Companies often spend weeks if not months working out their business plans for the coming year. The presentations get written, presented to ‘The Board”, get reviewed, critiqued and then re-written. The focus of the critique and the re-write is often in relation to the BP Number – how much money the brand, the team, the company is going to make.
Invariably after some back and forth, some rethinking, and re-crunching, budgets get cut, and sales / share goals get ‘stretched’. Brand teams are left with a bigger number to hit and less money to get there.
If this sounds familiar – you’re not alone!
The last thing you want to do in this case is write another full-blown plan.
Unfortunately now you need one more than ever, because now every penny counts. You must make sure that every program that you’re developing is going to deliver the impact that you need. You must prioritize sales and distribution team efforts, and you must squeeze every dollar out of every contract negotiated – a daunting prospect particularly if you were hoping to hit the ground running January 3rd.
Download our free goal planning template
Your brand and your product positioning probably didn’t change with the business plan re-writes so your marketing STRATEGY remains sound. It’s the tactics and how you realize the strategy that needs to be reconsidered. You could write a full-blown marketing plan – or you could save valuable time and effort by getting S.M.A.R.T about your marketing goals.
Specific.
Measurable.
Actionable.
Realistic.
Timely.
‘Launch Product X’ isn’t a S.M.A.R.T. goal, you’ve got to get much more granular than that. Who are you going to launch that product to? What tactics will you deploy to pre-seed the market and build the level of awareness? Where will you communicate your message? Why does your customer care about the product benefit? How will you measure success?
Put your thoughts down on paper. Or better yet – download our free S.M.A.R.T goals template. This way you’ll ensure that everyone on your marketing team, every one of your distributors, every member of your sales organization is aligned towards your common goals.
Download our free goal planning template
Spend some time going through the exercise, and if you need direction or help call us. We help Med Device Marketing teams develop their goals, strategies – and then execute on the tactics. From strategic planning to brochure development and video animations, The Matchstick Group understands what Med Device Marketers need – and we help spark the ideas to get you there.
