Most marketers start by thinking—throwing around ideas, holding brainstorming sessions, and filling up whiteboards. It’s fun, it is what creatives are known for. But truly effective strategies begin with looking: studying analytics, speaking to customers, and seeing the actual situation on the ground. And because strategy is a greek military word, let’s think of an Ancient Greek general planning a battle: you wouldn’t want him to send soldiers on a hunch only to discover “oops” that was the best defended flank. We’d expect them to gather intel and look first.
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Of course, you still need a big, creative idea. But here’s a little secret, the best “big ideas” are sparked from looking at the data and facts. Observe that the hotel’s guests keep raving about the location (in a location that was assumed bad), now find out why, and you get something unexpected to make position the hotel.
And while data shows you the “what” and “why,” you also have to consider additional data, the resources at your disposal. There are 3 key resources:
Talent – What skills does your team have, and what can they realistically create or execute?
Time – How quickly do you need results, and how much time can you invest in each tactic?
Money – What budget is available, and will it stretch far enough to cover the “big idea” you envision?
No matter how innovative or compelling your strategy appears on paper, it won’t succeed if you ignore the resources. Figuring out that a TikTok campaign would be great is possibly true, but if you have nobody on the team that can execute and no money to hire it’s just an empty idea.
Ultimately, a great strategy is one that’s built on observing the current situation and data and crafted to be executable with your Talent, Time, and Money. When those elements line up, you get a proper “big idea” and you get a marketing plan people can actually execute, delivering real, measurable results. I would argue that anything that isn’t done based on real observation of data and facts isn’t a “big idea” it’s just an idea.
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About me: I’m a fractional CMO for large travel technology companies helping turn them into industry leaders. I’m also the co-founder of 10minutes.news a hotel news media that is unsensational, factual and keeps hoteliers updated on the industry.
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