I cannot emphasize the importance of planning enough. From the conception of your business idea to its implementation to other fine details – planning should be a part of everything. When it comes to marketing, planning is even more important. You might say that it is just you – and maybe another person or two – who is involved in the marketing anyway. Why would you need to have a plan?
Planning indicates that you are organized, that you have organization built in into your processes. With organization, it is easy to pinpoint problems and successes. It is easy to figure out what you can do better and what you can stop doing. That is why, even if there are only two people involved in your marketing activities, it is vital that you have a clear concept as to how things are organized. At the end of the day, a clear marketing plan will provide much needed accountability.
One way by which you can organize your marketing activities is by creating a clear organizational structure. Again, never mind if you are only two people working on marketing. If you have a clear structure – such as can be visually seen in a flowchart – then you can go about your activities more efficiently.
John Jantsch at Duct Tape Marketing proposes this structure.
It is a very useful chart that can help you create specific processes for all the items that you need to achieve. And with defined processes, you will get more concrete results.
Originally posted on January 31, 2011 @ 1:37 pm