When it comes to marketing, ideas run the gamut. Unlike the no- nonsense structure of operations and finance, marketing is the one business function where creativity, innovation and out-the-box thinking is rewarded. If you were to search online or ask someone about marketing their business, you’d inevitably gather a laundry list of tactical actions: Do some networking, speak at groups, create a video, send out a newsletter, and the “to-do’s” go on and on. Yet, the results are often lacking.
Why? Action after all is the conduit for change.
The problem often lies with the strategy —without it, action can be void and faulty, resulting in less than desirable outcomes. And while it may seem quick and easy to just “throw everything at it and hope for the best”, it’s certainly not the most productive and cost effective. Thus, I want to offer a place to start, some best practices, if you will, for finding a more strategic approach to marketing your business.
Prescription Marketing
- Take an Examination – When you’re in pain and something is hurting, you don’t just randomly go to the medicine cabinet and start taking stuff, right? Yet this happens all the time in marketing. Entrepreneurs are great at “fixing” and trying things without first understanding the totality of the problem. When you go to the doctor, the first thing they do is to take an examination or assessment to understand what is potentially wrong. They usually start by asking you a series of questions to narrow down the issue and get a comprehensive understanding of what might be causing the problem. To understand how to market more effectively, you need to assess your situation and get to the root of the problem. You can start by taking the BizMI, our FREE business assessment.—————-
- Diagnose the Situation – This involves some research and knowledge of both internal and external factors and a bit of analysis. What does the information say? What is it telling you? The diagnosis is a key step because it provides the clues and insight you need to know how to proceed. To fully diagnose your marketing, you have to consider your goals and objectives, your strengths and weaknesses as well as make some competitive comparisons.
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- What’s the Prescription? Once you’ve analyzed all that you’ve learned, it’s now time to develop a course of treatment. The idea is to get healthy and better, thus there is a process and a plan for doing that. Now think about it, when you go to the doctor and get a diagnosis, they don’t give you 20 different treatment options, do they? No, they give you a very specific and tailored treatment plan for your improvement. Marketing is similar. Scale back. Don’t try to do everything. Do what works. Your prescription is your strategy for getting better. Follow it.
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- Monitor Progress and Get a Check-Up. If you’ve followed instructions, in other words executed as has been outlined, you should be seeing some results. This has to be monitored and tracked. You have to know if the prescription is working and the only way to do that is to evaluate what’s being done and how effective it is. Revisit your strategies and make sure you are consistently following the ideas that have been outlined.
Biz Practitioner
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