Marketing Plan

Your marketing plan should be a clear, concise, and well thought out document that guides you through your marketing program. It should focus on the objective of your marketing and how you intend to accomplish that objective. Whether your company provides products or services, your marketing plan is essential to your success

Create Your Marketing Plan
Your marketing plan should be a clear, concise, and well thought out document that guides you through your marketing program. It should focus on the objective of your marketing and how you intend to accomplish that objective. Whether your company provides products or services, your marketing plan is essential to your success.

 The six major elements to creating a successful marketing plan are listed below. You may only need only a sentence or two per section... or you might want to break each down into a few succinct bullet points.

1. The Purpose
2. Your Target Customer
3. The Benefits of Your Product or Service
4. Your Positioning
5. Your Marketing Tactics
6.  Your Marketing Budget

As you go through each section, keep the following tips and hints in mind:

Keep your marketing plan simple
Many small business owners get so involved in details that they lose sight of their goals. By keeping your plan simple, you will create a clear roadmap that focuses on what you need to accomplish.

Write your marketing plan down (as opposed to thinking about it and keeping it in your head).

It is important to have a document that will remind you what you are trying to accomplish.

Be direct and be clear.

If you're not sure, ask a friend, relative, colleague or employee to read your plan. They should immediately grasp your goals.

Don't build in too much flexibility.

You may be tempted to plan for various market contingencies. If your market changes that quickly, then you should incorporate that into your plan. But create a strategy you can keep to - that's the purpose of having a plan in the first place.

Review your marketing plan often - quarterly or even monthly.

That doesn't mean you have to revise it every month. But take some time to evaluate it and make sure you're on track.

Finally....never stop marketing!
Once you have your plan in place, you need to take action. Commit yourself to your marketing program. Don't let yourself stagnate. Keep at it, and you'll be giving your business the opportunity to flourish.

The general purpose of any marketing plan is to maximize your business' profits. But what does that mean for your business? Spell it out here. If you're a children's clothing designer, your purpose might be "To sell the greatest number of infant dresses at the lowest cost per dress". If you're a self-employed computer consultant who helps companies utilize the Internet, your purpose might be "To book my time completely by getting the greatest number of clients at the lowest possible cost."

Some things to think about when you're writing this section:

• Your marketing plan's purpose may seem obvious to you. But by putting it up front and in writing, you will stay focused on your intent.
• Many businesses think their marketing plan is about increased exposure, getting press, writing cool ads, and the like. These are not purposes, they are tactics. The end result of any of these is to increase your profits.
• If you're having trouble answering "what is the purpose of your marketing plan," you might want to think "why are you marketing?" Your answers to these questions should be the same.

Your Target Customers
In order to reach your target customers, you've got to know who they are. Look for common identifiable characteristics. Are they companies or individuals? Do they fall into a certain age, geographic or income demographic? How do they buy your type of products or services? How often do they buy them? What features do they look for?

Don't use general terms - instead of "people who want to buy a dress for an infant" use something like "grandparents and other gift givers who are looking for a special outfit for a newborn."

Be careful not to spread yourself too thin. Not everyone is your target customer. Don't sell to everyone - segment your markets. If you are selling home heating oil in a specific region, you could target your marketing at every household in that region. But would that be an efficient use of your time and money? Probably not. You'd want to narrow your focus. Is your target customer existing users of home heating oil or is it people who use gas heat but are thinking of converting to oil? Or are you looking for people who've just bought a house and haven't decided who they will buy their oil from? Are you selling to residential customers or to local businesses?

Some other things to look out for:

• Be sure your target market is large enough to support your sales objectives.
• Don't guess who your target market is. When possible, quantify by numbers through research. Call trade associations; go to your research library and look up market data; use demographic information from the census; etc.
• The purchaser of your product or service may not necessarily be the user.
• If you're selling business-to-business, remember that your product or service is bought by a person, not by a company.

The Benefits of Your Product or Service
You don't market a product, and you don't market a service. You market benefits. Describe them here. Think in terms of the distinctive features of your product or service that set you apart from your competition. This is also known as your Unique Selling Proposition, or USP. It could be the design of your product, your knowledge of the market, a new technology, a special service, a singular talent, or something else. For example, the USP of a Sony television is the superior picture of the Trinitron tube. Burger King's USP is that its burgers are flame broiled.

Think about these points when you're developing your USP:

• You might want to consider your weaknesses as well as your strengths. Once you know what they are, you can use marketing to maximize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.
• Also consider your competitors' strengths and weaknesses - so you can minimize their strengths and take advantage of their weaknesses.

Your Positioning
Position is your identity in the marketplace; how you want the market and your competitors to view your product or service. Your positioning will have an impact on every segment of your marketing.

Base your positioning on the benefits you offer, who your customers are, and how your competitors are positioned. Keep your positioning statement highly focused and succinct. For example, Acme Movers could be positioned as "the most dependable moving company in the Tri-City region." Two architects who specialize in kitchens could have totally different positions - one could be "the most innovative designer of modern kitchen environments," while the other could be "the most cost-effective designer of traditional kitchens." Whose kitchen do you think you'd see in Metropolitan Home and whose do you think is targeted at the average buyer?

Some positioning tips:

• When creating your positioning statement, think in terms of extremes - the "most," the "best," the "fastest," the "cheapest," the "only," etc.
•  If there's not much difference between you and your competitors, look for a meaningful customer want or need that has not yet been filled.
• Don't position directly against a competitor, if possible. If you do, you may be caught without a position should your customer change its focus. Instead, focus more on your product's or service's strengths.
• Be very careful if you position solely on price, since that position can be very easily pre-empted.
• Don't position just on image. You need to back up your positioning with substance. If you can't, it's a recipe for disaster.