If you're not constantly selling yourself, you're leaving the door open for your competitors to take your market share. But implementing a marketing plan as a "desperation move" isn't likely to fix your emergency, says John Graham in Good Marketing Gone Bad. Instead, make the plan a priority upfront to avoid sloppy execution and unnecessary mistakes that can stick with your company for years.
Successful marketing demands a carefully crafted and expertly executed plan that meets its objectives because the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. When elements are cut out, pared back and otherwise altered, there is a diminishing of the overall impact and the program falls short.
But too many companies approach marketing as an afterthought or last-ditch effort to turn things around, even if they're proactive in other areas. It leaves them brainstorming about how to fix the problem while the competition is already acting – and grabbing market share.
