Vision. In other words, unrelenting pursuit of your why. Why do you exist. Why you’re in business. Why your customer or potential audience should choose you over a competitor. Why they should care about your services or products at all.

If your vision is clear, your message will be clear. 

Let’s call it the K.O. method. Reminiscent of the Sean Covey’s “4 Disciplines of Execution” yet simplified, K.O. method is the “Kick-ass Objective.” A Kick-ass objective is your WIG, your wildly important goal, your number 1 priority, not the numerous priorities you feel in the moment, the primary priority when it comes to your business goals, thereby your marketing goals.

Your marketing goal—see, singular, shall emulate or correspond with your overall business goal—again, singular. Keep it simple. If your vision is clear, your message is clear. So the method starts with your singular focus—your K.O.

After you know the why and in a sense, your how with a Kick-ass objective, the next step is your strategy then your tactics. A plan. Yes, a plan. The difference between a strategy and a tactic is that the strategy is the road map and the tactic is the car. Don’t put the car ahead of the roadmap.

A strategy includes a timeline with secondary objectives as the milestones, mile markers if we continue the roadmap analogy. First, you need to have the means to track your mileage or otherwise it’s not a roadmap—it’s a shot in the dark. Know where you’re going and how long it’s going to get there.

Next, you need to have the adequate car to get you where you need to go. These are the mechanisms, the day-to-day wheels and cogs that drive you and your company along the path toward success. It’s the nuts and bolts of a SEO strategy that includes the tasks to complete like sitemap architecture, keyword research, and quality content creation.

In summary, you need it all of it. The place where you want to go, the roadmap to get you there, and the wheels to get you where you want to go.