Plan4The Future

This fall, out on a walk, I noticed a house in my neighborhood that provided the perfect picture for what we tell our clients. It was so appropriate I decided to snap a picture. Hopefully it isn’t your home. I’m hoping it can illustrate an important point about your business. Think ahead.

Thinking ahead is good advice for business and especially true for marketing. My guess is that Nike founder Phil Knight was initially looking for the best approach to nudge his way into the competitive sneaker business back in the 70’s. He probably didn’t realize the company would eventually own apparel and equipment too.

When evaluating your marketing plans, don’t just focus on who you are now. Spend an appropriate amount of time thinking about who you want to be when you grow up. Then use your marketing and advertising to get you there.

These folks built a shed presumably because they wanted a place to store things. Then they built another shed, but why? Did they have that much more they wanted to keep or did their priorities change? Maybe they could have just torn down the original building and built a newer, bigger one to meet their needs.

Advertise and Market2Grow

Where you want to be in the future is the decision you should make before you start and as you grow. Long-term goals are the types of things that need to be discussed with your marketing and advertising leadership. Where do you hope to end up? Once you map that out, you can use the proper marketing tools to get you there.

Too often our agency inherits websites that lock companies into where they are now and are not built for the ways they want to grow. That’s a mistake and it’s unfortunately a lot like the house with two sheds. Maybe there are some things you need to tear down and rebuild.  Or perhaps there are some things you need to eliminate. It isn’t just your website – it’s how you approach your clients and prospects. The important work is often done before that splashy new marketing piece or commercial is released. Plan for where you want to be and then use your goals to inform the marketing plan to move you forward.

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