All around the country, county fairs are in full swing with bright lights, ferris wheels, food-on-a-stick and the midway. This noisy, festive atmosphere can feel much like today’s marketing landscape. Every way you turn there are new offers and cool technologies with big promises.

Winning in marketing today requires more than having enough pocket change to buy 3 darts to step up and throw at a target. Have you ever played one of those deceptively simple carnival games? Just pop one of the balloons with a dart and you can take home the big prize. At some point, you realize it’s not all that easy. Can you win? Sure, it just requires a bit of planning before you put things in motion. Here are a few guidelines to help you get the most from you marketing program (or to win that big stuffed monkey.)

1. Know which prize you’re trying to take home.  Are you after the small, blue dog or are you going for the giant stuffed monkey? Like almost anything, the answer depends on a number of factors. Before you throw those darts, make sure you know what you’re shooting for by establishing your goals and KPIs.

2. Understand how the game works and make a plan. If you’re playing the dart game, you should know that the balloons are under-inflated, making them rubbery and tough and the dart tips are dull. In addition, because many people aim for the balloons in the middle of the board, the big prizes are often placed under the balloons at the outer edges. The considerations for a marketing program are obviously more complex. A place to start is to understand your audience by looking through their eyes.

Because each audience can be vastly different – the key is to understand who you are trying to reach and hone in on their wants, needs, motivations and behaviors. When you start with an audience discovery program, you can build your knowledge base and uncover key insights that will form a solid foundation.

3. Put it in motion. When playing the dart game, you should throw the dart as hard as you can and aim for the balloons toward the outside. Obviously, creating a marketing program is a bit more complicated, but having an overarching plan will make it easier to implement, manage and stay focused on the desired outcomes. The key components are:

a. Understanding your audience
b. Knowing what information they need at each stage in their buying journey
c. Prioritizing the channels with which to deliver the information
d. Establishing a measurement plan to review and using the results to adjust your program over time