You’ve probably heard it before: Much like having a business plan is crucial to launching and growing a business, having a marketing plan is critical to reaching customers and selling successfully.
Okay, great. But now what? How can you create a marketing plan quickly and simply? First know that marketing is not a single action but a combination of steps your business takes to identify, attract and retain profitable customers. It includes everything from market research, advertising, pricing and packaging, to what employees wear, your mix of print and online marketing, and much more.
In short, marketing is the very core of your business, so it’s important to have a plan of attack.
Marketing plans are flexible but generally include your goals, product or service descriptions, target markets, competitive analysis, pricing, distribution methods, media mix (print, digital, mobile, etc.) and action plan. These steps can help you prepare your plan:
• Mission. This is your cornerstone. Write a short paragraph that defines what compelling advantage or value you offer, including how it solves a problem and makes the customer’s life easier. Be specific. Pinpoint the customer “pain” that your product or service will relieve. Before you can effectively market yourself – create ads, websites or online campaigns, for example – you must decide what type of problem-solver you want your business to be.
• Market research. This is how you identify customer needs and wants. Build a detailed, trait-by-trait profile of your ideal prospects. Again, be as specific as possible. Later, when you create your actual marketing messages, aim those messages at these prospects. Research needn’t be complex or costly. Online research, one-on-one interviews with prospects, informal focus groups and email or Web-based surveys are all inexpensive and relatively easy to do.
• Define your product or service. Carefully identify every product or service you offer, individually. Some products or services can be broken into separate pieces, and priced separately. List as many benefits as possible that you can offer. You’ll want to incorporate these in your marketing message.
• Check the competition. Identify your key competitors – both direct and indirect – including their strengths and weaknesses, and how your business compares. Write down your analysis and make it part of your plan.
• Prepare proper pricing. Analyze your pricing structure, and avoid the “markup mistake.” That’s when a business merely calculates costs and adds a set markup. Instead, use your market research to establish what customers are willing to pay, and build pricing around that. •
Daniel Kehrer can be reached at editor@bizbest.com.
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