A huge part of any business success is having an effective marketing strategy. Your marketing plan outlines what tools and strategies you’ll use to achieve your sales goals. Here’s how to create a marketing plan for your business.
Business Goals/Objectives
The first consideration should be deciding what your overall goals for your business are. What are you looking to achieve? Is it increased brand awareness, higher sales, expanded business reach, adding new services areas, etc? During this initial assessment, you should consider what your current situation is and where you want to be.
Market Research
Knowing what you’d like to achieve can help start to plan out how to get there. Market research is critical. You’ll need to clearly identify who your target audience or market is. Who are your best customers and what market are they in? The clearer you can understand your ideal customers needs and desires, the easier it will be to come up with marketing strategies that they connect with. Start researching where they live, income levels, education levels, hobbies, spending habits, interests, etc.
Your market research should also include information about your competition. What do they offer? At what price point? What is unique about their business/products/services? How long have they been in business? Where are they located?
Gathering as much data as possible will allow you to see a bigger picture. Where is the competition dropping the ball? What do customers really want that they are not receiving? You can use this information to come with your USP or unique selling proposition. How can you make your business stand out?
Marketing Channels
With all of the data collected, you can then make decisions to decide which marketing channels would be best for your business. You’ll want to choose a mix of advertising platforms such as social media, print, television, apps, video ads, or maybe even other guerilla marketing tactics.
Marketing Budget
Regardless of the time in business, continued marketing is a must. A smaller business might not have as large of a budget but it should be a part of the business needs. Considering what you want to achieve, you’ll then develop a marketing budget that can help achieve your goals.
Strategy and Team
Implementing a successful marketing campaign takes the collaboration of a team. You’ll need designers to create visual content. Salespersons to follow up on leads. In order to be successful, you’ll need to set deadlines for each of the phases of your marketing plan. You’ll also need to consider how you will measure progress and campaign effectiveness. You can break down each of these areas into small chunks to ensure that each phase is complete and given thorough attention.
Final Thoughts
Developing an effective marketing plan takes research, thought, and strategy. Keep in mind that your market plans require some level of trial and error. Once your campaigns are rolling, you’ll need to measure the effectiveness and make adjustments as needed. Having a well-planned marketing strategy can help your business reach your ideal target market more effectively. The biggest takeaway, however, should be to always engage with your core customers and deliver what they are seeking.
For more marketing tips click here.
If you are feeling overwhelmed with your branding/marketing efforts and want assistance, please schedule some time to meet with my team so that we can help you move your business forward. Click here for more info.
Questions? Thoughts? Comment below.
