Pulling together a marketing strategy for an organization can be a frustrating undertaking if you don’t know the steps to take. For companies that are already spending money on marketing tactics and are left wondering if it’s working or not… here is a simple guide for helping to give structure to your planning work.
It’s as easy as three words: Start. Stop. Continue.
Start
What are those things your organization must START doing to support the objectives laid out by the business or by leadership. Chances are there are things you know you should be doing (like updating your website consistently) to better support the business, sales efforts and lead generation.
Stop
Stop the marketing tactics that are not being executed consistently (like that newsletter you only sent out one time). It’s empowering to take things off of your plate – and the renewed focus that comes from streamlining efforts can go a long way. Additionally, budgets spread out too thinly don’t reap as strong of results as when a few things are executed really, really well. Deciding which marketing tactics to stop doing can create needed clarity.
Continue
Most certainly there are activities going on that are indeed working. Generating leads, supporting the business, and conveying the brand position of your organization. Don’t take your eye off the ball on what’s working. Too often when we look at writing a new strategy, we overlook the elements of our day-to-day efforts that are working well. Keep doing what works – and see how you might make it even better.
