For some reason, this is the time of year that we are awash in marketing plans. It feels like we’re writing stacks of them. Which should be easy as following a tried-and-true pie recipe.

Ok, fine, I’ve been thinking about pie. Apple pie, to be specific.

Here’s the problem. My kids do this apple pie fundraiser at school for the band. They make hundreds of pies in a day. They churn them out at an amazing rate, which is cool.

They taste ok. The crust is decent, the apples are good. The cinnamon is there. But the craftsmanship … well. Forget the egg wash. And they’re served up in those sad metal tins that are not Instagram worthy, if you know what I’m saying.

The pies are fine. Average. Which, when you churn things out en masse, that tends to happen.

You get where I’m going here, right? With marketing plans?

If your marketing plan is fine, if it looks like everyone else’s, if there is nothing in it that is unique to you, throw that junk in the trash right now.

No two organizations are alike. If your marketing plan is doing its job, it should be unique to you. It should be deeply integrated and aligned with your strategy and your brand. It should take into account your capacity, your personality, and the things that make your organization stand out from the competitors.

Sure, sure, there’s a formula. A recipe to follow. The same ingredients are required. (Getting heavy on the metaphor here … sorry about that.) But it’s the extra care put into customization and the deep knowledge of your organization that makes a marketing plan magical. Like the extra care put into the crust and that pinch of spice that’s just right. You know what I mean.

Make sure your marketing plan has that extra pinch. It’ll be so much better.

In order to entirely beat this metaphor over the head, I’m adding a gratuitous image of a pie Jill rocked, which made those of us at the office very happy, and should make you just a little bit jealous.