As anyone who has golfed can attest, once you hit your ball into the rough, it’s difficult to get back on the fairway. I find that executing a marketing strategy can be like that. When everyone has a clear path and we’re all focused on the right things, getting the work done is easy. When we start hitting the balls in all directions, it doesn’t take long for everyone to become frustrated and unproductive.

When we work with clients, we like to get to know the business and industry. That usually takes the form of a project or plan development. When planning, we dig into the company’s vision, goals, and values and understand them in the context of the industry and the current market. With a project, we have to know these things and more about the inner workings of our clients’ operations. In both situations, we are able to better see what our clients are facing and where we can help.

The plan feels like a flag on a green. When we see it, we all know what problems are important to solve. We have our priorities and action plans. The challenge comes when things change and we have to recalibrate. If we don’t take the time to see what’s happening, reassess and adjust the plan, we all lose focus and our aim can be pretty bad – think of being in the middle of the driving range with balls coming from every direction…

So, what can we do? Here are a few tips to help you stay focused on the marketing strategy:

1. Recognize when things have changed.  None of us works in isolation.  Things are changing all the time. The big challenge is to recognize when things have changed to significantly affect the original plan. If we have a plan to refer to, small changes shouldn’t throw us off. We need to know the difference.
2. Reassess.  If situations have changed enough to warrant a pause, look critically at the direction and the priorities. Involve everyone in the reassessment to ensure they all know the why behind the change.
3. Confirm that everyone knows their lane.  Just because you adjust the direction and action plan doesn’t mean that everyone else is fully on board. Keeping everyone informed and involved gives you a better chance of meeting your end goal.

Planning is difficult but execution is harder. That’s where most companies fail. We purposely help companies execute their marketing plans because we know that it’s hard to get momentum in marketing tasks. This is especially true when there are several people in the company involved in executing a marketing strategy.

If you see that you’re spending a little too much time in the rough, drop us a line and we can talk about your situation. Who knows, maybe we’re just the people to help you get back on the fairway.