Benjamin Franklin famously coined the phrase “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. It’s true. Success rarely happens by accident. It’s much more commonly the result of a well-executed strategy and good tactical planning.
What do we mean? In the context of going into battle, of taking a product or service into a competitive marketplace, there are a number of clear challenges – including unknowns such as what your competitors might do.
First comes your objectives. This could be a sales target (monetary or volume), maybe a particular customer profile that has an obvious need for your product/service or it could be a combination of those and many others.
STRATEGY
Strategy is WHAT is needed to achieve that objective. For example, we consider:
- Availability (or access) to your product is critical.
- Awareness of your brand and specifically the triggers that drive brand recall.
- Positioning vs that of your competitors.
- What makes you distinctive and fascinating to your target.
- How the market is segmented, identifying the largest opportunity for success.
The Strategy remains until the objective is reached. It can be tweaked over time but, largely, it provides the guide map for planning and implementation.
PLANNING
Planning is the HOW – the tactics needed to implement the Strategy. The focus of planning is much more immediate. It considers many other variables, including the available budget, to find the most effective activities. For example – if we assume that one of the Strategic objectives is to lift awareness of your brand amongst new customers, the Planner would consider:
- the best method to engage the priority customer groups (media options including social)
- the specific offer that is relevant today
- the distribution/access vs the priority group
- the messaging (engagement)
- the customer experience including fulfilment
The tactics used will change often. The priority target group may shift as data reveals more or the offer may be refreshed. Good Planning is agile.
WHY YOU NEED BOTH
The combination of Strategy & Planning ensures that your investment is pulling the cart in the intended direction. It aligns the stakeholders with the frontline and places the focus firmly on your objectives.
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