Be a Marketing Savant… Not a Marketing Salmon.

Nobody starts at the top. We all learn. We grow. We stumble. We go.

The number one mistake that marketers make is to start with tactics and think they have a plan. Go. Ready. Set!

Think about how crazy that is. The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect different results. I define insanity as executing tactics and believing that you have a plan.

Maybe that’s not crazy… but it’s certainly delusional. Being active feels great. Being smart and active feels unbelievable.

Christopher Columbus didn’t just jump into a boat and start sailing. Chris looked at and analyzed the current situation. He had a plan. He had direction. Columbus had a strategy on how to get to the new world. He had a budget from his CEO and CFO – King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.

If you need a more current example, think of the sport of rowing. If you ever get the opportunity to watch the rowing contests in the Olympics, watch. You will be amazed.

Precision, power, speed, teamwork and motivational speaking are all on display. The best crews in the world start by analyzing their current strengths and weaknesses.  They have a united vision of where they want to go… or objectives.  They think about how they can achieve their goals and put together a plan on how to accomplish their goals… or strategies.

If the rowing started with tactics and just started rowing, they would be scattered and working against each other. Tactics are important – even critical; however, tactics are downstream in the marketing process.

The biggest mistake I see companies make is to plot a series of tactics or actions on a calendar and call it a strategic marketing plan.

These are tactics. Even if they are organized by date, it is a marketing communications or a mar-com plan masquerading as a strategic marketing plan. If you don’t start with a current situation analysis, objectives and strategies to win, you’re swimming upstream.

Be a marketing savant, not a marketing salmon. Salmon swim upstream and die. If you swim using the current, and you will, in the immortal words of the marketing magnate Elwood Blues, “live, thrive and survive.”

Don’t swim upstream just to die. Avoid tactical errors, the most glaring of which is to start with tactics and believe that you have a plan.

If you’re splashing around with marketing tactics and would like some help on how to develop a strategic marketing plan, send me a note at jhenke@henkeinc.com.

Thanks.