Strategy isn’t just what the driver is doing right now, but how he’s managing the entire race

Consider your marketing strategy as a racing strategy. Your goal is to create a plan that performs well and, ultimately, results in a checkered flag. The first thing that goes into a race strategy is the pit stop. Pit stops are a pause intended for refueling, new tires, repairs, mechanical adjustments, or even a driver change. In the marketing speedway, this is known as ‘strategy development. ‘ It is an imperative tactic that a marketer should never skip. 

Pit Stops

We’ve established that “pitting” is a necessary part of racing. The tricky part is determining when, how often, and what to give the most attention to during these stops. The pit strategy is calculated carefully to balance the amount of time in the pit with time gained while on the track. This results, theoretically, in achieving the shortest possible time to cover the scheduled distance. However, a team’s pit strategy is not a fixed, immutable thing; it is subject to change, dependent on the unpredictable events that happen in every race. This very similar to the inability to predict how an audience will react to a marketing tactic or the changing market conditions.

Here are a few things to consider when developing your marketing-race strategy:

• What is your position in the race?
• Are your current marketing efforts still getting good traction, or are they losing speed? 
• Are you tracking your analytics? 
• Are you allowing those statistics to influence modifications to your current strategy?

Fuel & Performance

Think of your budget as the fuel for your race car. Doing things like braking hard into turns or taking turns quickly will cause you to pit sooner. Ill-timed pitting is easier to avoid with improved driving practices and advance planning. Since fuel is a significant portion of your car’s weight, you should use it in a way that will provide the best mileage. When planning your marketing strategy, would you gain a greater advantage using all of your fuel at once, or would you get better performance with several smaller fuel-ups?