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Look around. What do you see? The business landscape has changed.
Your marketing plan should change with it.
The traditional marketing plan has two main purposes:
- Presenting your business to potential lenders and investors
- Creating an organized set of goals and principles by which you will conduct the marketing of your business
If you are running a tiny business, as I am, you won’t find yourself in many venture capital meetings. Let’s discard the first purpose for writing a marketing plan.
The second purpose implies that you are creating the marketing plan for your eyes only. Or for the eyes of you, your partners and, perhaps, a small number of employees. The idea is to formulate a strategy, a plan, and a philosophy behind your business.
It is with this second purpose of the marketing plan that I have a MAJOR PROBLEM. When a marketing plan is created for internal use, it should be edited significantly to align with the drastic changes that have occurred in the Marketing 2.0 era.
Not “Objectives and Goals”, but “What Am I Passionate About?“
There are too many opportunities out there today to be doing anything that you don’t like (or better yet — HATE.) You certainly need goals and objectives but they should be rooted in one question:
What am I passionate about?
You can set all the goals and objectives in the world, but you will never achieve ultimate success without passion. The Marketing 2.0 era rewards those that are truly involved, engaged and committed to their industry.
Not “Target Market Analysis”, but “Who Can I Most Benefit?“
Instead of thinking about your potential customers as a ‘target market’ — consider the following:
Who can I most benefit?
Today, it is critical that you are putting the customer first. Remember that the customer is in control of the marketing relationship. Your marketing must be focused on those to which you can provide REAL benefit.
Not “Strengths and Competencies”, but “What Do I Do Better Than Anyone In The World?“
The Internet has “sliced and diced” every industry into a million little niches. Instead of considering your strengths and weaknesses — ask yourself
What Do I Do Better Than Anyone In The World?
Concentrate your marketing on finding people that need that product or service.
Tell me what you think! How has your marketing plan changed as a result of the Marketing 2.0 landscape?
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Right on, and these three things need to come across on a company’s Web site and in their marketing materials. Good information, Russ.
@John — Thanks! — absolutely, there are too many companies that come across as being all about the sale. Not a good strategy today — there are too many choices out there.
Russ , great post as it reminds us all that when we focus on what we can “DO for OTHERS” …well the rest is history. The history of the beginning of a mighty profitable business…I mean, who can resist kindness?…who can resist friendship?…who can resist working with someone who cares more about how they can “help YOU” and less about themselves. Makes perfect “profitable” sense:)
thanks for the reminder!
Jennifer
It’s that Go-Giver philosophy and I love it!