Start. On. Strategy.

Not having a strategy is why the thought of creating another Facebook post provokes anxiety or frustration. It's why you're procrastinating on fixing the website, and it's why your marketing lacks clarity and direction.

Let me show you what the other way looks like.

The tavern that offered everything

I worked with a tavern, a bar and restaurant, that was struggling to attract clientele. Their website talked about everything they offered. Bar, cellar, restaurant, breakfasts, live music, corporate functions and everything in between. The restaurant was a mix of Mexican, Spanish, American and typical Australian dishes, presumably for the completely unadventurous guest they simply must have something for. Such was their commitment to being everything to everyone.

Research first

Before writing a word of their strategy, I did the research. I trawled through competitor websites and read hundreds of their reviews on Google and Tripadvisor. What a business says about itself tells you the brand it thinks it's building. What its customers say tells you how well it's delivering.

Other cafes and restaurants had much better locations, overlooking the water. Location wasn't a strength. Next.

There was very little demand in the area for a high end experience, and other venues already owned that reputation. This was a pub's restaurant. You can't dress it up to be something it isn't. Next.

Others already crushed it for service and atmosphere. A cool vibe wasn't realistic given the current team. Next.

There was no shortage of cheap and nasty pub meals either. I'd never recommend competing on price, and it wasn't even an option. Next.

Speed to serve a freshly prepared meal. Now that was a genuine strength, and nobody around claimed it. It was obvious from what customers said in reviews. Group dining was another strength, with empty land to grab, and it leaned into the shared experience at the heart of Spanish and Mexican food.

Find where it is lonely

When I'm positioning a business, I'm looking for at least two areas of difference. I put speed of service on one axis and social on the other, plotted where we wanted to be, then plotted every competitor.

Wherever you find yourself on the graph, you should be lonely. No competitors around you. That's your differentiation. Blue ocean, where the sharks aren't circling.

Fast, fresh and fun

The brand strategy for the tavern came out as three words. Fast, fresh and fun.

It can sound wishy washy on its own. So the strategy comes with guiding principles, examples of what it looks like when the strategy leads decisions across the business. The first one read: split bills are not a problem. In fact, we make it fun.

Now imagine you're a customer. Your meals come out fast, and they're obviously freshly prepared. You eat with your hands from sharing plates. You share a bottle of wine because that's what the servers encourage, rather than a glass of beer for one.

Credit card roulette

At the end of the night, the server asks if you've ever played credit card roulette. "No, what's that?"

"I close my eyes. You hand all your credit cards to one person. I pick one at random. That's who pays for dinner tonight. Any group that plays on a Wednesday and tags us in a post gets ten percent off. Wanna play?"

Excitement builds around the table. Sideways glances as everyone weighs up the risk. An unspoken agreement, and everyone hands over their card. Then something interesting happens. Your friends pull out their phones to record it.

The server opens their eyes and picks a card. A loud cheer as all but one of you score a free meal and, better, a story about the night. Everyone posts their video with the hashtag. Not for the discount. Because it was hilarious and they can't wait to share it.

The tactic fell out of the strategy

That business just got more reach and brand awareness from one table than most of its competitors get in a week of posting things nobody cares about.

Nobody sat down and brainstormed a social media tactic. We started with research, found a space on the graph we could own, wrote a strategy, and the tactic fell out of it. That's what strategy does. Marketing doesn't have to be a constant feeling of effort. With the right strategy, great marketing doesn't feel like marketing at all.

Compare that with where you are now. You feel like you're unclear about whom you're talking to, where you need to be, and what you need to say. Every time you post, advertise or serve a customer without a strategy, you're a coach sending the team onto the field without a plan. No successful team in history would do that. The wildly successful tourism businesses don't either.

So if you remember nothing else, remember this. S.O.S.

Start. On. Strategy.

Thinking about a new social media platform? Ask, what is the strategy? Updating the website? What is the strategy? Want more sales in the off peak? What is the strategy? Buying another tour bus? What is the strategy?

Start. On. Strategy.