Picture this. Your favorite running back has pushed through the defense and seems to have an opening all the way to the end zone. With one last failed attempt to tackle him from the defense, it is clear now. You can see the touchdown in sight. He is sprinting with the whole field in front of him. Then it happens. He stops. He walks out of bounds. And the play is over.
Like me, you’re probably wondering what happened? I see this same thing in marketing efforts by businesses all the time and wonder the same thing. So often businesses will go full force for most of the way and then when it comes to the end they forget to do the small things that will take them the last couple steps, scoring a touchdown.
You create an amazing proposal, or a packet full of new research, but then you put it in a manilla folder. People think the manilla folder is spam and your information never gets seen.
You write an incredible press release, but then send it to irrelevant magazines and news stations.
You develop a comprehensive plan, but then don’t create a timeline to execute each task.
For marketing plans to score touchdowns, they must not get stuck in the red zone. It is crucial to go the extra mile in every campaign, to cover all ground, and to dodge tackles. In order to succeed and deliver inspiring proposals, you must take those few extra steps (whether tedious or not) to get into the end zone. The end zone will land you new business, new referrals and will show current clients you care about their success.
{The picture above is from a campaign Sky Strategic Marketing proposed to a client, complete with a Marketing Playbook outlining the goals, plan and timeline for the year, a football card with a shortened version of the plan to hand out to staff and referee outfits to present the proposal.}
