ABOUT THE AUTHORVarju Luceno is the founder of Global Office Partners. She holds an undergraduate degree in Library Science and an MBA from the University of Montana in Missoula. She has more than 15 years of customer service experience in conjunction with her work as a reference librarian, banker, marketer, and small business owner. Her expertise also includes Internet research, graphic design, advanced research, and office management.
A practical marketing plan provides a compass that you can use to navigate your company in the right direction. An effective marketing plan would help you: identify ideal clients, evaluate company information against your industry or market, and track and analyze results so you learn what works and what does not.
Without a compass, you may be moving fast, but not in the right direction. Here are eight steps to creating a practical marketing plan.
It
is amazing how many small businesses skip this step and start researching once they have failed or can't find their niche.
Good sources of information:
News
Articles.
Newsletters.
Sign up for competitors' newsletters.
Books.
Message
Boards and Newsgroups.
Research
Sites.
Press releases, executive summaries and
newsletters on these sites may have relevant research findings and
statistics.
Search
Engines and Directories.
Subject
Sites.
Pay attention to sites relating to your
industry or product.
Trade
Publications.
You will find industry information, statistics, and membership lists online.
White
Papers.
Organize
your information so you can document what is going on in the marketplace. Get to know current trends and your competitors. You can
position your product or service accordingly.
2. State your marketing objective.
Describe
what you would like your ideal customer to do after hearing or seeing your
marketing message.
Make
it look as if your product or service is the right solution for a problem that
has not been solved yet.
4. Tell who your target audience is.
It
is very important as well as beneficial to get laser sharp in focusing on a very
specific market. In order to create relevant marketing messages, get to know
your target market and how they make purchasing decisions.
5. Position yourself.
How
will you, your product, or your company be remembered? What will your ideal customers and prospects think
when they hear your company name?
Identify your niche, What makes you different from any other firm
serving that niche – is it price, value added, or speedy service?
6. Describe your marketing message vehicles.
How
will you get your company/service/product in front of your ideal customer? How
are your competitors achieving their goals? Use the information you gathered in
Step 1 and choose marketing mediums. You
can start with free press releases, articles, blogs, ads in trade publications,
social networks, etc.
7. Develop your identity/voice and let it show.
Logo
and business cards may convey your image, but there is something else that
makes your prospects as well as customers know, like and trust you – it is
YOU. Be very professional, but not all business. If you are a REAL person with real life stories, people are more interested in
communicating with you. Document your
experience and story.
8. Develop your marketing budget, preferably as a percentage
of projected gross sales.
In
2007 the average business in the United States invested 4 per cent of gross
revenue in marketing. You may need to invest double that number during your first years in business. Revisit your marketing plan and review your
numbers each year, make other adjustments as needed.