Millions of marketers are going to make billions of resolutions and plans and by the end of January, most of those resolutions and plans will be shelved because of deadlines, backsliding, and doing what’s most expedient.
Nevertheless, there is value in these exercises, and the best way to keep the change you’re looking to make on the front burner is to have it close by for reference.
Most of us get some sort of gift calendar every year. Take one of them and turn it into a 12-month marketing plan for your business or yourself. Let’s assume that you and yours are not going out of business, or are not going to be bought out by Richard Branson, but are looking to increase performance.
Take the goal that’s dearest to your success, i.e., doubling sales over last year or something that can be quantified, and pencil it in for sometime in December. First of all, this gives you a certain long-range perspective which is good. It also shows that the overall goal can likely not be achieved in a short time frame, we’re in for a penny and in for a pound.
Make a Date with Success
Now, take the same calendar and begin to pencil in the activities, strategies, and other maneuvers that will be necessary over the next 12 months. You might actually make a list on a piece of paper and then pencil them in one the calendar when it seems most appropriate. Plus, you’re going to need an order of things.
So, if I’ve reached the conclusion that I’m going to need additional staff to increase sales, then I need to know how much money I need to increase staff, and where that’s coming from. At first, this might seem like a royal pain to do, but what it will do is separate mere aspirations–to be the best marketing organisation–from the actual actions needed to get there.
It may be that the exercise in plotting each strategy point over a 12-month period makes you see that this goal or that is not doable, and if so, it would be better to know this now, rather than in June, when you’ve taken a number of costly steps that don’t pan out.
How About a Board Game?
If the calendar approach seems daunting, due to the time element, why not turn your promotional effort into a board game, like Monopoly? Where do you need to land to pass Go, and collect your money?
Both of these efforts are worthwhile in turning ideas floating around in the air into concrete actions that move the needle.
Which is what we’re all looking for in the New Year.
