Planning is essential in every business and many business owners are aware that they need to create a business plan, however, very few have or know how to create a marketing plan within that which helps to grow the business by finding more clients.
Having a marketing plan helps to reach your business goals of how many sales you want to achieve and how much turnover you need that year as it breaks down where your leads will be generated whether that be on social media, referrals or email marketing. In this short article we discuss how to create a marketing plan. A marketing plan can be short, precise and to the point but it is really important to have one to know where your business is heading and to ensure that you achieve your goals that have been set.
Step 1:
Initially, it is important to do a situation analysis of your company and look at where you currently are and what your company offers. If you find it difficult to say what your business does in one sentence, it is unlikely that others are going to understand exactly what you do. You also need to consider how you differ from your competition so that you can stand out from the crowd and use this as one of your main marketing points.
Step 2:
Understanding whom you want to target, your target audience, is vital before you begin marketing. It may seem like a good idea to throw your business out to every person in the world, but you could be wasting money showing it to people who have very little interest in what you sell. Create your ideal customer by describing their age, gender, and interests to name just a few, then narrowly define them in a paragraph so that you and your team are clear on exactly who you are aiming for when it comes to doing promotional posts on things like Facebook or Instagram.
Step 3:
Writing down goals for any part of your business is essential and for creating a marketing plan, it is no different. Think about what you want to achieve from your marketing, whether that be to increase your sales by a percentage in a certain amount of time or to increase your brand awareness on social media measured through likes and shares. Writing it down helps to hold you more accountable and also breaks down the tasks so you know where you are heading and how you will get there.
Step 4:
You need to consider your marketing communication strategies in this section of your plan and think about how you will approach different prospects. Not everyone will be a warm lead and these people will need to be approached differently to the people you have either previously met or touched with a form of your previous marketing. Look at what platforms your target audience is using and adapt your content to fit this and the people you are trying to reach.
Step 5:
Budgeting is key. Many people suggest that 10% of your revenue should be spent on marketing as this is one of the main areas which is going to help grow your business. If nobody knows about you, you will struggle to increase sales and profit, so budgeting how much money you need to spend to get your name out there is important. Setting a budget also helps you to measure whether you are getting ROI from how much you are spending and then lets you adapt your marketing strategy if you are not achieving what you set out to do.
If you would like to know more on how to create a marketing plan or a business plan for your company then be sure to check out other blog articles here: https://actioncoach.co.uk/coaches/andy-hemming/news/
