This short blog post is about how developing a marketing plan is only half the challenge, acting on it is where the real work comes in.

You see marketing plans will never fail, how can they? They are beautiful creations with lofty words, precise diagrams, financial projections, matrices and positioning statements. A marketing plan will never fail, their downfall is in their execution…

• Plans sit on shelves and are ignored, you carry on as usual but are too busy to refer to the plan
• You attempt to implement the plan but it is too difficult, so give up
• You don’t implement any of your plan but change the figures so it looks like you’ve achieved your plan
• You re-write the plan after, John, Sue and David have reviewed it, but you still take no action
• You remember the plan you wrote but can’t remember where you put it

Planning is all in the HOW, then WHO, WHEN, WHERE and WHAT of how you are going to achieve each of your marketing goals, for exampl:

• How are we going finance this initiative?
• Who will be responsible for it?
• When are we going to undertake it?
• Where are the sources of finance?
• What are the best options?

Slide 45 .O {color:black; font-size:149%;} a:link {color:#CCCCFF !important;} a:active {color:#3333CC !important;} a:visited {color:#B2B2B2 !important;} <!–.sld {left:0px !important; width:6.0in !important; height:4.5in !important; font-size:103% !important;} –> If you want to make real marketing headway you need to take action. As Anthony Robbins says

“You see in life, lots of people know what to do, they read and listen to books and other people, but few people actually do what they know or find out. Knowing is NOT enough! You must take action.”

So if you do one thing this week, it’s to look at your marketing plan and make sure that you take some action on it.