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Formulating a Vigorous Marketing Plan One of the best ways to prepare for developing a dynamite marketing plan is to first create a Vision Statement. This pinpoints your long-range goals and objectives. Next comes your Mission Statement. It needn’t be long. In 20 to 40 words capture the essence of your business. Who is it for? How will it assist them? In what major way can you meet their needs? Writing this Mission Statement will help you get—and keep—focused. Also be sure your employees know what it is. Steven Covey, in his keynote address to the 16th annual Inc. 500 conference, suggested: “As a regular exercise, ask people to name your company’s purpose. The answers will shock you.” Everybody needs to be marching to the same drummer. If people on your team aren’t aware of where you’re headed, how can you possibly expect to get there? If you intend to sculpt yourself a dominant position in your industry or community, a forceful marketing plan is a must. Not to have one is like going bear hunting with a switch. A plan consists of two elements: goals—which is what you want to achieve, and strategies—which is how you expect to achieve them. There are many things to take into consideration. You must analyze your customers or clients (assuming you are an already established organization) and evaluate your competition. What sort of growth trends might you logically anticipate? If you’re in the information industry, for instance, spiraling opportunities are predicted in this millennium. What are your company’s capabilities and capacity? Temper enthusiasm with realism. Although you might like to take on the world, success often evades those who use no common sense in their business dealings. Obstacles accompany opportunities! Have you thought about potential threats? How can you keep a rival firm from eroding your market share? Can you preempt the disastrous consequences that could result from a shift in the economy? For long-term success, you will ideally construct a five-year marketing plan. Of course, you’ll concentrate on drafting a dynamic annual plan, which is a detailed version of the first year of your longer-range blueprint. The foundation of your plan will be a marketing mix of such traditional elements as publicity, promotion, sales literature, direct mail, and advertising—plus the newer element of the Internet—not to mention pricing and customer service. Each is a vital building block. Don’t fall into the trap of many neophyte marketers who feel if they’ve placed a few ads, they have a marketing plan. To maximize your dollars, be sure PR efforts and advertising reinforce each other. They should be engineered to build on one another, establishing a cohesive, forceful image in the prospect’s eyes. PR creates excitement. Ads contribute drama. Sales presentations reinforce enthusiasm. Together, the elements culminate in a big bang. Individually, they can be diluted and ineffective. Quantify your goals. Do you want to increase your market share by 10 percent this year? Twenty-five percent? If you are an upstart startup, what is your target annual revenue? One hundred thousand dollars? A quarter million? Five million? A marketing plan isn’t an academic exercise. It should be a living, dynamic tool. The good news is that to develop such a road map you don’t have to visit a channeling medium or take a course in reading tea leaves. The process needn’t be intimidating. (Specific guidelines are included in Chapter 17 of Shameless Marketing for Brazen Hussies.) A sound marketing plan helps you kick yourself in the assets. And it’s a wonderful tool to audit your progress because it makes you really think. Although it’s vital to have this road map, remain flexible. As on vacation, so in business: Sometimes it’s the side roads that are the most exciting and memorable. Perhaps an unforeseen opportunity will arise that ordains action to alter previous expectations. Don’t assume if something worked in 2000 it will work today. Rubber-stamping last year’s plan will likely pound another nail in the coffin of success. Backward thinking can be deadly; competition continually escalates. Invest in the future instead of trying to redesign the past. A recent Wall Street Journal career poll revealed the majority of people said their dream job was to “head my own business.” Today more than ever before, women (and to a lesser degree, men) are turning that dream into reality. To stay competitive you need sound marketing goals and strategies. If you fail to plan, plan to fail. Have an ongoing strategy. It’s no accident financial planner Albert B. Woodward, Jr., CFP, stays visible in the Denver metropolitan area. He meets with his wife and partner, Marilyn, on a regular basis to go over a Marketing Matrix they’ve developed. “I believe in structure,” says Woodward. “We look at the things already scheduled, those that need to be worked on, plus future possibilities we’re thinking about.” Herein lies one of the prime tenets of marketing: To establish a presence in the community and develop a successful practice, you need consistent, ongoing effort! Creating a flurry of activity one month, then doing nothing for the next year is a formula for disaster. You need exposure. Repetition. Momentum. “People have to know who you are and what your capabilities are,” advises Woodward. His four-week planning matrix includes public speaking to civic and business groups, conducting in-house seminars, writing articles and columns, promoting referrals by phone and by mail, and a miscellaneous column. If you want to call the tune instead of paying the fiddler, always follow-up! Be prepared to monitor the progress of your projects. While diligent follow-through increases your odds for success in all aspects of business, it’s especially crucial in marketing. Many sound marketing plans flounder for lack of follow-up. The squeaky wheel gets more attention. I encourage clients to be politely persistent, to never give up. Stopping before you get results—or a firm “no”—is like ordering an ice cream cone, then letting it melt onto the floor. In the words of Mary Kay Ash, “Whenever a task seems most impossible, I simply repeat the words my mother would say to me: ‘You can do it, Mary Kay. You can do it.’” Now “You can do it!” is her company’s mantra. Using this and the Golden Rule, she has become the largest direct seller of skin company products with more than 500,000 Independent Beauty Consultants in 29 markets worldwide. Prudent Budgeting Is there a way to keep a modest budget from cramping your style? Yes and no. If you try to whittle costs too much you may end up watching your whole business being sacrificed at the altar of fiscal restraint. Typically marketing is not the place to cut back. That said, let me offer some suggestions for those of you with budgets tighter than fiddle strings. When they think marketing, most people automatically think advertising. That can be a fatal mistake. If you’re the new midget on the block, publicity and promotion are the mainstays that can help you skyrocket to success. You must outsmart, not outspend, the competition. Depending on the type of business you’re in, there are many free or very inexpensive ways to promote. A music teacher, plumber, or day-care center might do well by posting index cards on supermarket and laundromat bulletin boards. A business card can be handed out to spur word-of-mouth. Well-written news releases focus attention on your establishment. A professional who gives talks to civic organizations often sees her practice take off. Providing a free weekly column to the local newspaper can have a similar effect. A computer consultant who offers free computer lessons for city hall employees could turn this good deed into a publicity stunt of interest to the local TV stations. These are just a few possibilities. Marketing budgets are as individual as snowflakes. One company will only spend 1 percent of gross sales, whereas another will boldly allocate 12 percent. A further determining factor is whether you are a new or established organization. Startups require more financial commitment in the beginning. Ten percent is a wise amount for the first year. This extra investment helps lay a solid foundation. There is a logo to be designed, stationery to be printed, a brochure to be created and produced, signs to be fashioned and erected, a Web site to be built, perhaps a direct mail package to be developed, etc. Many choose to hire public relations or advertising professionals to accomplish these tasks and initially devise a convincing overall plan. The majority of established firms spend 2 to 5 percent of their gross sales on marketing. Perhaps that’s why many of them fail. Spending money on marketing is a lot like tending a fire. If you want it to roar warmly, what do you do? You stoke it! Otherwise, you shiver in a semi-frigid state—perhaps not freezing to death but never being comfy and content either. What you spend is dependent on many factors. If you’re lucky enough to be in a position where there are few competitors, you needn’t allocate as much as someone who is going head-to-head with several already-entrenched opponents. On the other hand, in a saturated market, it may behoove you to match what your main competitor spends to keep your portion of the market share—or enjoy increased market penetration. One of the questions that always comes up in the seminars and lectures I give around the country is, “Shouldn’t I cut back when times are bad?” Absolutely not! Slicing your marketing budget during an economic slump is like handing your assailant a gun. If you do that, instead of being on the leading edge…you’ll be on the bleeding edge. A recent issue of Business Marketing tells of a new study that proves the fallacy of this theory. Research conducted with some 600 companies by McGraw-Hill, Inc., of New York indicated those that didn’t reduce their advertising during recessions had significantly more sales growth—both during and after the recession—than those who cut back. Marketing Plan Outline A marketing plan is a realistic assessment of what you are selling, who your clients or customers are (or should be), and how you can best reach your most profitable markets. Developing it draws not only on your knowledge and experience, but also on your intuitive business sense. Here are some practical pointers to help you create an effective plan:
Now go back to the list you created in step 1. Choose the top 10 or 12 options that seem to make the most sense. When prioritizing them, keep in mind their relative profitability, ease of implementation, and if they fit with your current services and price points. Next, review the segments you identified in step 4, matching them with your new list of most promising options. Bingo! You’ve determined several potentially profitable strategies to use as your marketing bull’s-eye. Your marketing plan is a “working document”—one that is used not only to define goals and plot action to be taken, but also to chart marketing progress. It needn’t be lengthy, cumbersome, or unfriendly. Six to 10 pages will be fine. Be sure to include specific costs and the length of time necessary to accomplish each phase. Going through the experience of creating a marketing plan is a wonderful growth opportunity. It stimulates fresh thought. (In addition to being your road map to success, this outline can also be included with your overall business plan if you are seeking financing.) I. Executive Summary This is a brief overview of the primary objectives, including planning factors involved in marketing your service or product to the target markets over the next year. (Ideally, a 5-year overall plan is best, with particulars for the next year spelled out in detail.) Describe how the marketing objectives support the future company goals including increase in revenue, projected company size, additional staff, etc. II. Mission Statement This is a description of the philosophy of your business, the types of things you do, etc. III. Market Definition Define the scope of your target markets. This definition includes as much information as possible about those markets: their size, growth potential, health, etc. It’s sort of an industry profile for each target market. IV. Analysis of Current Situation Description of the issues impacting your company’s ability to compete in the target markets. The issues addressed are:
V. Goals and Objectives A list of the marketing objectives and specific goals to be achieved for the year. For example, you may want to commit to increasing sales revenues by 25 percent. Goals must always be measurable. Don’t state something lofty like, “To become the best company in the world.” VI. Action Plans Taking into consideration all of the information gathered, what must you do to reach your goals/objectives? Each marketing objective should have an action program. Describe what you’re going to accomplish and by when (such as hire two outside sales representatives by December 15th). Identify all costs connected with each plan. VII. Budget and Controls This is your overall budget for costs associated with implementing the action plans. Describe how you will monitor progress (such as sourcing every lead, creating a monthly marketing activity report, etc.) Remember that flexibility is a key ingredient. Review your marketing plan quarterly. Are you hitting your target? Should you make any adjustments or changes? Tweaking your trajectory as you go will keep your marketing plan on track. © 2000 Marilyn Ross. From Shameless Marketing for Brazen Hussies™: 307 Awesome Money-Making Strategies for Savvy Entrepreneurs. Details and ordering at http://www.BrazenHussiesNetwork.com or 1-800-331-8355. |
