The World Series begins tomorrow night. I am a baseball fan, so this is
always a great time of the year for me. But beyond the current fall classic, I
find that baseball and marketing have a lot in common.

Suppose you paid to go to a professional baseball game. Let’s say you
purchased seats right behind home plate. These seats cost you a lot of money
because they are some of the best seats in the stadium. As you took your seats,
some very odd events began to happen. The first thing you noticed was the
players. Instead of a team of players all dressed in the same uniforms, a group
of guys showed up wearing whatever they wanted. Nothing matched. The second oddity
was that no one seemed to be in charge. Guys jumped up to the batter’s box
whenever they felt like it. There were no managers, no coaches or umpires.
These men didn’t seem to be playing by any rules. Some players swung and missed
four or five times, but kept on batting. Others went out in the field, stood
around and joked with each other. No one was interested in catching any fly
balls or trying to get any outs. After an hour or so, they all left the field
and went home.

Would you be incensed that you paid money to watch an organized baseball
game and this is what you received? That’s not the way professional baseball is
played. It is highly organized. It is governed by strict rules that are
enforced by umpires. Each team is managed by coaches who train and put the best
players on the field. Every aspect of it is scrutinized. Scouts keep stats on
every player – what types of pitches do they throw to righthanders vs.
lefthanders? What pitches do batters like to hit? Who is a good fielder and who
is not? All of these bits of information are used in the strategy of the game.

Marketing is like baseball. You must have an organized plan to make
marketing work. Too often, though, businesses market like that rag-tag group of
guys who showed up without a plan. They make things up as they go along. That
is a business disaster waiting to happen.

How are marketing and baseball alike? Let me share a few examples.
First, marketing brands your products and services. This helps consumers know
what you’re selling and why it is unique in the marketplace. Baseball teams
wear uniforms. They all wear the same colors with their city and team mascot
emblazoned on them. They are branded. Teams compete against other teams. The
branding of a team makes sure we don’t confuse one team for the other. Brands
compete against other brands. Branding is more than a good logo and a clever
tagline. It is the uniform way you communicate what you are selling and the
promotion of your competitive advantages.

Second, good marketing, like good baseball, is managed to achieve a
goal. The goal of baseball is to score runs. The goal of marketing is to lead a
customer to a sale. In baseball, there are times when a player is instructed to
bunt a ball to advance a runner into scoring position. Bunts are strategic. Bunts
are not as exciting as homeruns, but they are deemed necessary to reach the
goal of scoring runs. Likewise, marketing is strategic. Promotions are put into
play when your best-selling opportunities present themselves. That takes some
planning. You have to know – not guess – when your target market will react
positively to your promotions. When are your customers likely to need what you
are selling? You have to maneuver your brand into position to be seen and
promoted in a way that causes consumers to give it a try. Put your marketing in
play during these times.

Third, baseball is a game of statistics. Success is measured in batting
averages and on-base percentages. Analytics measure one player against another
with Wins Above Replacement rankings. Everything is measured. Likewise, the
effectiveness of your marketing should be measured. How many leads were
generated by a campaign? How many sales are attributed to new customers vs.
returning customers? How do you compare to your competitors? If you keep an eye
on your analytics and compare them to your sales, you will get a good idea of
what is working and what is not in your marketing.

The bottom line is you need a plan to make marketing work for you.
Otherwise, you will find that you are just playing around, but not really
making any significant progress in gaining and holding onto your customers.
That is a business disaster waiting to happen. Make marketing work for you. Be
strategic and intentional, like a good baseball team.