Marketing Planning is essential for the success of any business. It's a discipline that, when done effectively, defines who your audience is, how to engage and interact with them, what you want to communicate, and how you're going to take them through the journey to purchase, build a relationship, and ultimately get them to do your marketing for you. However, it's an area that many struggle with. Marketing Planning can be time consuming, unproductive and ineffective when not done with the right approach, tools and understanding.

There's an awful lot of information and 'guidance' out there on how to create and prepare Marketing Plans. Most of this though isn't actually that helpful: it's dated, using old-school techniques that haven't been refined in 20-years; it's convoluted, lacking succinctness and simplicity; and it's impractical, not geared to the needs of marketers and businesses operating in markets that are more dynamic and competitive than ever. In all, we need to re-think how we're doing Marketing Planning so we're better prepared and equipped to meet the increasing demands of today's customers, in a world where the tools at our disposal are becoming more and more sophisticated...and complex.

The following posts give you the knowledge, techniques and mindset to be successful in your Marketing Planning; and how you can use it to empower your team, and identify new opportunities and avenues for growth.