In order to have a successful business, it is important to create a written marketing plan.
Many business owners disregard this step and make marketing decisions and investments that turn out to be costly and ineffective, or worse, fail to market altogether.
Creating the right marketing plan for a business can be broken down into five easy steps. When followed, an entrepreneur with a solid marketing strategy can expect positive return on investment.
1) Identify the target customer
- Who is the company trying to reach?
- What does the ideal customer look like?
- Who’s Your Who?
Each business serves a different set of customers. It is important to understand exactly who the business is trying to reach with marketing. This ensures that the marketing material is geared towards that specific person looking for the products or services being offered by the company.
Reaching out to a too-broad audience could mean that the message is not being heard by the right people, making that line of advertising useless. Business owns need Clarity on the exact demographic that is going to use the product.
Defining a target market does not mean that they are “limiting”. Instead, it allows focus on the part of the market that is most likely to respond.
2) Identify the Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
The Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is what sets one company apart from others. This is what makes one customer choose a given company over another.
- What makes the brand special.
- What benefits does it offer the consumer?
It is important to communicate the value being offered by the product or service.
3) Decide on the right marketing tactics for the brand
The strategy is to increase revenues through marketing. Choosing marketing tactics are the key to a successful plan. There are hundreds of ways to market a brand. Anything from television to social media to word of mouth can be used to promote a company and its products.
An entrepreneur needs to decide which methods fit best with their business. How will they be able to communicate the most effectively to their target customer?
4) Create a marketing calendar
A calendar can be made to break down one quarter or even a whole year of a marketing strategy. The different tactics need to be written in order to plan. A written calendar ensures that the marketing plan is followed and that marketing is consistent. The calendar should be backed up with a timeline and responsible parties for each initiative.
5) Create a budget
It is never a good idea to just start throwing money at advertising schemes. A smart business owner sets up a marketing budget and sticks to it. This allows them to watch what is being spent where and most importantly track the return on investment.