Develop a marketing plan that works

Your company has a marketing plan and do not know where it is? If your marketing plan is sitting on a shelf, if you are not getting the desired business results, or if you have a plan and do not know what to do with it - to read. A well developed marketing plan can help the "good times roll" in these times not-so-good.

What a marketing plan is

A well-defined marketing plan is your road map to business results. Will guide the situation to a destination target. It should be a document that is used and revised if necessary (no one says that one must live and die by what you decide to do today). You can develop an effective marketing plan following a tried-and-true series of steps.

What a marketing plan is not

A marketing plan is not a fantasy, written in an intelligent way (although it should be clearly communicated) 100-page document that "excites" the people. There is a document that will take months to create, and not going to get the latest desktop publishing software to create. A marketing plan that works is not something that only the Director or VP Marketing understands.

Where are you now?


Define who you are as a company.
What is the business philosophy of your company or business approach?
What are the competitive advantages and weaknesses of your company?
What differentiates you from competitors? Know the key differentiators is key to developing your marketing message.
Use these guidelines to write several paragraphs that summarize where the business is now. Be sure to determine if this is the way "outsiders" to see your company. Ask a few suppliers, customers or business reference sources to give objective feedback on your company's reputation. It 's important to know if you think you are the "tiger" in the industry and your target market is seen as a "sheep".

Where are you going?


What do you want? (Increase new business lines? Expand your existing business? Both?)
You have name recognition in your market? Otherwise, you want to build this?
You know you want to market? Want to target a new market?
As Microsoft says: "Where do you want to go today?" A fun part of the marketing plan process is opening the mind to unlimited possibilities. Working in your business, instead of on your business works well for the tunnel vision - not marketing. Going forward, gets you out of touch with what is "dreamed" your company may be many years ago. Or, can open up new dreams. How you proceed at this stage of the development plan, define your goals and be very specific. To hit a target, you need to know exactly what you are pointing. It 'nice to say that you want to be the best known companies in your city, but a more specific goal might be for you to be the most well-known company to your target market and increase sales x per cent next year. And while you should dream big, you should be realistic - the best marketing plan in the business world will double again in a year. Finally, once you have your goals on paper, it's time to prioritize them. Put in order starting with those with the greatest importance.

Research, research, research

The search can not be your cup of tea ', but it is crucial to the success of the marketing plan. Once you have your goals on paper, you can focus your search to see if another company is already the market leader in that field, or test your company differentiation against other local offerings. You may decide that it prefers to tackle another area where competitors do not already have strong support.

You also need to understand your target. What do they want? What do you appreciate? A good starting point is American Demographics Magazine (www.americandemographics.com). The journal's website offers articles on various consumer and business market segments. Associations and publications catering to your target market can be helpful, too. The websites of these sources are also readily available. It never hurts to get help from a professional. Often, the investment more than pays for itself in time savings.

Profile your target market with the information gathered. Include the percentage of people in your town that would be in your market "target". What is the need of the target for the services you offer? They do not appreciate the services you offer? Where now you go to buy these services? How easy / difficult it is to attract to your business? The profiles are more specific, the more will help you hit your target.

Hitting the target

This is the most important part of your marketing plan! For each goal, you must develop a strategy that includes key messages and outlines the tactics you need to do to achieve your goal.

There are many tools for you to use to convey your message, including:


Newspaper
TV
Magazines
Direct Marketing
Campaigns
Newsletters
Public Relations - events, speaking engagements, sponsorships
Business alliances
For each goal, write your strategy with the key message and tactics that will take to achieve your goal. Here's an example: Strategy: Bob Location Widget Company as the sole supplier of low price and high quality widgets in any town, USA.

Key messages: Bob Widget Company offers low price and high quality widgets and is committed to serving the citizens of each city, USA.

Tactics: Propose a story to the local business magazine that shows how each city, U.S. citizens now have access to the widgets cheaper in America. Participate in trade shows where you can meet dealers that serve your target market. If Bob wanted to take his widgets straight to his target market, he might consider developing a direct mail campaign.

As we outline each goal, make sure you keep asking yourself, "Why would I do this?" Also, be realistic. If you do not have a lot of money to pour into marketing, it makes no sense to list tactics that require a large budget. Marketing does not have to cost a lot of money if you're willing to invest time and creativity to achieve your goals.

Once you have all your goals, divided into smaller sub-goals, set a deadline for each sub-goal and a timetable for the biggest goal. You want your marketing plan to be a win for you - the time schedule convenient box.

Let's go!

Guess what? That's it! Now you have your "map", a list of well-developed marketing "how" that has been studied and is highly concentrated to obtain the desired results. It is based on facts, not impressions, and that will take you from point A to point B. Besides this, it continues to move closer to meeting your business objectives.

Upon completion of each goal / sub-goal, make sure to document the results achieved. Use this analysis to optimize and improve the marketing process. We think you will be amazed at what you can do in just three months, if you take your marketing effort a goal at a time.