It's easy to focus on the near term, the now, the next dollar. The troubled economy doesn't make it any better. However, even in difficult times you can't lose focus of your long term objectives.
For 2010 I believe the key word is FOCUS! Without focus what do you have? A bunch of noise that nobody really cares about?
Particularly with social media and the myths that it is FREE, many companies are losing their focus. Social media can not stand alone without traditional marketing, proper planning, GOOD and preferably EXCELLENT CONTENT and most importantly a PLAN!
Do not get stuck believing success is measured on the # of Twitter followers or Facebook fans. Yes, these are good metrics for social media influence, ROI etc. However, they need to be part of a broader set of objectives, tactics and measurements that. ROI matters even with social media! Businesses who don't learn this fast proactively will unfortunately learn it the hard way.
As you build your 2010 marketing, business, product and go-to-market plans don't lose sight of the WHY! WHY are you in business? Who are you serving? WHY and WHAT are you serving that audience? What is it you offer that they care about and WHY? How can you help them better their business, themselves and their community? WHY DO YOUR CUSTOMERS CARE THAT YOUR BUSINESS EXISTS? Or do they?
You can NOT be everything to everyone. Instead focus on being SOMETHING to SOMEBODY!!
Be the “SO WHAT” that SOMEBODY talks about and BUYS!
