Are you struggling to get your marketing plan on paper?
WE UNDERSTAND!
Writing a marketing plan can feel like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. We’re going to break down a few simple steps that can be followed to get you moving in the right direction.
Having any plan is better than not having a plan at all! I know this to be true. I’ve had times when I’ve made a plan and set out to execute said plan only to find that where I ended up wasn’t exactly what I’d had in mind in the beginning.
Sometimes that can work out, but when it comes to a marketing plan for your business or one you’re writing for someone else’s business it can be costly!
While marketing is about bringing a product to the market place in a strategic and creative way, it is also about getting said product or service to stand out in a massive sea of competition.
The more specific you can be with your marketing plan, the better you’re able to narrow down the strategies you’ll use to find your audience and pin point exactly what they need and how to find them.
Did you know that only about 55% of companies actually have a documented marketing strategy?
There are many different types of marketing plans to inform how you’ll craft your strategies whether you’re marketing a product or a service. There are a few things that most plans will all include and those are the items we’re going to focus on in this article.
The Business Mission or Executive Summary
Your marketing plan is going to provide the necessary support for your business mission and overall objectives. In order to do so, you’ll need to be sure you have a clear understanding of the business plan, the objectives that have been identified and the mission. In last week’s blog, we discussed the importance of having a business plan and some steps you can take to write a business plan. If you don’t have a written business plan as of yet, thats a great place to start prior to putting together your marketing plan.
Once you are clear about your mission and you have it in a written document, you can summarize it and include it in the opening of your marketing plan.
Important Data
Gathering data is a critical step and is something normally done prior to sitting down to actually write your marketing plan. Depending on your business and what type of marketing plan you’re writing, the data you’ll be using could vary. Even still, you can never go wrong by taking some time to research and gather as much data as possible to help guide your strategic planning.
Here’s a list of a few items of data we believe are really informative as you begin to narrow down your strategies to include in your marketing plan:
- KPI’s or Key Performance Indicators : these are the metrics that help you identify your goals and communicate the progress of your marketing campaigns.
- Target Audience, Buyer Persona, Key Demographics: the description of your ideal customer you’re targeting.
- Market Competition: the key players that are offering products or services similar to yours.
- Marketing Budget: the amount your company has allocated to resource your marketing campaigns.
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