The importance of having a well crafted marketing plan is stressed again and again but what is it and what does it involve? Does it include adverts? What about customers? Is it my product? How do I know when I have finished?
Firstly it is important to note that different businesses will place emphasis on different parts of the marketing plan and might not include all the points mentioned. However the 10 main factors listed should at least be considered when approaching your marketing plan:
1. Background analysis
Whether you use PEST (political, economic, social, technological) or SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) or even PRESTCOM…don’t ask…there are thousands of variations that businesses use to remind themselves the factors to think about when analysing the business environment. If abbreviations aren’t your thing just remember: to look at what affects your business both internally and externally.
2. Marketing objectives
What exactly do you want to do? Do you want to get consumers to go to a website? Feel an emotion or think differently about your product/service? Don’t embark on a campaign before you know what you want to do – it is almost like setting off on a long journey without knowing where you are going, you will never know when you have got there or whether you are going in the right direction! Pointless…and not fun when it costs money.
3. Budget
It’s usually a good job if you check whether you can afford what you are setting out to do. Otherwise go back to level 2 and reassess. Different companies have different methods of setting their budget, all have their advantages and disadvantages. It is a good idea to find one that works of everyone in your organisation, however acknowledge the limitations of certain methods. One to definitely avoid in my opinion is matching the competition, this is unmarked territory, you never know their full situation and they may well have financial backing from somewhere else. One of the best methods is ‘objective and task’, pick your objective and find out how much it will cost, then check if you can afford. That way you have the best chance of achieving the set objectives because you have sufficient resources.
4. Target market/audience
Your target market is who the product is designed for, the user. The target audience is who you are aiming your marketing communications at, other members of the decision making process, they might not be users of the product but they might have purchasing power. It is important you make this distinction and alter your message and media accordingly.
5. Set communications objectives and message
Decide exactly what you want to say to the identified audience. Make sure it fits in with in them and will help you achieve your overall marketing objective.
6. Strategy
Where will you focus your efforts? You could push your product through the system by convincing wholesalers or retailers to stock your product or, you could pull it through by advertising to consumers and getting them to hassle retailers to stock your product. However focusing on just one strategy can be risky, especially for new products, as there is no point having a retailer stocking your product if no-one wants to purchase it.
7. Develop campaign
Now is your time to choose how you get your message across. Get into the minds of your target audience and focus your efforts where you think they are likely to see your message and acknowledge it. In other words don’t focus on building a strong social media presence when your target audience is aged 80+ and they don’t use the internet. Different methods are better suited to certain tasks so use your knowledge of the different methods strengths and weaknesses to make the most of the tools available to you.
8. Test the mix
This stage can be approached with varying degrees of formality. If there was an endless budget and no timescale then in-depth market research would be useful to see how consumers would respond to the communications tools of your campaign however this is not always an option. Other methods to test your communications mix include informal focus groups, asking friends and family for objective feedback or even placing yourself in customers shoes.
9. Co-ordination and integration
Some businesses contract out some of the work to agencies whilst others keep it all in house, some make the use of both. However no matter how your campaign is run it needs to remain integrated and cohesive so check how it is being co-ordinated. Have regular meetings and keep on top of all the big decisions.
10. Monitor and Evaluation
How do you know if you have been successful? Go back to step 2 and 5 and place a big tick by the side of them if you have indeed achieved what you set out to. You have permission to pat yourself on the back too. If you haven’t then look back and see what you could do differently.
That’s it, your marketing plan. There is of course more involved, this is a blueprint, however if you use this as your basis and adapt it for your individual business then you won’t miss out anything important.
Article Written by Carli Smith
Visit Inferno Designs for more on Search Engine Optimisation and Company Web Design.
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