fallen into the "creative" trap, and that's both expensive and wasteful. You'll know you're in it when your vendors tell you, "Half of your advertising works, and half doesn't--you'll never know which half," or the even more famous, "it takes 17 weeks for people to get name recognition and then they'll start buying from you." Don’t be “sold” by advertising tactics...radio, TV, newspapers, trade publications...everyone is hurting right now – make their pitch and offer to “help you” work first in YOUR favor... If their publication is as good as they say, they will gain you as a loyal customer.

5. Forgetting to market to existing customers and prospects. Generally, it costs up to six times more to get a new customer than to sell something to an existing customer. So if your plan doesn't include initiatives to tap into your current customers, you're missing out on a huge untapped resource.

A large part of your success in 2009 will depend on the actions and decisions you make now in the form of your marketing plan--and avoiding the costly mistakes that cause most businesses to abandon their efforts early and often. If you are not working with a marketing agency, take the appropriate steps to solidify your plan and execute it carefully! Track, measure and follow your successes and failures and adjust as needed. All the best!

Wishing you success!

~Serena