Strategy - Do you have a marketing plan?

Last updated by Lee Hawkins [SSW] over 1 year ago.See history

If you were going to build a house, you would hope that the architect and builders were working together using architectural plans and blueprints as their guide. So why would trying to build a solid customer base or market share be any different?

You should know that a marketing plan is of monumental importance. Although we recognize that in many cases marketing plans get filed away in the closet until it's time to get a business loan, they're most effective when they act as a blueprint for all the marketing activities a company undertakes.

Here are some of the important points to consider in a marketing plan:

  • Set out your marketing goals and objectives then align them with your overall business goals and strategy
  • Set out a time frame for achieving those goals
  • Identify a target market and segmentation strategy
  • Define how you will position and differentiate your product
  • Use competitor and industry analysis
  • Identify current and proposed marketing methods
  • Include marketing reports (historical and forecasts)
  • Set the criteria against which the plan will be assessed for success or failure

The most important thing to remember about a marketing plan is that it is a work in progress, always needing to be reassessed and changed to adapt to the dynamic business environment.

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