P.I.M.M.S – More than just refreshing!
All talk and no action?
Planning, planning…so much talk about planning and how important it is to the success of your business. But what are the practicalities? How do you actually do it? Business planning comes in many guises and there is no question that having a clear picture of what your business is and how it operates is very important but here I am talking about marketing communication planning. Some things in business never change and at the top of the pile is the importance of getting your message out to your market. If a business doesn’t engage and trade with customers, it isn’t a business.
Market Communication is vital.
The problem is that Market Communication is also speculative. You do it and run the risk of not getting the response you expect or hope for. This is one reason why so many small businesses (too often IMHO) call in someone who claims to be a specialist in marketing communication to take responsibility for marketing without having their own clear objectives and action plan to manage the marketing process.
Of course, external marketing support can be extremely beneficial (it is part of our business, after all!) but a business should have its own, well-considered plan.
This can also raise another issue; all focus is put on developing a great plan but then no-one implements it! Why are planning and implementation so often separated when it comes to marketing? You need both yet so often a business concentrates on only one or the other.
A practical approach
I have been in SME business marketing for a long time! Some things have changed while others are as valid today as they were 25 years ago – and longer (though I’m not that old!) Over the past few years, we have developed an approach to planning and implementation of marketing communication which I invite you to take a look at – The PIMMS Planning Model – We have talked about this before but we have recently reviewed and updated it. The approach is straightforward and practical:
- Plan
- Implement
- Monitor
- Manage
- Sustain
By setting objectives, implementing an action plan, reviewing and monitoring progress and sticking at it you have a well-rounded approach to marketing communications that will serve you well. The planning document (you can download a PDF here) walks you through key steps to develop implement and manage a marketing communications plan for your business. Please feel free to take a look and give it a go if you feel it would be useful. If you’d like to talk about how PIMMS can work for your business, do get in touch
