Marketing Plan

...Putting it all together

• How to specifically target your customers
• Your ability to reach and win new customers
• How to keep clients happy and excel at client relationship management
• How to embrace continuous improvement
• Your ability to stay ahead of your Competition

My recommended start point in creating a Marketing Plan is to think through the overall strategy. This is best done by a simple SWOT analysis which will define your strengths and weaknesses. It will also clearly mark out the opportunities and threats that you should be aware of.

Your thoughts should reflect on the 4 P’s of marketing, that is:

• Your products and services
  What your product offers that your customers value and whether you should change your product to specifically meet a need.

• The price structure
  You should not have to compete on price. By assessing what you offer, the benefits and how you meet a need you should be thinking about “Added Value” and whether you can charge more. Certainly it makes sense to plan a trial price increase.

• The place where you will target to sell
  You may choose to sell through retailers, undertake a Joint Venture or sell through the Internet.

• How you promote your product/services through Advertising, PR, Telesales, Direct Mail, Networking, or Personal Selling.

It’s no surprise that you should also give considerable thought to your Competition and what you need to react to and what you can learn from them, and...

...the process does not need to be overly complicated. In fact as an SME you should try to keep it as simple and straightforward as possible, so that it doesn’t tie up too much resource and time, whilst maintaining its relevance. This strategy will establish clear objectives and most importantly ensure that you plan will become reality.

When a PEST can be good

• Political and Legal changes, such as new regulations.
• Economic factors, such as interest rates, exchange rates and overall consumer confidence.
• Social factors, such as changing attitudes and lifestyles and the impact of an ageing population
• Technological factors such as new raw materials and the growing use of the internet.

Being SMART

Well, my comment to them always is that their lack of understanding is because they have not been SMART in devising their Marketing Plan. This is not a comment on their intelligence. However, it does reflect on how they plan their marketing activity and then measure its success. How else do you know what is working or not and where to focus your future efforts?

To be fair, there is always a chance that the market doesn’t want to buy what is being offered. BUT by being SMART, you will quickly discover this and will be able to modify what you do rather than floundering in the dark.

So in your plan each activity to decide to embark on must be SMART. The feedback gained from your experience can then be used to ensure you achieve success.

Top Tips for Writing a Marketing Plan

1. Set clear, realistic and measurable targets.
   e.g. undertake a sample Direct Mail campaign to gain 10 new customers.

2. Include deadlines for meeting targets
   e.g. The Direct Mail campaign to run in February.

3. Provide a budget spend for each marketing activity
   e.g. the DM campaign will cost £1,000

4. Specify who is responsible for each task..
   ...which will be either yourself or someone you have clearly delegated to!

Set out the Key Tasks

• Who will do it

• What will be done

• Why it is being done
  i.e. the expected outcome of gaining 10 new clients for instance

• Where you will target the activity
  ...such as a geographic area or a selling channel such as the Internet

• When it will be completed

Without a schedule, it is all too easy to get bogged down by day to day tasks and lose sight of your goals.

The Marketing Plan must establish what Resources you will need. This may include such things as printed promotional items, a website or additional sales people.

What is critical is that you carefully allocate a cost budget so that you maintain control of spend.

I don’t have much money!

If your finances are limited, there are many things that you can do in devising and follwong a Marketing Plan which will not cost anything other than your time. For instance:

• Test an increase in your prices
  You may be delighted by the results. Remember it should be all about the ADDED VALUE that you are delivering to your clients by meeting their needs and highlighting the benefits of your products and services.

• Telephone your 50 best customers to see what their needs are
  Don’t sell, ask questions arrange to meet them and develop the relationship. (They will give referrals if you have developed a healthy relationship)

• Undertake some Networking.
  Meet anyone and everyone to talk about your business. It will generate leads.

• Do some Public Speaking.
  This is a highly effective marketing tool. There are many groups that regularly meet that you can target to give a 30 minute presentation. If you freely provide information and help to extend their knowledge you will increase your credibility and gain the opportunity to pitch how you can help people at the end of your speech.

• Slash your Advertising budget in half!
  Most advertising is habitual and doesn’t work! By using the saved money to test some low risk marketing you will gain better results.

• Undertake some PR
  This gives far more credibility than an advert as people believe editorials more. It can also help you to position yourself as an expert and soon through reputation you will be in demand.

• Up Sell
  Fast food companies are really into this. Having ordered a “Big Mac” the customer is asked if they want to go “Large” and if they want anything else (usually with a helpful suggestion).

  Not everyone will buy, but if 20% do then the additional sales have cost nothing against your marketing budget.

  So ask yourself what else can I offer at the point of sale?.

  
  

• Improve your sales skills
  Not everyone can sell, but the skills can be learned and improved so think about buying a book or going on a training course (or send your employees on one).

• Emails
  This can be very effective. Focus on sending your existing clients an informative email once each month. Personalised, simple emails work best so don’t worry about developing a sophisticated newsletter. Tell your clients what you are working on at present or any special offer that you are running.

• Joint Ventures
  Look out for non-competing businesses to see if you can work with them to promote each of your services. In one stroke you could double your client list!

Keeping control

Form time to time you will need to stand back and ask whether the strategy is working. What can you learn from your experience and what can be changed to increase success in the future.

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