09 Jul Writing and Implementing an Effective Marketing Plan
As part of the overall business plan, an effective marketing plan is crucial to the success of any new business, service or product. If you stop and think about it, you have to get what you have in front of potential users (or customers). The only way to do this is to know how to write and implement an effective marketing plan.
Writing an Effective Marketing Plan
Over the past few years, new ways to get your message out have changed when it comes to marketing a business or service; however, writing an effective marketing plan has not. Following is an overview of the important elements of an effective marketing plan:
Define Exactly What Your Product Is or Does
This is self-explanatory – what are you selling to your potential customers? What is your unique selling proposition? What sets your product or service apart from the others?
Pinpoint Your Customer or Target Market
Your customer is typically identified when you decide you identified the need or desire for your product or service in the marketplace. Your marketing plan focuses on the specifics of that customer or target market in great detail – demographics, psycho graphics, buying habits, technology tolerance, etc.
State the Goal of Your Marketing Plan
Not every marketing plan has a goal of selling more widgets. Your goals may include achieving a certain page rank on Google or a certain click-through rate or, the most basic of marketing goals, increased leads. Whatever the goals, stating them gives you a clear cut objective.
Specify Why Potential Customers or Users Need What You Have
When you specify why potential customers or users need what you have, you figure out a lot of what you want to say in your message to get potential buyers/users to try your product or service. Establishing these “pain points” leads to a more effective marketing plan.
Determine Your Competitors Also Reaching Out to Your Potential Customers
You need to know who your competitors are and where they are reaching out to potential customers. Once you do this, you know what they are saying and can craft your message to stand apart from theirs. This will enable you to refine your unique market position.
Create a Brand Statement that Describes Your Product/Services
The brand statement declares what you have and how it meet the needs of your potential customers – it is a short, sweet statement that is the point but catches the eyes of your target market saying how it meets a specific need.
Determine Where and When to Reach Your Potential Customers
Once you specify the target market, you must determine where and when to reach your potential customers. Digital marketing via social media and content marketing are very effective at targeting potential customers looking for specific products or services to meet their needs. Depending on who you want to target, you may also want to consider the more traditional marketing vehicles. It all depends on your product, customer and, most importantly, your marketing budget.
Implementing an Effective Marketing Plan
Once you have determined the main variables, the next (and most important) step is implementing your marketing plan. While there are not as many steps in this part of the process, it is so important to make sure you execute the plan in a precise manner. Follow-through is essential to your implementation plan so a marketing calendar is a good tool to ensure you have consistent, timely and informative content to your customers and potential customers. This marketing process will ensure you achieve what you set out in your marketing plan.
An effective marketing plan is based on continuity and staying in front of your customers. If you have a powerful message and a compelling plan to convey it, the rest will fall into place.
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