As we gear up for Super Bowl LV, hosted in our great city of Atlanta, GA, it has us thinking about game plans.
Just as teams need game plans to win, your local business needs a foolproof marketing game plan to be successful.
Every year before the NFL draft, coaches will gather in their war room to assess the team’s needs for the upcoming season. If they need more protection for the quarterback, they will likely draft an offensive lineman. If want to force more turnovers next year, they will likely draft a safety or a cornerback.
Not only do coaches and teams draft to fill their needs, they also prioritize their needs. As a business owner, you are the coach and leader of your business, it’s your job to map out and prioritize the business’ needs when it comes to marketing. Hunker down in your war room (or back office) and identify your biggest gaps in marketing.
One place to start is brand awareness. If you feel like consumers in your area don’t know about your business, it’s time to draft social media into your marketing game plan. Being active on social media will increase brand awareness and introduce your business to customers that may have otherwise never known about it.
If community engagement is something your business would like to improve on, exhibit at a local festival or put banners up at the local high school. All of your business goals can be translated into an effective marketing strategy. After you assess your needs for 2019, mock up your game plan and get it into action.
Unfortunately, things don’t always go as planned. A coach may have a great game plan in place, but the other team may have had a better plan. As a business owner, you are expected to try new things and take risks when it comes to marketing but not everything will work. You may fumble a few times but that’s just part of the game.
Your game plan is important, but your attitude is even more important. Maybe you pick up social media as part of your game plan, but it doesn’t reap as much of a return as you’d like. Or maybe community events don’t bring in enough business to reach your goals.
One loss doesn’t determine a whole season! Staying on top of your strategies is a must but don’t expect to see results overnight. Marketing is a marathon not a sprint. Measure your marketing efforts consistently and make adjustments when necessary. Being apt to adjustments and capitalizing on your mistakes will benefit you in the long run.
Every business is different, which means every business will have different goals. Your marketing game plan will not be the same as the business next door. After determining your business goals, either quarterly or yearly, you will have an outline for your marketing game plan. As long as your marketing techniques speak to your overall business goals, you’re off to a good start!
John Wooden, one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time, said, “how you run the race – your planning, preparation, practice, and performance – counts for everything. Winning or losing is a by-product, and aftereffect, of that effort.”
Spend time on your game plan and winning will hopefully be a by-product of your worthwhile efforts!
