When marketers had no choice but to pay thousands of dollars each year for print, TV or other forms of conventional advertising they had to discern which media to invest in and why.
The good ones had a strategy. The rest dabbled.

In a digital world though, it seems like every day there’s another opportunity to expand our reach for free. A new platform to try, another channel where the eyeballs are—a place where you should have a presence. And so we invest time (which of course is not free), executing on tactics in the hope of making gains we haven’t yet clearly defined. A strategy should still come before tactics.

7 Questions to ask before allocating marketing resources

1. Why should we invest in this channel or platform and why now?

2. How will this benefit our brand?

3. How will this benefit our customers?

4. How will we measure if it’s working?

5. What’s the opportunity cost of devoting resources here and not there?

6. What other opportunities exist to invest in growth by delighting existing customers?

7. If this is the right thing to do, how are we going to be the best in the world at it?

Do you have a plan or are you just dabbling?

Image by Hernán Piñera.