Step 1: Taking Stock Before you decide where you want your marketing plan to take you, you need to find out where you are now. How have you positioned your business in
market? How do your customers see you? You may want to ask some of them for feedback. Write four or five paragraphs that summarize your business. Be sure to include philosophy, strengths and weaknesses.
Step 2: Setting Goal
Once you decide where you are, you can decide where you want to go. What you're trying to accomplish? Do you want to increase sales? Change perception of your business among target audiences? Generate more store traffic? Enter a new market where you may not have much experience?
After you have answered each of these questions or any others you come up with, you want to make an outline for each of your goals, and be specific. While you should be optimistic, you will also need to be realistic. You need to be realistic in what you expect your marketing plan to do. Also, while it's fine to have multiple goals, be sure to prioritize them so you can create a realistic plan to achieve them.
Step 3: Hitting Target
Who are your target audiences? If you say "everyone," you need to rethink your answer. Even largest companies don't market blindly to every individual. They break their audiences down into distinct profiles, or niche markets, and create messages and vehicles designed to reach each segment.
Define your niche markets as clearly and specifically as possible. If you're reaching out to businesses, describe which type, including industry, revenue level, location and other important characteristics. If consumers are your audience, describe their age, sex, income level, marital status and other relevant facts. If you identify several market segments, rank them in order of priority.
Step 4: Researching Your Plan
Now that you've outlined where you are and where you want to go, it's time to determine best way to get there.
Nothing will get you where you want to go faster than research. Information about your target audiences is available from a variety of resources, many of them free.
So be sure to take some time to find out about demographics (physical characteristics) and psychographics (psychological characteristics) of your target markets. Demographics outline such factors as age, geographic location and income level. Psychographics offer insight into trends, buying habits, market segments and like. American Demographics magazine has a Web site (www.demographics.com) that offers access to articles about various consumer and business market segments.
Trade associations and publications are often great places to start your research, especially if you're reaching out to businesses. Use your own and your target industries' trade resources for market information. Many associations have Web sites, and many publications are also available on Net. For information about consumer audiences in your region, try your state or county's department of economic development. In addition, SBA offers limited help with market research.
Once you've gathered this information, write a detailed profile of your audience segments. Include all demographic and psychographic information you've gathered. For instance, if you're selling a product to homeowners in Smithville, USA, find out what percentage of people own homes in Smithville. What is average household income? Do most homeowners have children? The more specific your profiles are, better.
Step 5: Planning Action
This is crux of your plan. For each goal you've outlined, create a strategy, complete with your key messages and steps that will help you accomplish goal. Don't forget that you have many tools at your disposal.
As you examine each of your goals, conduct a mini-brainstorming session. Consider best ways to get your message out. You may decide to use newspaper, radio, TV, magazine or outdoor advertising; direct marketing programs, including postcards, sales letters, fliers, business reply cards, newsletters or toll-free response numbers; or public relations elements such as publicity, events, speaking engagements, sponsorships and opinion polls. Perhaps you can accomplish your objectives and cut costs by teaming up with related, non-competing businesses for in-store promotions or cross-promotional campaigns. On-line promotional opportunities are more abundant than ever, so consider designing a Web site or uploading information into a news group or special interest forum.
