Developing your marketing plan is typically a component of a larger business plan. A solid marketing strategy is the foundation of a well-written marketing plan, allowing for the achievement of marketing objectives. A marketing plan may contain a list of actions, but it is of little use to a business without a solid strategic foundation.
The objective of adhering to budgetary constraints may appear apparent, but sometimes the most obvious objectives elude us. Smart marketing is liberating and invigorating because it allows you to express your creativity through imaginative and evocative concepts.
When developing imaginative concepts, it is essential to maintain realism.
It is admirable that you are giving expression to your creativity, but you should never attempt to execute a campaign that exceeds your resources. You are aware that the only way for your business to prosper is if you keep track of how much you are spending and how much money it is generating.
Through meticulous planning, you must maximize the use of your resources from the outset. Creating a budget, estimating costs, and monitoring both as you spend may not seem exciting, but it will ensure that you can effectively stick to your budget no matter what you do.
Therefore, you must evaluate your financial and non-financial resources and utilize what you have.
Developing Your Marketing Plan
Assessing your current advantages will enable you to strategically utilize your strengths to accomplish your objectives. The following questions will assist you in evaluating your current assets and strengths:
What resources do you possess? Conduct an internal inventory of your resources. What resources do you possess or have easy access to that can assist you in achieving any or all of your goals and objectives?
Can you access additional talent?
Do you have a large quantity of free or low-cost sampling to distribute?
Is there a location where an event or spectacle can be produced with minimal resources?
What inherent qualities can you utilize to maximize the effectiveness of your campaign?
Is there something distinctive about your product or brand that you can incorporate into your campaign strategy?
If you offer an unrivaled product or service, establishing or reinforcing the perception that you are the industry leader should play a significant role in your marketing strategy.
If you have a general notion of the annual household income of your target audience, you can use this information to determine where to reach them and how to present your message. If you are a luxury brand targeting wealthy individuals, presenting your product as stylish and trendy may be the way to go.
If your target audience has a lower household income, you may want to position your product as one of these "must-have" objects that will save them money over time.
A marketing plan is the strategy it will use to promote its product or service. Your marketing plan will help determine who the target market is, how to reach them effectively, at what price point the product or service should be sold, and how the company will evaluate its efforts.
Marketing implementation is the procedure of executing a marketing plan. To achieve this, you will require a marketing implementation plan. It specifies the actions and resources necessary to implement your marketing strategies.
It is not sufficient for you to simply discuss how you will reach your target audience in real time.
Spending additional time refining your marketing implementation plan will guarantee the success of your company's marketing efforts. And that you will continue to connect with your consumers and achieve genuine success.
Developing Your Marketing Plan
Pricing Methodology
Which portion of the market do your prices target? Are you aiming for a high profit margin on each sale, volume sales at a low price, or something in between?
You must determine whether your current pricing strategy is effective and whether it should be altered. Perhaps elevating your brand's image could increase high-profit sales without lowering your prices.
By establishing a price strategy objective, you can plan for unanticipated increases or decreases in sales.
Example Objective: "Promote our product’s added value to maintain our high profit strategy." However, if our competitors reduce their prices, we must do the same to maintain sales."
Pricing Against Rival Brands
In the vast majority of markets, customers' perceptions of your prices are influenced not only by the direct cost to them, but also by the cost of comparable products (i.e., your competition).
Your prices may be low, but if your competitors offer a nearly identical product for 20% less, you risk losing a substantial number of customers.
You must consider how your price stacks up against the competition.
Do you need to emphasize the quality of your product if it is more expensive, or do you need to reassure customers that quality has not been compromised if it is less expensive?
Would changing your prices increase your competitiveness?
Example Objective: "Remind customers that, despite being less expensive, our quality is comparable to that of models that are over 30 percent more expensive."
Place
Discovering Your Product or Service
It may seem obvious, but can potential consumers locate your product or service to purchase it? Important to the marketing of your business is making your product available in the correct locations.
Do you want your product to be sold exclusively through your company (e.g., if you deal with specialized requirements) or through every outlet possible?
You must examine the locations where your products/services are presently sold and determine if you need to make them available in additional/fewer locations.
Consideration of how your products are sold is a part of this process. Do you sell directly to your consumers, or do you use a distributor or warehouse? You should evaluate the effectiveness of your current setup and consider methods to maximize sales and inventory.
Example Objective: “Within a year, our product should be available in at least 100 additional retail locations.”
Product Unique Selling Points
Most products have a unique selling proposition, which is a feature, branding, price, or other attribute that consumers find most appealing.
You must determine the unique selling propositions of your products and services. Then, you can consider how to maximize the USP's value to your business.
By understanding your product's key selling factors in depth, your marketing will be more targeted and effective.
Example Objective: "Value for money is our unique selling proposition; we should strive to continue providing excellent value for money throughout the coming year."
Cooperative Sales
Are all of your products independent, or does the sale of one product affect the sales of others? (For example: sales of, say, your make-up, increases sales of make-up brushes, or do sales of your inexpensive product decrease sales of your more expensive product?
You must examine your products and determine the most effective method to sell each one. This may include modifying the marketing of one or more products or advertising one product at the point of sale of another.
Example Objective: "Advertise our make-up brushes concurrently with the sale of the make-up so that one out of every four customers purchases additional make-up."
Optional / Seasonal
Your products are sold on a seasonal basis, correct? (Examples: Christmas products, particular fruits and vegetables) Consequently, are you maximizing your opportunities?
When sales are minimal, you should determine if there are ways to increase them or if there are alternative products you can market instead. You could even consider modifying a product to make it more appealing during periods of low sales. (Example: modifying the exterior of a Christmas product to create a Birthday product with more consistent demand throughout the year).
Example Objective: "Introduce a new or modified product to the market during months when demand for our current product is low, with the goal of gaining 30 percent of the main product's monthly sales during off-peak months."
Promotion
Although advertising and promotion is not the only component of marketing, it is frequently the most essential (and expensive!).
You must evaluate potential advertising budgets, as well as the efficacy and expense of any existing budgets. If you sell multiple products, you may have multiple lesser budgets or one large budget.
You may wish to consider establishing new advertising objectives (based on the other objectives in your marketing plan). For instance, if you currently promote your reduced prices, you may wish to modify your advertising to highlight a new feature.
Examining the various advertising media is a component of advertising planning. If you currently use newspapers, how effective are they, and would magazine advertising be more cost-effective?
Example Objective: "Try to maintain the same budget while expanding our reach. Target the younger segment of our target market on social media to increase their sales by 10 percent in six months."
Public Relations
If you currently use public relations as part of your marketing strategy, you should consider whether it is cost-effective and if the exposure is of sufficient quality. You should also consider whether the PR message is pertinent to your business at this time. You may decide to increase, decrease, or cease all public relations activity, or you may establish new exposure goals.
If you do not currently use public relations, you should investigate why this is the case and the potential benefits it could provide.
Examine the benefits of public relations and test it on a modest scale for six months. Consider the prospect of a permanent PR presence if it's successful."
Word of Mouth
Do your customers share their experiences with your company with others? How can you ensure that the message is positive if this is the case?
You must determine whether you encourage people to speak about your business, and if not, how you can motivate them to do so. If you treat your customers well, good word-of-mouth publicity is free marketing, and anything you can do to increase it will benefit your business.
Example Objective: "If a customer refers a friend, they will each receive 20% off their purchase."
Promotional offers and contests
What price reductions or additional features could you offer your customers to pique their interest? A promotion can convince hesitant consumers to make a purchase, and a contest can generate interest in your product.
You can evaluate the effectiveness of your company's special offers and make adjustments to enhance them. If you do not currently use special incentives, you should consider their potential sales benefits.
Example Objective: "Continue our successful free carry case offer with our 4-for-3 offer on make-up."