4 Ways “Going With Your Gut” Affects Your Marketing Plan

Another common mistake I see business owners make when putting together a marketing plan is GOING WITH THEIR GUT, which is defined as “To trust or follow an intuition or instinct, as opposed to an opinion based on logical analysis.” (Source: The Free Dictionary)

For marketing purposes, I mean:

• • Not doing research
  • Not collecting feedback
  • Making decisions based on guesses & estimates vs. facts & figures

The results of GOING WITH YOUR GUT becomes a domino effect:

1. 1. Misjudge target customer
   2. Ineffective marketing tactics
   3. Waste marketing dollars
   4. No results or low ROI

Instead of GOING WITH YOUR GUT, here are five action items that should be done before you create your marketing plan:

1. 1. Analyze past marketing activities to determine what worked and what didn’t.
   2. Identify business challenges that your marketing will need to address.
   3. Get customer feedback including how they found you and why they chose you.
   4. Look at how your competitors are marketing.
   5. Review financial numbers to determine your marketing budget.

All of this ensures that you make informed, educated, and realistic decisions for your marketing plan.

P.S. Find out more about this rookie mistake in this episode of Marketing MOJO.