Being a marketer isn’t easy because in order to get the audience attention you need to be creative and your content needs to have a story. When it comes time to plan we all hop into research mode, look at what we did before and see where we do things differently.
With a considerable amount of years in this industry, we want to help you simplify marketing plans because we understand the difficulty of it. Don’t worry we’ve created an all-inclusive step-by-step guide to help you start creating marketing plans today.
Learn about your customers and how to speak to them
Here’s what you need to know about modern-day marketing is that the consumers now are more active online than ever. The technology and social media platforms you have today enable you to get your message and product to them easily if done correctly. The reason why we said so is that the abundance of online resources, review sites and competitors fighting for consumer attention and the businesses that come up on time are the ones that know their customers as real people instead of numbers on a spreadsheet.
We detail in our marketing plan guide how to successfully create these personas quickly and effectively.
Identify your business identity
First things first, let’s understand your core business offering and who you are.
- A unique selling proposition (USP)
- An elevator pitch that sums up your entire business
- Be honest in the areas that count the most
Positioning your company
This is really important because if you do not know how to properly position yourself against your competitor you’ll lose the fight. We have identified a few things you have to nail to get your market positioning right.
- Number of competitors
- Research indirect competition (substitutes that you may not have thought about)
- How to compare USPs and intersections
- Analyze the effect on your target audience
Set SMART goals
The is one of the most important foundations that you have to go through no matter what industry you’re in. It’s essential you have a clear idea of where you’re going before you can form a plan to get there. Goal setting is simply because everyone can set a goal, the hard part is putting a time frame to it and what actions that need to be done so that you will achieve it within the time frame.
- Specific
How well defined are your goals? This will help to really hone in on what you’re trying to achieve.
- Measurable
Is there a way to directly measure success? Be as detail as possible.
- Agreed upon
Has the rest of the team agreed on these goals? By agreeing on them as a team, you’ll be gaining valuable input into the goals and gain an insight into perspectives you’ve probably never thought about before. Making sure that each and everyone is on the same ship is important for overall productivity and efficiency.
- Realistic
How realistic are your goals? There’s no point trying to say you’ll do everything without actually doing anything. Action speaks louder than words.
- Timely
Are your goals set out to be completed in a timely manner? It’s imperative that each goal has a time frame attached. It is attainable within that time frame that you’ve set.
Moving forward
If you’re keen to know more about how to properly market your products, we suggest you read how social media marketing can really help your business grow.
The point of this guide is to help you create a marketing plan that everyone can get on board with. You’ll be able to go back and reflect on your plan at any point throughout the year to track your progress.