Creating a plan for marketing

Most small businesses do some kind of marketing or advertising. But not many have a detailed marketing plan for how they intend to go about it.
In today’s increasingly complex and fragmented media universe, customers engage with marketing messages in far more places than ever before. This includes online display ads, search engines, newspapers, magazines, radio, mobile, social media and dozens more. And because of this complexity, having a plan is more important to avoid an ineffective, scattershot approach.
Much like having a detailed business plan is crucial to launching and growing a business, having a marketing plan is critical to reaching customers and selling successfully.
But how can you create a marketing plan quickly and simply? First know that marketing is not a single action but a combination of steps your business takes to identify, attract and retain profitable customers. It might include everything from market research, advertising, pricing and packaging, to what employees wear, your mix of print and online marketing, and much more.
Marketing plans are flexible but generally include your goals, product or service descriptions, target markets, competitive analysis, pricing, distribution methods, media mix (print, digital, mobile, etc.) and action plan.
• Vision statement. Write a short paragraph that defines what compelling advantage or value you offer, including how it solves a problem and makes the customer’s life easier. Be specific. Pinpoint the customer “pain” that your product or service will relieve. Before you can effectively market yourself you must decide what type of problem your business solves.
• Define your product or service. Carefully identify every product or service you offer, individually. Some products or services can be broken into separate pieces, and priced separately. • Check the competition. Identify your key competitors – both direct and indirect – including their strengths and weaknesses, and how your business compares. Write down your analysis and make it part of your plan.
• Prepare proper pricing. Analyze your pricing structure, and avoid the “markup mistake.” That’s when a business merely calculates costs and adds a set markup. Instead, use your market research to establish what customers are willing to pay, and build pricing around that. •


Daniel Kehrer can be reached at editor@bizbest.com.

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