Marketing Plan
A sound marketing plan is key to the success of your business. Writing a marketing plan can be a challenge, but by developing a marketing plan correctly and using the proper techniques to implement it is crucial. But first you need to know how to write a marketing plan.
The plan should include your market research, location, the customer group you have targeted, competition, positioning, the product or service you are selling, pricing, advertising, and promotion. The marketing plan is an interactive tool will help you assess your marketing strengths and weaknesses. Effective marketing, planning, and promotion begins with current information about the marketplace. Visit your local library, talk to customers, study the advertising of other businesses in your community, and consult with any relevant industry associations.
Once you have all the necessary information, write down your plan, making certain you include the following four components.
1. Define your business:
- Your product or service
- Your geographic marketing area (local, regional, or national)
- Your competition
- How you differ from the competition (what makes you special)
- Your price
- The competition's promotion methods
- Your promotion methods
- Your distribution methods or business location
2. Define your customers:
- Your current customer base (age, sex, income, and neighborhood)
- How your customers learn about your product or service (advertising, direct mail, word of mouth, Internet search, Yellow Pages)
- Patterns or habits your customers and potential customers share (where they shop, what they read, watch, and listen to)
- Qualities your customers value most about your product or service (selection, convenience, service, reliability, availability, and affordability)
- Qualities your customers like least about your product or service (can they be adjusted to serve your customers better?)
- Prospective customers you aren't currently reaching
3. Define your plan and budget:
- Marketing methods you have used in the past
- Methods that have been most effective
- Cost compared to sales
- Cost per customer
- Possible future marketing methods to attract new customers
- Percentage of profits you can allocate to your marketing campaign
- Marketing tools within your budget (newspaper, magazine, Yellow Pages, radio or television advertising, direct mail, telemarketing, and public relations activities such as community involvement, sponsorship, or press releases)
- Methods of testing your marketing ideas
- Methods for measuring results of your marketing campaign
- The marketing strategy you can implement immediately
4. State your overall objectives:
- Communicate your message
- Create an awareness of your product or service
- Motivate customers to buy and increase sales
- Other specific objectives
It's important not to overlook the fourth component of a marketing plan. Clearly stated objectives make it easier to design an effective campaign and help you keep that campaign on the right track. They also make it easier to choose the method that will be most effective.
For more in depth information on marketing plans, click on links below:
References:
• Small Business Administration
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