Have you clearly defined your marketing vision?
It’s paramount that you have a crystal clear marketing vision. It goes without saying that if you don’t know where you want to get to, you probably won’t get there.
This is true in all pillars of business and life - the practice of marketing is no difference.
The key ingredient to get started is understanding your business purpose. Your purpose should clearly define your customers core problem and your ability to solve it. Outlining your purpose alone will provide clarity throughout the various stages in your marketing campaigns.
Once you know your purpose, it’s essential to have your marketing vision established. Your marketing vision will outline your end game - the position you want to reach at your peak of operation.
A marketing vision statement tends to start as something somewhat vague, like “deliver exceptional products to the fitness market“. Once you start understanding the specifics of your marketing vision, detail can then be added.
The Importance Of Defining Your Marketing Vision
- It provides clarity for all people involved
- It establishes focus to keep you on track in reaching what matters most
- It gives milestones to drive towards
- It documents the business purpose
- It sets expectations for owners, staff and customers
Don’t Confuse Marketing Vision With Business Vision Statement
A vision statement and your marketing vision are completely different…
A Vision Statement: What your business will do and why it will exist tomorrow and it has defined goals to be accomplished by a set date. A vision statement takes into account the current status of the organization, and serves to point the direction of where the organization wishes to go. (brucemayhewconsulting)
Marketing Vision: A guiding theme that articulates the nature of the business and its intentions for the future, based upon how management believes the environment will unfold. A vision is informed, share, competitive and enabling. (about.com)
6 Pillars Of Your Marketing Vision
To succeed in the long tun, businesses need a marketing vision outlining how they plan to change and improve in the future. The marketing vision gives energy to campaigns. It helps motivate employees and it helps set the direction of marketing strategy and execution.
What are the components of an effective marketing vision? Here are my six pillars:
- Direction
- Beneficial
- Realistic
- Motivating
- Communicated
- Measured
Image source: The Viewing Deck
Your marketing vision must have direction and complement the business vision. It should be beneficial and aim to create value to your business. It must be realistic, else it will never be realised.
Your marketing vision must also motivate those involved to want to work towards fulfillment, once it has been clearly communicated to everyone. Finally, like anything in marketing that consumes investment, it should be measured so that useful adjustments can be regularly made for continual improvements
If your marketing vision doesn’t fulfil all 6 pillars, its likely to be ill-conceived, misleading or not fit for purpose.
Start Defining Your Marketing Vision…
Marketing is a catalyst for growth - the more you market successfully the more opportunity there is to grow your business. Start off on the right foot with a clear, concise and focused marketing vision to establish a path you can follow.
Sometimes, it can be hard to know exactly what you want or define exactly what it is you are trying to achieve.
Have you got a meaningful, coherent marketing vision in place?
Does it meet all 6 of my pillars?
