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Writing a
Marketing Plan:
How to Write a Marketing Plan
Most businesspeople agree
that good planning is essential for success. Even so, it’s surprising
how many companies don’t create a thorough plan to generate and manage
their customers.
A marketing plan is
a detailed roadmap
that outlines all your marketing strategies, tactics, activities, costs
and projected results over a period of time. The plan keeps your entire
team focused on specific goals – it’s a critical resource for your
entire company.
A good marketing plan
typically includes:
·
Financial goals
·
Positioning strategy
·
Brand strategy
·
Product/service overview
·
Detailed goals by product, distribution channel &/or customer
segment
·
Sales plan
·
Major marketing campaigns
·
Detailed budget
·
Dates to review progress
It takes time to develop a
solid plan, but it’s important because it ties all of your activities to
tangible goals.
Start with your
annual goals
Build your entire marketing
plan to achieve the goals that you define:
·
Quantitative (numeric) goals
such as total revenue, profit, number of customers, units sold, and
breakdowns by product or channel as needed.
·
Strategic goals
-- for example, you may want to expand into a new market with a new
distribution channel, or you may need to reposition your brand to
reflect a change in your business.
·
Highlight your competitive position, value proposition
and brand strategy
·
Your positioning
strategy defines how you’ll differentiate your offering
from your competitors.
·
Your value
proposition defines the primary value you deliver:
operational efficiency, product leadership or customer intimacy.
·
Your brand strategy
defines what you stand for and how you’ll communicate with the market.
Outline any plans
for your products & services
If you need to do anything
to strengthen your product line and better deliver on your value
proposition, address those issues in your plan.
Outline your major
marketing campaigns
You don’t need to list
every campaign -- just outline your major promotional plans for the
year. You’ll need to set your budget too, so the more planning you do
now, the better. Your plans should include:
·
The top three campaigns you’ll run to generate leads, nurture
customers, close, and/or market to existing customers
·
The media you’ll use (for example, email, online, print,
telemarketing, trade shows, publicity, etc.)
·
Tools, technologies or resources you’ll need – for example, a
new website, an email service provider, a new piece of software
·
Your ROI and other financial goals
Develop your
tactical sales plan
·
The number of sales reps you’ll need and the markets they’ll
target
·
Whether you’ll need to hire, train, or develop new
compensation plans
·
Top priority markets, industries or customer segments; if you
have a list of key prospects, include them
·
Your plan for managing current customers
·
Plans for launching any new distribution channels and driving
revenue through existing channels
Develop a budget
Budgeting can be a
difficult process. Many companies just estimate or base their budget on
last year. An estimate is better than nothing, but if you’ve defined
your major campaigns and needs, you can develop better numbers.
You can also use ROI to
determine the appropriate total budget for your marketing efforts.
Revisit your plan
regularly
The planning process itself
is incredibly valuable, but if you don't review the plan regularly, it’s
easy to lose focus. Continually revisit the plan and measure your
progress.
When you’ve finished your
plan, it’s time to execute. You may need to create new messages,
literature, website or other tools and processes for your campaigns, but
after that, focus on generating and managing your customers. Email us at
info@marketingmo.com and we'll send you a free marketing plan template
to help you get started.
James Sagar is one of the creators of the
Marketing M.O., web-based
software that delivers marketing strategy, guided best practices and
interactive tools in 29 business marketing subjects. James also
contributes to the
Marketing Tips from the Trenches
blog.
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