Featured Documents
price: $28.95
price: $28.95
price: $28.95
A smart small business owner knows that everything is marketing. From the signature line on your emails to the way you answer the phone – every interaction with the public is an opportunity to tell people about your business.
Although some marketing methods are cheap, if not free – others are very expensive. Further, different things work for different businesses and the most expensive option isn’t always the most effective. The key is to figure out what makes sense for your business and budget.
That’s where a marketing plan comes in.
Opening Summary
Begin your marketing plan with a brief description of your business. Describe your company’s size, products, services and annual revenues. Then outline any previous marketing efforts you’ve made and their results. While a summary may feel unnecessary, it can help you zoom out and get a clear, fresh perspective on your business and its marketing needs.
Goals
Plans guide your journey, which means you need to define a destination. Outline your marketing goals for the quarter, year or whatever period your marketing plan covers. Make goals specific and measurable such as, “Increase web traffic 20 percent from strategically placed online advertising” or “Gain 20 new customers each month.”
Opportunities
Describe any strategic opportunities you see. These usually link to your goals. For example, if a competitor went out of business, you can set out to pick up displaced customers. Similarly, if you have developed new features to your product that benefit a certain type of customer, you can describe the opportunity to take a new market segment using your innovation.
SWOT Analysis
Summarize your market by inventorying its key factors – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Briefly list several items in each category. Possible Strengths might read, “Lower price than competitors, effective distribution channel, well-trained staff, contract with major retail chain in the area” while weaknesses might include, “Low product output, high staff turnover, increasing costs, poor brand awareness.”
Competition
Give a brief description of your competition including their strengths and weaknesses. This will help you define your comparative advantages and examine areas for improvement. Some of your information may resemble the threats in your SWOT analysis. List as much concrete information as you can about your competitors, including sales volume, market share, product line, number of sales representatives and locations.
Market Research
List any market research you have conducted. Such information may include surveys asking customers what they would pay for your product or the prices of similar products or services at local retailers. If you had professional market studies conducted, you may have data on your most successful target demographic. You can also study your previous sales to look for trends and information. For instance, if you sell soap online, your sales records may reveal that 60 percent of the purchasers of shower gel are women aged 26 to 32.
Target Demographic
As specifically as possible, define your target demographic. Include gender, occupation, age and any other relevant factors. For example, if you open a high-fashion hair salon, your target might be single and professional women between ages 20 and 35 with incomes of more than $45,000 per year.
Marketing Budget
Before you can decide your plan of attack, you need to define how much you have to spend. If appropriate, break your budget down by month or quarter. Be as detailed as possible about the availability of funds. You may want to include contingencies based on sales and expected revenues. For example, if your revenues in Q2 exceed the $200,000 you expect, you would like to spend an additional $500 on marketing.
Marketing Methods
Create a chart of your desired marketing methods and associated costs. These can include social media, direct mail, telemarketing, brand ambassadors, samples, attending industry events, community events, fliers, emails, texts, soliciting referrals, contacting former clients, promotional events, networking and advertising.
Action Plan
Once you have a complete list of marketing methods that apply to your business, create an action plan. This should list both the funds you’re assigning to marketing effort as well as a timeline. Include a list of measurable target results for everything you undertake so that you can later review the effectiveness of your plan and its components.