Many businesses, both large and small, operate without a formal marketing plan in place. WHY CREATE A MARKETING PLAN- With so many businesses clearly doing well without a marketing plan in place, what’s the point?
Your business provides products and services to potential buyers. How effective you are in marketing your products and services hinges on how well you plan and implement a marketing strategy.
In order to effectively market your products and services, you must understand who you need to market to and how to do so. A marketing plan provides a clear path that can be followed, easily duplicated, and measured.
COMPONENTS OF A MARKETING PLAN
1. Research
You likely know quite a bit about your target market already but research is your friend. Learn as much as you can by researching everything possible about how your buyers educate themselves and the criteria they use to make their buying decisions.
2. Buyer PersonasIdentifying your buyer personas will clear the path for how to attract and convert likely buyers into your customers.
3. PositioningDetermine what sets your business apart and how to clearly define your message. Develop and communicate this clear message of how you want your buyer personas to perceive your business.
4. Competitive Analysis
Understand your competitors, how they position themselves, where their strengths and weaknesses lie, and what you can learn from them.
5. BudgetCreate a marketing calendar that outlines the amount of monetary resources that will be devoted toward implementing your marketing plan.
6. StrategyFormulate a mix of marketing tactics that will work together in attracting new buyers to your business, converting those potential buyers into leads, and nurturing those leads into your new customers.
7. Responsibilities and AccountabilityOutline the necessary tasks needed to implement your plan. Determine who will be responsible for each task and leverage an accountability system to make sure your plan is executed.
8. Metrics
Measure your results and make necessary adjustments to realize maximum return on your marketing investment.