Getting a Marketing Plan in Place isn’t just Enough – Check out the New Strategy Here

Getting a Marketing Plan in Place isn’t just Enough. A couple of weeks ago, I met a friend I haven’t seen in years. He has his own business and we talked a bit about his marketing.

One comment from him sounded so familiar—because I’ve heard it from many people—that I wanted to share a story about it.

“I have all these plans and I keep working on them all. But it doesn’t feel like I’d ever really get anything done. I guess I should just break each thing into really tiny pieces, so I wouldn’t get confused by all the other stuff…”

John has his own business. He helps small businesses deal with some growing pains (training new employees and systematizing things to create room for business growth).

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He’s been in business for a few years and his customers have been extremely happy with the results.

But John’s results are nowhere near what they should be given how much time he spends on marketing. So, he writes down a clear plan he’s dedicated to implement.

After a few weeks of procrastination, frustration, and confusion, he decides to slice every part of the plan into such small tasks that they take less than 30 minutes to complete.

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Sure enough, after another month has passed, his done with his to-do list. The new plan is in action.

But it doesn’t take him too long to get even more frustrated than before. He had always justified the lack of good results with “I just haven’t gotten a real plan in motion—but I’m working on it right now.”

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This time, that justification doesn’t work. He put the entire marketing plan in place. He’s just not getting any more customers than before.

Finally he decides to look at what’s wrong. It’s not his products and services or lack of potential customers. People just aren’t buying.

Getting a Marketing Plan in Place isn’t just Enough

After going back and forth for another month or two, he decides to change what his marketing is focused on. Previously it was focused on the idea of “creating a potential for greater growth.” Now he changes it to “dealing with problems that come when you need lots of new employees.”

His business practically explodes. In just the first month more new clients hire him than he had in the previous year combined.

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How come the results changed so radically?

Because he changed the underlying message and the ideas his marketing communicated.

Nothing—really, nothing—affects your results as much as what ideas you make people see with your marketing. If those ideas make people want to buy, they do buy. And if not, then people don’t buy.

So, instead of looking for yet another new marketing tactic or tool, look at your message—the ideas you focus your marketing on—first. Changing that will almost certainly create a bigger difference than anything else you do.