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2 more big ways to mess up your marketing plan

Earlier this week, we looked at the big mistakes messing up your marketing plan. Robert Cole, a good friend and a brilliant guy, volunteered the two following additions to the list:

  • Randomly doing things that do not strategically support the plan, and, perhaps most damaging…
  • Not having a plan at all

Doing things that don’t support the plan is a huge waste of time, energy and resources. I’ve seen many companies continually chase “new opportunities” (or, as I call them, distractions), circling back again and again to the same place and wondering why they never get anywhere.

Of course, you can be both opportunistic and effective. “Opportunistic” works even better when it’s aligned strategically. Knowing where you want to end up is one of the most helpful components of a successful plan. If you’ve got the right plan — the right strategy — you’re actually better positioned to see alternate paths to your long-term success and take the greatest advantage of true opportunities, while letting the distractions fall by the wayside.

Finally, not having a plan is the kiss of death. Dwight Eisenhower said it best,

“Plans are useless. But planning is indispensable.”

Or, as some pithy wag put it, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”


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Tim Peter is the founder and president of Tim Peter & Associates. You can learn more about our company's strategy and digital marketing consulting services here or about Tim here.

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