Before we jump in, a quick marketing 101 lesson; the idea of having a “bullseye target” in marketing is to single in on one type of person with specific demographic and psychographic details so that you can focus all your marketing resources and attention on him or her. If this is the first time you’ve heard of this concept, it might sound a little ridiculous, and wasteful. I get it. The concept of funnelling all your marketing budget and resources into one single specific type of person seems ludicrous when you can just as easily spread out those resources and appeal to everyone.

The problem is, when you do the latter, you dilute your budget, resources, and worst of all, your message.

There is a cacophony of brands and advertisements bombarding our eyes and minds every day, and as consumers it’s not unusual to see thousands upon thousands each day. So, how does pin-pointing one type of person for your marketing efforts help your brand to stand out and attract more customers and clients?

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The first time you write your marketing plan, it’s an inspiring process. You’ve laid out this well-thought-out strategic roadmap that will lead you to business success, and you can’t wait to implement it. In some senses, you expect it to be a cakewalk. However, after a year, or maybe even just six months, you find yourself so focused on just “doing” things, that you forget all about the clear, strategic plan that you had initially laid out. You’re focusing more on keeping your head above water with things like “managing” social media accounts and you forget all about how to utilize them to your benefit – just like you had laid out in the marketing plan.

This happens to marketers everywhere, and if this sounds like you, it’s time to evaluate (and/or re-evaluate) your marketing plan. Here are 5 tips on how to get started:

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Of the many marketing plans I’ve seen, there’s one major thing that a majority of them desperately need but are curiously missing: a clear vision. This should be the same (or at least similar) vision from your business plan that guides all aspects of your organization. And truthfully, anyone can write down a vision – and many do – but a clear vision will easily apply to your marketing plan, and it will do exactly what you expect: it will clarify.

A lot of times, I see vision statements that are multiple lines long and – quite frankly – confusing and frustrating to follow. One time, I actually witnessed a marketing director having to pull out a document in order to read the vision statement verbatim from a sheet a paper. If you catch yourself doing this, I can promise you that your vision statement is wrong. Your vision is supposed to guide your team’s entire direction. How can you expect your team to follow a vision, if you can’t even remember it?

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I don’t know why I’m always hesitant when going to big conferences like the BCAMA Vision 2014 one a couple weeks ago. I guess it’s the fact that they’re usually full-day conferences that can be draining on the body and mind, but I usually end up leaving inspired by some great advice and new ideas.

This conference was definitely no different. Here are some things I learned about at the conference that is hopefully of help to you as well.

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