Marketing is often judged by what it produces. Whether it’s social media, emails, blogs or websites, the focus is very often on output. It’s not hard to understand why. These things are visible, tangible and easy to point to.
However, what is far less visible and far less valued, yet the most important element of all, is the thinking that sits behind them. Why is it that so much value is placed on the doing, while strategic planning is frequently overlooked?
Without that planning, time and budget are rarely used as effectively as they could be. Does this make businesses more vulnerable through this risky oversight?
The first question I always ask someone who tells me their marketing isn’t working is: what do you want to achieve? The vast majority of time they’ll answer by telling me more emails, better social media or greater lead generation.
But that isn’t what they want to achieve. Of course it isn’t. What they want is business growth, more success and increased market share. Everything else is just a means to achieving those goals. If activity becomes the goal in itself, it is very hard to make genuine progress.
Where Decision Making Goes Wrong
Without understanding that marketing is really about achieving business objectives, the right decisions can’t be made. And when decisions are unclear, marketing becomes reactive.
There might be a lot going on, but what is the point of it, how can you measure it, and how do you really know what is working and what isn’t?
The issues don’t happen because people are bad at their jobs. They happen because the thinking has not been given the time and attention it deserves.
Less Than 50% of Businesses Have a Marketing Strategy
When I sat in a webinar from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and they told me that less than 50% of businesses have a marketing strategy, I was astounded. I’ve seen the difference it makes to business success when work is built from a strategic mindset, and it’s quite significant.
The first bit of logic I can apply to this is that these businesses haven’t hired anyone who understands strategy. No one just automatically knows how to make a business really successful. It comes with training and experience. And if no one in house has that training or experience, and you don’t outsource it, then it’s just not going to be there.
Secondly, I think businesses don’t go looking for strategic thinkers as it seems more fluffy than tactical marketing activity. Strategic thinking requires people to slow down before speeding up. Unlike execution, it does not come with a checklist of actions.
What Does Strategy Deliver?
Good strategic thinking is the process of properly understanding a business, its objectives, its constraints and its market. It is about making deliberate choices and being clear on what matters most. Those choices then shape everything that follows.
This is why strategy cannot be treated as a deliverable in the same way as marketing activity. Scope, priorities, measures of success and timelines should not be fixed before the thinking has taken place. They are the outputs of strategy, not assumptions made in advance.
When businesses skip this step and move straight to activity, they lock themselves into decisions before the problem has been fully understood. At that point, even the best execution is working with one hand tied behind its back.
Execution absolutely matters. But execution does not compensate for unclear thinking. You can be visible, active and consistent, and still feel unsure about whether your marketing is doing what it needs to do.
When thinking is clear, everything becomes easier. Decisions take less time, focus improves and marketing activity has a clear role to play rather than existing for its own sake. What’s more, teams feel more confident because they understand the direction they are working towards. I’ve seen this first hand.
Paying For Thinking
All of this means that paying for thinking is not an added cost. It is actually a way of protecting budget. It reduces waste, prevents unnecessary activity and stops businesses investing time and money in the wrong things.
As budgets tighten and expectations rise, the margin for wasted effort becomes smaller. This is exactly when good strategic thinking becomes most valuable. Not because it is academic or theoretical, but because it leads to better decisions.
Marketing works best when activity follows strategy, not when strategy is replaced by activity. If you want better results, the most cost effective investment you can make this year is not more marketing. It is clearer thinking. That is where the real progress happens.
Is there a thinking gap in your organisation?
If your marketing currently feels busy but uncertain, it is worth asking whether the issue is really a lack of activity, or whether it is a lack of clarity.
At Lindsay Woodward Marketing, we work with businesses who are ready to step back, think properly, and make deliberate decisions about where they are heading and how marketing should support that. If you would like to explore whether a strategic approach could help you make better use of your time and budget, get in touch and we can discuss how strategy could benefit you.