Why Marketing Plans Don’t Work

Marketing plans can be a huge asset for your nonprofit, but common mistakes can undermine them, rendering them pretty much unusable. Honestly, how often have you, your team or a volunteer marketing committee spent dozens of hours developing a marketing plan that soon landed on a shelf, in a pretty binder gathering dust?

It happens. 

But what if I told you that its possible not only to create a simple, effective marketing plan – but one you can start implementing right now, today? 

Yes, it can be done!

But let’s review a few things first.
 

Simply put, your marketing plan is a document that looks at your marketing, advertising and communications efforts for the coming year. It states what the current situation is, what your goals are and outlines the marketing mix you need to achieve those goals. 

Basically, your marketing plan will help determine where your organization wants to go and how best to get there.

Now let’s take a look at common marketing planning pitfalls, how to avoid them, and create a marketing plan that can start working for you immediately.

Creating a Plan that Works

First, you have to take a hard look at your current marketing plan. Is it working for you? Look for these telltale signs that might undermine its effectiveness.

• It attempts to achieve too much too soon
• Its objectives are not specific
• It has goals that can’t be measured
• There is no time commitment to properly carry it out
• It was created, but filed away (pretty binder, gathering dust)

Once you’ve done an honest review of your marketing plan and determined the pitfalls, here are some antidotes to those problems.

• Realistic Expectations - It is great to dream big when thinking about the long-term, but it’s the day-to-day outreach that will get you there. The effectiveness of your marketing is best achieved when developed and managed as a short-term plan. (How do you eat an elephant – one bite at a time).
• Be Flexible – this is a living document.  You will be changing it as you measure how effective it is in the short term. And that’s its strength. You can tweak and adjust as needed to reflect what you learn as you implement it.
• Keep it Simple – 5 pages tops. When it comes to creating your marketing plan, less is more and more is just too much. Your marketing plan and its implementation is about building momentum over time. To be truly effective, a marketing plan should not be too complex. You want to be able to craft clear actions that produce results. 

That leaves implementation and not having enough time to put your plan into action. Never fear – I’ve got you covered. Read on.

Put the System in Place

Yes, it is important to have a written marketing plan. However, once it has been created, it is the system that is put in place that will determine the plan’s success. Let’s take a look at a few tips to develop a marketing system that works. 

Measure Results

Want to know if your marketing plan is working? Create a systematic process to measure the results. This is the most important part of the marketing process because it will determine how you adjust your efforts to make your marketing even more effective.

Measure the results of every direct-mailing, social media post, landing page, and email marketing campaign to identify areas of success and concern. Measure, monitor, and analyze. When you see a weak spot – tweak it.

And now you’re set. If your marketing efforts are intentional, methodical and strategic, your nonprofit will reap the benefits and allow you to grow so you can expand your mission and continue to make the world a better place.