How To Write A Marketing Plan For A Small Business In 7 Easy Steps
In this article I review how to write a marketing plan and break it down into 7 easy steps. I also provide some tips for each of the 7 steps that will increase the effectiveness of your marketing plan. If you are more of a visual learner I have included a short video you can watch that walks you through the 7 steps.
The Seven Steps To Write A Marketing Plan For Your Small Business
1. Determine What Your Are Going To Sell And To Who (Your Target Market)
2. Determine Your Positioning (click to see definition)
3. Create Your Product Plan
4. Create Your Pricing Plan
5. Create Your Distribution (Place) Plan
6. Create Your Promotional Plan
7. Create Your Marketing Budget
The 7 Easy Steps Explained
Click the play button above to learn how to create a marketing plan in 7 easy steps.
For a more detailed listing of items you should have in a marketing plan I also have a video on the components of a marketing plan on Youtube.
Why Every Business Should Have A Marketing Plan
Marketing is what separates successful companies from unsuccessful companies. If a company has great marketing, it can have a substandard product or service and still be successful. This is sad but true. Now on the other hand, if a business has great marketing coupled with a great product or service the results can be remarkable. Take a look at all of they large companies you know today. At one point in time they were all small companies...they were not always large. When you look at what all large companies have in common you will see that all large successful companies have been able to successfully use the power of marketing. Marketing is a powerful tool that, if done well, it can propel any business' success to heights beyond your wildest dreams. In order to be successful at marketing the very first step requires having a plan. As with anything, if you do not have a plan, the chances of you getting where you want to go or reaching your goals will be low. Start creating a plan today, to get the marketing of your business moving in the right direction.
Get our free marketing plan template now because having a marketing plan is critical to your success.
Keys To Remember
1. Determine What Your Are Going To Sell And To Who (Your Target Market)
- get a clear understanding of what you want to sell and what problem your product or service will solve for your customers
- if your product or service does not solve a problem you will have a hard time selling it
2. Determine Your Positioning (click to see definition)
- determine your points of difference (what you do hands down better than the competition)
- list what your competitors do better than you
- list what you are you do a relatively similar job at when compared to your competitors (this is called your points of parity)
- summarize the essence of your product and brand, emphasizing your unique points of difference), in a short sentence
3. Create Your Product Plan
- analyzye your competitor's products and services to see what is working and what is not
- survey your customers and prospects to better understand what they are looking for and what they value
- create your product offering based on what customers want and are willing to pay for, not what you want to provide
4. Create Your Pricing Plan
- review the pricing strategies of your competitors to see what is working and what is not
- set your price based on value, not your cost
- analyze your price elasticity
5. Create Your Distribution (Place) Plan
- review the distribution strategies of your competitors and determine what is working and what is not
- survey customers and prospects to understand where and how they want to buy, if you can't survey brainstorm how you think they would answer
- brainstorm ways to increase the distribution of your product/service
6. Create Your Promotional Plan
- determine the message you want to communicate from your positioning statement
- review the promotion strategies of your competitors and determine what is working and what is not
- review what promotional strategies have worked for you in the past
- select the promotional strategies that will be able to best convey your message to your target market
- create a plan to maximize your referrals (refer to this referral program for an idea)
7. Create Your Marketing Budget
- determine the amount you can afford to invest in marketing (the more the better)
- list the cost, impressions, estimated conversion rate, time required and ROI for each marketing method
- select the marketing methods that have a high return on investment and low time requirement
My name is Chris R. Keller. I work at Profitworks Small Business Services helping various B2B small businesses in Waterloo and Kitchener Ontario generate new customers via our full marketing service solution. Feel free to connect with me on Google+ or if you are interested in getting new customers for your small businesses enter your email in the box provided below and click the "Send Me Free Marketing Insights" button.
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