Most companies don't have a business plan, so it's hard to expect that they would have a marketing strategy. But most companies just get by. Do you want to be "most companies" or do you want to be a shining star?

It's that time of year when entrepreneurs, business leaders and marketing professionals re-evaluate their businesses on multiple levels. The market has changed and with this fluid transformation companies are needing to draw on data, research and experience to navigate the future.

When it comes to employee appraisals, it is important for the appraisee to look at industry standards, benchmarking and peer group feedback. It's not just managers that know what is happening on the floor and numbers are can never truly reflect an employees contribution to an organisation.

Every marketer has tricks up their sleeve. If they didn't, they are not trying hard enough. Having been a marketing consultant for many years, I have had the pleasure of rolling up my sleeve and showing the world (well, mostly people in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney) how they too can use some of the tricks of the trade to accelerate their marketing reach.

Every top-notch marketer knows that they as good as they may be, they will never know it all. It's impossible. Marketing is changing every day. Reading sentiment of target markets change rapidly. What is good today, may not be good tomorrow and so on.

But there is a list of things that brilliant marketers do that really make them standout from the the rest.

When a problem arises in business, there are many ways to tackle it. When it keeps happening, that's when you need to take stock and re-think what you are doing. That's what one company did and the results were astounding.

I'm sitting at the airport about to hop on my next plane. I dress the same way every flight for comfort; a Nike pant, Armani knit, Nike shoes and jewellery. I wear a scarf to lift the outfit just in case my luggage goes missing at the other end, and I always pack a pair of heels in my hand luggage. I am ready.

We have the most amazing marketing internship program, and the biggest benefit for us is the privilege to see people grow in confidence and capabilities. The fact that after an internship they should be able to go out into the world and add value to any entry-based marketing position, is something that we are extremely proud of.

Just when I thought I was getting comfortable with millennials, I have been bombarded with a new type of marketer in the office.

Everyone is busy doing budgets for the next financial year, and setting sales forecasts, while marketers are frantically trying to ensure that marketing strategies are in line with the results that management are looking for. What is most important is the ability for companies to read the market, understand what customer want, and easily communicate why they should choose a particular company over another.

Marketing Eye is fine-tuning our 2018/19 marketing strategy for Australia, ensuring that we don't just focus on Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Townsville, but also other States in Australia with a firm goal of opening offices in Adelaide, Perth, Canberra and New Zealand.