Navigating new territories without a compass is difficult or impossible. The same is true for companies who want to be successful and achieve their full potential without a marketing plan.
How to approach the task
How your marketing plan will look like will depend on your objectives, resources and the size of your business. This can be as simple as a few pages, to detailed roadmaps and schedules that cover all aspects of the business and long-term plans.
Having a purpose in mind will determine the complexity of your plan.
Ideally, this should include these sections:
Executive summary
Mission statement
Corporate objectives
Marketing objectives
SWOT Analysis
Macro and micro analysis
Customer analysis and segmentation
Competitor analysis
Market strategy
7P's
Tactics
Gantt chart
Budgeting
Monitoring and evaluation
Measuring the results and adapting along the way is a key part of the implementation. This will help you assess how strategy is performing, what is most effective and what the best course of action for the future is.
There are different tools and softwares which can be used, from Google Analytics, Hubspot, Zoho, to surveys, focus groups, number of leads or inquiries, examining the customer's behaviour, success of events etc.
The marketing plan should be constantly reviewed, according to the needs of the business, objectives and the customer behaviour, as well as the competitor strategy and the broader economic climate.
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