Writing a Marketing Plan

Whether you run a home-based business, a small company, or a large enterprise, you must write a marketing plan that is effective and intelligent is critical to the success of your venture.

The types of plans run the gamut from “short and sweet” documents to massive (and expensive) reports, but they all serve the same purpose: to outline strategies for promoting your product or service, to determine how to connect with your target customer, and to build the credibility of your business.

Writing a marketing plan doesn’t have to be a drawn-out or complex process. Because they’re not for public viewing, you can include as much or as little information as you’d like, and can be entirely forthright about your objectives. Below are some of the key components of an effective marketing plan.

Understand Your Business

When writing a marketing plan, start by identifying the main challenges you’re facing in the marketplace. For most business owners, these include generating leads and clearly communicating how their product or service can benefit prospective customers.

Next, you’ll need to determine what sets your business apart from the rest. What is your value proposition? What key selling points will you highlight? Why should customers choose you over your competitors?

A key part of this analysis is studying businesses in your area that are offering similar products or services. Document their pricing, promotional campaigns, locations, selection, and support plans. Are they excelling in areas where you might need some development? How can you tailor their ideas and strategies and make them your own?

Understand Your Target Customer

To connect with your target customers, you have to first determine who they are. Are you selling to people or businesses? Will your customers be limited to a certain geographical area, or will they be spread out nationally or even globally?

You might consider hiring a professional market research firm to help you determine the motivations, spending patterns, and expectations of your prospective buyers.

Depending on the location and breadth of your target market, you may need to identify a primary audience (the biggest segment of your market) and a secondary audience (consumers outside of your main target market).

You cannot connect with and sell to a vague notion of a customer. You must know exactly who they are if you will serve them effectively.

Understand Your Objectives

This is where you’ll outline the specific results you want to see. While it’s good to have an optimistic attitude, you should be realistic when setting your performance criteria. Set both short-term and long-term goals that can be easily measured.

When writing a marketing plan, some common objectives include the percentage of profits per year, the projected share of total industry revenue, and your targeted sales per year. You cannot tell if you are successful if you don’t have a target in mind.

Have Detailed Marketing Strategies

Here, you’ll flesh out your specific plan of attack for reaching your target market. Common marketing activities may include magazine and newspaper advertisements, radio and TV spots, email campaigns, pay-per-click Internet ads, cold calling, PR campaigns, and other approaches.

You’ll also need to specify what media outlets you’ll use to convey your messages, a calendar detailing the insertion and duration of placements, and the cost of each campaign.

Make a Realistic Budget

The success of your marketing plan is contingent on sticking to a sensible advertising budget. It is easy too spend to much or too little. Understand what you can afford to do and measure the results. If you aren't getting good results then even one dollar spent is too much.

When allocating funds, consider how much you’ll spend on production (photography, graphic design, mailing materials, etc.), printing (envelopes, letterheads, brochures, etc.), and media placements. A budget should be fairly specific so you can keep control of the costs.

Every budget also needs a miscellaneous “catch-all” for other general costs that will be incurred throughout your campaigns. There are always unplanned costs.

A Final Thought

When writing a marketing plan you must spend the time necessary to craft a thorough and well thought out plan. This will save you significant time and money in the long run.

By carefully choosing the marketing tactics you’ll execute throughout the year, you’ll be less likely to miss out on timely opportunities and will avoid splurging on impulsive expenses that may not be worth the investment.

Above all, remember that marketing plans are intended to be working documents. Writing a marketing plan is only half the battle. To make it work for you, you’ll need to actually implement the strategies, measure the results, and make any necessary changes to the plan as circumstances and ideas dictate.

by Steven Schlagel - June 10, 2009 

Help us to improve or leave a comment when you: Click Here to take survey

Back to Top of "Writing a Marketing Plan" article

###