When did you last review your marketing strategy? In fact, when was the last time you considered your business strategy at all?

Think about your marketing from two perspectives: looking down a Microscope and looking through a Telescope.

The Telescope is about considering future trends, industry movements, and customer directions. It’s the strategic, research, and intelligence part of marketing, asking tough, specific, and honest questions to identify future opportunities.

The Microscope, on the other hand, focuses on internal business needs, short-term tactics, and operational activities like website updates, brochures, PR, social media, and exhibition stands.

Too many small businesses spend too much time looking down the Microscope and not enough time looking through the Telescope. The Telescope is about external, observational, and market intelligence, while the Microscope is about internal, myopic activities. The Microscope should always be a function of the Telescope, not the other way around.

Many small business owners prioritise tactical activities like website updates over strategic thinking. This approach leads to a blurred, fuzzy view of their marketing strategy, resulting in ineffective results. This indifference towards telescope marketing creates what I call ‘The Great Marketing Gap,’ costing small businesses and the UK economy around £24 billion a year. Rapid change in the economy, industry, and technology can render marketing strategies obsolete.

Today, change itself is changing, moving from incremental to exponential change. This widening change gap necessitates regular strategic marketing reviews. As a rule of thumb, you should review your marketing and business strategy at least every two years, or sooner in technology-driven industries.

Market disruptors can dramatically impact your industry and business. Failure to adapt to these changes can lead to stagnation, as seen with BlockBuster’s inability to transition from renting videos to digital downloads.

When setting a strategy, you operate under certain assumptions about your industry. Dramatic changes require re-evaluating these assumptions and adjusting your strategy accordingly.

Without a strategy, you are forced to operate tactically, focusing on immediate steps rather than long-term goals. This can be the difference between a thriving, growing business and one that struggles or stagnates.

If it’s been more than two years since your last strategic marketing review, make it a top priority!

Author: Carl Jarvis specialises in private consulting for SME businesses under £10m. As the author of Amazon #1 bestseller ‘Marketing for Manufacturers’, he originally qualified as a mechanical engineer but since 1999 he’s been an independent senior marketing advisor, guide, educator, mentor and speaker who brings a refreshing perspective to top-level decision making. He delivers independent strategic marketing consultancy to business owners and managers across a range of sectors to help them significantly improve their marketing results, whilst reducing their marketing costs.

Benefit from Carl’s experience and expertise at a forthcoming free marketing seminar for Shropshire businesses hosted by the Shropshire Growth Hub.

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