How to Adopt Chess Principles for Your Marketing Strategy

Your marketing strategy involves a lot of moving pieces.

Pun intended.

For starters, there’s your brand, offerings, SWOT, budget, alignment to key business objectives, target audience, meaningful measurement and execution plan…to name a few.

But what the heck does chess have to do with creating a winning marketing strategy?

Quite a bit, actually.

At its core, I think key chess principles can help you be more intentional and purpose-driven, balance offensive and defensive approaches, and manage resources optimally.

It can also help you adapt more quickly to changing conditions over time.

Because chess has nearly indefinite possible moves.

Is complex and non-linear.

And challenges you to think outside the box.

In the words of world-renowned checkers master Marion Tinsley:

“Chess is like looking across an ocean.”

Need some practical inspiration for applying chess principles to marketing strategy?

Here are a few impactful approaches for adopting a chess player mindset.

Know the worth of your pieces

• Every piece in your chess arsenal has different strengths and limitations. Your team does too. Place people where they need to be for maximum impact.

• Base decisions on leveraging (and building up) collective strengths while proactively shoring up limitations. Each piece is important and has a unique part to play.

Focus on the long game and big picture

• Chess, like marketing, is fluid and interconnected. Every move and counter-move has a downstream impact. Keep your main thing — your vision, key objective, driving purpose etc. — front and center. It should be the guiding force behind every move you make.

• Stay the course and minimize quick artificial “wins” and distractions to your end goal.

Protect your most important asset

• In chess, you must protect your king at all costs. In marketing, you must protect your brand and reputation, which are irreplaceable and intangible assets. Their value lies in perception.

• Ensure your marketing strategy is aligned with protecting your brand and reputation. Never make a move without factoring in how it might impact them.

Get in the mindset of your opponents

• Chess requires you to think not only about your strategy, but your opponent’s too. Do your due diligence on your competitors and bake that into your overall marketing strategy.

• Try to stay a few moves ahead. The more you understand your competition, the better you can anticipate their moves.

• Blend offensive and defensive measures to advance your position.

Sacrifice when necessary and be ready to pivot

• Unless you’ve lost your king, losing a piece doesn’t mean you’ve lost the game. In marketing and in chess, sometimes you have to sacrifice something to gain a future advantage. For example, it might make sense to invest in a strategic hire if content marketing is a key driver and you know it’s a talent gap on your team. Short term (budget) pain. Long term gain.

• When it comes to your strategy and plan, stay agile and responsive. Be aware of what’s happening on the board and do your best to make proactive and reactive moves as needed. Don’t follow an overly rigid plan.

Keep your wits about you

• Chess is best played with patience. Stay calm so you can see the big picture. Don’t make rash moves based solely on emotion or short-sightedness.

• Before you invest in a new initiative or go to market with a brand new offering, take the time to develop a well-rounded marketing strategy with all your key pieces in place. Backed by data-driven insights and sound research. Be well prepared and then make your big move.

Learn from the best

• To learn from the A-players, many chess players study games from masters and grandmasters. Of course, this applies in marketing (and more generally) too. Take a literal page from their successful playbook. Be inspired by real examples of what worked, what didn’t and what you can adapt and apply.

• If you get stuck during marketing strategy and tactical execution, a “swipe file” is a great go-to resource to spark ideas and inspiration. Essentially, it’s a digital collection or idea repository for great examples of marketing, advertising and copywriting.

The TL;DR Recap:

Study the board.

Make your main goal your north star.

Anticipate and plan for change as best you can.

Know the other players.

And have a plan. But keep it flexible.

I hope these tips help you feel more prepared to tackle your approach to an impactful marketing strategy.

You got this. Happy strategizing!