Finding Waldo in a Sea of Potential Leads

I recently attended a marketing technology summit that focused on CRM systems and solutions. One of the guest speakers, Eric Piela of the FlintGroup, painted the perfect metaphoric image of marketing. Being a visual person myself, I wanted to share this image with you guys....

Where's Waldo? The Gold Rush

Marketing is all about reaching the right 50 people, not the wrong 500 people. In any given marketplace there's an array of people. Is your company trying to reach the cowboys, the cattle drivers, the saloon girls, or just simply Waldo himself? Your tactics and strategies must target whomever you're trying to reach -simply flying a banner above all these people will most likely not garner anyone's attention. Plain and simple, it's all about reaching the right person, with the right message, at the right time.

In addition to outbound marketing, there is also inbound marketing...become the "gold hole" that people flock to.
Get Found - through the use of great content and by building relationships
     ↓
Convert - by involving and motivating leads
     ↓ 
Analyze - what has or hasn't worked?  

No matter if you're focusing on outbound or inbound marketing, there are best practices that your company should follow in marketing planning and execution:

1. Goals 1st, tactics later - the goals help define, guide, and dictate the tacits
2. 'Don't try to boil the ocean' - start small and focus
3. Content -remember, quality over quantity; be useful, relevant, and timely 

 So, have you found Waldo yet?