Creating the Marketing Plan

A marketing plan lays out the marketing and advertising strategies that a business intends to implement over a specific time period. It details how the business will reach the desired target market, and how the owner will convince those customers to purchase the products or services offered. Initiatives undertaken and targeted revenue goals should always be tied to the marketing plan in order to gauge the effectiveness of the activities and the return on investment. For most businesses, plans are contained to 12 months as market conditions and company strategies change periodically.

Conduct a SWOT Analysis

Similar to writing the business plan, the development of an effective marketing plan requires lengthy research and analysis. The first step is to understand the business’s position in the marketplace. This is achieved by conducting a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis.

• Strengths – These are things that you do well, and which help to differentiate your business from the competitors.
• Weaknesses – It is important to understand the limitations of your operation and the areas where improvements could be made.
• Opportunities – To grow and become more profitable, opportunities should be explored and trends occurring in your industry should be examined.
• Threats – Business owners must realistically evaluate any threats or factors that could negatively impact the enterprise and determine any strategies available to overcome these issues.

Once the business owner understands the internal business challenges and opportunities, the competitive landscape can be reviewed to determine how to best position the business amongst competitors.

Identify and understand your target customers

The next area to concentrate on is the segmentation of your customers. Define them by age, gender, geographic location, etc. and try to gain an understanding of what motivates them to buy. Questions to ask may include:   

• Who are your key target customer groups? 
• What features do they want in the product or service? 
• Does your offering solve a problem for them or fulfill a specific need or want?

Focus on the four “Ps”

With a comprehensive SWOT analysis completed, it is time to set objectives for the marketing plan. The goal may be to increase market share, build awareness, increase the number of customers buying your product, or obtaining a specific revenue target. Remember to set goals that are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely). When determining which vehicles to use for your campaigns, it is beneficial to address each customer segment using the four “Ps” of marketing.

• Product – Based on the customer segment you are targeting, the key features of the product are those that would entice the customer to buy. This message can be modified for the same product when targeting different customer segments.
• Price – Understand all the costs associated with the product or service when using price as a marketing tool. Modifying the regular price to attract new customers or utilizing a special price point to position your products against the competition are examples of pricing strategies. Before implementing any strategy, it should be evaluated for the longer-term benefits and to ensure that prices can be raised at the end of the marketing campaign. Increasing sales volumes isn’t always a wise decision if doing so leads to an unhealthy gross margin.
• Place – Customers must be able to find your business and deliverables easily. In today’s world, it is best to have your products accessible in both physical locations as well as online. Be sure to have products available where the customers are most likely to search for them and want to buy them.
• Promotion – Creating awareness of the business and building brand recognition is critical. Strategies used to appeal to customers may differ depending on the audience that you are trying to reach. A multi-pronged approach will be required if there is more than one target customer set that the business serves. Social media channels and online reviews provide great examples of how a business can use different tactics to reach unique buyers.

The final stage in building a marketing plan is to create a budget. For most small businesses, money is tight and a prudent approach is necessary. Be very detailed in setting the marketing budget and ensure that sufficient funds are allocated to generate the outreach necessary to achieve goals. By clearly defining your objectives you can confidently support the cost of a marketing campaign.    

Don’t forget to conduct a thorough analysis at the end of each phase of a marketing campaign. Determine what components were successful and which can be eliminated or tweaked in the future. Developing a comprehensive and successful marketing plan takes time and patience but is a key component for any successful venture.