It is surprising how many small businesses take an ad-hoc approach to their marketing, stumbling from one activity to another depending on what ‘latest offer’ has popped up in their inbox or across their desk. Whilst the intention may be to capitalise on this opportunity, in reality this approach to marketing is very disjointed, is difficult to monitor results and can be more costly.
By creating a written marketing plan, your business is more likely to succeed. When writing your plan, you should consider the following:
- Set objectives – it is important to identify what you are trying to achieve. Is it increasing sales, retaining existing clients, raising your profile, launching a new product or service etc. By setting out your objectives you know what you’re trying to achieve, so all the activities you do should take you closer to achieving these objectives.
- Monitor Progress – if you have your objectives in place it is much easier to track the success of each of your activities.
- Identify your target audience – give some thought to the products and services you’re trying to sell. These will undoubtedly have a target market and it is these people which you should aim your marketing activities at. You may pick up other ‘non-targets’ along the way, but by focusing on a few groups or sectors, you will be able to make your activities more effective and make your marketing budget go further.
- Firm up your message – you’ve decided what product/service you want to promote; you know who your target audience is; now think about why your target audience is likely to be interested in your offering (identify what it’s features and benefits are) and make sure this comes across in all your marketing messages.
- Spread your activities – a written plan, particularly if accompanied by a 12 month marketing calendar, is a good way of making sure there are marketing activities happening throughout the year and not just across 1-2 months.
- Firm-wide cohesion – by writing a firm-wide plan it is easier to get buy in across the organisation, so that all departments, mangers/directors or different offices can see what is being planned and how their section will be covered by future marketing activities. This can also help in preventing individuals doing their own thing, which can waste time and money if it is not helping the firm to achieve its pre-agreed objectives.
- Set a marketing budget – setting a budget alongside your marketing plan helps you to see how much you are forecasting to spend on each activity. You can then monitor this on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis and identify which activities are giving you the best return on investment.
Ultimately, by creating a marketing plan for your firm you will save time and money. By identifying your objectives and who you want to target you can plan your activities more effectively. As well as focusing your efforts in the right places, this also means you’re less likely to say ‘yes’ to the ad hoc marketing requests that you receive.
For more details about putting together your firm’s marketing plan contact Vicki Banthorpe at Momentum for Professionals on 01822 833300 or email vicki@momentumforprofessionals.co.uk.
