“People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” — Roger Hornsby.
I suspect few of us have been staring out the window these past few months waiting for spring. But this season of renewal is a good time for our own spring training. Stealing a page from those baseball teams working out on freshly cut fields, we can assess and adjust our own prospects for the year ahead.
First, evaluate your performance. Baseball teams size up their needs based on last year’s standings. How did your marketing campaigns perform in 2016 and, more importantly, in Q1 of 2017?
Ask the following questions: Did you generate more leads than the year before? How did your media channels perform? Are you looking at your returns (ROI, ROAS, CPL or CPA) across the marketing mix? How many leads converted to new members? How did marketing contribute to those results?
Layout out the metrics and draw conclusions that can influence your plans.
Second, adjust your strategy. Teams use the offseason and Spring Training to address their needs through trades and free agency. With your insights, what can you do to address your needs? Adjust your strategy to fill gaps and leverage your most successful programs.
Lastly, execute with excellence. Teams work on the conditioning, fundamentals and tools needed to compete at the highest levels. Make sure your plan delivers against the strategy: marketing support that delivers against measurable goals, with tactics defined and ready to implement throughout the season.
The blizzard of business during the start of the new year is behind us. Let’s take a page from the Boys of Summer: renew and refresh your marketing plans for a great spring, summer and autumn ahead.
Chad C. Waetzig is the executive vice president of marketing and branding for Crunch.
