6 Must Have Components in your Marketing Plan even for Small Businesses
The marketing plan is often overlooked. Websites are designed, social media posts are created, corporate brochures are printed, all without a strategic plan. You may ask, Why is this plan so important?
“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.”
J.R.R. Tolkien
A marketing plan is your guide to success. It clarifies and maps out your company’s direction, objectives and activities. Identifies who your ideal customer is and their needs and wants. It determines demand, highlights strengths and weaknesses and establishes guidelines to determine effectiveness. A marketing plan is the building block to making your mark.
Marketing plans can be big or small, when putting together your marketing make sure to include these key components:
1. Vision/Mission
Your Vision statement outlines WHERE you want your company to be. Your Mission statement reviews HOW you want your company to get there. Why is this important? Understanding your companies vision isn’t just for you. It’s important that your entire organization lives and breathes your goals. It’s what shapes your culture.
2. Situational Analysis
The situational analysis digs deep into your company. Determines strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT Analysis) for not only your company but for your competition as well. Who are you completing against? Is there room for your product/service? What makes you stand apart?
3. Target Market
You can have a great vision and mission, an amazing company and group of people working for you, but you will never sell your solution if you are selling to the wrong market. Not only that, but if you deeply understand your ideal customer, their needs and wants, what makes them tick, it will make your job that much easier to speak their language and let them know you are here to help them with whatever problem you can solve.
4. Marketing Strategy
This is the fun part. The creative part. Coming up with exciting strategies on how to interact with your client. What tools are they using that you can communicate with them on. The flare. Finding your online voice. Developing editorial calendars. Ensuring that your message is unified and has a purpose.
5. Budget
Budgets are what make a company run. Assigning a budget specifically for marketing allows you to determine, not only the cost of the campaigns, and ensuring that you are staying within the allotted budget, but the cost of the customer as well.
6. Metrics
Possibly one of the most important pieces of the marketing plan puzzle. How do you know your plan is working if you don’t put metrics in place to determine effectiveness?
Your actionable this week: Put together a one page marketing plan outlining the above key components.
I’d love for you to leave a comment and let me know what three things you plan to add to your marketing plan today!