One of the biggest headaches in marketing is caused by not knowing. Not knowing if your marketing investment will pay off; not knowing if your campaign will reach the intended audience; not knowing if you have wisely spent your marketing dollar. Let’s face it, not knowing is what stops businesses from trying new things, engaging new strategies, and putting forth continual marketing effort.

If we could eliminate or control the unknown factor in our marketing, we could alleviate this big headache. This is easier said than done, because marketing is complex, and is as much art as it is a science. Despite these complexities, there is one thing that always works and proves instrumental in decreasing the unknown factor. It’s called systematic planning.

Yes, the secret of secrets is planning. It’s not fancy or even glamorous, but useful, and worth its weight in gold. By systematically planning your marketing efforts, you can effectively track, monitor, and most importantly CHANGE based on solid information. As you change, based on solid information the picture of what works and where success lies, becomes clearer. It is clearer, because you have past information, present understanding, and a plan to drive future efforts.

The old saying is, “We never plan to fail, just fail to plan”. This is especially true in Marketing and Sales as many of us float in the wind; throwing darts in the dark, guessing at what to do next. A direct mail campaign this week, a flashy website that week, and a full blown news paper ad for good measure; never once asking the pertinent question, ‘How does this fit into my greater systematic marketing plan’?

So, ask yourself a few questions before you tackle your next proposed Marketing and Sales project. See if it fits into a broader and more functional plan. Question yourself, your sales team, that marketing consultant, or whoever else claims to be able to help you increase sales. At the very least the questioning process should help you feel more secure, alleviating that paralyzing syndrome of NOT KNOWING.

Like anything worth doing, strategic market planning takes effort. You can kick start the process by reflecting on your past success, reading up on business marketing, and even calling Market Bazooka (shameless plug). Whatever you do, start planning today and reap the reward of strategic action. It beats driving blind folded in the dark!

Here are 8 solid questions to ask before any Marketing and Sales effort.

1. What is my marketing and sales objective?
2. How does this proposed effort help me achieve my objective?
3. How will I know if my efforts have failed or succeeded?
4. How will I track my efforts?
5. What are the possible outcomes of this effort?
6. How will I deal with the possible outcomes?
7. What else can I do to support my current efforts?
8. What will be the next step(s)?

These are a few key questions you can ask yourself as you begin to create systematic market plans. Go to Bazooka Biz for more tips and a complete list of 50 Key Questions to Market Planning.