The one thing you need to do before doing a marketing plan

So you’re about to endeavour on your marketing plan. Where do you start?

Have you googled your marketing plan template full of headings like market opportunity, competitors, SWOT analysis, promotional plan, and social media schedule. You could be working for months and still be working on the plan. It never seems polished enough which holds back your execution.

Here’s a novel idea. Throw it out and just spend some time thinking. Take your shoes off and mentally put those toasty tootsies into the shoes of your customers.

Now you might be in an organisation with a plethora of data. Great! Get your digital team to give you some insights as to what the individuals who are visiting your website look like. They may have heaps or limited data but go with what you’ve got but don’t stop there. Use this as a guide but do some more reflection.
Look at your current customers. Who are they, where are they, what do they do but most importantly how do you help them. You might have a few different types of customers. People from different sectors, people who fill different roles and that’s ok. Who is typically your main type of customer and what the subsets of your other customers.
You might come up with 3-4 typical types of people. Now let’s give them a name, age and start thinking about the action they take before they find you. Think about their worries, their pain points and their aspirations.
Now have a chat with these customers. What language do they use? How do they talk about your product or service? Now you’re onto something.
Use this intel, this data, this skunkworks mission insights and think about how you can reach your customers differently…. Key word is differently. Think about what you are already doing and do something new.
Don’t start planning your marketing until you know more about who…. (as in the individuals, the people, the Geoff’s, the Mary’s) you are talking to.
B2B and B2C is irrelevant. It’s H2H. Human to Human. The context of consumer or business may involve different tactics or methods but marketing at it’s core is about communicating to people whether in a business or consumer environment.
Start with you customer in mind and the rest gets a bit easier from there.