Developing a marketing plan can be a difficult process if you don’t have any type of guidance. But efficient and effective planning is critical to the future of any company or organization.

1. Developing a marketing plan can be a
difficult process if you don’t have any
type of guidance. But efficient and effective planning
is critical to the future of any company or organization.
With a marketing plan in place, you have better control of the required action
items, resources and budgets needed to be successful. You are also in a better
position to execute and put those requirements in motion.
Also, for any marketing plan, it is always beneficial to have agreement from all
employee levels. While top management should take the lead, it is the employees
that drive the efforts.
With all that in mind, the following five tips will help you be successful in
implementing and following your marketing plan:

2. Tip #1: Conduct an
Assessment
The first tip is to conduct an assessment of all existing marketing
materials within the company. Evaluate what is working and
what needs to be improved or eliminated. This will help you to
determine how effective your marketing efforts have historically
been and the results related to those efforts. While engaging in
this tip, find out how your clients perceive the company. The
way the company views itself may be completely different than
the way it is viewed by its clients.

3. Tip #2: Set Reachable
Goals with Timeframes
Another critical tip is to have a reachable goal in mind. Without any type of
goal, there is no method of measuring success. The goals must aligned with
the objectives of the business and be specific, measurable and obtainable.
Setting unrealistic goals does not help the situation. The goals of the plan must
show a target return on investment but must also be flexible enough to change
in the name of making better progress. While setting goals, assigning a
timeframe will help to ensure they are met.

4. Tip #3: Determine
your Audience
In order for the plan to be successful, you must determine
your target audience so you know how to reach them through
marketing efforts. There are many products and services
available which are geared toward a varied audience while
other products target a niche market. You must know as much
about your target audience as possible to be successful.

5. Tip #4: Conduct
Research
Quality research efforts can go a long way and result in success. Hard work and
extensive research conducted at the beginning will significantly help during the
creation of the plan later. Research is tangible feedback so without knowing this
information you are guessing about which steps to take next. If research is not
performed, it is easy to miss your target audience — which can lead to missed
opportunities and sales down the road. Focus groups, surveys and the Internet are
all excellent sources of research.

6. Tip #5: Determine your Strategy
The final step is to determine your strategy
which is the logic by which goals and
objectives are achieved. The strategy will
highlight how a specific product or service
will be promoted to the identified client.
Marketing strategies are utilized by all
companies to drive brand and product
awareness, increase sales, launch new
products or services and provide profit to the
business. Depending on the route you have
determined to be the most successful, there
are number of strategies that can be
implemented, including:
· Brand expansion
· Differentiation
· Maintenance
· Market penetration
· Segment expansion
· Skimming
· SWOT analysis

7. These are the key considerations when
developing a plan. The plan must be
built with an end-result in mind and
be tailored to specific markets.
Creating a successful marketing plan is a lot of upfront work.
However, once all existing marketing materials have been
assessed, attainable goals have been set with reasonable
timeframes, a target audience has been identified, research has
been conducted and strategies implemented, being successful is
much easier.