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Plan for SuccessA well-planned marketing campaign equates to more sales. Use this guide to create your own easy-to-follow marketing plan. By Kim T. Gordon Are you serious about growing your business in 2007? Then it's time to ditch your old catch-as catch-can marketing approach and put together a plan that you can manage along with the day-to-day operation of your business. Too many entrepreneurs focus on marketing only during the slow times, and as a result put their businesses on an economic roller coaster -- where it's always feast or famine. A well-planned marketing program helps you build sales year-round and is easier to manage because it removes the stress and anxiety of having to play catch-up every couple of months to jumpstart sales. Choose Your Tactics The best marketing programs reach prospects with a smart mix of tactics. When it comes to marketing, being a Johnny-one-note is a bad idea because a single tactic is rarely sufficient to move prospects through the sales cycle. Most every small business has three types of prospects: cold, warm, and hot. Cold prospects know little or nothing about your business and are only just being exposed to your message. Warmer prospects are familiar with your company and are about midway through the sales cycle. Your company's hottest prospects are those that are closest to closing. Either you've successfully moved them through the sales cycle by exposing them to multiple marketing messages and sales contacts, or hot prospects may come to you by way of referral and simply need a bit more information or personal selling in order to convince them to make a purchase or sign a contract. When creating your marketing program, it's essential to include at least one marketing tactic to reach each of these types of prospects. Cold prospects, for example, might be reached through newspaper advertising or direct mail, warm prospects via an email marketing campaign, and hot prospects might respond best to PowerPoint presentations along with face-to-face selling to add the final heat to close sales. Choose a mix of tactics that will reach and motivate your prospects and fit your company's marketing budget. No matter whether you're bootstrapping or flush with funds, there is a group of tactics that will work for you. Tighter budgets sometimes require tactics that take a bit more hands-on execution. For example, a cable TV campaign will reach cold prospects, but so will home parties (a popular form of experiential marketing) for considerably less cash. Put It on Paper The trick to successfully integrating your group of tactics on an ongoing basis is to have a written plan with a manageable timeline. That way you can create your campaigns and materials in advance of your deadlines and have them ready to go when you need them. You can also save money on design and copywriting fees by having many of your marketing tools -- from ads and brochures to web site copy -- created at once. And you can lower your printing costs by having all your new marketing tools and collateral materials that use the same paper stock and colors printed together. Unless you’re creating a marketing plan to help you win funding (in which case you'll need a more elaborate, in-depth document), your company's marketing plan can be simple to create and easy to follow. There should be five principal parts: 1. Situation Analysis -- Generally only about a page in length, this section provides a brief overview of your company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This is a helpful benchmarking tool, because when you review your plan a few months from now, you’ll be able to see how your situation has changed. 2. Target Audience -- If you're marketing to consumers, write a target audience profile based on demographics, such as age, gender, and household income. If your target audience consists of other businesses, include a one paragraph or less description here. This target audience description is absolutely invaluable when evaluating whether a particular publication or other media opportunity will help you reach your best prospects. 3. Goals -- Write a short, bulleted list of marketing goals. Be sure to make them measurable (such as, "increase new accounts by 10 percent by March 31st") so you can evaluate the performance of your campaign. 4. Strategies and Tactics -- Outline your company's overall marketing strategy and the list of tactics you'll use to reach prospects as they move through your sales cycle. Create a timeline, or use software with a calendar function, to note important production deadlines. 5. Budget -- Price out the execution of the mix of tactics you've chosen. If they appear to take you over budget, don't get discouraged. Remember, there's a tactic to fit every budget. So rethink your tactics until you have a mix that you can afford and that will reach out and motivate your prospects year-round. Get In-depth Coaching on this Topic>>
Kim T. Gordon's columns and articles are read by more than 3 million small-business owners each month. She is a small-business expert and the author of four books, including Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars: The Top 50 Ways to Grow Your Small Business. Copyrighted material. May not be reproduced in whole or part without expressed permission from the author. |
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