How to develop a simple marketing plan
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Marketing plans don't need to be too complex for small business - some simple steps to put a plan together for those who may have not had any marketing experience.
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How to develop a simple marketing plan
- 1. Simple Marketing Plans Presented by Harry Goldstein of East Coast Consulting
Editor's Notes
- Thank you for coming – presenting tonight
- Why Market during tough times? Build share while your competitors are pulling back Gain a greater share of voice for a lower cost Be better positioned for gain when the economy improves
- This could either be my target audience if I was a bike shop or if I ran tours for off road cyclists. Go to where the consistent buyers are -- In every business, there are always a certain number of your customers or clients who simply need what you offer - and their buying is relatively insulated from the current economy. You can and should concentrate your efforts on promoting to them specifically to build buying frequency - and actively try to find more buyers just like them. If you aren't currently able to identify these people in your own clientele, then create a promotion designed to attract them. You can focus your promotional theme (positioning) in a way that that appeals... and would specifically be attractive to... those who's buying habits are unaffected by the overall economy. Knowing who they are helps you target better.
- Marketing of certain services requires a very particular client / customer and spending effort marketing in this demographic pays better dividends than too broad an approach.
- Who has their USP worked out? What are some of them?
- Features vs Benefits A feature is what a product is. A benefit is what a product does.
- Doing a demo leads onto a sale. Gaining an appointment should also be to lead to a sale. Email addresses all leads to gaining prospects to add to our sales funnel.
- Keep the funnel full
- List your Marketing Objectives. You should be as specific as possible about your marketing objectives. Starting a new business? Your objectives might be to increase awareness and sales. Maybe you have purchased an existing business and hope to retain customers or target a new customer base. Or perhaps your focus is on promoting a new product or service. Set challenging, yet realistic, goals. Once you've set your objectives, think about how you can measure their achievement. Define your target market, as precisely as possible, describe your primary market - the type of customer who can bring you the most reward. Describe a few secondary markets - other markets you'd like to service. If your market is other businesses, think of the industries, sectors, channels, and sizes in your base. If your market is individuals, think about the demographics of your customer base: age, sex, education, income, background, where they live, etc. Analyse your Company. What makes your company special? Think about what your company offers in terms of services and goods. Focus on the unique features and benefits of your products and services. What makes your company different from similar companies? Is it your service, your variety, a style, a feeling you're selling (Starbucks). List your competitors and then list each competitor's strengths and weaknesses. Consider direct competitors, other pizza shops for example, and indirect competitors, in this case other fast food restaurants. Shop your competition to see what they offer to customers.
- If you don’t have an action plan you will not e thinking about marketing in a structured forward planning way. Efforts will be as they are thought of rather than getting a bit more scientific about it – when is the best time to use the different methods of marketing? Find companies in complementary products or services and put together a joint package that will save customer’s time and/or money and joint market it. A local event planner got together with a florist and a photographer and offered a “One Stop Shop” for weddings. In this situation, they’ll get broader exposure with the same funding and promote a competitive advantage.
- A budget is good to know what are your direct marketing costs – these can then be added as a cost of business rather than a surprise each time we think about doing some marketing.
- Measure and test – change what’s not working. Not measuring is really wasting money that could be better spent elsewhere.
- A website is almost mandatory today as this is how many people gather information and “check you out” even after being made aware of your product or service. Getting others talking about your product or service online is another effective method for some products and services – there is no one size fits all
- Too broad a target market (who you're selling your product or service to). If I ask you who your customer is and you answer "anyone with a pulse," then I'm talking to you. Even if your product or service CAN help just about anyone on the planet, not everyone is going to buy it. They don't have the money or the interest or whatever. And when you try and target everyone, you really end up targeting no one. The wrong target market. This happens when you've chosen the wrong target market. What do I mean by wrong target market? They either aren't interested in buying your product or service or they don't have the money. Make sure you choose a target market that not only can afford your product or service but also want it. Looking for your target market in all the wrong places. This is a situation where "build it and they will come" doesn't work. Once you know who your target market is, you need to go to them. And you shouldn't waste your time in places where you won't find them. Not a compelling message. Okay, you know you've got a good target market and you know how to reach them. But you're still not getting any results. Now the problem might be your message. People have a lot of choices on where to spend their money. You have to give them a very compelling reason why they should spend their hard earned money with you. Not getting in front of your target market often enough. So you've run one ad. Or mailed one postcard. Or attended one networking event. And the work isn't pouring in the door. It's a sad fact that you need to consistently get in front of your target market time and time again.