Eight,Steps,Great,Marketing,Pl marketing Eight Steps To A Great Marketing Plan

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Step 1: Taking Stock Before you decide where you want your marketing plan to take you,you need to find out where you are now. How have you positioned yourbusiness in the market? How do your customers see you? You may wantto ask some of them for feedback. Write four or five paragraphs thatsummarize your business. Be sure to include philosophy, strengthsand weaknesses. Step 2: Setting the Goal Once you decide where you are, you can decide where you want to go.What you're trying to accomplish? Do you want to increase sales?Change the perception of your business among target audiences?Generate more store traffic? Enter a new market where you may nothave much experience? After you have answered each of these questions or any others youcome up with, you want to make an outline for each of your goals, andbe specific. While you should be optimistic, you will also need to berealistic. You need to be realistic in what you expect your marketingplan to do. Also, while it's fine to have multiple goals, be sure toprioritize them so you can create a realistic plan to achieve them. Step 3: Hitting the Target Who are your target audiences? If you say "everyone," you need torethink your answer. Even the largest companies don't market blindlyto every individual. They break their audiences down into distinctprofiles, or niche markets, and create messages and vehicles designedto reach each segment. Define your niche markets as clearly and specifically as possible.If you're reaching out to businesses, describe which type, includingthe industry, revenue level, location and other importantcharacteristics. If consumers are your audience, describe their age,sex, income level, marital status and other relevant facts. If youidentify several market segments, rank them in order of priority. Step 4: Researching Your Plan Now that you've outlined where you are and where you want to go,it's time to determine the best way to get there. Nothing will get you where you want to go faster than research.Information about your target audiences is available from a varietyof resources, many of them free. So be sure to take some time to find out about the demographics(physical characteristics) and psychographics (psychologicalcharacteristics) of your target markets. Demographics outline suchfactors as age, geographic location and income level. Psychographicsoffer insight into trends, buying habits, market segments and thelike. American Demographics magazine has a Web site(www.demographics.com) that offers access to articles about variousconsumer and business market segments. Trade associations and publications are often great places to startyour research, especially if you're reaching out to businesses. Useyour own and your target industries' trade resources for marketinformation. Many associations have Web sites, and many publicationsare also available on the Net. For information about consumeraudiences in your region, try your state or county's department ofeconomic development. In addition, the SBA offers limited help withmarket research.Once you've gathered this information, write a detailed profile ofyour audience segments. Include all the demographic and psychographicinformation you've gathered. For instance, if you're selling aproduct to homeowners in Smithville, USA, find out what percentage ofpeople own homes in Smithville. What is the average household income?Do most homeowners have children? The more specific your profilesare, the better. Step 5: Planning the Action This is the crux of your plan. For each goal you've outlined, createa strategy, complete with your key messages and steps that will helpyou accomplish the goal. Don't forget that you have many tools atyour disposal. As you examine each of your goals, conduct a mini-brainstormingsession. Consider the best ways to get your message out. You maydecide to use newspaper, radio, TV, magazine or outdoor advertising;direct marketing programs, including postcards, sales letters,fliers, business reply cards, newsletters or toll-free responsenumbers; or public relations elements such as publicity, events,speaking engagements, sponsorships and opinion polls. Perhaps you canaccomplish your objectives and cut costs by teaming up with related,non-competing businesses for in-store promotions or cross-promotionalcampaigns. On-line promotional opportunities are more abundant thanever, so consider designing a Web site or uploading information intoa news group or special interest forum. Write out each strategy, and beneath it, list key messages andtactics. Here's a sample: Strategy: Position myself as the market leader in lease purchasingin my community. Key messages: DeFiore Enterprises is a reputable, trust-worthy namein lease purchasing your home.Tactics: Approach local community colleges about teaching a home-buying class using the niche of lease purchasing.Propose a feature story to a local paper about "10 Things to Lookfor When Buying a Home," with you as the expert to be quoted. Createa brochure entitled "Secrets of Buying a Home With The Lease PurchaseAdvantage." Offer it free to people who call. Issue a press release about the free brochure to local media. Sendinformational brochures to real estate agents and mortgage brokerswho refer home buyers to you. For each step you plan, keep askingyourself, "Why should I do this?" Don't decide to do big, splashy promotions if you really can'tafford them. Smaller, more frequent communications are much moreeffective if your budget is limited. Don't forget to sendcommunications to your networking partners. Finally, be sure the promotions you've selected project the rightimage. If your audience is conservative, don't stage an outrageouspromotion. Similarly, if you need to project a cutting-edge image,make sure your efforts are sophisticated. Also, be sure you have madefriends with the media. Update your press package to reflect changesyou have made.Step 6: Budgeting Your Resources Home business owners believe marketing is an optional expense. Thisis one of the most tragic myths in business. Marketing expensesshould be given priority, especially in times of slow cash flow.After all, how are you going to attract more business during the slowtimes if you don't tell customers about your business? Take arealistic look at how much money you have to spend on marketing.While you shouldn't overextend yourself, it's critical that you allotadequate funds to reach your markets. If you find that you don't havethe budget to tackle all your markets, try to reach them one by one,in order of priority. For each of your tactics, break down each expense and outline theestimated cost of each. For example, a brochure includes writing,photography, graphic design, film, printing and delivery. From there,you can beef up or pare down your plan, depending on your financialsituation. Step 7: Timing Your Projects Now that you've broken down the steps involved in each activity, besure you set aside the time to accomplish the steps for each projectand set a deadline for each project. Again, make sure you're notoverextending yourself, or you may get burned out. It's better tostart with smaller, more consistent efforts than an overly ambitiousprogram you'll never complete. Step 8: Ready, Set, Now Go For It! With the above steps you now have in your hands the most effective"to do" list you'll ever write. You have prepared a document that canhelp you reach your market segments from a position of knowledge andexpertise instead of from shoot-from-the-hip hunches. Now you need to use your marketing plan. Make it a part of your "todo list" every day. Will it grow and change? Sure will. Also, as yourbusiness reaps the benefits of your initial strategies, you may wantto increase the scope of your marketing. If you find something is notworking, change it. Remember, consistency and continuity, delivered with a dash ofcreativity, give you the formula for successful marketing. Copyright 2004 DeFiore Enterprises Article Tags: Marketing Plan, Decide Where, Market Segments