“Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a nightmare. “
Japanese proverb
Your company and your brands need to have a vision. The vision produces its goals and a strategy. The strategy requires a plan, and the plan leads to action.
You need to create a detailed marketing plan that will give you initial confidence before you start any activity related to your brand. If you are not offering something new, something faster, cheaper, different, think twice before launching the product or service on the market.
Or think carefully about whether you have taken the following steps in your marketing plan.
Analysis of the market conditions and environment – The company must examine the macro elements of the environment: economic, political – legal, technological, social and cultural. In addition, all actors – participants in the processes – the company and its partners, competitors, distributors, suppliers should be considered. Go through detailed SWOT analysis and be careful, SWOT analysis may unjustifiably emphasize internal factors and obscure the identification of external threats or opportunities. At this stage, think from the outside in, not the other way around.
Setting Goals – After analyzing the situation, identifying opportunities and possibilities, it is time to set goals. Let them be long-term, rank them by priority and set deadlines. Long-term goals also include short-term micro-action goals which you must manage currently. Sometimes, the complete success of the long-term goals depends on them.
Strategy and Tactics – Once you have set your goals, start thinking about the strategy you will use to achieve them. With the strategy, you actually need to specify the most effective way to achieve your goals. Work on 4P, 7P in details (find your new P 😊) be specific about the actions, give assignments to sectors and individuals and set specific deadlines.
Budget – Make an analysis of the financial resources you will need for achieving your goals. Try to define as accurately as possible the budget that you will need to successfully achieve what you planned. And remember – marketing budget is an investment, not an expense.
Control – Control is the key. Don’t forget to set standards, define expectations, framework figures and deadlines that will help you control the process of achieving the goals. If there are deviations from what you have planned, do not hesitate to make changes and revise the planned activities. Remember that markets are a living matter that you have to adapt to. Be vigilant and react now!
Think about planning as a process of learning, creating, understanding. Include all the professional staff of your company from the appropriate departments. Openly and unreservedly listen to the explanation of their ideas. If you feel the need, ask for professional help from marketing professionals and consulting agencies. And balance – you don’t want to waste more time creating a plan than implementing one.
Therefore, plan your business and work on your plan, because the winners are those brands that will carry out real activities – EFFECTIVELY, in a better way – EFFICIENTLY.