Get the most out of this article by reading these articles first:

• Harness the Marketing Swell Theory for Stronger Results
• How Your Target Audience Watches Marketing Swells
• Master All 3 Areas of the Marketing Swell: Awareness, Consideration, Decision

A swell is a series of waves breaking in a rhythmic pattern onto the shore. Swells happen naturally. They occur frequently. They are already in motion. Our job as marketers is to notice the swell and to ride it well.

The strong swimmer (marketer) doesn’t ride just one wave. The strong swimmer rides the series of waves nature has provided. The strong swimmer relaxes, takes it easy and simply repeats what works well on each wave.

To consistently invite the beachgoers (target audience) to join you and become loyal to your offerings, align the whole marketing team, internally and externally, on a simple one-page marketing plan.

Examples are provided here from two different organizations.

The Strategies outlined in the center show action to be taken over and over every quarter, on each wave in the swell. Collectively, they cover all three phases of marketing: Awareness, Consideration, Decision. Strategies are evolved in team alignment sessions each quarter.

Objectives and Measures are updated annually after team alignment on what worked and what didn’t in reaching those short-term goals.

The BIG, or Big Important Goal, at the top of the plan is updated every three years after team alignment on maintaining a long-term SMART goal.

Year over year, constant communication and momentum equal consistent results.

Get the next installment in this series: Master Marketing Measurement: How to Gauge the Power of a Marketing Swell.

Since 2007, Big Buzz® has helped Stage II to Stage III organizations systemize marketing to achieve growth goals. Founder and CEO Wendy O’Donovan Phillips is the author of two books available on Amazon, Kaboom and Flourish, multiple data-driven eBooks, has been published in McKnight’s, in Forbes, and has been quoted in The Washington Post, ABC News, and Chicago Tribune. She has lectured for the American Dental Association, Argentum, several chapters of LeadingAge, and dozens of other organizations in front of audiences ranging in size from 25 to 3,000. She has been honored by the American Marketing Association for excellence in her field and has been named a Gold Key Award Winner by the Business Marketing Association. In her two-decades-long career, she has consulted with hundreds of organizations globally to support improved marketing clarity, strategies, and outcomes. Get details: visit www.bigbuzzinc.com and follow Wendy.