Although I have a certain affinity for Starbucks, I really have to applaud McDonald’s recent effort to stand out from the crowd.  Appearing in Starbucks home state of Washington, this billboard campaign seems to be getting their message across.

Congratulations, you made it through 2008. Whether you made or lost money last year, the scorecard starts anew (for most of us) in 2009.  That also means its time (if you haven’t done so already) to review or renew your marketing plans for the coming year.

If you’re like many companies, the process often goes like this… there’s a meeting where everyone sits down and maps out the year. Lofty goals are laid out, budgets are assigned and everyone is excited about the possibilities.  By the second quarter of the year, you start to notice a few kinks in the effort.  Daily life has kicked in, problems arise, and focus shifts to distraction. Now, scheduled strategies and efforts are either woefully late, or not getting done at all.  Your team is discouraged as they focus on putting out fires and being reactive more than proactive.

The most successful marketing plan (more often than not) starts with creating one you can actually execute. Someone once inquired as to what diet was best in order to accomplish their goal of losing weight.  The expert’s answer?  The diet you’ll actually DO!  The same may be true of your marketing plan. 

Start with making sure your plan’s goals are realistic and have basis. What are your clients telling you? Market conditions? Goals should be articulate, identifiable and relatively reachable. You want your team to stretch, but you also want to keep them motivated.

While it’s important to dream and think out of the box, it’s equally important to avoid lofty goals that sound great in a meeting, but have no realistic chance of getting done or funded.  Also, be sure to set deadlines and then expect to meet them.  Too often projects don’t get launched because the deadline is too easily moved.  Still can’t get the job done in house?  Outside help may be worth considering. It’s a great way to avoid fixed overhead yet get things done.