You know, watching businesses approach marketing is like watching a friend set off on a long road trip. There’s excitement, surprises, and the joy of reaching the goal can be seen from afar. But what I personally love most is seeing how different businesses approach this journey. The ones who really shine and make less expensive mistakes are those who start with curiosity and a good strategy before anything else.
Because they know that executing it too early may cost them a lot of money.
So, they don’t jump into executions right away. Instead, they take time to understand the world around them and the real problems so obvious that require a real solution. They want to learn about the people they’ll meet, the challenges they’ll face, how they’re navigating it so far and what sort of solution’s nature they wish to have. This conversation, this learning is driven by human connection and supported by certain data, sets them up for success. Next comes the benchmarking part – getting to know the available solution. They check out various products, services, websites and apps out there—trying to understand the ecosystem of trends and behaviour, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
From here, they now have a better understanding of what they should come up with. Then, the strategy is created. They set clear objectives, purpose, and value propositions, choose the right business model, the path forward, and understand where they fit in this complicated industry. It’s like planning a route for a long road trip, making sure each step and preparation are there so that everything will go smoothly once on the road. The rest can always be improvised as they go along.
Finally, on the day of the trip, the entire ideas and theories become real things. Prices are set, the website is ready, ways to deliver are figured out, and the story is told to the world. Of course, not every trip is perfect. I’ve seen some marketers focus too much on looking good instead of being good. Others get lost in creating products, forgetting the bigger picture. But even when things go wrong, there’s a chance to learn and get back on track. Of course, there are things they can undo but that effort is pretty expensive. There’s a cost to everything.
Please, be a pro when it comes to marketing. Take a step back and evaluate your current marketing efforts from the strategy’s point of view before you go even further. Because being an amateur is expensive.
