The key elements of a successful marketing plan are to:

1. Know your customers--their likes, dislikes and expectations.

2. Know your competitors--their strengths and weaknesses. Only by identifying these factors, can you develop a marketing strategy that will allow you to anticipate and fulfill your customers needs, better understand your competitors and identify changes in marketplace that can affect your bottom line.

The purpose of a marketing plan is to define your market, i.e.,identify your customers and competitors, to outline a strategy for attracting and keeping customers and to identify and anticipate change. It takes careful planning and a thorough understanding of marketplace to develop a strategy that will ensure success.

Generally, first and most important step in understanding market is to study it through market research. For example, in case of a franchise, franchisor has already done market research and developed a marketing plan, so you will need to review plan franchisor has provided. Look over plan to determine what product/service you will offer and write a description of it.

Even though franchisor has already described your product or service, it is a good idea to develop and write your own description because this process will help you develop invaluable knowledge of your product or service--a key element in any successful marketing plan.

When describing your product or service outline what you feel are its unique aspects, and explain how or why these aspects will appeal to customers. Emphasize special features and benefits that you feel are its selling points. These features and benefits are what you will use to convince customers to purchase your product or service.

1) Website Focus Make sure your site is focused on a specific category of products. I cannot stress this enough. The editors will often check to see if your site features products that are in same category as your product press release. This is one of key ways you can get free publicity for your products. Because when you send out a press release on a new product, editors will check your site to make sure that you offer similar products. Once they see that you offer a wide range of products in this same category, you will greatly improve your chances for getting free publicity for your products and website.

2) Target right magazines for your products I have talked to many people who are tempted to send out their press releases to every magazine available. I strongly advise against doing this. It is simply not effective and can even upset editors when you send them information unrelated to their audience. It also reduces your chances of getting in magazines if you are sending out press releases to every magazine category. The key is to stick with most targeted magazines for your products and only email them with your product announcements.