If you are having a hard time executing or if you are executing a lot without getting results, you need a plan. A plan gives you the direction and steps needed to start moving your business forward.

Herb Jenkins is one of the executive board members at Ramsey Solutions. Herb speaks to small business owners with 50 employees and less all the time. One of the biggest problems he sees is that too much of the small business marketing team’s time goes into tactical work.

This resonates deeply with how we see digital marketing. We all have a lot to get done but executing random tactics leads to random results. To win online you need to take the time to plan well.

Herb talks about how he is successful in marketing Ramsey Solutions which has over 600 employees and is growing quickly in the digital arena. Some of his keys points are:

  1. Marketing directors need to spend much more time on planning and analysis.
  2. Churning and burning on the tactical can prevent you from hitting your marketing goals.
  3. Get out of the business of just executing.

This is why we always work a plan. Simply making a website, newsletter, or social media campaign is not going to create the results you need to grow your business well. This is not to say that tactical work is unimportant. Tactical work is very important. However, tactical work without a plan is the problem.