Why Your Business Needs a Documented Marketing Plan
It seems crazy to think about this now, but do you remember life before GPS, cell phones or even Map Quest? When you wanted to get from point A to point B, you had to take out a map and figure out the best path. Even AAA used to help people plan travel routes so they could maximize their time.
The directions from friends and family could get interesting from time to time. Take the 3rd left after the green house with the wind chimes, then go over a creek and keep driving for another few minutes til you will see the horse farm. Turn there. There could have been street names, but the descriptions were much more interesting to pay attention to in the story.
In today's environment, you probably never think about how to get from A to B. You pull out your phone that is fully integrated with Google Maps, Waze and every other traffic navigating companion you could imagine. It's fast, easy to use and gives you the confidence to know where you are going.
According to research from the Small Business Administration, about half of all establishments survive five years or longer. According to Bradley University, their research indicates 70% to 80% of new businesses fail within their first year and of those who survive the first year, half will fail within the next four years.
According to Dun & Bradstreet, the primary cause for business failure is lack of planning. Less than 50% of businesses have a documented plan. Failing to plan is almost the same as planning to fail.
The Growth Trio
We help our clients implement the growth trio with the goal of providing a formula and framework for predictable growth. The Growth trio is made up of the documented journey, client transformation, plus tools and tactics.
Most companies may have 1 or 2 of these going for them. Most do not have all 3. When you only have 2 working, you can see where the overlap happens.
The overlap may be:
Stuck in the Van: You know where you’re going, but you don’t have the tools or gas to get there.
Mosh Pit: A flurry of activity...
One Hit Wonder: Tactics work until they don’t…
Where does your business fall in this framework?
How to Tell Which One You Are
You probably recognized yourself in one of those three. If you are not sure, your calendar and your inbox will tell you.
Stuck in the Van. You have a plan. It is good. It has been good for eight months. There is a folder of strategy documents and nothing has shipped, because nobody owns the doing and the systems are not set up. Your fix is execution. Pick one channel, assign one owner, and get something out the door this week.
Mosh Pit. You are everywhere. Three social accounts, a newsletter, a webinar, a trade show booth. Ask what any of it produced last quarter and the room goes quiet. Your fix is subtraction. Write down where your last ten clients came from and cut whatever does not appear on that list.
One Hit Wonder. One thing worked. Referrals from a single partner, or one ad campaign, or one conference. Then it slowed and you had nothing behind it. Your fix is a second source of leads, built before the first one dries up completely.
Each of these calls for a different first move. That is why copying another company's marketing plan rarely works. They may be solving a problem you do not have.
Developing a Marketing Plan
We know that if you had all the time in the world and no other responsibilities, you would have a plan. You know where you want your business to grow. You have tools and tactics you want to try. There are metrics you know you need to measure. Now we need to put that in writing. It doesn't need to be pretty, rather it just needs to be documented.
Not sure where to start? We can help. It's our core belief that every business deserves Rockstarr Marketing.
At Rockstarr & Moon, we empower aspiring rockstarr business owners to SUCCESSFULLY START, BUILD, AND GROW their business so that they can create the lives they’ve dreamed of for themselves, their families, and their communities.
We are the small business partner who can help you develop a plan, advise on tactics, provide playbooks for overcoming challenges, document the journey and most importantly, help you define which metrics matter.
A One Page Marketing Strategy, Filled In
A strategy does not need 40 slides. It needs one page you will actually reread. Five lines.
Here is a hypothetical, for a 12 person accounting firm:
- Goal. Add 15 new business clients this year. That means roughly 60 qualified conversations if the firm closes one in four.
- Client. Owners of construction and trade companies with 10 to 50 employees who have outgrown their bookkeeper.
- Message. "You should know your job costs before you bid the next one." One sentence, about their problem.
- Channels. Two. A monthly email to past and current contacts, and a quarterly lunch for local contractors. Nothing else until those two are running without the owner's involvement.
- Numbers. Conversations booked per month and clients signed per quarter. Five conversations a month keeps the goal on track.
That is the whole thing. Notice what is missing. No list of every platform. No vague line about "increasing brand awareness." Every line is something a person can act on or count.
Write yours in one sitting. A rough plan on paper is better than a perfect one in your head.
The 30 Minute Monthly Review
Plans do not fail on the day they are written. They fail in week six, when a client emergency eats the time you set aside for marketing and nobody notices the newsletter did not go out.
Protect the plan with one recurring meeting. Thirty minutes, first Monday of the month, same three questions:
- What did we say we would do last month, and did we do it?
- What do the two numbers say?
- What is the one thing we are changing this month?
Keep a simple rule for changes. Give any channel a full quarter of consistent effort before you judge it. If you have done the work for 90 days and it has produced no conversations, replace it. If you have not done the work, the channel is not the problem.
This is also where most strategies need an honest scoreboard. If you are unsure what to count, start with how to measure if a marketing strategy is working.
Frequently asked questions
What is a marketing strategy? A marketing strategy is a written plan that states who you are trying to reach, what you will say to them, where you will say it, and how you will know it worked. It turns a growth goal into specific choices. Without one, marketing becomes a series of unrelated activities that are hard to judge.
How do I create a marketing strategy for a small business? Create one by writing five things on a single page: your goal, your ideal client, your core message, two channels, and the numbers you will track. Base the client and channels on where your best existing customers came from. Keep it short enough that you will reread it every month.
How do I choose which marketing channels to focus on? Choose channels by looking at where your last ten good clients actually came from, then commit to the top one or two. Most small businesses have the time and people to do two channels well. Add a third only after the first two run consistently without the owner doing all the work.
What is the most common mistake in creating a marketing strategy? The most common mistake is never writing the strategy down. Owners carry the goals and tactics in their heads, so the team guesses at priorities and nothing gets measured. A rough plan on one page beats a detailed one that exists only in the founder's memory.
How long does it take for a marketing strategy to show results? Most marketing strategies need about 90 days of consistent execution before you can judge them fairly. Early signs like replies, booked calls, and inquiries appear first, with signed clients following later depending on your sales cycle. Review monthly, but avoid replacing a channel before it has had a full quarter.