Did you catch any of the BBC1 series Sherlock, a modern-day version of the Conan Doyle classic? If you didn’t it might be because you dared to take a summer holiday, went to make a cup of tea, or blinked; because it was only a pilot of three episodes.
Due to its success, a second series has been confirmed, but didn’t the commissioning team for see its popularity? Really they needed to be ready in the wings with further episodes locked and loaded, once the viewing figures came in – 6.4 million for the second episode as reported in The Guardian.
Whether you’re planning a prime time hit TV series, or your marketing strategy (from Sherlock to strategy I know, sorry) there is a lesson to be learnt here.
Some of the best marketers have secured results not because of the initial push they were making, but because of the speed at which the responded to the resulting opportunities.
If you scan the local papers in particular, you’ll see that the businesses who have commented on current news stories are those who are not only sending out regular information, but they have a finger on the pulse when it comes to related stories. They’re ready to react – provide expert comment, stats, photographs, the lot.
With each element of your plan that you roll out, you have to be ready and waiting with the next shot.
It’s easy to get carried away with the moment, especially if you’re in launch mode; announcing a new website before the content is up to scratch, or social media channels are in place, sending out a press release without any images, or having further article ideas sketched out before sending a piece to an editor.
It all adds to the workload yes, but to plan, plan and plan some more is how you get results.
