It can be one hundred pages or a dozen pages, depending on the size of your business and your goals. “You don't need elaborate charts or high-priced consultants to develop effective marketing. But you do need a plan,” says Joanna L. Krotz , co-author of the Microsoft Small Business Kit.
A solid marketing plan can help you to recognize which customers are your best prospects and track your results. It’s a road map that will help you understand your target audience, and plan and coordinate your efforts and be proactive. Here are the six most important questions to answer when creating a realistic marketing plan.
What's Your Identity?
List ways your company or product identity can be reinforced. How are you different from others? Define your strengths and weaknesses. For example, if you own a restaurant, do you offer the best organic menu in town or is your ocean view location a major attraction?
What's the Purpose of Your Marketing?
“The purpose statement is not meant to ever be directly communicated to your clients, but it is meant to be the basis for all of your marketing and customer service activity,” says John Jantsch of All Business, a Dun& Bradstreet company. A good example might be, "We're Home Grown Café and we want to be known as the healthiest, tastiest and only all-organic restaurant in town."
Who is Your Target Market?
It’s important to know what your customers need and fulfill those needs. Consider all of the reasons why people might do business with you. Home Grown Café, for example, caters to the business lunch crowd who need an inexpensive, healthy meal served in under an hour. Knowing their target market allows the restaurant to focus on meeting their customer's needs.
What's Your Position?
Simply put, this means what image are you creating and how is your product or service perceived? Are you known for providing luxury service or is your business more about the fast and easily solution? When considering your position, ask yourself the following question: What are the benefits to the customers?
What Tactics and Strategies Will You Use to Carry Out Your Marketing?
The goal is to get your name and message out in many different ways. Use several different marketing tactics to spread the word. Don't limit yourself to newspaper ads and a website, try some of these Free Marketing Ideas.
What's Your Marketing Budget?
Marketing budgets can vary from less than 1 percent of net sales to 10 percent or more for companies marketing consumer goods. Mason Hipp of Small Fuel Marketing says, “It’s important to remember that even the most accurate of budget projections is still only an estimate. Most of the time, your actual spending will be way off from your budget. The real benefit isn’t about accuracy, though. The real benefit of having a budget is that it gives you something to work from—a starting point.”
If your marketing plan is created and supported correctly, it will influence the overriding purpose of the business and become the fundamental way you measure your success.
Mimi Hashemi - Mimi Hashemi has more than twenty years experience in marketing, public relations, and new business development. With particular emphasis ...
