Strategies, objectives, goals, tactics, rationale, target market, messaging...trying to put together a simple marketing initiative can become utterly confusing. Truth be told, I think that many marketers confuse themselves when defining our industry lingo. And many times, the insights that actually matter get lost amidst all those buckets filled with what was supposed to be helpful information.
Marketing plans are important, creative briefs matter but in my opinion, here are the three simple questions that need to be asked and answered prior to any marketing engagement.
Who are you?
Yes, that's right. Not, what is your product. Marketing is about stories, so what is your story? Why does your product exist? What makes it unique? Why do people buy it? Who buys it? What has worked well? What hasn't? There is no format for this , but rather consider this to be a braindump that will lead us right into a brainstorm. This paragraph will evolve over time, so don't overthink it.
What are you trying to accomplish?
While these three questions can be used on as big or small of a scale as you wish, the thought is that we'll tackle one scrappy marketing campaign at a time. So don't overdo it in this section, but rather define one to three achievements for us to accomplish. Examples - generate immediate online sales, capture leads, generate buzz online.
How are we going to get there?
Now that you have defined who you are and what you're trying to accomplish, it's time to get creative and figure out how we'll get there. Here's how I like to fill this bucket.
- Get your team (team = agency, stakeholder, board members, interns, people you respect) in a room with lots of caffeine and white boards to write on. Also, Internet access can come in handy as you'll be able to dig up relevant examples, industry research, etc.
- Walk them through your thoughts on questions one and two, and then go and fill those whiteboards.
- You should walk away with a number of tactics to execute. Next, you'll have to prioritize and schedule a block of time to begin your scrappy marketing campaign.
Marketing planning should be simple and fun. Don't overthink it.
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