As a small business owner, you have a lot to do. They have to oversee everything from accounting to recruiting. One of the most important parts of growing your business is your marketing strategy. By developing a marketing plan, you can identify your target audience and reach your customers. It clearly outlines the answers to important questions for your team to ensure everyone is on the same page.
In this article, we've outlined everything you need to know to start your marketing efforts. We've provided a step-by-step guide to what you or your marketing team should consider when creating a plan. Finally, we provide sample marketing plans that you can use when creating your own marketing plan.
What is a marketing plan and why is it important?
A marketing plan is a document that describes how you will launch and distribute the product to customers. It tends to highlight your business needs and outlines the steps you need to take to put you in the best possible position to sell your product. The document does not need to be very long, as it is only part of your overall business plan.
However, in-depth market research is needed to conclude. A market plan is not something that needs to be accomplished overnight. Investing time up front to develop a quality marketing plan will better position your business for future success. As Dave Lavinsky said in Forbes, "If you do it right, your marketing plan will be the roadmap you follow to acquire unlimited customers and dramatically improve your business success."
Lavinsky also says that a good marketing plan will help you:
- Identify your target customers
- Determine how you will reach your target customers
- Describe retention strategies to convert potential customers into repeat customers.
Whether you want to launch a new product or change your current marketing campaign, take the time to create a marketing plan. An effective marketing plan can help you attract new customers and increase your market share.
Think about your marketing plan
Before you start developing your marketing plan, you need to sit down with your marketing team and brainstorm. Below are the first things to consider.
1. Your business goals
You should consider your business goals before writing your marketing plan. What kind of products are you focusing on? What are your marketing objectives for delivering this campaign? How do you measure growth? The goals you set for yourself should be objective and measurable. For example, "Increase sales of product X" is not a valid goal But "Increase sales of product X by 10% by the end of the fourth quarter" gives you something tangible to work with.
2. Determine why a customer will come to you (or not).
Start by performing a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis. Through a SWOT analysis, you can determine your competitive advantages and disadvantages. What is your USP? What makes you special?
Determining why a customer wants to come to you involves more than simply restating your company's mission statement. You want to clearly define the motive behind a customer choosing you over a competitor. Is the use of your product or service related to social status, daily life, comfort or something else? You need to know and understand why a customer would choose you over a competitor and why they would choose a competitor over you.
Since this is an internal discussion between team members, it's best to be honest and open. That way, you can address your weaknesses up front instead of holding you back throughout your marketing campaign.
3. Identify your target customers
Your target customers are most likely to buy your product. Take the time to understand who your ideal customer is. To do this, demography and psychography must be combined.
Demographic information includes age, gender, household income, marital status, ownership status, and more. Your best free source for demographic information is the US Census Bureau The Small Business Administration website also provides links to a handful of online resources for demographic information that you can use
Psychographics consists of analyzing consumer lifestyles. You may need to do some research to determine the buyers in your target market. Psychography asks clients what they think about various activities, statements, and interests. Their response factors may include a variety of factors, such as a person's lifestyle (eg, healthy, active), social class, activities and hobbies, values, attitudes, and personality.
Psychographic data is a little harder to get without being a member of an analytics firm like Nielsen or Kanter Media. Psychographics measure audience behavior (eg why a customer buys something).
4. Analyze your competition
You face the most important competitors who directly target your ideal customer. Do an honest assessment of your competitors and what they have to offer that you don't. Also take the time to discuss how they might respond to your business. Are they subject to discounts, aggressive advertising or special offers? What else can they do to maintain brand awareness and competitive advantage?
How to Create a Small Business Marketing Plan
Once you've collected your data, you need to create your marketing plan. These are the main features that should be included.
1. Summary
The executive summary is a summary of all the elements of your marketing plan. Although the summary comes first, you should finish after finishing everything else on the list.
2. Mission Statement
Your marketing plan should also include a mission statement. Although it should probably be similar, the mission statement you use for your marketing plan may not match your company's mission statement. When creating a mission statement, keep the following points in mind:
- What do you want to do?
- you are right
- You do it for people
3. Situation analysis
This is an overview of the current state of your business. Here you should include information such as what you sell, what sets you apart from your competition, and your company's best practices. The more information you add here, the better. They give the reader a clear picture of what makes your business strong and competitive.
Not only do you want to include information about your business, but also other influencers in the market. This is where you want to add your SWOT analysis.
4. Target audience
You've done all the work to understand who your target customers are, so take the time to write a description of that audience. It should be as descriptive as possible. Don't forget to include any psychographic data you have.
5. Marketing objectives
Transfer the marketing goals you have achieved to this section. Remember that you want your goals to be measurable in order to see results. Goals allow you to track progress so you can make adjustments if necessary.
6. Strategy and Tactics
Use your marketing goals as a template and determine the strategies and tactics you will use to achieve them. This includes the different types of media you plan to use and the different information or promotional tools you will use. This is the heart of your marketing plan. Take the time to research your audience and find the best way to reach them. You cannot reach all customers in the same way.
You can use different strategies as part of an effective marketing mix. For example, maybe your digital marketing campaign involves using social media to reach your target audience. But instead of using a simple "one size fits all" strategy, use LinkedIn to reach your older professional demographic and use Facebook or Instagram to reach students and others in the younger demographic.
Or maybe you prefer a more organic approach by implementing a search engine optimization (SEO) and content marketing strategy. Don't be afraid to use different sales channels when creating your marketing plan.
7. Determine your budget
Your marketing budget should strike a balance between being high enough to make an impact, but low enough not to deplete your startup capital. Collect the costs of the strategies you described in Step 4. If you have the opportunity to work with multiple media companies, collect quotes from several so you can compare and contrast their services and prices.
Examples of marketing plans.
Looking for a little more advice about your marketing plan? The following examples are two of our favorites. Both give a clear indication of not only the type of information to include, but also the rigor you need and how to organize your plan.
If you're unfamiliar with marketing plans, be sure to read them before creating your own.
A successful marketing plan can help you grow
Don't overlook the importance of your marketing plan. When done right, your marketing plan can quickly become a rallying point for you and your employees, which you can target and achieve. It can also be a way to focus if you never know which way to go. Take the time to create a marketing plan that works. You will be grateful for putting in the time and effort.
This article was created by QuickBooks Resource Center and published by MediaFeed.org
