It is that time of year again, a time for New Year resolutions. Yes, we will shed those few extra pounds, go to the gym more frequently and seek more balance in our lives. But how about professionally? For those of us in marketing, here's a list of ten resolutions to whet your appetite. Feel free to create your own.
1. I resolve to elevate Marketing (with a capital M) beyond the marcom function to which it has been demoted in recent years.
2. I won't be internally focused, but will keep my eye on the customer and the customer's needs, preferences and experiences.
3. Recognizing that a well trained team is a more effective team, I will ensure that our marketing team members get a good dose of formal marketing training.
4. I recognize that there are many creative marketing approaches being deployed by others outside our company, and I resolve to network with others to learn about them.
5. I intend to walk into local bookstores and libraries at least once a month and browse the business and marketing sections for new books with new ideas.
6. I vow to get a handle on what marketing is working and what is not - what is the ROI for our different marketing initiatives.
7. I will look into new media and web 2.0 social networking capabilities and see how we can leverage them in our marketing.
8. On the other hand, I will not get carried away with new media, nor will I forget that basic marketing blocking and tackling - visioning, a tight business definition, thorough situation analyses, segmentation, positioning, marketing mix strategies - are still the foundations of good marketing planning.
9. I will deny any marketing plans a passing grade unless they specify what we will be doing differently for different market segments.
10. I won't accept any bonuses till we document a clear, distinctive and integrated marketing strategy and cross-functional marketing plans (well, maybe you can take a pass on this one; for this year only, however).