Sample Marketing Plan 1 – Thought Leadership Situation overview Storage has become a serious issue in the IT market. Where previously companies view it as a commodity that was easily added and managed, the sheer volume of data has forced a change in strategy. Both large enterprises and SMEs are looking to approach basic storage more intelligently and improve their data backup and business continuity plans. In the [CITY] area, there are more than X,XXX businesses that can be classified as large enterprise or SME. These businesses are either now facing a storage crisis or likely will be facing one within the next year. They will be looking for a partner that can provide a strategic plan for managing their current storage needs that also accommodates exponential future growth, and one that can help them keep their systems operational in the event of an unplanned outage. The first place many of these organizations will look is to the large players, such as [NAMES]. They are purchasing other equipment and services from them, so there is already a relationship established. In order to break through this mindset, [YOUR COMPANY] needs to make these prospects aware of our offering, and demonstrate a level of knowledge and service that makes them re-think their decision. We also have to convince them that their safest investment is in a smaller local firm rather than one of the mega-service companies. Following is a SWOT analysis of our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, along with those of [NUMBER] key competitors: Company Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats
Although each of these competitors is larger overall, [YOUR COMPANY]’s local presence is superior. In addition, we offer a broader line of products, giving prospects more choices to tailor the solution to their needs rather than pushing a “one size fits all” solution. Another strategic asset is the presence of [NAME] on our staff. His work with [GOVERNMENT OR OTHER ORGANIZATION] has helped set many of the standards for storage, allowing [YOUR COMPANY] to provide in-person counsel that may not be available on a regular basis from the competition. It is our intention to leverage these and other assets in order to demonstrate to prospects why [YOUR COMPANY] is the safest choice for their data. The following marketing plan details how we will do it. Objectives Create three touchpoints each month with customers and prospects Increase Web traffic by 20 percent
Increase sales by a minimum of 10 percent in the first two quarters (over the previous year)
Strategies Develop an expert campaign featuring [NAME] as an expert in storage Pulse the market with monthly press releases on storage topics Develop a bank of e-mails on storage-related topics that can be sent directly to customers and prospects Support above initiatives with advertising in storage-related services in local publications that reach business and IT decision-makers Meet customers and prospects face-to-face at events
Tactics Research o Create a list of the top 20 vertical industries in our coverage area o Create or purchase an e-mail mailing list o Review the top IT and storage publications to see which topics are being written about regularly o Research editorial calendars (if available) o Develop list of targeted local media for contributed articles and advertising o Look at event calendars and organizations to see if speaking opportunities exist o Check out venues where we might hold our own event o Review competitor messaging to see how they are attacking the market Messaging o Develop three key messages we want to use to reach out to decisionmakers, e.g. [YOUR COMPANY] sells more brands of storage products than all our competitors combined o Create a messaging guide to be sure at least one key message appears in every ad, press release, and piece of collateral Public Relations o Introduce [NAME] to local media reporters as an expert who can help with storage-related stories Send e-mail introduction Follow up by phone, try to set up face-to-face meetings o Contact editors that accept outside contributions, offer expert article Create article abstract Send abstract and pitch via e-mail Follow up by phone o Create and submit speaker abstracts for local events o Develop press releases to announce news
Direct Marketing o Develop e-mail campaign around storage concepts/themes Create list of themes Develop three simple HTML e-mails to carry the theme Send to mailing list o Repeat four times (once per quarter) Advertising o Create artwork for two print ads One [SIZE] for newspaper One [SIZE/COLORS] for magazines o Place ads Newspaper: Every Saturday from March – May, September – November in business section Magazine: March, April, September, October o Create TV spot for cable TV business show [NAME] o Run spot in three week flights twice to test o Create and run banner ads in business/technology section of local newspaper Web site Misc. Online o Develop blog for [EXPERT] Commit to updating a minimum of twice a week Add second author if necessary after two months Have blogger contribute to other blogs to drive traffic Announce blog to local community as part of e-mail campaign and via press release Budget