Tackle a Winning Marketing Plan with these Steps

There’s a lot that goes into winning a game on the gridiron. One part is to come up with a great game plan, and another is to execute that plan to perfection. But win or lose, it doesn’t stop there. After the final whistle has blown, it’s time to head to the film room to carefully examine what went wrong and look for ways to improve upon it. You can also figure out what went right and look for ways it can be repeated.

These elements can not only help a coach win on the field, they can also help you off the field with your marketing campaign. With that in mind, let’s take a look at several elements of a winning strategy.

The plan. Good coaches spend hours, sometimes days, pouring over game film, looking for weaknesses in their upcoming opponent. From this research comes the game plan. Instead of probing for weakness in the opponent’s defensive line or secondary, you’ll be scanning the field, looking for opportunities. Is there a marketing niche that your competitors have overlooked? Or perhaps there’s a segment of the market that’s not being properly served? Is email your best tool to reach potential buyers or would it be more effective to host a local event? Is it time to partner up with a neighborhood charity? Your marketing plan is where you develop the strategies that will lead you to victory.

Execution. All the planning is the world doesn’t help you if you can’t carry it off when it counts. Now a marketing plan may be less intense than figuring out how to block a 300 pound defensive tackle intent on mayhem, but you’ll still need coordination with your team. Everyone needs to be on the same page so you’re presenting a consistent and clear message. In addition, you’ll want a good back-up plan in case things don’t go quite the way you expected. Maybe your event is rained out or your email campaign gets bogged down with technical issues. You’ll need to be prepared to make halftime adjustments as you go forward.

Evaluation and measurement. Just as one game doesn’t determine a season, one event or marketing campaign won’t determine your business year. No matter how well the campaign went, you’ll always want to review the ‘game film.’  You’ll want to figure out what went right and more importantly, why it went right. Did you get a great response from that festival you worked? What did your customers think of your new logo? Was your marketing message clear and easy to understand and did it produce the desired results? On the flip side, what didn’t work as well as you’d hoped? How can it be improved next time? These are the types of questions to ask yourself if you want to keep that winning streak on track.

Repeat. Once you’ve achieved your goals, you’ll need to find a way to repeat them. That’s the final piece of a great marketing campaign. Success is great. Sustained success is what will carry you to the top. For that, you’ll need to look at your team. What is it that you do well? A good team will have star players. What do you have in your corner? Is it a great sales staff? Maybe it’s expertise in your field or a reputation for great customer service. Whatever it might be, work to develop it so it has a chance to shine, not just on any given game day, but throughout the season.

Plan, execute, measure, evaluate and repeat. These are the elements of a great game plan, both on and off the field. Use them to propel your team to a winning season.