Tag Archives: plan

Marketing Plans or Preparation? There's a Difference.

You plan for offensive operations, while you prepare to play defense. You’ll find this concept in both warfare and sports, and it’s applicable in business as well.

I much prefer playing offense, because that’s where you score and generate revenues. A strong business offensive plan also limits the amount of places you’ll need to prepare to play defense, freeing up more resources for–you guessed it–playing more offense.

What’s an example of planning as opposed to preparations in a marketing context?

A great example can be found in the United States Postal Service and the annual postage increases. If you’re using direct mail as a marketing channel, you can be sure of two things:

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I will never forget

Today is the 64th anniversary of D-Day. I am appalled that none of my daily mainstream media reads (New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today) this morning had anything commemorating the event.

On June 6th, 1944, the brave men of the Western democracies began the liberation of occupied Europe in one of the most audacious and complex military operations the world will ever know. They beat back the forces of evil and tyranny and, through their sacrifices, helped give us the lives of peace and prosperity we enjoy today.

I was born over twenty-three years later, yet I will never forget.

There are countless stories of bravery and leadership, such as that of Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr., who insisted on arriving in the first wave on the beach to provide morale to the troops. He led men up the beach wearing a knit hat, supported by a cane and brandishing a .45.

Or Brigadier Lord Lovat, who together with his piper Bill Millen led his men into battle armed with bagpipes and a knife. You’d follow men like those into Hell itself.

What does all this have to do with Marketing? Only as a reminder that:

Things never go as planned. (So be well-prepared and know your mission cold.)
You can’t be too prepared, because of the things that will go wrong.
Personal leadership, at all levels, is the key to overcoming chaos.

Today, I’ll remind my children of the importance of this day and begin re-reading Stephen E. Ambrose’s terrific history of D-Day. I’ll also read Ronald Reagan’s famous speech at the 40th anniversary a couple of times.

What will you do?

photo credit: Zigar

Is your website optimal? Can you tell?

A client recently asked me “who can tell me if my website is working well for me?” My immediate response was “your customers and your browsers.” This, of course, triggered a conversation of how it was possible to talk to tens of thousands of (usually) anonymous visitors, collect their insights and then translate that to marketing improvements.

Prior to a large amount of advertising moving to the web, with the associated tracking and analytical capabilities, my response didn’t make a lot of sense. Unless you were the sole proprietor of a local general store or had massive resources to undertake a large amount of expensive primary research, it was really hard to figure out what exactly about your marketing was working for your customers and prospects.

Until the rise of web analytics, that is. Continue reading →

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