I consistently get asked what is the 1 most important marketing activity to do. People ask "what is that 1 thing I need to do in order to get customers?"

​My answer usually is that there isn't. There is no 1 thing you can do to gain customers or more sales. People are complex human beings. We like to receive and absorb information differently depending on the time of day, season and how we are feeling on any given day. 

​Yesterday, I read a report by MarketingProfs, a leading marketing research, and management company. One of many organizations dedicated to studying and reporting on marketing and communications findings.  

The report they published showed what major marketing departments across the U.S. are utilizing and spending their money on to get their message across to their target markets...

What exactly is a marketing strategy? It can be confusing, I know. I've heard it used to describe a whole host of things that aren't actually a marketing strategy. I will amend your confusion and help you gain an understanding of why a marketing strategy is THE single most important thing you can do to create a rock-solid marketing plan. I'll quickly make this clear to you and then you can dive into the rest of the article for further clarification. 

Without a strategy in place, your marketing plan doesn't really have legs to stand on. The marketing plan gets its strength from the strategy. You create marketing activities and objectives that are measurable based on the strategy you choose to pursue. 

Common descriptions of marketing strategies include some variation of the following:

1. Many people think the marketing plan is the marketing strategy. 
2. Marketing strategy is commonly confused with marketing goals and objectives. 
3. Marketing strategy is mistakenly seen as the action plan or the steps to get to where you want your organization or business to be. 

If you think any of these three describe a marketing strategy, then I'm sorry to say that you are mistaken. However, I will define, describe, and explain how you can create one for your organization...

I am a huge advocate for reviewing your marketing plan every few months. At the very least, every 6 months. The end of July is right around the corner, and this is a perfect time to closely inspect all of your marketing efforts to determine what is and is not working. 

Most of my clients get stumped over which information to analyze when making decisions on spending more money on something or stopping it altogether. 

I'll make it simple for you...