Marketing strategist offers tips to help any organization plan for success
HOUSTON – Success has to be planned for, but creating a strategy and a plan to execute it can be difficult and time consuming.

A local marketing strategist said a few simple tips can help any kind of organization more effectively create a strategy and plan to help it reach its definition of success.

“We work with a lot of organizations to help them develop marketing strategies, and we’ve found the same rules apply no matter how big the business is or what it does,” said Thomas Doyle, head of strategy and public relations at Agama Advertising. “These tips will help you plan the future of your business, your favorite charity or any other organization.”

Doyle offered the following simple tips to help leaders plan for success:

Start at the Ending – Define what the ultimate goal is. For a business, this will be how it will operate and generate revenue. For an organization like a charity, it might be reducing a particular problem in the community. Start with the end result and define the steps that will have to be taken to accomplish that goal. Then identify the resources that will be needed to take those steps. Make sure the goal is clearly defined and can be communicated to everyone who will play a part in making it happen. Be sure to let everyone involved knows how his and her contributions will help make the ultimate goal a reality.

Make a Flexible Plan – Action beats reaction every time. Make a plan to acquire and utilize the resources needed to achieve clearly defined goals. The plan should be based on an overall strategy that coordinates all the different tactics to be used. The plan should communicate how all the parts and all the participants will work together. Good plans must be flexible enough to be adjusted for changing conditions without the entire plan falling apart and having to be restarted from scratch.

Measure – In order for something to be managed and planned, it must be measured and monitored. Find data that can easily be collected and that will accurately reflect progress toward reaching goals. Ask what these numbers will look like when the ultimate goal is reached, and set realistic but challenging interim goals. Make sure the information being collected will help leaders make informed decisions when the plan will need to be adjusted.

Collaborate – Not one person or organization has all the answers or resources to tackle every problem. Find other people and organizations to partner with in a mutually beneficial way to reach a common goal. This may mean hiring an outside contractor, forming a new partnership, or simply making a gentleman’s agreement with another firm that benefits both parties.

Get an Outside Point of View – Strategic planning for any organization can benefit from bringing in an outsider. Insiders are often too close to see things with fresh eyes, understand how all the pieces fit together, and advise and guide leaders without a political bias or agenda. A good marketing strategist or business consultant can help organizations make their strategic planning more efficient and effective at helping the organization reach its goals.

In addition, Doyle offered this piece of advice.

“Most organizations go through an annual budgeting process, but that isn’t the same thing as strategic planning,” he said. “Budgeting is just the numbers. Strategic planning is taking a good look at the forces behind the numbers and figuring out how an organization will deal with them in order to reach its definition of success.”

Agama Advertising offers several service products to assist businesses and other organizations in strategic planning and marketing communications. For more information, call 361-572-3810 or visit AgamaAdvertising.com.