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A Marketing Plan is an essential step of growth for any business. Having a clear direction in place allows you to create strategic steps and allocate the necessary resources needed to reach your goals.
Creating an outstanding marketing plan can be difficult. There are many different elements, versions and advice that it can be a challenge to know where to start.
That’s where we come in. We are here to break it all down for you in just 6 steps.
1. Business Summary
2. Business Goals
3. Target Market & Competitor Analysis
4. Marketing Mix Strategy
5. Budget
6. Marketing Channels
Your business summary in your marketing plan is as simple as it sounds - an overview of the business, location, mission statement and any extra important parts. Keep it to the point and simple.
Included in the free marketing plan download is also a SWOT analysis to assess the businesses current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
In the Marketing Plan your business goals help everyone understand where you would like the business to be and what you would like to achieve. Choose three top priority goals. Set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) and not big-picture goals.
Here's where you'll lay out who your target market is and why they're looking to buy your product or service. You'll then create personas that represent your ideal buyers, describe why they're in need of the type of product or service you're selling.
The purpose of a competitive analysis is to understand how you can best position yourself and your product/service in the market. Look at what your competition does well and where you see potential gaps that you could fill.
In this section, you’ll use your insight on the buyer persona’s, product or service attributes and differentiation to guide how you approach the market and create your marketing mix strategy.
In this plan I have included 7 ‘Ps’:
Product
Price
Place
Promotion
People
Process
Physical Evidence
In the free marketing plan these have been broken down with guidance on how to answer each one.
The Budget element of your marketing plan can be summed upas "what you're willing to spend and what you're going to spend it on." It's the sum of the total financial commitment you're willing to dedicate to improving your business sales, reputation, or image in the marketplace.
Example marketing expenses:
· Marketing software
· Paid Promotions
· Outsourcing costs to a marketing agency or other providers
Marketing channels are the places that you'll actively spread awareness about your product or service. For example, you might make a Youtube video that shows people how to use your product the best way possible or a paid social media post informing customers of a new service. It is important to use multiple marketing channels to capture all of your business’ target markets.
Now let’s do the mahi! Download your free marketing plan template and follow this simple structure to get your plan started and achieve your marketing business goals.
