Writing a Marketing Plan

Start your year off right with a strong Marketing Plan

A New Marketing Plan for the New Year

Where do I start and where do I go from here?

It's a new fiscal year and the perfect time to talk about Marketing Plans. Typically, January is the time that new Marketing Plans are drawn up, reviewed, and implemented in a business or corporation, no matter what their size. Remember, businesses large and small can benefit from a formalized Marketing Plan. After all, to see your business succeed and grow, you need to know exactly what your business is, what you want your business to become, what you sell, who you are selling, and most importantly how you should sell to them ~ thus a Marketing Plan.

First thing's first. What exactly is a marketing plan?

Well, a formalized marketing plan is a document that outlines and explains your business's overall mission and vision as well as its marketing strategy, history, and objectives. The more comprehensive your marketing plan is the better. It should not only include information about your business, but it should also include information about your key competitors, both in and out of your market. This will better serve you when following your niche marketing trends and keep you ahead of the curve. The more knowledgeable you are about everything related to your business, inside and out, the easier time you will have steering your business towards successful ends.

What are the most important questions to ask when drawing up your businesses Marketing Plan?

A marketing plan is nothing without a solid marketing strategy, and to have one of those, you need to know who your target audience is. Your target audience is the people who actively buy your products or use your service. Knowing them is the first step in finding out how to get more of them. So, begin with asking yourself these basic questions:

Who are your customers?

What are their key characteristics?

What differentiates them from other members of the population?

What are their needs and wants?

What are their attitudes?

What are their buying intentions?

If your business isn't a new business and you haven't been taking notice to what demographic your customer/client base is in, you need to do some homework. And you need to go beyond simply answering the initial questions. For example, if you are a home builder, your customer base is much more than just "people who want to build a home." What age group are they in? What is their average household income? Gender? Location? Career? Education? Depending on your business, you may need to go down to the minutest of details – like blonde or brunette. You can spend a million dollars on a direct mail or email campaign, but if you send them to the wrong list – those people outside of your target audience – you're throwing the money out the proverbial window.

So What's NEW for this New Year?

Technology. Technology. Technology. Every year brings new innovations in technology that can make or break your business. Remember, never forget the power of a good marketing mix, that is to say, advertising and marketing in a variety of venues, in traditional media (print, television, radio), outdoor, and online. Don't be a business that moves all your marketing dollars to interactive and internet marketing, but also don't make the mistake of turning your back on it. You need the complete mix. For example, your business needs a website to convey credibility to your current and potential customers, but you need to successfully drive your target audience to that website or there isn't any point in having it. How will you do it? SEO, direct mail, email, billboard? And, there's creative ways to add interactive elements to your traditional and offline marketing efforts. For example, with direct mail, you can add unique web codes to your business's website address that will allow you to track the success of that piece (much like an email). And when you are trying to drive home an incentive, like an offer or coupon, you can add a text message short code to it so your customers can get the same instant gratification that they get when researching or shopping online.

Editor's Note: Article courtesy of DSL Marketing. If your new to marketing plans, or need help creating or implementing a successful marketing strategy, visit AskDSLMarketing.com.

For more information about marketing and how to develop a marketing plan, please visit DSL Marketing, a Myrtle Beach Marketing company.