Success in the business world doesn’t just come. Anyone who has been in this sector will readily acknowledge the significance of strategy for the overall success.
Success demands strategic planning. This is especially true for marketing. In one way or the other, everyone has some basic understanding of the term- marketing.
Evidently, some businesses continue to dominate our markets. Besides the economic frustrations, even in times of COVID-19, some businesses continue to enjoy incredible levels of competitive advantage. Why is that?
If you’re thinking about developing a marketing program, you need to begin with a marketing plan. The irony is that many of the expensive marketing plans end up on a shelf and rarely get implemented. The simple plans, if researched and implemented effectively, have the greatest impact.
Regardless of the scope of your marketing plan, you must keep in mind that it is a fluid document. Every business needs to begin with a well structured plan that is based in thorough research, competitive positioning and attainable outcomes.
Your plan should be the basis for your activities over the coming months. However, you should always be willing to enhance or redirect your plan based on what proves successful.
Marketing Plan Basics
Market Research
This is an essential part of the effecting marketing plan. It involves more than just understanding the customers, as it has often been understood. It involves pursuing the broader understanding of the industry of choice. Finding out who provides what and why, are all to be answered here.
Collect, organize, and write down data about the market that is currently buying the product(s) or service(s) you sell. Some areas to consider:
- Market dynamics, patterns including seasonality
- Customers – demographics, market segment, target markets, needs, buying decisions
- Product – what’s out there now, what’s the competition offering
- Current sales in the industry
- Benchmarks in the industry
- Suppliers – vendors that you will need to rely on
Target Market
Different business ventures aim for different consumers. Find niche or target markets for your product and describe them.
You can get this information through a variety of means including in-person interviews, focus groups or surveys. You can even hire a professional research company.
Product
Describe your product. How does your product relate to the market? What does your market need, what do they currently use, what do they need above and beyond current use?
In order to ensure that your venture will provide consumers with an easy alternative to their current way of meeting their needs, testing out your product is essential.
Competition
Describe your competition. Develop your “unique selling proposition.” What makes you stand apart from your competition? What is your competition doing about branding?
Mission Statement
All business ventures exist in order to pursue some bigger objective. The mission statement entails your business’s great why. Why does it exist and how will you determine if it is been effective?
Write a few sentences that state:
- “Key market” – who you’re selling to
- “Contribution” – what you’re selling
- “Distinction” – your unique selling proposition
Market Strategies
It is important to familiarize yourself with available options that serve to make your venture be known and integrated into the industry.
Write down the marketing and promotion strategies that you want to use or at least you consider using. Strategies to consider:
- Networking – go where your market is
- Direct marketing – sales letters, brochures, flyers
- Advertising – print media, directories, billboards
- Training programs – to increase awareness
- Write articles, give advice, become known as an expert
- Direct/personal selling
- Publicity/press releases
- Trade shows
- Social media marketing
Pricing, Positioning and Branding
From the information you’ve collected, establish strategies for determining the price of your product, where your product will be positioned in the market and how you will achieve brand awareness.
Positioning deals with the issues of how you will ensure accessibility to your venture. This answers the where of your business. It can include geographic considerations.
Branding deals specifically with how you will promote your uniqueness. You have to communicate to your market your distinguishing elements of your product or services. This is something that will readily come to mind when the name of your venture comes up.
Budget
What strategies can you afford? What can you do in house, what do you need to outsource.
To succeed in your marketing efforts, it is very important to have an operational budget. You will, in one way of the other, need to invest some money in your marketing campaigns. So it is essential to have a planned amount to be spent on such.
Marketing Goals
It is important to have well-defined goals for all your marketing campaigns or efforts. Establish quantifiable marketing goals. This means goals that you can turn into numbers.
For instance, your goals might be to gain at least 30 new clients or to sell 10 products per week, or to increase your income by 30% this year. Your goals might include sales, profits, or customer’s satisfaction.
Monitor Your Results
It is equally important to keep track of your progress. See if the goals are being reached and make changes where be necessary.
- Test and analyze. Identify the strategies that are working.
- Survey customers
- Track sales, leads, visitors to your web site, percent of sales to impressions
Conclusion
By researching your markets, your competition, and determining your unique positioning, you are in a much better position to promote and sell your product or service. By establishing goals for your marketing campaign, you can better understand whether or not your efforts are generating results through ongoing review and evaluation of results.
Succeeding in any business venture is a serious business. So avoid unnecessary frustrations and have your marketing plan readily available.