A To-Do List Is Not a Marketing Strategy
A To-Do List Is Not a Marketing Strategy
Overview
Here is what a lot of small business owners' marketing plans actually look like.
Post three times a week. Run a promo for the holiday. Try Google ads. Send a newsletter. Get more reviews.
That is a to-do list. Not a strategy.
And the reason it feels like your marketing never gains traction is because a to-do list does not compound. You check boxes, but nothing builds.
What You Can Expect:
In this post we break down the difference between marketing activity and marketing strategy, what it looks like when the pieces are actually connected, and a simple test you can run on any marketing tactic to know whether it is ready to execute.
A to-do list gives you something to check off. A strategy gives you something to build on. Most marketing plans are one of those things pretending to be the other.
Kylie Lema
Founder, ESSNTL Growth Co.
What compounds instead
A strategy is designed around a specific outcome. Every piece of it feeds something else.
Your content builds awareness and answers objections. Your email captures the people who were not ready yet and keeps them warm. Your paid media brings in new people while your organic converts the ones already paying attention. Your retargeting closes the loop.
When those things are connected, each one makes the others more effective. That is how marketing compounds.
When they are disconnected, you are spending time and money on individual activities that do not reinforce each other. It feels busy. Nothing sticks.
The difference in practice
A to-do list marketing plan looks like this: post on Tuesday, send an email on Thursday, run a sale in December, try a new ad format next month.
A strategy looks like this: we are trying to convert people who have visited our site but not yet bought. Our content addresses the objections that stop them. Our email sequence captures them before they leave and stays in front of them until they are ready. Our retargeting reminds them when they go elsewhere. Every piece is pointed at the same outcome.
The tactics might be identical. The difference is whether they are pointed at something or just running.
The test
Run this question on any marketing activity before you execute it: what is this designed to do, and how will I know if it worked?
Not "it should help with awareness." Not "it is good for the algorithm." A specific answer with a specific metric attached.
If you cannot answer it, the strategy work comes first. The tactic is not ready yet.
This is not a complicated test. But most marketing to-do lists would fail it. Which is exactly how you can tell they are to-do lists.
Final Thoughts
The operators who get the most out of their marketing are not the ones doing the most. They are the ones who have taken the time to connect what they are doing to what they are trying to achieve. That connection is the strategy. Everything else is just activity.
Strategic Insights That Drive Business Success
Strategic Insights That Drive Business Success
