Vision statements: why you need one and how to create one

In The Marketing Plan Handbook, author Robert W. Bly explains how you can develop big-picture marketing plans for pennies on the dollar with his 12-step marketing plan. In this edited excerpt, Bly describes the importance of having a vision statement and how it can help you develop a marketing plan that helps you bring in more business.

There's a key aspect to the planning of marketing campaigns that differs depending on whether you're a corporate marketing manager or a small-business owner. The former has to please only their employer; the latter seeks to create a business that rewards them personally as well as financially, delivering both the in­come and the lifestyle they seek.

For a marketing manager who's not a business owner, the objective of a marketing plan is pretty much the same for every company they work for: to create and implement a campaign that maximizes return on marketing dollars (ROMD). In other words, to generate the maximum sales and profits for every dollar spent on marketing.

But for the business owner, there's an added dimension to the planning process: vision. By this, we mean creating a marketing plan that not only maximizes ROMD but also delivers the lifestyle the owner wants to get from their business.

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