Those immortal words spoken by Hannibal Smith are still relevant today.  For marketing to succeed, it’s vital that you start any activity with a plan.  The planning process is crucial for any business, and marketing should have its own plan, integrated of course with the overall business plan.

Over the next few weeks, many companies will be working on their marketing plans for 2013.  Due to the massive developments in technology in recent years, those plans will look very different to plans made in the past.  Social media, website development, blogging, SEO, content marketing, mobile websites – these are all activities which now form the basis of many marketing plans; a massive shift away from the old days of posted mail shots, adverts in local magazines and Yellow Pages listings.  This change in marketing activity is being driven by the changes in consumer behaviour – the way people make purchase decisions now encompasses all those mediums listed above.  You therefore not only need to understand how consumers make reach their buying decisions, you also need to ensure your marketing is actually reaching them.

What has remained constant however, regardless of the actual activities, is the need to have an effective plan in place.  At Appletree, planning is always the first activity we undertake with each of our clients.  Unless you know where you want your business to go, you will not know how you are going to get there.

One of our newest clients has recognised the importance of planning and has just spent a day planning with the Appletree MD, Chantal Cornelius.  During the day Chantal took the client through a thorough process designed to build up a comprehensive marketing plan, tailored to specific business goals.  Our client has time-bound goals (selling places at for a series of seminars being held during 2013). By starting the planning process now, we can help the client achieve the goal, by delivering timely and relevant marketing activities.

We are now working to a weekly marketing schedule which includes social media, website development, blogging, SEO, videos, PR and networking.  All the activity is focused on promoting these seminars in order to sell all spaces available at the events (ie to achieve the set business goal).

Even if your objectives don’t have specific timelines attached, you still need to plan where you want to be, in order to work out how you are going to get there.  Businesses operate in a hostile and increasingly complex environment.  Planning can help to bring some order to this chaos.

If you want to start 2013 with a planned marketing focus, get in touch, our planning days really can help.