Strategize; or Not

Comments based on: Strategy is Not a To Do List If tl;dr, Lessons Learned

• Entrepreneurs get lots of great advice.
• Most of it is mutually exclusive.
• Don’t do it if you can’t explain why you’re doing it.
• Or else it all becomes a To Do list.

A quick description; I have always pride myself along the lines “I can do this”, “Just hand it to me” and “I’ll figure it out”. Being a Communications major & self-practicing freelance Graphic Designer, I have now embarked on a journey of self-exploration via the route of Marketing & Business Development.

Many at times, my boss will question the skeletal background of my supposed Marketing campaign, and whether it meets the OKRs (Objectives, Key Results). Truth be told, I can’t answer fully with much confidence.

I reckon it to be like your Mum giving you a list of ingredients to buy at the grocery store but you can’t really justify why you are buying what you are buying, much less concerned of what the end product would be. I must admit when I prepare a Marketing campaign, I am blinded by the idea of it going well, the beauty of meeting objectives and presenting key results, the sense of satisfaction when you successfully made your boss happy. To be blinded is one thing, the inability to get out of that blindness (hopefully it’s temporary) is another. Solution: Presenting both sides of the coin- possible best & worse case scenarios of what might/might not happen at the of the stipulated campaign, followed by an evaluation + the post-campaign review (so as to prepare for future ones).

This sounds easy but to me it seems like a painstaking process in which every step, every phase of the campaign matters; 1. The Plan: What is the campaign about, Who are your target audience, How do you carry it out 2. The Execution: When is the best time period for Launch, Where do you launch it, Which channels are suitable of launch 3. The Follow-Up: What must you keep track of, Who are your partners you must keep in close contact with, Have you tie up all loose ends 3.1 *(Additional) The Review: Did the campaign meet its Objectives, also presenting Key Results (OKRs), What would be the BEST & WORSE case scenarios, What went right and/or wrong, At which phase did these occurs (P, E, or F), What are the learning points (Positives & Negatives), The ‘Should & Should Not’ Points.

At this juncture, it is of paramount importance that you fully understand the list, do not just execute it. If you are blinded by idea of completing it and/or the possibilities of the end-results, you will not fully comprehend the essence of what you have just planned, created & executed. Hopefully, by having a clear & comprehensive mindset during the planning phase, it will set you on course for a proper, meticulous, well-thought-out, well-articulated, and well-executed campaign, or To-Do List.

Originally published at yourpeanutbutterfix.wordpress.com.