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What is a marketing plan and why is it important?

Before you spend a cent on marketing, you first have to understand the market and your customers.

Companies of all sizes have one thing in common: They all began as small businesses.  Starting small  is the corner for those just getting off the ground. Learn about how to make that first hire, deal with all things administrative, and set yourself up for success.

A marketing plan is a blueprint for launching new products, understanding the intricacies of your market, growing your audience, and promoting your company to customers who want what you’re selling. 

With a well-designed marketing plan, you can design more effective promotions and impactful campaigns, reach your customers with targeted advertising, and track your business success with analytics. Without one, you might as well throw your marketing budget down a well and hope for the best. 

If you’ve been tasked with creating a marketing plan for your company, there are some basic elements to keep in mind. Though every marketing plan will reflect the specific business and industry it’s been created for, most share a few common features and can be boiled down to just one or two simple objectives. In this article, we’ll outline some of the basic elements of a marketing plan and how to write one.

When you’re ready to put the plan into action, WeWork All Access and WeWork On Demand are there to support you with hundreds of dedicated workspaces around the world, so you can seamlessly collaborate on marketing strategy in a professional and stylish office space.

What is a marketing plan?

A marketing plan is a document outlining a company’s future marketing efforts and goals. It can be as short as a single page or made up of many smaller campaign plans from different marketing teams. 

However large and complex those plans are, the idea remains the same: A marketing plan is created to organize, execute, and eventually measure the success of a business’s marketing strategy .

Types of marketing plans

Marketing plans come in as many different shapes and sizes as there are different kinds of business, but they can be broadly placed into one (or more) of a few different categories. Here are some of the most common you’ll encounter.

• Annual marketing plans. These types of marketing plans arrange campaigns according to when they’re expected to launch, rather than the content of the campaigns themselves. It’s a useful way to get an overview of a marketing strategy for the upcoming year, and to measure success continuously as time passes.
• Content marketing plans. This is a more content-focused way of approaching a marketing strategy, and highlights the specific channels and audiences you want to reach. Content marketing plans can look very similar to annual marketing plans, but are less concerned with the “when” and more with the “what” and the “how.”
• Product launch plans. Launching a new product or service requires a specific kind of marketing plan. The main goal is to successfully introduce the new product to the market. But these plans also include the strategies, tactics, and content needed in the buildup to the launch itself.
• Social media marketing plans. Social media channels are such a vital part of a company’s marketing goals that it’s often wise to create a separate social media marketing plan dedicated to creating advertising and promotional content on these platforms.

What is the purpose of a marketing plan?

A marketing plan lays out your business strategy for acquiring new customers and selling more products and services. But it also serves as a way of analyzing exactly how successful your marketing efforts have been so far. Knowing this information helps steer ongoing campaigns in the right direction, aligns your marketing with your company’s values, and ensures that future campaigns are better targeted and more effective.

To understand why a marketing plan is important, just consider what would happen without one. Your advertising budget would be spent based entirely on guesswork about where your potential customers can be found and what they’re looking for. You’d have no idea which of your campaigns contributed to increased sales figures. And you’d have no baselines from which to build more effective campaigns in the future.

How to create a marketing plan

Elements of a marketing plan.

The basic building blocks of any good marketing plan are focused on objectives, research, competitors, and content. These objectives should be clearly defined and easily measurable goals —ideally no more than two or three—and informed by as much consumer research as you can reasonably gather.

Whether your goal is increasing your Instagram followers, driving traffic to your site, or attracting more cheese fans to your cheese store, set a specific target by which to monitor the performance of any campaign. As you develop your marketing plan and learn what’s effective and what’s not, you can set more accurate targets and begin to hone in on the strategies that really work for your company.

A marketing plan should also describe your brand’s biggest competitors and the campaigns they’re running, as well as identify any openings in the market that would allow your company to grab market share. This is where SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis comes into its own, enabling a company to shape its marketing plan around its own strengths and weaknesses.

Lastly, a marketing plan should outline the content of each campaign. Will your pre-roll video content use animation or live actors? Can you offer discounts and voucher codes to new customers? Will you leverage your mailing list to notify existing customers of a new product launch?

Define a marketing plan strategy

If your marketing plan is a roadmap, then your marketing strategy is the road. The strategy describes which tools you’ll use to hit the targets laid out by the main marketing plan document, and how they’ll be applied.

Here’s where you get down to the fundamentals of selling. Depending on who you ask, there are as many as seven P’s of marketing, though most agree on four core elements: price, product, place, and promotion.

What are you selling? How much are you charging? Where will your customers see it? And how will you promote it to them? Marketing gurus will promise you that if you can answer all of these questions correctly, you’ll be guaranteed boundless success.

Of course, in the real world it’s not quite so straightforward. But the four main P’s are an ideal starting point for anyone creating a market plan from scratch.

How to measure the success of a marketing plan

An enormous amount of effort and investment is poured into monitoring the effectiveness of advertising campaigns, but at some level, consumer behavior becomes what’s known as a black box. You can measure what goes into it and what comes out the other end, but what happens inside the mind of a consumer can ultimately only be guessed at based on outcomes. Even the shoppers themselves can’t reliably report on why they choose certain products over others.

That’s why tracking a marketing plan’s performance alongside more specific KPIs (key performance indicators) is crucial. Advertising spend and sales figures aren’t linked in a simple or obvious way, so measuring success on a more granular level—such as increasing conversions or returning customers—helps create a much clearer picture of how well your marketing plan is doing.

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Final thoughts on creating a marketing plan

Marketing plans need to be squarely outlined and adhered to, but they shouldn’t be set in stone. You need to be able to course-correct when something isn’t landing, or lean more into campaigns when they’re working well. 

Quick aside: This is particularly true when it comes to the content of social media marketing plans, which are truly effective only when they’re timely and topical. Memes are a perfect example of this: How often have you seen a promoted tweet deploy some forgotten joke from months ago, presumably because it had been left in somebody’s annual marketing plan?

But while it’s useful to have a flexible approach , it’s important that your marketing plan is resilient and doesn’t flip-flop or bounce wildly between ideas. Move the goalposts too much and your plan will quickly fall apart, leaving your campaign in chaos. Allow your strategies some time to settle in, and even if you don’t reach success, you will gain invaluable performance data for future projects.

Steve Hogarty is a writer and journalist based in London. He is the travel editor of City AM newspaper and the deputy editor of City AM Magazine , where his work focuses on technology, travel, and entertainment.

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If you’ve been asking questions like, how will I know when I find a product market fit? How long should I explore before launching? Or what should I initially price my product? These are all questions that founders have asked, and below are the answers from the founders who’ve figured it out.

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The Importance of a Marketing Strategy for Businesses Today

June 14, 2022 ~

Last updated: October 4, 2022

As the year flies by, have you taken the time to consider the importance of a marketing strategy this year?

If not, it’s not too late.

In this post, we’ll show you the key reasons that highlight the importance of a marketing strategy for your business now and in the years to come. 

But before we dive into the specifics of an effective marketing strategy for your business.

Let’s discuss the basics of why marketing is even important, to begin with.

• Marketing helps you reach and connect with your target audience and ultimately is how you will grow your business in the long run.

A well-planned digital marketing strategy will help your brand highlight your strengths and how better you are than your competitors.

• When presenting your brand online, it’s important that you don’t do something that doesn’t resonate with your target audience.

Why Is Marketing Important?

Marketing is essential to any good business.

It helps you reach and connect with your target audience and ultimately is how you will grow your business in the long run.

Marketing is important because, without it, your business simply will not go anywhere because it won’t be seen. 

But it’s one thing to market your business without any direction, and it’s another thing to market your business with a clear plan.

The results are quite different.

That’s where a marketing strategy comes into play.

The Importance Of A Marketing Strategy For Business

Many business owners haven’t discovered the importance of a marketing strategy.

In fact, having a marketing strategy is so useful that you can think of it as having a road map (or a cheat sheet).

It will guide you in just about every business decision that you make.

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But what exactly does a marketing strategy entail?

In short, your marketing strategy will highlight the path you’re taking to achieve your specific objectives and goals.

This may sound simple, and it is. But it’s not always easy to ask the hard questions that come with creating a marketing strategy.

And this is the main reason why many businesses don’t recognize the importance of a marketing strategy.

Consequences Of Not Having A Marketing Strategy

Why do most small businesses fail? Why do 50% of companies fail after 5 years?

Remember that common saying? Failing to plan is planning to fail.

If you fail to recognize the importance of a marketing strategy and don’t fully integrate digital marketing into your marketing plan.

Then these will be the consequences:

• losing out to competitors
• losing market share to existing and start-up competitors
• gaining and retaining fewer customers
• missing out on opportunities for better targeting and optimization
• Lack of planning often leads to suboptimal execution. This means that competitors will pose more of a threat, filling in the gaps of the lackluster service you offer.

And finally, given the effectiveness of digital marketing, many businesses don’t allocate enough resources towards it.

This presents an opportunity for the wise business owner.

Knowledge is power, and after you finish reading this post, your business will have a leg up over the competition.

You’ll also be ready to overcome the initial hurdles that are common when trying to come up with a marketing strategy.

Challenges Of Creating A Marketing Strategy

The most common challenge that business owners face when creating a marketing plan is “where do I start?”.

In fact, this is the most common obstacle for just about any goal in life really.

And like with many other things in life, the key is to make this large task manageable by dividing it into smaller pieces. We’ll talk more about that later.

The scope and scale of digital marketing are quite large.

In order to break it down, you’ll need to plan out a do-able number of digital marketing activities that will fully cover the Customer Journey.

Along the way, you’ll discover tools for beating the competition and increasing sales and profits at the same time.

We all know how tough it is now that so many businesses are competing for the same products and services.

And how you stand out from the rest will depend heavily on how effective your marketing strategy is.

It will help you build your brand and eventually, be the “big” one in your niche.

Sound good?

Below you’ll learn more about how your business can benefit when you embrace the importance of a marketing strategy.

So let’s get right to it.

5 Reasons Why A Marketing Strategy For Businesses Is Important

1. find your target demographic.

It’s common marketing knowledge that you should create a marketing strategy focused on specific audiences and serving their needs.

In order to do this, you have to identify your target audiences’ interests as well as their pain points.

Your target demographics will also dictate what social media marketing strategy you use.

For example, if you’re targeting seniors, then boisterous Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat accounts likely won’t work very well.

If you aren’t sure who your customers really are, then try the following:

• review all your product orders
• do an assessment of your followers on social media
• “eavesdrop” on social media to build up an accurate Buyer’s Persona

And if you think that Google Analytics is sufficient for learning who your target demographic is, then think again.

GA is good for getting raw numbers, but not raw emotions (i.e. customer sentiments). To do this you’ll need to use website feedback tools.

Finding your target demographic is a key part of creating your marketing strategy.

This is because when creating your marketing strategy, you must be as specific as possible.

You should be asking specific questions such as:

• If you want more sales, how many?
• And from what demographics?
• And by what time?
• And why do you want to market to those demographics?

If you don’t intimately know who your target demographics are, you won’t know who your online audience is.

And you also won’t know what your share of the market is.

Remember that online communications based around your competitors and customers will be different compared to your traditional marketing channels.

If you don’t know who your online audience is, you won’t have an optimal digital marketing plan .

A suboptimal plan might lead to you underestimating online demand for your online product or services. As well as missing marketing opportunities.

But the great thing with digital marketing is that each digital marketing platform has its own tools that will help you figure out customer demand.

A couple of examples are:

2. Utilize The Proven SMART Strategy

SMART is a useful acronym to know and it has taken on many different but similar meanings over the years.

This is particularly so with marketing (just try doing a Google image search of SMART marketing).

In this case, we’re referring to the traditional meaning of SMART:

Without a SMART marketing strategy, you’ll be directionless.

You’ll have no actionable path to follow for gaining new customers or maintaining relationships with existing ones.

Your goals must also be SMART-ly translated into marketing initiatives.

Otherwise, you likely won’t put enough resources into reaching your goals, or you’ll put your resources into the wrong things.

That’s what happens when you don’t set goals and measure your success through analytics.

Benchmark where you are now and compare this with where you want to be in the future.

Now set clear objectives for each goal so that you can measure your progress against the attainment of these goals.

Use the SMART approach with each goal!

• Involve your business’s key players (or just yourself) and ask the following questions: -what are your revenue goals for this year? -what percent of revenue will be from existing customers compared to new customers? -what percent of leads will come from your marketing? -what is your average sale size and deal closing ratio? -how many leads do you require to reach your goals?  

3. Keep Everyone On The Same Page

One of the key parts of the importance of a marketing strategy is keeping everyone in the organization on the same page.

This means that everyone should understand the marketing strategy.

That way no matter who’s in charge of the social media posts for the day, they will all have the same consistent message.

When everyone is on the same page, your organization will also be able to effectively utilize the skills of all employees and stakeholders.

But what happens when everyone isn’t on the same page? One word: duplication.

What is duplication? In the worst sense, duplication means inefficiently doing the daily tasks that need to be done.  

Duplication will waste your time and money.

If everyone in the organization purchases/uses different tools and different agencies, but are performing similar online marketing tasks.

Then, duplication is probably happening.

Staying on the same page also means keeping everything integrated.

This includes your digital marketing activities and your traditional marketing activities.

You want your traditional media marketing and response channels to remain consistent along with your digital marketing channels.

This requires integration and embracing the importance of a marketing strategy for your business.

4. Keep Everything Timely

Following the train of thought with keeping everyone on the same page, you also want to keep everyone on the same timeline.

And you must create a timeline in order for this to work.

The importance of a marketing strategy is highlighted by the timeliness of its plans. As we all know, timing is critical when it comes to business.

But before you can create a timely marketing strategy, you have to fully commit to digital marketing.

You must accept that it will require consistent and constant attention.

If you think that don’t have the time or patience, then hiring a digital marketing agency  is always an option.

Consistent and constant attention implies the following:

• Being responsive to questions and messages.
• Being responsive to likes and tweets.
• Putting yourself out there with your own likes and tweets. In other words, being social on social media!
• Always responding to feedback, whether good or bad.
• Responding in a professional manner.

You must also be adaptable enough to keep up or catch up with the newest trends.

See how the top companies do this? They keep up with the newest methods to increase or maintain their target audience.

When you’re committed to staying adaptable, then you’ll be all set on the path to optimization.

And with the right marketing strategy you’ll get the basics right.

Then you can continue to improve upon the key aspects of your digital marketing strategy. For example, search marketing, social media marketing, etc.

Now, to tie all this together, it’s of course essential to write down dates/deadlines and your objectives.

It’s best to do this on a marketing calendar.

It will detail your timelines to achieve your objectives. You should check this calendar on a weekly basis at least.

There are many different marketing calendar templates that you can find for free via Google search.

For example, here’s an annual marketing calendar template.

There are also weekly ones, monthly ones, calendars for social media marketing, content marketing calendar , you name it.

Your list of tasks should address these 3 key aspects:

Leadership roles for producers and reviewers in your objectives

Basic details of the campaign:

A working title, main elements, target demographics, etc (you can flesh out the rest of the details during the planning stage of the campaign)

What are the key dates: for example, conference dates, when campaigns are launched, etc.

Finally, you’ll want to integrate real-world events that relate to your business into your marketing strategy.

For example, you could run a promotion off of Valentine’s Day or National Donut Day.  

Even though Edible Arrangements doesn’t sell donuts, they capitalized on National Donut Day…

…by offering cored out granny smith apple slices dipped in chocolate.

Whatever you choose to do, make sure it’s right for what your business offers to your target customer.

You can play off of the popularity of the holiday, or against it – use your imagination!

5. You Can Make Your Brand More Authentic

Benefits of making your brand more authentic online:

• attract the right employees to your business
• find the right marketing initiatives
• distinguish your unique selling point (USP) better
• Improve the effectiveness of your brand’s marketing message to your customers and your business partners

It goes without saying that the online marketplace is extremely competitive.

Only by accepting the importance of a marketing strategy will you be able to come up with a plan that will help your business stand out in the crowd.

This means creating a unique and powerful value proposition.

So how do you do this?

Great question – here’s how.

Clearly define your customer value proposition (or in other words, why a consumer would benefit from purchasing your product or service).

Do this for all of your target customers’ buyer personas. This is the key to differentiating your online services.

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Doing this will also encourage existing and new customers to engage with your business and stay loyal.

Now in order to cater to your different buyer personas.

Wrapping Up

You’ll need a very competitive content marketing strategy to stand out in the competitive online world.

That’s because content is the best way to engage audiences on most digital marketing channel.

But when presenting your brand online, it’s important that you don’t do something that doesn’t resonate with your target audience.

That’s why, once again, it’s a good idea to delegate such tasks to a company that offers content marketing services a nd blog writing services . 

Only a company that specializes in content marketing will be able to present your brand personality with consistency.

And, authenticity across different digital marketing channels.

Our company specializes in social media marketing and content marketing.

Give us a call or contact us online and we will help you reach success today and beyond!

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Blog Marketing What is a Marketing Plan & How to Create One [with Examples]

What is a Marketing Plan & How to Create One [with Examples]

Written by: Sara McGuire Oct 26, 2023

A marketing plan is a blueprint that outlines your strategies to attract and convert your ideal customers as a part of your customer acquisition strategy. It’s a comprehensive document that details your:

• Target audience:  Who you’re trying to reach
• Marketing goals:  What you want to achieve
• Strategies and tactics:  How you’ll reach your goals
• Budget:  Resources you’ll allocate
• Metrics:  How you’ll measure success

In this article, I’ll explain everything you need to know about creating a marketing plan . If you need a little extra help, there are professionally designed marketing plan templates that’ll make the process much easier. So, let’s ditch the confusion and get started!

Click to jump ahead:

What is a marketing plan?

How to write a marketing plan , 9 marketing plan examples to inspire your growth strategy.

• Marketing plan v.s. business plan
• Types of marketing plans

Marketing plan FAQs

A marketing plan is a report that outlines your marketing strategy for your products or services, which could be applicable for the coming year, quarter or month.  

Watch this quick, 13-minute video for more details on what a marketing plan is and how to make one yourself:

Typically, a marketing plan includes:

• An overview of your business’s marketing and advertising goals
• A description of your business’s current marketing position
• A timeline of when tasks within your strategy will be completed
• Key performance indicators (KPIs) you will be tracking
• A description of your business’s target market and customer needs
• A description of how you will measure marketing plan performance

For example, this marketing plan template provides a high-level overview of the business and competitors before diving deep into specific goals, KPIs and tactics:

Learning how to write a marketing plan forces you to think through the important steps that lead to an effective marketing strategy . And a well-defined plan will help you stay focused on your high-level marketing goals.

With Venngage’s extensive catalog of marketing plan templates, creating your marketing plan isn’t going to be hard or tedious. In fact, Venngage has plenty of helpful communications and design resources for marketers. If you’re ready to get started, sign up for  Venngage for Marketers   now. It’s free to register and start designing.

Whether you’re a team trying to set smarter marketing goals, a consultant trying to set your client in the right direction, or a one-person team hustling it out, Venngage for Marketers helps you get things done.

As mentioned above, the scope of your marketing plan varies depending on its purpose or the type of organization it’s for.

For example, you could look for performance marketing agency to create a marketing plan that provides an overview of a company’s entire marketing strategy:

A typical outline of a marketing plan includes:

• Executive summary
• Goals and objectives
• User personas
• Competitor analysis/SWOT analysis
• Baseline metrics
• Marketing strategy
• Tracking guidelines

Below you will see in details how to write each section as well as some examples of how you can design each section in a marketing plan.

Let’s look at how to create a successful marketing plan (click to jump ahead):

• Write a simple executive summary
• Set metric-driven marketing goals
• Outline your user personas
• Research all of your competitors
• Set accurate key baselines & metrics
• Create an actionable marketing strategy
• Set tracking or reporting guidelines

1. Write a simple executive summary

Starting your marketing plan off on the right foot is important. You want to pull people into your amazing plan for marketing domination. Not bore them to tears.

One of the best ways to get people excited to read your marketing plan is with a well-written executive summary. An executive summary introduces readers to your company goals, marketing triumphs, future plans, and other important contextual facts.

Basically, you can use the Executive Summary as a primer for the rest of your marketing plan.

Include things like:

• Simple marketing goals
• High-level metrics
• Important company milestones
• Facts about your brand
• Employee anecdotes
• Future goals & plans

Try to keep your executive summary rather brief and to the point. You aren’t writing a novel, so try to keep it under three to four paragraphs.

Take a look at the executive summary in the marketing plan example below:

The executive summary is only two paragraphs long — short but effective.

The executive summary tells readers about the company’s growth, and how they are about to overtake one of their competitors. But there’s no mention of specific metrics or figures. That will be highlighted in the next section of the marketing plan.

An effective executive summary should have enough information to pique the reader’s interest, but not bog them down with specifics yet. That’s what the rest of your marketing plan is for!

The executive summary also sets the tone for your marketing plan. Think about what tone will fit your brand ? Friendly and humorous? Professional and reliable? Inspiring and visionary?

2. Set metric-driven marketing goals

After you perfect your executive summary, it’s time to outline your marketing goals.

(If you’ve never set data-driven goals like this before, it would be worth reading this growth strategy guide ).

This is one of the most important parts of the entire marketing plan, so be sure to take your time and be as clear as possible. Moreover, optimizing your marketing funnel is key. Employing effective funnel software can simplify operations and provide valuable customer insights. It facilitates lead tracking, conversion rate analysis, and efficient marketing optimization .

As a rule of thumb, be as specific as possible. The folks over at  VoyMedia  advise that you should set goals that impact website traffic, conversions, and customer success — and to use real numbers. Complement your goals with website optimization tools (e.g., A/B testing speed with Nostra – check Nostra AI review to learn more) to further improve conversions.

Avoid outlining vague goals like:

• Get more Twitter followers
• Write more articles
• Create more YouTube videos (like educational or Explainer videos )
• Increase retention rate
• Decrease bounce rate

Instead, identify  key performance metrics  (KPI) you want to impact and the percentage you want to increase them by.

Take a look at the goals page in the marketing plan example below:

They not only identify a specific metric in each of their goals, but they also set a timeline for when they will be increased.

The same vague goals listed earlier become much clearer when specific numbers and timelines are applied to them:

• Get 100 new Twitter followers per month
• Write 5 more articles per week
• Create 10 YouTube videos each year
• Increase retention rate by 15% by 2020
• Decrease bounce rate by 5% by Q1
• Create an online course  and get 1,000 new leads
• Focus more on local SEO strategies
• Conduct a monthly social media report to track progress

You can dive even deeper into your marketing goals if you want (generally, the more specific, the better). Here’s a marketing plan example that shows how to outline your growth goals:

3. Outline your user personas

Now, this may not seem like the most important part of your marketing plan, but I think it holds a ton of value.

Outlining your user personas is an important part of a marketing plan that should not be overlooked.

You should be asking not just how you can get the most visitors to your business, but how you can get the right visitors.

Who are your ideal customers? What are their goals? What are their biggest problems? How does your business solve customer problems?

Answering these questions will take lots of research, but it’s essential information to get.

Some ways to conduct user research are:

• Interviewing your users (either in person or on the phone)
• Conducting focus groups
• Researching other businesses in the same industry
• Surveying your audience

Then, you will need to compile your user data into a user persona  guide.

Take a look at how detailed this user persona template is below:

Taking the time to identify specific demographic traits, habits and goals will make it easier for you to cater your marketing plan to them.

Here’s how you can create a user persona guide:

The first thing you should add is a profile picture or icon for each user persona. It can help to put a face to your personas, so they seem more real.

Next, list demographic information like:

• Identifiers
• Activities/Hobbies

The user persona example above uses sliding scales to identify personality traits like introversion vs. extroversion and thinking vs. feeling. Identifying what type of personality your target users tend to have an influence on the messaging you use in your marketing content.

Meanwhile, this user persona guide identifies specific challenges the user faces each day:

But if you don’t want to go into such precise detail, you can stick to basic information, like in this marketing plan example:

Most businesses will have a few different types of target users. That’s why it’s pertinent to identify and create several different user personas . That way, you can better segment your marketing campaigns and set separate goals, if necessary.

Here’s a marketing plan example with a segmented user persona guide:

The important thing is for your team or client to have a clear picture of who their target user is and how they can appeal to their specific problems.

Start creating robust user personas using Venngage’s user persona guide .

4. Conduct an extensive competitor analysis

Next, on the marketing plan checklist, we have the competitor research section. This section will help you identify who your competitors are, what they’re doing, and how you could carve yourself a place alongside them in your niche — and ideally, surpass them. It’s something you can learn to do with rank tracking software .

Competitor research is also incredibly important if you are starting a blog .

Typically, your competitor research should include:

• Who their marketing team is
• Who their leadership team is
• What their marketing strategy and strategic marketing plan are (this will probably revolve some reverse-engineering)
• What their sales strategy is (same deal)
• Social Media strategy (are they using discounting strategies such as coupon marketing to get conversions)
• Their market cap/financials
• Their yearly growth (you will probably need to use a marketing tool like Ahrefs to do this)
• The number of customers they have & their user personas

Also, take as deep a dive as you can into the strategies they use across their:

• Blog/Content marketing
• Social media marketing
• SEO Marketing
• Video marketing
• And any other marketing tactics they use

Research their strengths and weaknesses in all parts of their company, and you will find some great opportunities. Bookmark has a great guide to different marketing strategies for small businesses if you need some more information there.

You can use this simple SWOT analysis worksheet to quickly work through all parts of their strategy as well:

Click the template above to create a SWOT chart . Customize the template to your liking — no design know-how needed.

Since you have already done all the research beforehand, adding this information to your marketing plan shouldn’t be that hard.

In this marketing plan example, some high-level research is outlined for 3 competing brands:

But you could take a deeper dive into different facets of your competitors’ strategies. This marketing plan example analyses a competitor’s inbound marketing strategy :

It can also be helpful to divide your competitors into Primary and Secondary groups. For example, Apple’s primary competitor may be Dell for computers, but its secondary competitor could be a company that makes tablets.

Your most dangerous competitors may not even be in the same industry as you. Like the CEO of Netflix said, “Sleep is our competition.”

5. Set accurate key baselines & metrics

It’s pretty hard to plan for the future if you don’t know where your business stands right now.

Before we do anything at Venngage, we find the baselines so we can compare future results to something. We do it so much it’s almost like second nature now!

Setting baselines will allow you to more accurately track your progress. You will also be able to better analyze what worked and what didn’t work, so you can build a stronger strategy. It will definitely help them clearly understand your goals and strategy as well.

Here’s a marketing plan example where the baselines are visualized:

Another way to include baselines in your plan is with a simple chart, like in the marketing plan example below:

Because data can be intimidating to a lot of people, visualizing your data using charts and infographics will help demystify the information.

6. Create an actionable marketing strategy

After pulling all the contextual information and relevant metrics into your marketing plan, it’s time to break down your marketing strategy.

Once again, it’s easier to communicate your information to your team or clients using visuals .

Mind maps are an effective way to show how a strategy with many moving parts ties together. For example, this mind map shows how the four main components of a marketing strategy interact together:

You can also use a flow chart to map out your strategy by objectives:

However you choose to visualize your strategy, your team should know exactly what they need to do. This is not the time to keep your cards close to your chest.

Your strategy section may need to take up a few pages to explain, like in the marketing plan example below:

With all of this information, even someone from the development team will understand what the marketing team is working on.

This minimalistic marketing plan example uses color blocks to make the different parts of the strategy easy to scan:

Breaking your strategy down into tasks will make it easier to tackle.

Another important way to visualize your marketing strategy is to create a project roadmap. A project roadmap visualizes the timeline of your product with individual tasks. Our roadmap maker can help you with this.

For example, this project roadmap shows how tasks on both the marketing and web design side run parallel to each other:

A simple timeline can also be used in your marketing plan:

Or a mind map, if you want to include a ton of information in a more organized way:

Even a simple “Next, Now, Later” chart can help visualize your strategy:

7. Set tracking or reporting guidelines

Close your marketing plan with a brief explanation of how you plan to track or measure your results. This will save you a lot of frustration down the line by standardizing how you track results across your team.

Like the other sections of your marketing plan, you can choose how in-depth you want to go. But there need to be some clear guidelines on how to measure the progress and results of your marketing plan.

At the bare minimum, your results tracking guidelines should specify:

• What you plan to track
• How you plan to track results
• How often you plan to measure

But you can more add tracking guidelines to your marketing plan if you see the need to. You may also want to include a template that your team or client can follow,  for  client reporting ,  ensure that the right metrics are being tracked.

The marketing plan example below dedicates a whole page to tracking criteria:

Use a task tracker to track tasks and marketing results, and a checklist maker to note down tasks, important life events, or tracking your daily life.

Similarly, the marketing plan example below talks about tracking content marketing instead:

Marketing plan vs. marketing strategy

Although often used interchangeably, the terms “marketing plan” and “marketing strategy” do have some differences.

Simply speaking, a marketing strategy presents what the business will do in order to reach a certain goal. A marketing plan outlines the specific daily, weekly, monthly or yearly activities that the marketing strategy calls for. As a business, you can create a marketing proposal for the marketing strategies defined in your company’s marketing plan. There are various marketing proposal examples that you can look at to help with this.

A company’s extended marketing strategy can be like this:

Notice how it’s more general and doesn’t include the actual activities required to complete each strategy or the timeframe those marketing activities will take place. That kind of information is included in a marketing plan, like this marketing plan template which talks about the content strategy in detail:

1. Nonprofit marketing plan

Here’s a free nonprofit marketing plan example that is ideal for organizations with a comprehensive vision to share. It’s a simple plan that is incredibly effective. Not only does the plan outline the core values of the company, it also shares the ideal buyer persona.

Note how the branding is consistent throughout this example so there is no doubt which company is presenting this plan. The content plan is an added incentive for anyone viewing the document to go ahead and give the team the green light.

2. Social media marketing plan

Two-page marketing plan samples aren’t very common, but this free template proves how effective they are. There’s a dedicated section for business goals as well as for project planning.

The milestones for the marketing campaign are clearly laid out, which is a great way to show how organized this business strategy is.

3. Small business marketing plan

This marketing plan template is perfect for small businesses who set out to develop an overarching marketing strategy for the whole year:

Notice how this aligns pretty well with the marketing plan outline we discussed in previous sections.

In terms of specific tactics for the company’s marketing strategy, the template only discusses SEO strategy, but you can certainly expand on that section to discuss any other strategies — such as link building , that you would like to build out a complete marketing plan for.

4. Orange simple marketing proposal template

Marketing plans, like the sample below, are a great way to highlight what your business strategy and the proposal you wan to put forward to win potential customers.

5. One-page marketing plan

This one-page marketing plan example is great for showcasing marketing efforts in a persuasive presentation or to print out for an in-person meeting.

Note how the fact sheet breaks down the marketing budget as well as the key metrics for the organization. You can win over clients and partners with a plan like this.

6. Light company business fact sheet template

This one-page sample marketing plan clearly outlines the marketing objectives for the organization. It’s a simple but effective way to share a large amount of information in a short amount of time.

What really works with this example is that includes a mission statement, key contact information alongside all the key metrics.

7. Marketing media press kit template

This press kit marketing plan template is bright and unmistakable as belonging to the Cloud Nine marketing agency . The way the brand colors are used also helps diversify the layouts for each page, making the plan easier to read.

We like the way the marketing department has outlined the important facts about the organization. The bold and large numbers draw the eye and look impressive.

8. Professional marketing proposal template

Start your marketing campaign on a promising note with this marketing plan template. It’s short, sharp and to the point. The table of contents sets out the agenda, and there’s a page for the company overview and mission statement.

9. Social media marketing proposal template

A complete marketing plan example, like the one below, not only breaks down the business goals to be achieved but a whole lot more. Note how the terms and conditions and payment schedule are included, which makes this one of the most comprehensive marketing plans on our list.

Marketing plan vs. business plan

While both marketing plans and business plans are crucial documents for businesses, they serve distinct purposes and have different scopes. Here’s a breakdown of the key differences:

Business plan is a comprehensive document that outlines all aspects of your business, including:

• Mission and vision
• Products or services
• Target market
• Competition
• Management team
• Financial projections
• Marketing strategy (including a marketing plan)
• Operations plan

Marketing plan on the other hand, dives deep into the specific strategies and tactics related to your marketing efforts. It expands on the marketing section of a business plan by detailing:

• Specific marketing goals (e.g., brand awareness, lead generation, sales)
• Target audience analysis (detailed understanding of their needs and behaviors)
• Product:  Features, benefits, positioning
• Price:  Pricing strategy, discounts
• Place:  Distribution channels (online, offline)
• Promotion:  Advertising, social media, content marketing, public relations
• Budget allocation for different marketing activities
• Metrics and measurement to track progress and success

In short, business plans paint the entire business picture, while marketing plans zoom in on the specific strategies used to reach your target audience and achieve marketing goals.

Types of marketing plans that can transform your business strategy

Let’s take a look at several types of marketing plans you can create, along with specific examples for each.

1. General marketing strategic plan / Annual marketing plan

This is a good example of a marketing plan that covers the overarching annual marketing strategy for a company:

Another good example would be this Starbucks marketing plan:

This one-page marketing plan example from coffee chain Starbucks has everything at a glance. The bold headers and subheadings make it easier to segment the sections so readers can focus on the area most relevant to them.

What we like about this example is how much it covers. From the ideal buyer persona to actional activities, as well as positioning and metrics, this marketing plan has it all.

Another marketing plan example that caught our eye is this one from Cengage. Although a bit text-heavy and traditional, it explains the various sections well. The clean layout makes this plan easy to read and absorb.

The last marketing plan example we would like to feature in this section is this one from Lush cosmetics.

It is a long one but it’s also very detailed. The plan outlines numerous areas, including the company mission, SWOT analysis , brand positioning, packaging, geographical criteria, and much more.

2. Content marketing plan

A content marketing plan highlights different strategies , campaigns or tactics you can use for your content to help your business reach its goals.

This one-page marketing plan example from Contently outlines a content strategy and workflow using simple colors and blocks. The bullet points detail more information but this plan can easily be understood at a glance, which makes it so effective.

For a more detailed content marketing plan example, take a look at this template which features an editorial calendar you can share with the whole team:

3. SEO marketing plan

Your SEO marketing plan highlights what you plan to do for your SEO marketing strategy . This could include tactics for website on-page optimization , off-page optimization using AI SEO , and link building using an SEO PowerSuite backlink API for quick backlink profile checks.

This SEO marketing plan example discusses in detail the target audience of the business and the SEO plan laid out in different stages:

4. Social media marketing plan

Your social media marketing plan presents what you’ll do to reach your marketing goal through social media. This could include tactics specific to each social media channel that you own, recommendations on developing a new channel, specific campaigns you want to run, and so on, like how B2B channels use Linkedin to generate leads with automation tools and expand their customer base; or like making use of Twitter walls that could display live Twitter feeds from Twitter in real-time on digital screens.

For B2C brands, you can target Facebook and Instagram. Gain Instagram likes to build trust for your brand’s profile and post engaging content on both platforms. Leverage AI social media tools to automate and scale your content plan..

Edit this social media marketing plan example easily with Venngage’s drag-and-drop editor:

5. Demand generation marketing plan

This could cover your paid marketing strategy (which can include search ads, paid social media ads, traditional advertisements, etc.), email marketing strategy and more. Here’s an example:

What should marketing plans include?

Marketing plans should include:

• A detailed analysis of the target market and customer segments.
• Clear and achievable marketing objectives and goals.
• Strategies and tactics for product promotion and distribution.
• Budget allocation for various marketing activities.
• Timelines and milestones for the implementation of marketing strategies.
• Evaluation metrics and methods for tracking the success of the marketing plan.

What is an executive summary in a marketing plan and what is its main goal?

An executive summary in a marketing plan is a brief overview of the entire document, summarizing the key points, goals, and strategies. Its main goal is to provide readers with a quick understanding of the plan’s purpose and to entice them to read further.

What are the results when a marketing plan is effective?

When a marketing plan is effective, businesses can experience increased brand visibility, higher customer engagement , improved sales and revenue, and strengthened customer loyalty.

What is the first section of a marketing plan?

The first section of a marketing plan is typically the “Executive Summary,” which provides a concise overview of the entire plan, including the business’s goals and the strategies to achieve them.

Now that you have the basics for designing your own marketing plan, it’s time to get started:

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The Importance of An Effective Marketing Strategy in Reaching Your Business Goals Establishing an online presence, engaging with consumers, and building trust with your audience will place your brand at the top of mind. A powerful marketing strategy results in these five benefits to drive ROI.

By Grace Kim Edited by Joseph Shults Apr 22, 2022

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Marketing is one of the most important aspects of a business yet is often underestimated, especially within the startup world. Most startups are tight on resources and often want to get straight to selling. Although an understandably standard action, it can waste significant amounts of time and money.

Most sales staff face the burdens of bringing in leads and converting them. However, having the right tools and support can significantly increase their chances of closing a deal. As important as a sales team is to an organization, a well-versed marketing expert can effectively impact a business in several ways.

Although marketing may not close deals directly, when done right, it is the most powerful tool a brand can use to present its image and engage with consumers. This leads to supporting the sales team by bringing in qualified leads and helping close deals.

Five benefits of a strong marketing strategy:

Research consistently shows that familiarity breeds liking in human-to-human interactions. There's something about seeing someone several times that makes them likable and trustworthy. The same can be applied to brands and companies today.

Brand Familiarity

Brand familiarity is a goal that nearly every business wants to achieve. After all, Edelman's survey results show that 81 percent of consumers need to be able to trust a brand before they buy from them. So how can brands build familiarity and trust with their audience to ensure their sales teams are equipped with the right tools to convert potential buyers?

An effective marketing strategy can take your brand from unknown to familiar and, ultimately, well-known. But that's certainly not the only benefits marketing has.

A marketing strategy has a domino effect. Once a brand begins to market to its target audience, the foundation of your business forms. Your sales team will then lean on a solid foundation and have the right tools to help convert leads across the sales funnel.

Consumer Engagement

With around 4.66 billion active global Internet users, there is no doubt the web is a valuable tool that can open your business to the world of consumers. The greatest thing about it is that it's free, and you have unlimited access to the digital world.

By marketing through various online distribution channels, you have the power of communicating with your audience and having them engage. Through content such as blog and social media posts, new website pages, email campaigns, newsletters, chats, videos on various platforms and more, you'll be able to reach your target audience at numerous touchpoints.

Additionally, the digital world is a platform that encourages participation from all. Consumers are most likely to engage with topics, images and videos that resonate with them, giving your brand a powerful way to interact with consumers, continuously engage them and build trust with them.

Related: How Businesses Can Rethink Customer Engagement

Authenticity and Trust

All businesses start with at least one person having a passionate vision and idea of how their product or service will make an impact. How will your customers know that you have the best solution for them? Furthermore, how can you convince your audience that your brand is unique?

Consumers distrust brands and advertising more than ever before. Nearly 70% of consumers don't trust ads and 71% distrust brands . It's no wonder that more than 81 percent of consumers stated that brand trust is the driving decision of whether they would buy from a company.

Marketing allows you to establish authenticity and trust with your consumers. By appearing on several communication channels, consistently portraying your brand's vision and goals, engaging with your audience, being present and responsive and showing empathy for your customer's pain points, you'll be seen as authentic and build trust with your audience. The result? When your sales rep reaches out to a potential consumer who has engaged with your brand, they're more likely to close a deal.

Related: Skip to content user profile picture The Great Reidentification: 5 Ways Businesses Can Lead Authentically in Our New Working World

Earned Media

One of the oldest and cheapest forms of marketing is word-of-mouth. Still, nearly half (48%) of businesses worldwide rely on the power of loyal customers to spread the word about their products or services.

Word-of-mouth is an effective form of marketing because it spreads quickly and easily, it's free, and it's backed by trust. Ninety percent of people, even strangers, are more likely to trust a brand recommended by someone else. In comparison, over 26 percent of people will ultimately avoid a brand if they hear a negative story.

In today's digitized world, word-of-mouth can translate into earned media. Earned media is when another person, company, establishment, social presence, etc., promotes a brand.

Earned media includes:

• Promoting a brand's website.
• Reposting a social image.
• Sharing a social post (whether publicly or privately).
• Tagging the brand in a post.

Establishing an online presence, engaging with consumers, and building trust with your audience will place your brand at top of mind and where others are "talking" about your business. A powerful marketing strategy can bring all of these benefits together so that each point will lead to the next.

Related: 6 Strategies to Maximize Earned Media for Your Brand

Sales Support

Customers keep your business running and growing, which is why your sales team is critical to your business's success. Your sales staff will bring in new customers, but it can be draining to carry the burden of prospecting potential buyers and converting them.

Marketing can support and empower your sales staff by attracting qualified leads. Strategies that speak to a customer's pain points will help engage consumers, relay the brand message and build trust, taking leads down the sales funnel.

Additionally, marketing efforts can reveal specific pain points by seeing how the consumer interacted with the brand. The valuable insights that marketing can bring can help sales staff develop a personalized strategy to approach each lead.

Digital Marketing Manager

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In today’s fast-paced marketplace, understanding the multifaceted sphere of marketing can be the linchpin in steering a business toward success. Marketing is paramount for any business as it amplifies visibility, drives sales, and forges robust brand reputations. If you’re pondering the question, “Why Is Marketing Important for Business?” you’re acknowledging the engine that powers enduring growth. Join me as we delve into the essentiality of marketing for businesses of all sizes, and explore strategies that have reshaped brands into household names.

Understanding Marketing and Its Scope

Marketing isn’t just about flashy ads or catchy jingles; it’s a comprehensive strategy involving the promotion, sale, and distribution of products or services. Its scope is wide-reaching, impacting innovation, customer engagement, and ultimately the business’s bottom line.

Relationship Between Marketing and Innovation

Innovation thrives when paired with insightful marketing. Together, they ensure that new products are not only created but that they reach the desired audience, resonate with them, and remain financially viable for the company.

The Importance of Marketing for Businesses

For a business to thrive, an effective marketing strategy is non-negotiable. It’s about more than just promoting products; it’s about crafting a narrative and maintaining a dialogue with your audience.

Boosting Visibility and Sales

• Targeted campaigns that alert potential customers to new products and deals.
• Strategic product placement to meet customer demands and drive sales.

Building and Maintaining Brand Reputation

• Curating a consistent marketing message that shapes a strong, recognizable brand identity.
• Marketing affects brand equity, which in turn drives sustainable growth through customer loyalty.

Sustaining Business Relevance

• Aligning your product offerings with current market trends.
• The agility provided by marketing aids in the business’s continuous reinvention.

Creating Long-Lasting Customer Relationships

• Tailored marketing fosters deeper connections with customers.
• These strategies ensure repeat business by prioritizing communication and value.

Enabling Informed Decision-Making

• Market research and data analysis steer the ship, informing the business strategy.

Every successful business boasts a tale of strategic marketing orchestration that catapulted it to prominence. Differing strategies serve specific market segments, be they other businesses or direct to consumers.

B2B (Business-to-Business) Marketing

Focused on understanding and serving the unique needs of other businesses.

B2C (Business-to-Consumer) Marketing

Crafting marketing tactics that appeal directly to the consumer’s lifestyle and needs.

C2B and C2C Marketing Explained

These are avant-garde approaches that flip the typical marketing script, offering innovative interaction modes between consumers and businesses.

The Success Stories of Marketing Strategies

Case studies from renowned brands exhibit the power of a well-crafted marketing plan in achieving customer satisfaction and business growth.

The Influence of Digital Transformation on Marketing

The digital era has redefined how businesses connect with customers, with digital and social channels taking the forefront. For a deeper dive, refer to “ The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing (Brand Building Strategy) ” which illustrates the potency of digital engagement in today’s social ecosystem.

Evolving Consumer Behaviors and Expectations

Customers expect more – personalized experiences and digital brand interactions.

Embracing Digital Marketing Channels

Digital marketing is indispensable for extending your reach and capturing attention in a world dominated by screen time.

The Crucial Impact of Social Media and Content Marketing

These mediums offer invaluable platforms to showcase brand personality and interact with customers.

Strengthening Marketing with AI and Analytics

Data is the new frontier in fine-tuning marketing campaigns for heightened efficiency and connection.

Harnessing Data for Laser-focused Marketing Efforts

Big data’s insights allow for sharper targeting and more compelling campaigns.

The Role of AI in Predicting Consumer Trends

AI’s predictive capacities lend marketers a crystal ball to better understand and forecast consumer behavior.

Addressing the Challenges of Modern Marketing

Marketing isn’t a static field; it’s an ever-evolving battleground demanding innovation and adaptability.

Staying Ahead in a Highly Competitive Landscape

Novel marketing strategies can distinguish your brand in a market saturated with options.

Navigating Changes in Consumer Privacy and Data Use

Adapting marketing strategies to respect new regulations and consumer privacy demands is crucial.

Future of Marketing: Trends and Predictions

Anticipating the next wave of technological shifts is key to staying ahead in marketing.

Anticipating Shifts in Technology and Communication

Continued integration of emergent tech promises to reshape the landscape of marketing methodologies.

Building Sustainable and Socially Conscious Brands

Today’s consumers demand transparency and social responsibility, making ethical marketing a growing trend.

Conclusion: The Non-negotiable Necessity of Marketing

Reaffirming the indispensable nature of marketing for business is much like underlining the importance of a sturdy foundation for a building. Without it, sustaining growth, capturing market share, and connecting with customers become herculean feats. Marketing is not just important, it’s foundational for business success.

Reflecting on how marketing interweaves with technological advancements, ethical practices, and personalized customer experiences, it’s clear that its role is not just to support a business but to propel it forward.

Marketing is indeed the junction point where product, consumer desire, brand story, and ultimately sales converge. So for those businesses looking to not only survive but thrive, invest in marketing – it’s your lifeline to the future.

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The Importance of Marketing Strategy for Your Business

Join thousands of successful marketers who get our weekly marketing mixtape email with fresh ideas & hot insider tips.

When most businesses set goals to grow, they immediately jump to the tactics they think will make an impact. Seldom do business owners or leaders of companies start by developing a strategy that drives all marketing tactical pieces first.

Refreshing your logo, updating your brochures, enhancing your website, posting more on social media, and sending more emails are all important tools. However, you shouldn't go down those paths without a strategy to guide you along the way.

Check out this video from our Co-Founder, Laura Laire, about marketing strategies and marketing plans:

What Is a Marketing Strategy?

Marketing strategies address the following questions:

• What offerings will you deliver?
• Who will you deliver it to?
• How will you deliver it?
• Who are your competitors?

Answering these questions and writing down a set strategy will help you make the most of your investment, keep your marketing focused, and measure your sales results.

Some mix-up marketing strategy with a marketing plan , which are the specific tactics and initiatives you will use to execute your strategy. A marketing strategy informs a marketing plan so it is important to develop your strategy before thinking about marketing initiatives on a tactical level.

Benefits of Marketing Strategy for Your Business

When your branding, messaging, and goals are clearly defined in your marketing strategy, it simplifies your daily execution of marketing tasks. Every marketing and sales tool in your arsenal is there for a reason, your team knows what to use it for, and the use of each tactic is deliberate.

Intelligence

Aligning your marketing strategy with your overall company growth goals ensures all of your marketing efforts and dollars are contributing to further developing your business. Your marketing strategy will inform your marketing team where to spend the most time, where to allocate the most budget, and who to focus your messaging on for the highest ROI.

Having a clearly thought out and informed strategy helps filter out the distractions of less effective tools, tactics, and personas so you can stay competitive in your market. Abiding by the guidelines of your marketing strategy helps your marketing team stay focused on your brand's mission, vision, values, and goals.

When you thoroughly research your market and current best clients, you can boost your marketing efforts by engaging more qualified leads. Your messaging (content) is more meaningful to the right people (personas) at the right time (context). Make it easier for your customers to take the next step in their buyers’ journey.

How to Create a Marketing Strategy

The key to effective growth planning lies in implementing a solid marketing strategy . And to develop a robust strategy — subsequent tactical decisions — you must first conduct thorough research on your business's competitive advantages and target audience.

In other words, before you make a single graphic, code one line on your website, or publish one social media post, make sure you understand your market, your clients, and their wants, needs, and pain points.

• Company goals
• Buyer personas
• Persona pains, problems, and challenges
• Solutions aligned with those persona needs
• Company "remarkables"

1. Setting Company Goals

Your goals may be tied to the addition of new team members, growing into a new market, or launching a new product or service. But in most cases, your business goals are normally tied to top-line revenue.

This is how we gauge our success as growth marketers and set our strategy to help businesses reach their fullest potential through digital marketing.

To reach your goal of top-line revenue dollars, how many sales need to happen? How many leads do you need to close in order to produce that revenue?

2. Researching Ideal Buyer Personas

After you've identified your goals, it's important to identify who you want to attract — and ultimately sell to — in order to reach them.

A "buyer persona" is a semi-fictional representation of your target customer. Ideally, you should develop three to five buyer personas and understand what’s really important to them as they go through the different stages of your buying process.

How to Create Buyer Personas

We have found that actually interviewing your clients to learn about what's important to them is the best way to develop the right buyer personas for your company.

Based on information gathered from these client interviews, create personas (or characters) with names, backgrounds, and habits that best represent who you ultimately want to attract. We also recommend asking which online channels your clients use so you know where to focus your marketing efforts.

Buyer personas are really what drive your overall marketing strategy to attract more and better-qualified leads who you can convert to clients.

These personas can change over time as your business grows and evolves, so it is important to continuously update your buyer personas to achieve maximum results. Strive to analyze and update your list of personas at least once a year if not more.

3. Identifying Persona Pain Points

Once you know who your ideal client personas are, identify their pain points and challenges. These are the needs that your current clients voice as they go through your sales process. Because you've identified your ideal client personas, you know that these needs will be similar among your new prospects.

4. Connecting Pain Points to Solutions

Next, take your clients' actual statements about their needs and create strategic messaging to attract more clients just like them. Target your ideal prospects with questions they identify with, and then offer your business's unique solution as the answer.

For example, say your persona’s main pain point is spending too much time manually entering data. In this case, your messaging around solutions may be something like, "With our custom software integration solutions, your manual data entry time can be cut in half!"

Now, your messaging is catered to your buyer personas and the problems they are having. If you use this method, you will be seen as an expert in your field and an attentive ally to your clients. You can then use this messaging for:

• Paid advertising like Google or Facebook ads
• Website headlines and calls-to-action
• Social media posts
• Fliers and brochures

To reiterate, once you have your buyer personas' pains and messaging flushed out, you can align your services, products, and offerings as helpful solutions. With each persona pain statement paired with your solution, your business has an awesome "road map" for any prospect to follow through the content you've created.

5. Highlighting Your Company's "Remarkables"

A "remarkable" is a key differentiated, competitive advantage. It's what sets you apart from your competition.

Seth Godin's book, Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable, gives our agency's favorite definition of a remarkable. According to Godin , a purple cow is "worth talking about. Worth noticing. Exceptional. New. Interesting." If you drive by a field and see a bunch of cows, what stands out more: a brown, white, black, or purple cow?

What are your purple cows? What makes your business stand apart? Identify your key differentiators, and ultimately translate those into messaging to help your prospects make a decision to work with you and feel safe about it.

Marketing Strategy Example

Now, we'd like to share an example of a marketing strategy that we've implemented.

One of our financial services clients was having a difficult time benchmarking their leads, improving website conversion rates, and tracking their marketing ROI.

Using an inbound marketing strategy, we implemented a website redesign focused on increasing lead generation efforts and a monthly content marketing strategy. We also improved Hubspot integration, marketing automation, and reporting. Our strategy delivered excellent results including a 261% increase in website visits!

Read the full case study here for more details.

Strategy Development Before Tactics

Having a marketing strategy for growth and a plan for reaching the right people online, you can now outline your content plan for the next week, month, quarter, and year. This is where the tactics we mentioned earlier come into play.

The most important thing our agency stresses to our clients is to align your tactics with a solid marketing strategy — and that strategy comes from having a thorough marketing plan designed and developed specifically for you and the way you do business.

Your business' marketing strategy helps ensure you are making the most of every resource, every dollar, and every minute you put into your marketing and advertising efforts. So make it count, take the time, and invest in a marketing plan for your business or company.

B2B Sales and Marketing Leader | CEO at LAIRE, a Digital Growth Agency - Co-Founder, Entrepreneur, Public Speaker, Marketer, Sales Team Builder, and Change Advocate.

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Why a marketing plan is important for growing your business

• Marketing Planning
• Marketing Strategy
• business growth

I often get asked, why is a marketing plan important?

And I respond by saying that it will help you to grow your business in a much faster and more cost-effective way than if you didn’t have one.

• It will ensure that you aren’t wasting time and money on activities that don’t align with your goals.
• It will provide a more strategic approach to the way you implement your marketing activities.
• And, it will help you to get unstuck, build momentum, and move your business forward to the next level.

Now those are just a few reasons to start. There are many other important reasons, as well.

So, why is a marketing plan important for growing your business?

Well, here’s a list of 7 reasons why you need to develop a marketing plan for your service-based small business:

1. provides clarity and direction.

A marketing plan is a brilliant tool for providing clarity and direction, which is why it’s so important when it comes to growing your service business.

You may know where you want to go and what you want to achieve…

However, without that clarity and direction for how you’re going to get there, it just won’t happen in the fastest and most efficient way.

When you have clarity and direction, you’ll also find that all your marketing decisions become so much easier to make.

2. Aligns your goals and activities

There are so many different marketing strategies and tactics that you can implement to grow your business.

So many in fact that it can become overwhelming and confusing to know which ones to choose.

However, with a marketing plan, you’ll have set the marketing objectives or goals that you want to achieve first.

And be able to align these goals with the specific activities that will help you achieve them.

With aligned goals and activities, you’re likely to achieve that growth much sooner than you would have without a marketing plan.

RELATED: 7 Steps to setting marketing goals you’ll actually achieve

3. Improves your marketing performance

One of the main reasons why a marketing plan is important is because it will help you to improve your marketing performance.

And an improvement in your performance means more leads and growth for your business.

A key feature of your marketing plan is your sales targets and marketing metrics, which will provide the numbers for you to track against and measure your performance.

It will also help you to determine where you have some gaps and could focus more energy to improve the marketing results.

Not sure where to start when it comes to marketing your service-based small business?  That’s where I can help. Get started by downloading my free Ultimate Marketing Checklist by clicking the button below: 

4. Supports your strategy and sustainability

Why is a marketing plan important for sustainability?

Well, to write a marketing plan, you’ll need to take the time out to ‘work on your business’ and not ‘in your business’.

You’ll also have to take a more strategic view of your business and identify the steps you’ll need to take to achieve sustainability.

One of the main benefits is that you’ll be putting together a marketing budget that is appropriate for your business and will ensure you have a solid return on your marketing investment.

This budgeting will also ensure you aren’t wasting money in areas that won’t deliver business growth.

RELATED: 5 Ways I invested my marketing budget when starting my small business

5. Creates efficiency and saves time

It’s quite easy to get distracted by the latest marketing tool or the new feature that’s just launched on your favourite social media platform.

However, when you do, it’s taking you away from working on the strategic steps that you need to follow to achieve business growth.

It’s also quite easy to spin around in circles when you haven’t spent the time to consider what you should be doing, and in what order.

But, when you have a marketing plan, you’ll know the exact steps to take to achieve your goals.

And, you’ll build that critical marketing momentum that will push your business forward to the next level much sooner.

RELATED: How to write a marketing plan for a service-based business

6. Communicates your goals

It’s incredible how something becomes so much more ‘real’ when it’s written down or shared aloud.

Which is why it’s important to write down your marketing plan and communicate it with your team if you have one.

A written document also removes any potential confusion and communicates the steps you’re going to take to attract more clients and grow.

7. Holds you accountable

By sharing your goals and documenting your marketing plan, you’re also committing to achieving the goals and results contained within.

It provides a reference document that you can come back and review at specific intervals.

And it provides a reminder for what steps you need to follow and the actions you need to take to achieve your business goals.

RELATED: How to develop a marketing strategy and plan for a service business

So, there you have seven reasons why it’s important to write a marketing plan for your service business.

Tired of trying to figure out what you’re missing when it comes to finding clients and making sales in your service business?

Break through the barriers that are holding you back with the support of an MBA-qualified Marketing Coach and Business Mentor who will tailor a 1:1 program specifically for you.

BUSINESS BREAKTHROUGH   is a 3 or 6-month 1:1 Coaching Program for service-based business owners who want to develop the strategy, systems, and structure they need to find clients and make sales, so they can stop feeling stuck and start gaining massive momentum in their business.

Did you find this post helpful? Please don’t forget to PIN to Pinterest or share on Facebook.

Hayley Robertson

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What Is the Importance of a Marketing Plan? (7 Easy Steps to Create One)

• by Web Admin
• January 11, 2023
• Digital Marketing

In today’s competitive business landscape, having a solid marketing plan in place is important for the success of any business. 

A well-crafted marketing plan serves as your roadmap and helps you identify and target your ideal customers, as well as differentiate yourself from your competitors. Without one, you might as well throw your marketing budget into the trash and hope all goes well.

In this blog post, we will discuss the importance of a marketing plan and provide a step-by-step guide on how to create one.

What Is a Marketing Plan?

A marketing plan is a strategic document that outlines a business’s overall marketing strategy and tactics. 

It typically includes the following elements:

• Executive Summary – a brief description of the entire marketing strategy.
• Situation Analysis – a detailed analysis of the market, customers, and competition.
• Target Market – information on the business’s target customer, including demographics, psychographics, and buying habits.
• Marketing Objectives – specific , measurable , attainable , relevant , and time-bound (SMART) goals that the business hopes to achieve through its marketing efforts.
• Marketing Mix – information on the business’s products or services, pricing, promotion, and distribution strategies.
• Action Plan – specific tactics and actions the business will take to achieve its marketing objectives, including a budget and timeline.
• Monitoring and Evaluation – a plan to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of the marketing plan and to make adjustments as needed.

A marketing plan serves as a guide for your business’s marketing efforts, helping it to stay on track and achieve its goals. 

What Is the Importance of a Marketing Plan?

A well-crafted marketing plan is a living document that can be updated and modified as needed to stay on track with constantly changing market conditions and customer behavior trends .

This way, you can prioritize your marketing activities and allocate resources , such as budget and staff time, accordingly.

A marketing plan includes specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals . This helps you track your progress and make adjustments as needed.

It also helps you identify and target your ideal customer so you can better understand your target audience’s needs, preferences, and buying behaviors. 

Another importance of a marketing plan is that it helps businesses identify their unique selling proposition (USP) and communicate it effectively to their target audience.

Types of Marketing Plans

There are several types of marketing plans, each with a unique focus and purpose. 

Here are five common types of marketing plans:

• Product Marketing Plan – it focuses on the specific product or service that the business is offering, including information on its features, benefits, and target market.
• Brand Marketing Plan – this focuses on building and maintaining the brand identity and reputation of the business.
• Integrated Marketing Plan – combines different marketing tactics, such as advertising, public relations, and sales promotions, to achieve specific marketing objectives.
• Digital Marketing Plan – it focuses on the use of digital channels, such as social media, email marketing, and online advertising, to reach and engage with target customers.
• Marketing Communication Plan – it focuses on the development and implementation of a communications strategy to reach and engage target customers.

It’s important to note that a business may use different types of marketing plans at different times, depending on its goals, target market, and budget.

7 Easy Steps to Create a Marketing Plan

1. Know Your Business

Knowing your business is an important step in creating a marketing plan. It allows you to understand your business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. These are key factors in identifying your target market and differentiating your business from competitors. 

Understanding your business also helps you identify your unique selling proposition (USP), which is the one thing that sets your business apart from others in the market.

Additionally, knowing your business helps you determine your marketing goals and objectives and prioritize your marketing activities accordingly.

2. Define the Mission and Vision of Your Business

The mission statement defines the purpose of your business, outlining what you aim to achieve and for whom. The vision statement defines what you want to achieve in the future.

Defining your mission and vision can help you develop a clear and consistent message that resonates with your target audience. 

This message should be reflected in all of your marketing activities, from your website and social media presence to your advertising and customer service. 

By aligning your marketing efforts with your mission and vision, you can create a strong and consistent brand identity that will help to attract new customers and retain old ones.

3. Identify Your Target Market

By identifying your target market, you can learn more about your ideal clients’ demographics, psychographics, and buying behaviors.

Use this information to create a marketing plan that responds to their particular needs and interests and effectively conveys the value of your products or services.

Once you have identified your target market, you can conduct market research to gain a deeper understanding of their needs and preferences. 

This can help you refine your marketing strategy and tactics and develop effective marketing messages and campaigns that resonate with your target audience. 

4. Competitor Analysis

Conducting competitor analysis is an important step in creating a marketing plan because it allows you to understand the competitive landscape in which your business operates, including the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors. 

For example, you may find that your competitors are not effectively reaching a specific target market or that they are not providing a certain service that your business can offer.

5. Describe Your Marketing Goals

These goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) so that you can track your progress and make adjustments as needed.

Here are three examples of marketing goals:

• Increasing brand awareness: This goal focuses on increasing the visibility and recognition of your business and its products or services.
• Generating leads: This goal focuses on attracting potential customers and turning them into leads that can be nurtured and converted into sales.
• Boosting sales: This goal focuses on increasing revenue by increasing online sales or the average order value.

Once you have set your marketing goals, you can develop a plan of action to achieve them. This plan should include specific tactics and activities, such as advertising campaigns, public relations efforts, and promotional events, as well as a budget and a timeline. 

6. Outline Strategies

Strategies are the specific actions and tactics that will be used to achieve your marketing goals.

It could be a product or service strategy that outlines the features and benefits of your products or services, as well as how they meet the needs of your target market. 

It could also be a pricing strategy where you outline the prices of your products or services, including any discounts, promotions, or bundled offers that will be used to attract customers.

You also have to think about how you will communicate the value of your products or services to your target market, including through advertising, public relations, and sales promotions. 

Or how you will make your products or services available to your target market. Are you going to put up a brick-and-mortar store or set up an online store within minutes, even without coding skills?

To reach and interact with your target market, you also need to consider the various digital platforms, including social media marketing , email, and online advertising.

Whatever your strategy may be, it should be aligned with your overall marketing goals and your specific target market.

7. Set Your Marketing Budget

Having a strategy is not enough. It’s important to have a clear implementation plan that includes a budget and a timeline.

Now that you have an idea of the marketing efforts that you will make, you can estimate the costs associated with each effort. 

The costs can include things like advertising space, production costs, website development, staff salaries, and more.

It’s important to consider both fixed and variable costs when creating your budget. 

• Fixed costs – expenses that do not change regardless of the level of production, such as rent, salaries, and insurance. 
• Variable costs – expenses that change with the level of production, such as materials, commissions, and travel expenses.

When establishing your marketing budget, you should also take your overall business goals and financial status into account. It’s important to balance your marketing efforts with the resources that you have available. 

A realistic budget will help you achieve your marketing goals without overextending your business.

What is the purpose of a marketing plan?

The key objectives of marketing plans are to identify a company’s target audience, share departmental goals, and establish a reasonable budget. A well-crafted marketing plan can help you implement strategies that reach a wide target audience while also aligning with your business goals.

Final Thoughts

A marketing plan is an essential tool for any business that wants to achieve its marketing goals and stay ahead of the competition. It helps them identify and target their ideal customers, differentiate themselves from competitors, allocate resources effectively, and measure progress.

Each of the steps mentioned above is important and should be given adequate attention and resources. By following them, you can create a well-crafted marketing plan that will surely take your business to the next level.

Further reading:

• Important Tips on How to Sell Online in the Philippines
• How to Connect With Customers on a Deeper Level?
• Budgeting Tips for a Small Business in the Philippines

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In fact, we are super passionate about helping Philippine MSMEs we’re giving you a free account forever! 

Ready to put your marketing plan into action? Create your free-forever Prosperna account now. 

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Dennis Velasco is the CEO and Founder of Prosperna, an all-in-one eCommerce platform for Philippine businesses. As a technology evangelist at heart, Dennis is super passionate about helping MSMEs "level the playing field" with technology. Feel free to connect with him on Facebook and LinkedIn .

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Lead Generation Tools: A Must-Have for Any Business

Building a Personal Brand: Strategies for Aspiring Digital Creators

From Idea to Execution: How to Start and Grow Your Digital Creator Venture

Every business has one ultimate goal: to gain more customers and close more sales. You need marketing to do that consistently.

And though there are millions of strategies and tactics you can use, the starting point remains the same: have a well-crafted marketing plan.

After all, marketing is what drives your target audience to buy your product or service, bringing in the cash. But without a marketing strategy, it's like going to war without your weapons.

Table of Contents

The marketing plan explained, 4 purposes of a marketing plan, why do businesses need marketing plans.

• How to Create a Simple but Effective Marketing Plan in 5 Steps
• Monitor Your Plan's Performance

Types of Marketing Strategies

Just tell us where to send yours below. We respect your email inbox and will never spam.

A marketing plan is basically a blueprint that outlines the methods you're going to implement to make your customers buy your products and services. It acts as a roadmap that walks through your marketing strategies, tactics, marketing activities, costs, and expected results.

It has to be detailed enough to contain the actions that small businesses need to do to accomplish their goals.

A marketing plan ensures you don't get sidetracked and start chasing shiny objects (ooh, look, TikTok!)

You can create a marketing strategy good for a month, quarter, or the whole year.

Want to know what are the best marketing strategies for 2022 ? Click the link.

Take our QUIZ and we'll send you a report detailing exactly what you need to improve in order to start winning the game of marketing. Get Started

Marketing Plan Vs. Marketing Strategy: What's the difference?

Marketing strategy is the overall big-picture. It answers what you hope to achieve with your marketing and why. Knowing this makes getting buy-in from stakeholders and business owners much easier.

The marketing plan lays out exactly how you'll achieve those strategic goals. It maps out the tactics you'll implement (inbound and outbound marketing), the assets you need, and the processes and systems you'll develop to help you level up your marketing game.

Every business needs a marketing plan because:

• It coordinates company goals and objectives.
• It defines the target market, allowing you to segment them according to your needs.
• It defines the marketing mix.
• It systematizes each activity for every marketing strategy.

It doesn't matter whether you're running a small business or scaling a huge one — you still need to create a marketing plan.

After all, it comes with a whole bevy of benefits like the following:

1. It can help you create measurable business goals.

Clarity is super important when setting your business goals. It shouldn't be as simple as 'not going broke' or 'meeting annual sales KPIs .' Otherwise, you're just setting yourself up for marketing failure.

If you don't have a clear target, you can't implement marketing activities to help you reach what you want to achieve.

With a marketing plan, you can focus on tangible targets, improving your sales and business performance throughout the year.

2. A Plan provides consistency.

Whether you have a small team or a big one, a marketing plan makes sure you're all on the same page. Everyone is given the exact instructions on what to do to meet the company's business goals.

Without a marketing strategy, your plan will end up fractured and ineffective.

For example, some of your employees might work on social media, online content, or email marketing, while the other half uses print and radio ads.

3. It pushes you to stick with your budget.

Even a big business has to work on a set budget.

With a marketing plan, you can place importance on activities that yield the best results. It can save you from the headache of creating strategies that are not worth pursuing.

4. It helps you provide better service to your customers.

The importance of a marketing plan goes beyond the process. You can also use it as a guide in dealing with your clients.

When you understand what you need to do, you can address your audience better.

5. It gives your company the reality check it needs.

Businesses often have multiple objectives, and it can get confusing real fast if you don't have a marketing plan to guide you.

It serves as a benchmark that reminds you if you're hitting your marketing targets. You can make sure that your strategies are aligned and aren't veering away from the business goals you had from the start.

6. It can serve as an excellent motivator to your marketing team.

Say you want to start your business by marketing ten items per day.

When your employees know the exact marketing strategies to employ to achieve that goal, they waste less time in brainstorming sessions and follow-up meetings. All they need to do is follow your marketing plan, and everything will fall into place.

7. A plan is the key to getting more investors.

Let's face it: Building and running a business involves a sizable investment. If you want yours to grow in people, products, and income, you need to invest more capital.

One way to do so is to get different entities to invest in the product you're marketing. But you won't get the funding you need if you can't present a marketing strategy that outlines your business direction. It's massively important if you want to level up your company.

8. It can make you think and be proactive rather than reactive.

Planning lets you understand not just your target market and products but also the process of how you can bridge these two to achieve your business needs.

Teams with marketing plans are also more proactive. So you think about things in advance rather than just dealing with them when they occur. You're able to pre-empt and solve issues immediately.

Then you need to market it. But not just any marketing will do. In my new 1-Page Marketing Plan Course I show you the exact techniques I've used to start, grow, and exit several multi-million dollar businesses, so you can too. Tell Me More

How to Create a Simple But Effective Plan in 5 Steps

Step 1: Prepare all the documents you need for your marketing plan.

‍ You've probably heard of the saying, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." The same goes for creating a good marketing plan — you can't come up with many promising marketing ideas without much preparation.

For a seamless planning process, make sure to have the following marketing documents at hand:

• Latest financial reports, including operating budgets and profit and loss activity
• Sales figures by product and location for at least the last three years
• A list of new products or services, as well as their target customers
• Different marketplace documents, such as the list of competitors, regional boundaries, intended customers, current distribution channels, demographic data, and market trends

Step 2: Write about the market situation, as well as the threats and opportunities.

‍ When you create your marketing plan, it's absolutely essential to consider the current trends in the marketplace, like your market's dollar size, selling and distribution setup, target audience, and even how much you've sold throughout the years.

Remember, you'll also need to take note of the threats and opportunities your business faces. These include the customers' demographics and the new trends that might be against you. And don't forget to focus on exploiting the ones that work in your favor.

‍ Step 3: List down your marketing plan objectives.

‍ The focus here should be the business goal you wish to achieve in a specific time frame.

Each objective needs to be clear. It must describe what you want to accomplish in, say, a week or a month, even six months. So be sure to jot down the numbers you want to get.

If you have a hard time creating different objectives for your marketing plan, you can always refer to your old records.

If your business has managed to keep an 80% in gross revenues from customers this year, gunning for a simple 20% to 25% increase in activity is a pretty achievable target, in my opinion.

Again, your marketing plan must also include the tactics and activities you're planning to do to achieve your targets.

For example:

Goal: Introduce the new X item to Roseville and sell 10,000 units for total revenue of $50,000.

‍ Objectives:

• Promote the item and reach more customers online using email marketing or social media.
• Run marketing ads in the local newspaper.
• Get a radio ad in a local station.
• Obtain email addresses of Roseville residents by offering freebies on the website.
• Create Facebook marketing ads targeting the Roseville market.
• Contact newspaper people regarding ad rates and reserve an ad spot if you can.
• Contact the station manager and inquire about placing an ad.

Step 4: Set a marketing budget.

‍ Now that you have your marketing strategy in place, it's time to talk numbers. I like to tell my clients that as long as you're making a return on investment, why wouldn't you keep plugging dollars back into your marketing activities?

But initially, you want to assign a specific budget so your team knows how much they can allocate for every promotion. The golden rule here is to add 25% more to your current estimate.

When establishing a budget, be sure to plan with the people who will be executing these activities. Their input will help you get a ballpark figure of the amount you want for each strategy. It also allows you to determine a point person who will keep a close eye on the budget and ensure it's put to good use.

‍ Step 5: Create an executive business summary.

‍ Although this should be placed at the top of your marketing plan, the executive summary should be the last thing you do in your marketing plan. It serves as an overview of the content you have inside.

For easier reading, make sure your plan is written in simple sentences. Bold the most critical points, and list them down in bullets as needed.

Monitoring Your Plan's Performance

Successful marketing comes down to knowing your numbers.

• How are your marketing campaigns performing?
• Is your lead nurturing sequence converting?
• What messages work and which don't? Check out our messaging framework for refining your marketing message.
• Does your target audience engage with your social content?
• Is your advertising effective?
• Are you tracking Google Analytics, and what do your results reveal?
• What resources are most popular?

Marketing isn't just about putting a piece of content out there and hoping it sticks. You need to gather as much data and information as you can and analyze it to be sure you're getting results and not wasting your money.

So add KPIs to each and every marketing activity.

A clear marketing strategy identifies which tactics your company will use to get your customers to know, like, trust, and buy from you.

If you've built an in-house marketing team, they may wish to create separate plans for each tactic, for example:

• Content marketing plans outline the articles you'll write and post on your blog to rank in search engines. These can be built month to month or yearly in advance.  SEO is one of the best ways to attract organic traffic and grow your audience.
• Media marketing plans outline which media you'll use to reach your audience. This could be social media, PR, SEO, PPC, television, radio, podcasting, or Ted Talks, to name a few. In advertising agencies, you'll be given a media plan that lists dates go-live/publisher dates, costs, and timelines.
• Social media marketing plans or a social content calendar break down the types of posts you'll share across any given month.

A lot of big companies have annual marketing plans. That's why I wrote the 1-Page Marketing Plan . It's something you can review every six months and only update when necessary.

Business Success Starts With A Sound Marketing Plan Strategy

As mentioned, there are many good reasons why your business must have a marketing plan . As the business owner, you need to own your marketing strategy. So it's vital that you're involved in the writing of your marketing plan. Although it can be challenging to build out, it's essential to your business's success. So, make it a priority.

Do you have the goal of building a six figure coaching business ? Click the link.

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The importance of a business plan

Business plans are like road maps: it’s possible to travel without one, but that will only increase the odds of getting lost along the way.

Owners with a business plan see growth 30% faster than those without one, and 71% of the fast-growing companies have business plans . Before we get into the thick of it, let’s define and go over what a business plan actually is.

What is a business plan?

A business plan is a 15-20 page document that outlines how you will achieve your business objectives and includes information about your product, marketing strategies, and finances. You should create one when you’re starting a new business and keep updating it as your business grows.

Rather than putting yourself in a position where you may have to stop and ask for directions or even circle back and start over, small business owners often use business plans to help guide them. That’s because they help them see the bigger picture, plan ahead, make important decisions, and improve the overall likelihood of success. ‍

Why is a business plan important?

A well-written business plan is an important tool because it gives entrepreneurs and small business owners, as well as their employees, the ability to lay out their goals and track their progress as their business begins to grow. Business planning should be the first thing done when starting a new business. Business plans are also important for attracting investors so they can determine if your business is on the right path and worth putting money into.

Business plans typically include detailed information that can help improve your business’s chances of success, like:

• A market analysis : gathering information about factors and conditions that affect your industry
• Competitive analysis : evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors
• Customer segmentation : divide your customers into different groups based on specific characteristics to improve your marketing
• Marketing: using your research to advertise your business
• Logistics and operations plans : planning and executing the most efficient production process
• Cash flow projection : being prepared for how much money is going into and out of your business
• An overall path to long-term growth

What is the purpose of a business plan?

A business plan is like a map for small business owners, showing them where to go and how to get there. Its main purposes are to help you avoid risks, keep everyone on the same page, plan finances, check if your business idea is good, make operations smoother, and adapt to changes. It's a way for small business owners to plan, communicate, and stay on track toward their goals.

10 reasons why you need a business plan

I know what you’re thinking: “Do I really need a business plan? It sounds like a lot of work, plus I heard they’re outdated and I like figuring things out as I go...”.

The answer is: yes, you really do need a business plan! As entrepreneur Kevin J. Donaldson said, “Going into business without a business plan is like going on a mountain trek without a map or GPS support—you’ll eventually get lost and starve! Though it may sound tedious and time-consuming, business plans are critical to starting your business and setting yourself up for success.

To outline the importance of business plans and make the process sound less daunting, here are 10 reasons why you need one for your small business.

1. To help you with critical decisions

The primary importance of a business plan is that they help you make better decisions. Entrepreneurship is often an endless exercise in decision making and crisis management. Sitting down and considering all the ramifications of any given decision is a luxury that small businesses can’t always afford. That’s where a business plan comes in.

Building a business plan allows you to determine the answer to some of the most critical business decisions ahead of time.

Creating a robust business plan is a forcing function—you have to sit down and think about major components of your business before you get started, like your marketing strategy and what products you’ll sell. You answer many tough questions before they arise. And thinking deeply about your core strategies can also help you understand how those decisions will impact your broader strategy.

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2. To iron out the kinks

Putting together a business plan requires entrepreneurs to ask themselves a lot of hard questions and take the time to come up with well-researched and insightful answers. Even if the document itself were to disappear as soon as it’s completed, the practice of writing it helps to articulate your vision in realistic terms and better determine if there are any gaps in your strategy.

3. To avoid the big mistakes

Only about half of small businesses are still around to celebrate their fifth birthday . While there are many reasons why small businesses fail, many of the most common are purposefully addressed in business plans.

According to data from CB Insights , some of the most common reasons businesses fail include:

• No market need : No one wants what you’re selling.
• Lack of capital : Cash flow issues or businesses simply run out of money.
• Inadequate team : This underscores the importance of hiring the right people to help you run your business.
• Stiff competition : It’s tough to generate a steady profit when you have a lot of competitors in your space.
• Pricing : Some entrepreneurs price their products or services too high or too low—both scenarios can be a recipe for disaster.

The exercise of creating a business plan can help you avoid these major mistakes. Whether it’s cash flow forecasts or a product-market fit analysis , every piece of a business plan can help spot some of those potentially critical mistakes before they arise. For example, don’t be afraid to scrap an idea you really loved if it turns out there’s no market need. Be honest with yourself!

Get a jumpstart on your business plan by creating your own cash flow projection .

4. To prove the viability of the business

Many businesses are created out of passion, and while passion can be a great motivator, it’s not a great proof point.

Planning out exactly how you’re going to turn that vision into a successful business is perhaps the most important step between concept and reality. Business plans can help you confirm that your grand idea makes sound business sense.

A critical component of your business plan is the market research section. Market research can offer deep insight into your customers, your competitors, and your chosen industry. Not only can it enlighten entrepreneurs who are starting up a new business, but it can also better inform existing businesses on activities like marketing, advertising, and releasing new products or services.

Want to prove there’s a market gap? Here’s how you can get started with market research.

5. To set better objectives and benchmarks

Without a business plan, objectives often become arbitrary, without much rhyme or reason behind them. Having a business plan can help make those benchmarks more intentional and consequential. They can also help keep you accountable to your long-term vision and strategy, and gain insights into how your strategy is (or isn’t) coming together over time.

6. To communicate objectives and benchmarks

Whether you’re managing a team of 100 or a team of two, you can’t always be there to make every decision yourself. Think of the business plan like a substitute teacher, ready to answer questions any time there’s an absence. Let your staff know that when in doubt, they can always consult the business plan to understand the next steps in the event that they can’t get an answer from you directly.

Sharing your business plan with team members also helps ensure that all members are aligned with what you’re doing, why, and share the same understanding of long-term objectives.

7. To provide a guide for service providers

Small businesses typically employ contractors , freelancers, and other professionals to help them with tasks like accounting , marketing, legal assistance, and as consultants. Having a business plan in place allows you to easily share relevant sections with those you rely on to support the organization, while ensuring everyone is on the same page.

8. To secure financing

Did you know you’re 2.5x more likely to get funded if you have a business plan?If you’re planning on pitching to venture capitalists, borrowing from a bank, or are considering selling your company in the future, you’re likely going to need a business plan. After all, anyone that’s interested in putting money into your company is going to want to know it’s in good hands and that it’s viable in the long run. Business plans are the most effective ways of proving that and are typically a requirement for anyone seeking outside financing.

Learn what you need to get a small business loan.

9. To better understand the broader landscape

No business is an island, and while you might have a strong handle on everything happening under your own roof, it’s equally important to understand the market terrain as well. Writing a business plan can go a long way in helping you better understand your competition and the market you’re operating in more broadly, illuminate consumer trends and preferences, potential disruptions and other insights that aren’t always plainly visible.

10. To reduce risk

Entrepreneurship is a risky business, but that risk becomes significantly more manageable once tested against a well-crafted business plan. Drawing up revenue and expense projections, devising logistics and operational plans, and understanding the market and competitive landscape can all help reduce the risk factor from an inherently precarious way to make a living. Having a business plan allows you to leave less up to chance, make better decisions, and enjoy the clearest possible view of the future of your company.

Business plan FAQs

How does having a business plan help small business owners make better decisions.

Having a business plan supports small business owners in making smarter decisions by providing a structured framework to assess all parts of their businesses. It helps you foresee potential challenges, identify opportunities, and set clear objectives. Business plans help you make decisions across the board, including market strategies, financial management, resource allocation, and growth planning.

What industry-specific issues can business plans help tackle?

Business plans can address industry-specific challenges like regulatory compliance, technological advancements, market trends, and competitive landscape. For instance, in highly regulated industries like healthcare or finance, a comprehensive business plan can outline compliance measures and risk management strategies.

How can small business owners use their business plans to pitch investors or apply for loans?

In addition to attracting investors and securing financing, small business owners can leverage their business plans during pitches or loan applications by focusing on key elements that resonate with potential stakeholders. This includes highlighting market analysis, competitive advantages, revenue projections, and scalability plans. Presenting a well-researched and data-driven business plan demonstrates credibility and makes investors or lenders feel confident about your business’s potential health and growth.

Understanding the importance of a business plan

Now that you have a solid grasp on the “why” behind business plans, you can confidently move forward with creating your own.

Remember that a business plan will grow and evolve along with your business, so it’s an important part of your whole journey—not just the beginning.

Related Posts

Now that you’ve read up on the purpose of a business plan, check out our guide to help you get started.

The information and tips shared on this blog are meant to be used as learning and personal development tools as you launch, run and grow your business. While a good place to start, these articles should not take the place of personalized advice from professionals. As our lawyers would say: “All content on Wave’s blog is intended for informational purposes only. It should not be considered legal or financial advice.” Additionally, Wave is the legal copyright holder of all materials on the blog, and others cannot re-use or publish it without our written consent.

The Role of Marketing Planning in Business

• Small Business
• Advertising & Marketing
• Business Marketing Plans
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Organizational Marketing Activities

Difference between market orientation & sales orientation, how to build a relationship with my customer through advertising.

• Why Customer Differentiation Is Important
• What Are the Steps in a Marketing Strategy?

Every business needs a marketing plan. It doesn't matter if you are a one-man service provider or a major corporation with 1,000 employees across multiple states. Marketing is what drives sales; without sales, you don't make the money required to stay in business long-term. As important as marketing plans are, many business leaders don't devote enough time and resources to them. Great leaders take the time to regularly develop marketing strategies and plan to build a company with a purpose.

Purpose of a Marketing Plan

The purpose of a marketing plan is to decide how you will sell your products or services to consumers. Rather than assuming your product is perfect for everyone, the plan focuses on key people who are most likely to buy the product. For some small companies or professionals, the marketing plan might be completely referral based, which means the strategy is to provide the best possible results so existing customers tell everyone they know about you.

While this is one type of strategy often utilized, it rarely is enough to sustain a new business over years of growth and development and ultimately, it doesn't help a large business that may still need to capture a bigger market to be profitable. Business leaders should ask two key questions when starting to develop a marketing plan: What problem do I solve for my customers? What makes me different than everyone else on the market ?

Importance of Marketing Planning 

Marketing plans and strategies are important because they make sales easier for any business owner. When you target your ideal customer in a smarter way, you reduce the costs of marketing and increase your chances of converting leads into sales. Asking what problem you solve and why customers should choose you helps you identigy the specific issues of someone ready to buy.

Putting an ad for your services in the newspaper is one way small businesses start marketing. However, the business is unable to control who sees the paper on any given day. This means most newspaper, magazine or mailer ads are offering general branding services in most cases, and not targeted marketing. Consumers rarely jump on general ads, so this costly method is really developing branding. But creating an ad to solve a specific issue helps ready-to-buy readers understand that your company has the solution.

For example, an estate planning attorney can put an ad in the paper with his picture and a list of services. While he may get some results, his ad might perform better by targeting baby boomers who need to help their parents plan to pass assets to the next generation.

Developing a Strategic Marketing Strategy

When developing a strategic marketing strategy, you want to create an "a-ha" moment in the reader's mind. These moments are where the reader realizes that you have an answer to something that has been on their mind to some degree.

When consumers are aware of their requirements and a solution is presented to them, they are more likely to buy. If a person doesn't realize they have a problem, it takes longer to educate them through the process of seeing why they might need you. You are less likely to get a sale if customers don't see a need or extreme desire.

Think about a chiropractor. Someone who doesn't have back pain might be a difficult person to sell the service to because they don't see a need. Someone with back pain might realize she needs a solution, but she isn't sure if that solution is chiropractic, massage or physical therapy. It might even be surgery. This is why you need to consider what the consumer needs and what makes you different – and the best solution.

• Business.gov: Why do I need a marketing plan?
• Midwest Marketing LLC: The 5 Key Benefits of a Marketing Plan to your Business
• Entrepreneur: Use These 5 Steps to Create a Marketing Plan

With more than 15 years of small business ownership including owning a State Farm agency in Southern California, Kimberlee understands the needs of business owners first hand. When not writing, Kimberlee enjoys chasing waterfalls with her son in Hawaii.

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4 Most Important Parts of a Marketing Plan

Imagine you’re lost in a vast jungle, searching for hidden treasure (aka customers). You wouldn’t wander, hoping to stumble upon it, right? You’d grab a map, a machete (to clear marketing hurdles!), and maybe even a trusty guide (aka your marketing plan!).

That’s why, even if you have a stellar business plan, a dedicated marketing plan is crucial for your small business. Think of it as your personalized GPS, guiding you straight to your audience and boosting your sales. Here’s why it’s a game-changer:

Everyone knows you need a business plan. Many businesses, however, don’t realize a marketing plan is arguably more important. Unlike your business plan, a marketing plan focuses on getting and keeping customers. A good marketing plan spells out all the tools and methods you’ll use to achieve your revenue goals.

Your marketing plan is your plan of action that includes what you’ll sell, who’ll buy it and the methods you’ll use to generate leads and sales.

Developing a sound marketing strategy is vital for your business. Without it, your efforts to attract customers are likely to be ineffective and inefficient. You need a flexible strategy that can respond to changes in customer perceptions and demand.

IDENTIFY YOUR BUSINESS AND MARKETING GOALS

Map your goals: from daydreams to dollar signs.

Imagine setting sail on a business voyage, but having no clue where the treasure island lies. Sounds pretty chaotic, right? That’s why your small business needs a marketing plan to act as your trusty map, guiding you toward clear-cut goals and sweet, sweet customer conversions.

Start by identifying your overarching business goals to define a set of marketing goals to support them.

Once you have identified your overall business goals, define a set of specific marketing goals based on those goals. This can help define both long-term and short-term marketing goals using our business and branding goals model.

Your marketing plan isn’t just about daydreaming about success. It’s about translating those dreams into specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals. Think of it like this:

Instead of: “I want to be more popular.”

Do this: “Increase website traffic by 20% in the next quarter through targeted social media campaigns.”

See the difference? The second goal is clear, trackable, and has a deadline, making it easy to measure progress and adjust your course if needed.

Where do you want your business to be? Get specific! Do you dream of doubling your online sales or expanding to a new city? Your marketing plan translates these dreams into actionable steps, like launching targeted ads or hosting local events.

Here are some treasure-worthy goals your marketing plan can help you achieve:

• Write a well-defined mission statement: A marketing plan focuses on writing a clear and defined mission statement that explains to customers your goal in this industry.
• Boosting brand awareness: Are you the new kid on the block? Set a goal to increase social media followers by X% or have your website appear on the first page of search results for relevant keywords.
• Generating leads: Want more hungry customers knocking on your door? Aim to capture X number of email signups through enticing website pop-ups or informative webinars.
• Nurturing existing customers: Don’t forget your loyal fans! Develop a goal to increase repeat purchases by Y% through personalized email campaigns or exclusive loyalty programs.
• Driving sales: It’s all about that bottom line, baby! Set a target to increase revenue by Z% by offering limited-time discounts or launching a new product line.
• Decreasing Cost Per Lead : A successful marketing plan can increase business efficiency and lower costs.
• A backup plan for emergencies : Having a solid marketing plan can get your small businesses ready to face upcoming challenges in the wide market
• Apply successful marketing tactics : Marketing tactics are another main factor that is included in the marketing plan which identifies how are you willing to reach your customer, increase brand awareness, and empower your business through various digital marketing channels. 

Remember, goals should be ambitious but realistic . Don’t set yourself up for disappointment by aiming for the moon on day one. Start small, track your progress, and celebrate every milestone along the way.

Make sure your overall strategies are practical and measurable. A good marketing strategy will not be changed every year, but revised when strategies have been achieved or your goals have been met.

Your marketing plan is your map to success, a roadmap paved with SMART goals. So, grab your metaphorical compass and chart your course to a treasure trove of happy customers!

RESEARCH YOUR MARKET AND PROFILE POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS

Know your tribe: unveiling the secrets of your ideal customer.

Remember that lost-in-the-jungle feeling? It’s way worse when you’re shouting your message to everyone, hoping someone hears. Yikes! That’s what happens when you market to everyone and no one. To truly resonate with your audience, you need to know your tribe, and your ideal customers, inside and out.

Research is an essential part of any marketing strategy. Gather information about your market, such as size, growth, social trends, and demographics (population statistics such as age, gender, and family type).

Use the market research to develop a profile of the customers you are targeting and identify their needs. The profile will help to reveal how they buy, where they buy, and what they buy.

A marketing plan helps you identify your ideal customer . Are they tech-savvy millennials or budget-conscious families? Knowing their needs, habits, and haunts lets you target your efforts effectively.

Think of it like this: every successful social media influencer has a dedicated niche. Foodies follow food bloggers, and fashionistas flock to style gurus. Your business needs the same laser focus. But how do you discover your tribe? It’s time for some customer anthropology!

Step 1: Craft a Customer Persona

This isn’t about creating a generic “average” customer. Instead, imagine your ideal buyer as a real person. Give them a name, age, occupation, hobbies, and even online habits. What are their pain points? What makes them tick? The more detailed your persona, the better you understand their needs and desires.

Step 2: Dive into Demographics

Data can be your friend! Use tools like Google Analytics or social media insights to understand your existing customer base. Age, location, gender, and interests can paint a broad picture of your tribe. But remember, demographics are just one piece of the puzzle.

Step 3: Listen Up!

Don’t underestimate the power of active listening. Engage with your audience on social media, conduct surveys or host focus groups. What are they saying about your brand and industry? What challenges do they face? Pay attention to their language, frustrations, and aspirations.

Step 4: Hunt in Their Hunting Grounds

Where does your tribe spend their time online and offline? Are they avid Redditors, loyal podcast listeners, or weekend farmers market enthusiasts? Knowing their haunts helps you target your marketing efforts with laser precision.

Step 5: Beyond the Basics

Don’t just stop at demographics and hobbies. Dig deeper into your tribe’s values, motivations, and aspirations. What drives them? What are their dreams and fears? Understanding these deeper layers allows you to connect with them on an emotional level, building a powerful brand connection.

By knowing your tribe, you can craft targeted messages, tailor your product offerings, and choose marketing channels that resonate deeply. Remember, it’s not about selling to everyone; it’s about building a meaningful relationship with your ideal customers, your true tribe. Now go forth and discover who they are!

PROFILE YOUR COMPETITORS

Spy on the competition: become a marketing maverick (without the eye patch).

Every adventurer needs intel, but becoming a marketing maverick doesn’t mean resorting to shady tactics. Instead, think of it as competitive intelligence , gathering valuable insights from your rivals to inform your strategies.

Your marketing plan involves researching your competitors , and uncovering their strengths and weaknesses. This helps you craft unique selling points that make your business stand out.

Develop a profile of your competitors by identifying their products, supply chains, pricing, and marketing tactics. This will help identify your competitive advantage. 

Just like explorers charted unknown territories, your marketing plan needs to navigate the competitive landscape. By understanding your competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, and marketing moves, you can:

Uncover their secrets

What are their best-selling products or services? What marketing channels are they dominating? Analyzing their successes can inspire your strategies.

Spot their weaknesses

Don’t be afraid to peek at their flaws! Are they missing a key customer segment? Is their website outdated? Identifying these gaps allows you to position your business as a superior alternative.

Stay ahead of the curve

What new trends are they jumping on? Are they planning any exciting product launches? By keeping an eye on their moves, you can anticipate industry shifts and adapt your strategies accordingly.

But remember, spying doesn’t mean stealing! Here are some ethical ways to gather competitive intel :

Become a Social Media Sleuth

Follow your competitors on social media, analyzing their content, engagement, and target audience. What kind of posts resonate with their followers? What tone of voice do they use?

Read Online Reviews

See what customers are saying about your competitors. What are their pain points? What are they praising? Pay attention to both positive and negative reviews to gain valuable insights.

Visit Their Website

Take a virtual stroll through your competitor’s website. How user-friendly is it? What marketing tactics are they using? Analyze their product descriptions, pricing strategies, and overall brand messaging.

Subscribe to Industry Publications

Stay informed about industry trends and competitor news by reading relevant publications and attending industry events. You might even discover your rivals speaking at conferences, offering valuable insights into their strategies.

Conduct Surveys

Poll your existing customers about their perception of your brand and your competitors. What are their biggest concerns? What features do they value most? Understanding your customers’ preferences helps you differentiate yourself from the competition.

Remember, the goal is to learn, not copy. By gathering competitive intelligence ethically and strategically, you can gain a valuable edge in the market, outsmarting your rivals without resorting to any pirate-like tactics. Now go forth and gather intel, marketing maverick!

DEVELOP STRATEGIES TO SUPPORT YOUR GOALS

Choose your weapons: mastering the marketing arsenal.

Imagine a bustling medieval marketplace with vendors hawking their wares with unique cries and vibrant displays. That’s the marketing world, with countless tools vying for your attention. But unlike those impulsive shoppers, you need to choose your weapons wisely. Your marketing plan helps you pick the right mix of marketing tools to conquer your target audience.

From social media blasts to email campaigns, the marketing world offers a diverse arsenal. Your plan helps you pick the right tools for the job. For example, maybe Instagram fits your visual brand, while email newsletters resonate with your loyal customers.

This is where you list your target markets and devise a set of strategies to attract and retain them.

Identify your strategic marketing mix using the 7 Ps of marketing. This helps you choose the right combination of marketing across product, price, promotion, place, people, process, and physical evidence, to help your marketing strategy be a success.

Remember the 7 Ps of Marketing ? They’re your essential weapons, each serving a distinct purpose:

1. Product: Is your offering truly desirable?

Highlight its unique features, benefits, and how it solves customer problems. Think dazzling product descriptions, eye-catching visuals, and free trials or samples.

2. Price: Finding the sweet spot.

Consider your costs, competitor pricing, and customer-perceived value. Experiment with discounts, bundles, and loyalty programs to optimize revenue.

3. Place: Getting your product in front of the right eyes.

Utilize online marketplaces, brick-and-mortar stores, or a combination. Explore social media ads, email marketing, and content marketing to reach your target audience effectively.

4. Promotion: Spreading the word loud and clear.

Utilize social media engagement, influencer marketing, public relations, and targeted advertising to generate buzz and brand awareness.

5. People: The human touch matters.

Train your staff to be brand ambassadors, providing excellent customer service and building relationships. Utilize testimonials, case studies, and user-generated content to showcase the human side of your brand.

6. Process: Seamless interactions win hearts.

Streamline your ordering, communication, and delivery processes. Offer multiple payment options, clear return policies, and efficient customer support to ensure a smooth experience.

7. Physical Evidence: Creating a lasting impression.

Design user-friendly packaging, professional websites, and a consistent brand image across all touchpoints. This reinforces your brand identity and builds trust with potential customers.

Remember, every weapon has its strengths and weaknesses . Analyze your budget, target audience, and marketing goals to choose the best mix for your brand. Don’t be afraid to experiment and track your results! The key is to adapt and refine your arsenal based on what resonates with your audience, propelling you toward marketing victory. So, choose your weapons wisely, brave marketer, and conquer the marketplace!

Stay Flexible: Adapting Your Marketing Game Plan Like a Jungle Gym Ninja

Remember that treacherous jungle trek we mentioned earlier? It throws curve balls. And, navigating the marketing landscape is similar. Things move fast, trends shift, and your target audience’s preferences evolve. That’s why your marketing plan shouldn’t be a rigid stone tablet; it needs to be as flexible as a jungle gym ninja .

Think of it like this: you wouldn’t plan your entire jungle journey based solely on a pre-printed map. You’d need to adapt to unexpected obstacles, discover hidden paths, and maybe even swing on some vines to reach your treasure. The same applies to your marketing plan.

You need to regularly monitor your results, adapt your strategies, and embrace new tactics as your business and audience evolve, being able to pivot with extraordinary flexibility.

Here are some ways to embrace flexibility :

Track, Analyze, Adapt

Don’t just set your plan and forget it. Regularly monitor your marketing campaign’s performance through website analytics, social media insights, and customer feedback. Are certain tactics not yielding results? Adapt! Try a new approach, adjust your budget allocation, or refine your target audience definition.

Be Open to New Trends

The marketing world is constantly evolving, with new platforms, technologies, and trends emerging all the time. Stay informed by reading industry publications, attending conferences, and experimenting with new tools. You never know what hidden gem you might discover that revolutionizes your marketing strategy.

Embrace Feedback

Listen closely to your customers! They’re the ultimate judges of your marketing efforts. Use surveys, social media comments, and customer service interactions to gather feedback. Is your messaging resonating? Are your offerings meeting their needs? Adapt your plan based on their valuable insights.

Don’t Be Afraid to Pivot

Sometimes, your initial marketing plan might not hit the mark. That’s okay! Don’t be afraid to make significant changes if your data and feedback indicate a different approach is needed. Remember, flexibility is key to navigating the ever-changing marketing landscape.

Celebrate Small Wins

Adapting your marketing plan is an ongoing process. Don’t wait for some grand slam victory before celebrating progress. Acknowledge and celebrate even small wins, like a slight increase in website traffic or a positive customer review. These milestones fuel your motivation and keep you on track as you refine your marketing strategy.

By embracing flexibility, you become a marketing game-changer, adapting to challenges, seizing opportunities, and constantly evolving your approach to reach your target audience and achieve your business goals. So, channel your inner jungle gym ninja, be ready to swing on new branches, and remember, the most adaptable adventurer always reaches the treasure!

Measure Your Success: Unveiling the Marketing Treasure Map’s Hidden Riches

Did your jungle trek yield riches? Well, imagine finally reaching the end of your jungle trek, only to discover the treasure chest is locked! Yowza! In the world of marketing, that lock represents ignoring your results . Measuring your success is crucial, unlocking valuable insights that guide future decisions and ensure your marketing efforts aren’t a treasure hunt in the dark.

Think of it like this: every pirate worth their salt tracks their booty. Did they snag more gold with a treasure map or by randomly digging holes? Similarly, data is your marketing map’s hidden treasure . By analyzing key metrics, you understand what’s working, what’s not, and how to optimize your marketing efforts for even greater success.

Your marketing plan helps you track progress. Did your latest campaign attract 10% more website visitors? What percentage of them were you able to convert?  Knowing what works (and what doesn’t) fuels smarter decisions for the future.

Here are some metrics to measure your marketing treasure:

Website Traffic: Are more people finding your website? Track unique visitors, page views, and bounce rates to see if your marketing efforts are driving traffic.

Lead Generation: Are you attracting potential customers? Monitor the number of signups, email captures, and form submissions to gauge your lead generation effectiveness.

Conversion Rates: Are website visitors turning into paying customers? Track conversion rates for different offers, like product purchases or newsletter subscriptions, to identify high-performing channels.

Engagement: Are you building meaningful connections? Monitor social media engagement, email open rates, and website comments to see if your audience is interacting with your brand.

Brand Awareness: Are people recognizing your brand? Track brand mentions, social media followers, and website searches to measure your brand visibility.

Return on Investment (ROI): Are your marketing efforts generating a positive return? Calculate the ROI of your campaigns to ensure you’re spending your marketing budget wisely.

Remember, measuring success isn’t a one-time event.  

Regularly track your metrics, compare them to your goals, and analyze trends. This ongoing process helps you identify areas for improvement, refine your strategies, and ultimately, unlock the full potential of your marketing efforts.

But don’t get lost in a sea of numbers! Focus on the metrics that matter most to your business goals. Are you aiming for brand awareness? Track social media mentions. Want to boost sales? Monitor conversion rates. By focusing on relevant metrics, you gain actionable insights that propel you towards marketing success.

So, grab your data compass, brave marketer, and set sail on a treasure hunt of your own. By measuring your success regularly, you’ll unearth valuable insights that guide your marketing journey, ensuring you reach your business goals and discover the riches that await. You’ve got this, adventurer!

Learn more with our complimentary marketing classes .

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Marketing planning: importance, benefits and characteristics.

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Marketing Planning: Importance, Benefits and Characteristics!

A business firm has to make various marketing decisions. These decisions actually emerge from the complex interaction of a large number of persons carrying out diverse responsibilities in the marketing organisation. Being part and parcel of the over-all management, the marketing executives are deeply involved in the process of planning. Marketing planning defines the role and responsibilities of marketing executives in such a way as to achieve the goals of the firm.

It lays emphasis on the allocation of marketing resources in the best and most economical way. It gives an intelligent direction of marketing operations. Marketing planning involves the preparation of policies, programmes, budgets etc., in advance for carrying out the various activities and functions of marketing to attain the marketing goals.

According to American Marketing Association, “marketing planning is the work of setting up objectives for marketing activity and of determining and scheduling the steps necessary to achieve such objectives.” Planning is the first management function to be performed in the process of management. It governs survival, growth and prosperity of any enterprise in a competitive and ever-changing environment.

The connecting link of markets to marketing is the process and the function of marketing management. Marketing management is the blending factor of markets and marketing. Today the consumer is a complicated, emotional and confused individual. His buying is based on subjectivity and not often backed by objectivity. The introduction of innumerable brands of toilet soaps, talcum powders is examples.

Planning precedes activity in any purposeful endeavour. Business firms naturally undertake a good deal of planning. Business firms have to master the environment and score over their competitors. Thus in the case of a business firm, planning is always strategic in character. A firm cannot afford to travel in a haphazard manner, it has to travel with the support of a route map.

Every company must look ahead and determine where it wants to go and how to get there. Its future should not be left to chance. To meet this need, companies use two systems a strategic planning system and marketing planning system. Strategic planning provides the route-map for the firm. Strategic planning serves as the hedge against risk and uncertainty.

Strategic planning is a stream of decisions and actions which lead to effective strategies and which in turn help the firm to achieve its objectives. Strategy is not something that can be taken out of one’s pocket and pushed into the market all of a sudden. “No magic formula exists to prepare for the future. The requirements are excellent insight to understand changing consumer needs, clear planning to focus our efforts on meeting those needs, and flexibility, because change is the only constant. Most important, we must always offer consumers-products of quality and value, for this is the one need that will not change.”

Marketing has been described as the railway engine which pulls all the other departmental carriages along. Marketing planning is the interface between the enterprise and its market. We had explained that marketing places the consumer at both the beginning and the end of the business process.

Any firm practising marketing in the proper sense has to identify correctly the needs of the consumer, translate the needs into suitable products and services, deliver those products and services to the total satisfaction of the consumer and through the process generate profits for the firm.

Importance of Marketing Planning :

Marketing planning is a systematic and disciplined exercise to formulate marketing strategies. Marketing planning can be related to the organisation as a whole or to strategic business units (SBU). Marketing planning is a forward looking exercise, which determines the future strategies of an organisation with special reference to its product development, market development, channel design, sales promotion and profitability.

We may now summaries the importance of marketing planning in the following points:

1. It helps in avoiding future uncertainties.

2. It helps in management by objectives.

3. It helps in achieving objectives.

4. It helps in coordination and communication among the departments.

5. It helps in control.

6. It helps the customers in getting full satisfaction.

Benefits of Marketing Planning :

1. Marketing planning promotes successful marketing operations.

2. Planning helps to co-ordinate activities which can facilitate the attainment of objectives over time.

3. It forces management to reflect upon the future in a systematic way.

4. Resources can be better balanced in relation to identified market opportunities.

5. A plan provides a frame work for a continuing review of operations. It will make the firm to give more attention to market enlargement rather than market maintenance.

6. Marketing planning helps to appraise performance, capitalize on strength, minimize weaknesses and threats and finally open up new opportunities.

7. Planning can be advocated to minimize the risk of failure.

8. Marketing planning reduces the adverse consequences of unfavourable circumstances beyond the influence of management.

9. A marketing plan promotes a comprehensive view of the business firm and acts as a process of communication and co-ordination between marketing department and other departments.

10. A greater preparedness to accommodate change can be stimulated.

Marketing Strategy = The marketing logic by which the business unit hopes to achieve its marketing objectives.

Characteristics of Marketing Planning:

Marketing planning has the following characteristic features:

1. The success depends to a large extent upon human behaviour and response.

2. They are complicated in nature.

3. Marketing decisions have long term effects on efficiency, profitability and market standing of the firm.

4. Marketing planning is a formal and systematic approach towards planning of all marketing activities-product positioning, price setting, distribution channels etc.

5. Marketing planning, as a rational activity, requires thinking; imagination and foresight. Market analysis, market projection, consumer behaviour analysis and marketing-guided conclusions are based on data and measurements drawn from internal and external environments.

6. Marketing planning is a forward-looking and dynamic process designed to promote market- oriented or consumer-oriented business actions.

7. Planning is concerned with two things:

(i) Avoiding incorrect actions and

(ii) Reducing frequency of failure to exploit opportunities.

Thus, marketing planning has both an optimistic and a pessimistic component.

8. Marketing planning is done by the marketing department. Various sub-divisions and sections under the department give their proposals based on which the overall company marketing plans are developed and designed.

9. Planning is a process of deciding in advance what to do and how to do it. If the marketing planner desires to achieve a target market at some future date and if he needs some time to decide what to do and how to do it, he must make the necessary marketing decisions before taking action.

10. Planning is basically a decision-making process. Marketing planning is a programme of marketing-based actions regarding the future with the object of minimizing risk and uncertainty and producing a set of interrelated decisions.

Related Articles:

• Marketing Planning: Meaning and Types of Marketing Plans
• 5 Characteristics of Marketing Concept | Marketing Management

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The importance of your marketing plan

Your marketing plan should be at the top of your ‘to do’ list.

Whilst a business plan helps define the direction for your company, a marketing plan will help your business understand how to get there and sets out how you are going to put your marketing strategy into practice.

When you’ve got a marketing plan you have a framework for how to put your best foot forward. It’s a starting point, a ‘line in the sand.’

You also have a really useful means to discipline yourself. For example, when somebody tries to sell you something like an advertising or promotional opportunity which sounds like an amazing price – you go back to your marketing plan and check whether this ‘great deal’ fits in with your objectives and priorities.

Marketing plans also help us as advisors to our clients; they provide a deeper understanding of the marketplace, business offering and positioning, enabling more thorough and confident recommendations and planning.

Each marketing plan that we carry out may look similar in terms of headings and approach, however each one is tailored specifically to the needs and characteristics of the business and its marketplace.

It can be hard to write your marketing plan

Building a marketing plan involves a lot of knowledge and understanding of an individual business, so it is tempting to think that the person best placed to write it would be the business owner. In reality there are several reasons why it’s hard to make a marketing plan for your own business. First and foremost it’s always hard to set aside the time – there always seems to be something more urgent to be done “in” the business as opposed to “on” or “about” it.

Secondly, it is important to have a real understanding of marketing, of what needs to be considered and how. Often there is so much to consider that it can be hard for a business owner to ‘see the wood for the trees’ and know where to focus.

A marketing background and training together with hands on experience in researching, analysing and writing marketing plans is really important – practice does start to make perfect! And because we deal work with businesses of all shapes, sizes and industry sectors we become practised too at borrowing good practice from one situation and bringing it to bear in another.

And thirdly, it helps to have a degree of impartiality and objectivity about this process. When it’s your own business it can be quite hard to have to face up to having maybe missed warning signs (even though you know exactly why that was) or simply having got buried in the ‘day-to-day’.

Your marketing plan provides a new insight

Making a marketing plan is an opportunity for a “new” day and is a very positive process, but it can be a little close for comfort and in some ways it’s much easier to see the plan in its positive light, when viewed from a distance.

It’s worth remembering that every successful marketing plan is actually a planning process, not just a plan. It entails regular review and revision.

If you think your business could do with a little “refresh” right now, especially if you’ve got to make decisions about spending money and want to make sure you’re not going to be wasting it, do get in touch with us at Bartley Marketing for a no obligation chat.

We can assist you in your marketing planning process and also write your marketing plan for you.

A relatively small amount spent now on a marketing plan could save you a lot in the future.

Get in touch for a no obligation chat about your marketing plan requirements .

14 Reasons Why You Need a Business Plan

10 min. read

Updated May 10, 2024

There’s no question that starting and running a business is hard work. But it’s also incredibly rewarding. And, one of the most important things you can do to increase your chances of success is to have a business plan.

A business plan is a foundational document that is essential for any company, no matter the size or age. From attracting potential investors to keeping your business on track—a business plan helps you achieve important milestones and grow in the right direction.

A business plan isn’t just a document you put together once when starting your business. It’s a living, breathing guide for existing businesses – one that business owners should revisit and update regularly.

Unfortunately, writing a business plan is often a daunting task for potential entrepreneurs. So, do you really need a business plan? Is it really worth the investment of time and resources? Can’t you just wing it and skip the whole planning process?

Good questions. Here’s every reason why you need a business plan.

• 1. Business planning is proven to help you grow 30 percent faster

Writing a business plan isn’t about producing a document that accurately predicts the future of your company. The  process  of writing your plan is what’s important. Writing your plan and reviewing it regularly gives you a better window into what you need to do to achieve your goals and succeed. 

You don’t have to just take our word for it. Studies have  proven that companies that plan  and review their results regularly grow 30 percent faster. Beyond faster growth, research also shows that companies that plan actually perform better. They’re less likely to become one of those woeful failure statistics, or experience  cash flow crises  that threaten to close them down. 

• 2. Planning is a necessary part of the fundraising process

One of the top reasons to have a business plan is to make it easier to raise money for your business. Without a business plan, it’s difficult to know how much money you need to raise, how you will spend the money once you raise it, and what your budget should be.

Investors want to know that you have a solid plan in place – that your business is headed in the right direction and that there is long-term potential in your venture. 

A business plan shows that your business is serious and that there are clearly defined steps on how it aims to become successful. It also demonstrates that you have the necessary competence to make that vision a reality. 

Investors, partners, and creditors will want to see detailed financial forecasts for your business that shows how you plan to grow and how you plan on spending their money. 

• 3. Having a business plan minimizes your risk

When you’re just starting out, there’s so much you don’t know—about your customers, your competition, and even about operations. 

As a business owner, you signed up for some of that uncertainty when you started your business, but there’s a lot you can  do to reduce your risk . Creating and reviewing your business plan regularly is a great way to uncover your weak spots—the flaws, gaps, and assumptions you’ve made—and develop contingency plans. 

Your business plan will also help you define budgets and revenue goals. And, if you’re not meeting your goals, you can quickly adjust spending plans and create more realistic budgets to keep your business healthy.

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• 4. Crafts a roadmap to achieve important milestones

A business plan is like a roadmap for your business. It helps you set, track and reach business milestones. 

For your plan to function in this way, your business plan should first outline your company’s short- and long-term goals. You can then fill in the specific steps necessary to reach those goals. This ensures that you measure your progress (or lack thereof) and make necessary adjustments along the way to stay on track while avoiding costly detours.

In fact, one of the top reasons why new businesses fail is due to bad business planning. Combine this with inflexibility and you have a recipe for disaster.

And planning is not just for startups. Established businesses benefit greatly from revisiting their business plan. It keeps them on track, even when the global market rapidly shifts as we’ve seen in recent years.

• 5. A plan helps you figure out if your idea can become a business

To turn your idea into reality, you need to accurately assess the feasibility of your business idea.

You need to verify:

• If there is a market for your product or service
• Who your target audience is
• How you will gain an edge over the current competition
• If your business can run profitably

A business plan forces you to take a step back and look at your business objectively, which makes it far easier to make tough decisions down the road. Additionally, a business plan helps you to identify risks and opportunities early on, providing you with the necessary time to come up with strategies to address them properly.

Finally, a business plan helps you work through the nuts and bolts of how your business will work financially and if it can become sustainable over time.

6. You’ll make big spending decisions with confidence

As your business grows, you’ll have to figure out when to hire new employees, when to expand to a new location, or whether you can afford a major purchase. 

These are always major spending decisions, and if you’re regularly reviewing the forecasts you mapped out in your business plan, you’re going to have better information to use to make your decisions.

7. You’re more likely to catch critical cash flow challenges early

The other side of those major spending decisions is understanding and monitoring your business’s cash flow. Your  cash flow statement  is one of the three key financial statements you’ll put together for your business plan. (The other two are your  balance sheet  and your  income statement  (P&L). 

Reviewing your cash flow statement regularly as part of your regular business plan review will help you see potential cash flow challenges earlier so you can take action to avoid a cash crisis where you can’t pay your bills. 

• 8. Position your brand against the competition

Competitors are one of the factors that you need to take into account when starting a business. Luckily, competitive research is an integral part of writing a business plan. It encourages you to ask questions like:

• What is your competition doing well? What are they doing poorly?
• What can you do to set yourself apart?
• What can you learn from them?
• How can you make your business stand out?
• What key business areas can you outcompete?
• How can you identify your target market?

Finding answers to these questions helps you solidify a strategic market position and identify ways to differentiate yourself. It also proves to potential investors that you’ve done your homework and understand how to compete. 

• 9. Determines financial needs and revenue models

A vital part of starting a business is understanding what your expenses will be and how you will generate revenue to cover those expenses. Creating a business plan helps you do just that while also defining ongoing financial needs to keep in mind. 

Without a business model, it’s difficult to know whether your business idea will generate revenue. By detailing how you plan to make money, you can effectively assess the viability and scalability of your business. 

Understanding this early on can help you avoid unnecessary risks and start with the confidence that your business is set up to succeed.

• 10. Helps you think through your marketing strategy

A business plan is a great way to document your marketing plan. This will ensure that all of your marketing activities are aligned with your overall goals. After all, a business can’t grow without customers and you’ll need a strategy for acquiring those customers. 

Your business plan should include information about your target market, your marketing strategy, and your marketing budget. Detail things like how you plan to attract and retain customers, acquire new leads, how the digital marketing funnel will work, etc. 

Having a documented marketing plan will help you to automate business operations, stay on track and ensure that you’re making the most of your marketing dollars.

• 11. Clarifies your vision and ensures everyone is on the same page

In order to create a successful business, you need a clear vision and a plan for how you’re going to achieve it. This is all detailed with your mission statement, which defines the purpose of your business, and your personnel plan, which outlines the roles and responsibilities of current and future employees. Together, they establish the long-term vision you have in mind and who will need to be involved to get there. 

Additionally, your business plan is a great tool for getting your team in sync. Through consistent plan reviews, you can easily get everyone in your company on the same page and direct your workforce toward tasks that truly move the needle.

• 12. Future-proof your business

A business plan helps you to evaluate your current situation and make realistic projections for the future.

This is an essential step in growing your business, and it’s one that’s often overlooked. When you have a business plan in place, it’s easier to identify opportunities and make informed decisions based on data.

Therefore, it requires you to outline goals, strategies, and tactics to help the organization stay focused on what’s important.

By regularly revisiting your business plan, especially when the global market changes, you’ll be better equipped to handle whatever challenges come your way, and pivot faster.

You’ll also be in a better position to seize opportunities as they arise.

Further Reading: 5 fundamental principles of business planning

• 13. Tracks your progress and measures success

An often overlooked purpose of a business plan is as a tool to define success metrics. A key part of writing your plan involves pulling together a viable financial plan. This includes financial statements such as your profit and loss, cash flow, balance sheet, and sales forecast.

By housing these financial metrics within your business plan, you suddenly have an easy way to relate your strategy to actual performance. You can track progress, measure results, and follow up on how the company is progressing. Without a plan, it’s almost impossible to gauge whether you’re on track or not.  

Additionally, by evaluating your successes and failures, you learn what works and what doesn’t and you can make necessary changes to your plan. In short, having a business plan gives you a framework for measuring your success. It also helps with building up a “lessons learned” knowledge database to avoid costly mistakes in the future.

• 14. Your business plan is an asset if you ever want to sell

Down the road, you might decide that you want to sell your business or position yourself for acquisition. Having a solid business plan is going to help you make the case for a higher valuation. Your business is likely to be worth more to a buyer if it’s easy for them to understand your business model, your target market, and your overall potential to grow and scale. 

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• Writing your business plan

By taking the time to create a business plan, you ensure that your business is heading in the right direction and that you have a roadmap to get there. We hope that this post has shown you just how important and valuable a business plan can be. While it may still seem daunting, the benefits far outweigh the time investment and learning curve for writing one. 

Luckily, you can write a plan in as little as 30 minutes. And there are plenty of excellent planning tools and business plan templates out there if you’re looking for more step-by-step guidance. Whatever it takes, write your plan and you’ll quickly see how useful it can be.

Tim Berry is the founder and chairman of Palo Alto Software , a co-founder of Borland International, and a recognized expert in business planning. He has an MBA from Stanford and degrees with honors from the University of Oregon and the University of Notre Dame. Today, Tim dedicates most of his time to blogging, teaching and evangelizing for business planning.

Table of Contents

• 6. You’ll make big spending decisions with confidence
• 7. You’re more likely to catch critical cash flow challenges early

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More From Forbes

Understanding market research for your business plan.

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When you’re building a business plan, market research needs to happen pretty early in the process. It’s where you learn about your audience’s wants and needs and the financial trends in your industry, and where you combine the data, and uncover trends that tell you what customers want and how to provide it most effectively.

The results of that research and analysis will shape aspects of the rest of your business plan. Assessments of your market and competition inform critical decisions in areas such as product design or service offerings, price, marketing methods, and business location.

That means accurate and comprehensive market research matters. To be comprehensive, your information and analysis should answer every possible question about the market you plan to enter and the consumers you believe will buy your product or service, including (but not limited to):

• Demand: Do consumers want what you’re offering?

• Economic indicators: Do they have the money to buy your product/service?

• Pricing: How much will they pay for your product/service?

• Location: Where do they live, and where are they likely to make their purchases?

• Saturation: How many other options do they currently have for that product/service?

First Steps: Budget

You can spend a lot answering these questions. Many large businesses hire firms to do the research and analysis, employing large-scale surveys, focus groups and statistical models, among other methods. However, for entrepreneurs just starting out, marketing budgets are typically too slim to cover that kind of research.

So, the work needs to stay in-house and fit a small marketing budget. Affordable, effective market research is possible. It may not be as specific to your market as the big-budget stuff, but it can get you the information you need to work out a solid understanding of your market.

First Steps: Market-Research Objectives

Before you start your research and analysis, determine your objectives. Decide what you want to learn from the process. It will guide the data you search for and how you use it, so be specific. Write down actual goals – what would give you the most accurate, comprehensive and useful picture of your market? This could include areas such as demographics, competitor offerings and customer pain points.

First Steps: Research Terminology

In market research, you’re basically dealing with two types of research and two types of data:

• Primary research: This is research you perform yourself in order to get very specific insights into your very specific business. It includes methods such as surveys, interviews and direct observations (by visiting competitor locations, for instance). It can help you gather qualitative data. This is data that goes beyond statistics and market trends. It can tell you what your consumers want, what they don’t want and how they feel about your offerings.

• Secondary research: This is research other people have performed and analyzed. To conduct secondary research, you can visit government websites such as the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as well as private data collectors such as Google and market-research companies. It can help you gather quantitative data. This is generally statistical data and can reveal insights on consumer demographics, spending patterns, market trends and earnings projections.

Where To Start Your Market Research

There’s a ton of existing research out there, and a lot of it is totally free. The Small Business Administration website has a list of free government sources for various types of quantitative data, such as industry statistics, consumer demographics, consumer demand and spending, and sales indicators. Much of it comes from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A simple search will turn up enough places to start gathering secondary research to build a picture of your market.

With a good understanding of your market from secondary sources, you’re in a good position to know which types of primary research, if any, would be worth an investment of your time and energy. Maybe a well-designed survey completed by everyone you know could help fill in some holes.

You can also conduct primary research by visiting and speaking with your would-be competition and their customers; through crowdsourcing forums such as Quora, where you can glean raw data from comments and responses and post questions related to your product, service and market; on social-media websites such as Facebook, where you can parse conversations in relevant interest groups; and by reading product and service reviews on sites such as Amazon or Yelp.

Analyzing Your Market Research

Armed with all your data, you’ll draw conclusions that will help guide many of your business decisions.

But first, make sure all of your data will benefit those decisions. Don’t start analyzing until you weed out extraneous information that will waste your time and hinder focused insights. If it doesn’t relate directly to your business and your market, set it aside.

Then organize the relevant data into tables, graphs, lists and pie charts, and see what trends emerge. What do those trends mean for your business? Your product? Your location? Your planned promotions?

Be open to whatever the data tells you. Even if your research findings are unexpected, embrace them, and make any necessary adjustments. Listening to good market research can save you a lot of headaches down the road: The better you know your consumers, the better your chances of successfully selling to them.

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• Oct 29, 2020

The Top 5 Benefits of Having a Marketing Plan

Whether you’re starting a business or exploring ways to expand an existing one, a Marketing Plan is an important tool to help grow your business and increase sales. An effective Marketing Plan will enable you to take a targeted and cost effective approach with regard to your marketing activities to drive increased revenue and ROI (return on investment), rather than the far too common and wasteful "spray and pray" approach.

The purpose of a Marketing Plan is to help articulate a strategy for promoting your brand and growing sales or revenue for your business. It also provides insights into your market, your ideal customers and how to engage them in meaningful ways.

A Marketing Plan should also provide clarity regarding how your products / services are unique in comparison to your competitors, how you will price and distribute your products /services, and how you will target your ideal customer(s) with a specific and defined set of marketing activities, matched to your marketing objectives. A targeted approach will include the definition of marketing objectives, which may include increased brand awareness, or actual revenue increases through more sales, etc.

An effective Marketing Plan, carefully implemented, will drive the growth of your business through the use of carefully selected marketing tools and activities that are matched to your unique selling position, your brand and your target audience buying behaviours.

For existing businesses, a Marketing Plan should be updated annually as a way to guide growth and navigate the expansion into new markets. Your Plan should include explicit objectives for specific marketing activities such as your overall marketing strategy, sales strategy, SWOT, distribution channels, sales / marketing personnel, products / services, promotional plan and budget. A Marketing Plan is a complement to your Business Plan and the marketing budget is an input into your overall business budget .

Preview and d ownload your comprehensive Marketing Plan template for $49.99 + GST here.

The Benefits of Having a Marketing Plan:​

1. Identifies your Target Market

Through market segmentation, an effective Marketing Plan will enable you to identify and understand your ideal customers, their needs, problems and values; and how your product / service meets their needs or addresses their problems in a way that creates value.

2. Identifies your Competitors

An effective Marketing Plan includes the identification of your competitors from a SWOT perspective so that you can determine how you can improve or augment your offering to be favourably compared to the offerings of your competitors.

3. Defines your Unique Selling Position

An effective Marketing Plan requires the definition of how your brand, products and services will be positioned in comparison to your competitors in the market, in such a way that makes your offering unique and preferable in comparison to your competitors in the eyes of your target customers.

4. Supports ROI on Marketing Spend

An effective Marketing Plan includes the definition of specific and measurable marketing goals, time-frames and activities. This ensures that you only invest in promotional activities that drive a positive ROI, ie: promotional activities that match your target market's purchase behaviours, etc.

5. Sets out Strategy to Target Ideal Customers

An effective Marketing Plan utilises market research to map out a strategy to reach your target audience, including the messages, channels and tools that you will use. Again, this will prevent investment in marketing activities that don't support your defined strategy.

Many people engage us as business coaches to take a weekly / fortnightly step-by-step approach to the development of their own Marketing Plans and Business Plans, with the added benefit of our expertise and guidance throughout the process. In this way, you learn the essential aspects of running a successful business, while crafting your very own Marketing Plan or Business Plan over 8-12 weeks.

If you would like more information about how to create an effective Marketing Plan for your business, with our guidance in a coaching format, then please don't hesitate to contact us. Deb Banning , Co-Founder of Business Agility, has a Bachelor of Business / Commerce with double majors in Marketing and Business Law; and has also studied Digital Business Strategy at MIT. Read more about Deb's background, experience and qualifications here .

We are competent and qualified business coaches who are former CEOs and MDs. We know what it takes to be successful in business. We can help you to grow and improve your business. Book your free initial consultation now .

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The Ultimate Marketing Campaign Plan to Get Results

A well-structured marketing campaign plan is crucial for businesses, but why? To stand out from the competition and achieve their marketing goals. A marketing campaign plan serves as a roadmap that guides your marketing efforts, ensuring everyone on your team is on the same page and working towards the same objectives.

Without a clear plan, you risk wasting resources, missing opportunities, and failing to reach your target audience effectively. This blog will provide a comprehensive guide to creating a results-driven marketing campaign plan that drives actual results for your business.

Why You Need a Marketing Campaign Plan

There are many reasons why you need a marketing campaign plan. Here are a few of the most important:

• Clarity and Focus: A marketing campaign plan helps you to clarify your marketing goals and objectives. This clarity and focus will help you make better decisions regarding marketing efforts.
• Alignment: A marketing campaign plan helps ensure that all your marketing activities align with your overall goals. This alignment is essential for maximizing the impact of your marketing efforts.
• Efficiency: A marketing campaign plan can help you save time and money by preventing you from wasting resources on marketing activities that are unlikely to be successful.
• Measurement: A marketing campaign plan helps you track the progress of your marketing efforts and measure your results. This data can be used to improve your marketing campaigns over time.

Steps to Creating a Winning Marketing Campaign Plan

Creating a winning marketing campaign plan involves several steps. Here’s a breakdown of the critical steps to follow:

1. Campaign Objectives

The foundation of any successful marketing campaign plan lies in clearly defined objectives. These goals should be SMART:

For instance, instead of a vague goal like “increase brand awareness,” a SMART objective would be to “increase website traffic by 30% within the next quarter through targeted social media advertising.”

Your campaign objectives should align with your overall business goals. They might include:

• Increasing brand awareness could involve metrics like social media followers, mentions, or brand recall in surveys.
• Generating leads: Set specific targets for new leads acquired, focusing on quantity and quality. Boosting sales of a specific product:
• Determine a realistic sales increase percentage or revenue target for a particular offering. Improving customer retention:
• Aim to increase customer lifetime value or reduce churn rate by a certain percentage. When launching a new product or service, Set goals for initial adoption rates, user feedback, or market share acquisition.

2. Target Audience

Understanding your target audience is crucial for crafting a marketing campaign that resonates. This involves creating detailed buyer personas that represent your ideal customers. These personas should be living documents, continuously updated as you gather more data and insights about your audience. Consider factors such as:

• Demographics (age, gender, location, income)
• Psychographics (interests, values, lifestyle)
• Behavioral patterns (purchasing habits, brand preferences)
• Pain points and challenges
• Preferred communication channels

The more precisely you can define your target audience, the more effectively you can tailor your messaging and channel selection to reach them.

• Demographics (age, gender, location, income): Go beyond basic information to understand the nuances of your audience’s life stages and economic situations.
• Psychographics (interests, values, lifestyle): Dive deep into your audience’s motivations, aspirations, and perceptions of themselves and the world around them.
• Behavioral patterns (purchasing habits, brand preferences): Analyze not just what people buy but also why they make those choices and what influences their decision-making process.

3. Competitive Analysis

A thorough understanding of your competitors is essential for differentiating your brand and identifying opportunities in the market. Conduct a competitive analysis to:

• Identify your main competitors: Look beyond direct competitors to include indirect competitors who might solve the same problem differently.
• Analyze their marketing strategies and campaigns: Study their messaging, visual branding, channel usage, and overall marketing approach. Look for patterns and trends in their strategies. Assess their strengths and weaknesses:
• Evaluate their products, customer service, brand reputation, and market position.
• Identify areas where they excel and where they fall short. Identify gaps in the market that your campaign can address: Look for unmet needs or underserved segments that your competitors might be overlooking.

4. Campaign Message and Creative Strategy

Your campaign message should be compelling, clear, and aligned with your brand voice. It should address your audience’s pain points and highlight your product or service’s unique value proposition.

A strong message resonates emotionally with your audience while conveying the practical benefits of your offering. Consider the following when developing your creative strategy:

• Core message and takeaways: Distill your campaign’s essence into a clear, concise message that captures attention and drives action. Ensure that every piece of content reinforces this core message.
• Tone and communication style: Develop a consistent voice that reflects your brand personality and appeals to your target audience. Depending on your brand and campaign goals, this could range from professional and authoritative to friendly and conversational.
• Visual elements (imagery, colors, fonts): Create a cohesive visual identity that supports your message and enhances brand recognition. Consider how these elements will translate across different mediums and platforms.
• Call-to-action (CTA): Craft compelling CTAs that guide your audience toward the desired action, whether purchasing, signing up for a newsletter, or requesting more information.

5. Channel Selection

Choosing the right marketing channels is a critical decision to make or break your campaign. It’s essential to align your channel selection with your target audience’s preferences and behaviors, ensuring your message reaches them where they’re most receptive.

A multi-channel approach often yields the best results, allowing you to create multiple touchpoints and reinforce your message across various platforms.

This strategy recognizes that consumers today interact with brands through numerous channels before making a decision. Consider a mix of:

• Digital channels (social media, email marketing, content marketing, paid advertising)
• Traditional channels (print media, television, radio)
• Direct marketing (direct mail, telemarketing)
• Events and experiential marketing

The key is to select channels that complement each other and create a cohesive user experience throughout the customer journey.

6. Budget Allocation

Determining the overall budget for your campaign and allocating resources effectively across different channels and activities is crucial in ensuring campaign success.

This process requires careful consideration of various factors and should be aligned with your campaign objectives and expected ROI.

Consider the following factors when allocating your budget:

• Cost of content creation
• Advertising spend
• Marketing technology and tools
• Agency or freelancer fees
• Production costs for physical materials

Be prepared to adjust your budget allocation based on performance data as the campaign progresses.

7. Measuring Campaign Success with KPIs

Defining and tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) is essential for evaluating the success of your marketing campaign and making data-driven decisions.

KPIs are quantifiable metrics that align with your campaign objectives and help you measure progress toward your goals.

• Impressions: The number of times your content is displayed or viewed, regardless of clicks
• Organic Traffic: The volume of visitors coming to your website through search engines
• Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors who leave your website after viewing only one page
• Time on Site: The average time users spend on your website per visit
• Pages per Visit: The average number of pages viewed during a session

Executing Your Marketing Campaign Plan

With your plan in place, it’s time to bring your campaign to life. Here are some critical steps in the execution phase:

• Content Creation: Develop high-quality, engaging content that aligns with your messaging strategy and resonates with your target audience.
• Channel Setup: Prepare your chosen marketing channels, ensuring all technical aspects are in place (e.g., setting up ad accounts and optimizing landing pages).
• Launch: Launch your campaign according to your timeline, ensuring all team members are aligned and ready to support it.
• Monitoring and Optimization: Regularly review your campaign performance against your KPIs. Based on the data you collect, be prepared to make real-time adjustments.
• Engagement and Community Management: Actively engage with your audience across channels, responding promptly to comments, questions, and feedback.
• Reporting and Analysis: Conduct regular reviews of your campaign performance, sharing insights with stakeholders and identifying areas for improvement.

Monitoring and Analyzing Results

As your campaign runs, continuously monitor your KPIs. Use A/B testing to refine your approach and improve results.

After the campaign concludes, analyze the data against your KPIs to identify successes and areas for improvement. Document these insights to inform future campaigns.

Using Analytics Tools

Utilize analytics tools like Google Analytics or SocialBu to track the performance of your campaign in real time. These tools can provide valuable insights into how your audience engages with your content and where you may need to adjust.

SocialBu for Diligent Marketing Campaign

To take your marketing campaign to the next level, consider using SocialBu . This powerful social media management tool helps you streamline your presence, schedule posts, and engage with your audience. With SocialBu, you can:

• Schedule posts in advance to save time and increase consistency
• Create and curate high-quality content with a free AI post generator that resonates with your audience
• Engage with your audience and build strong relationships
• Monitor your performance and adjust your strategy accordingly
• Automate Your Social Media and create fully dynamic automation rules to support your social media and eliminate repetitive tasks.

By leveraging SocialBu for your marketing campaign, you’ll be able to:

• Increase brand awareness and reach new heights
• Drive more leads, conversions, and sales
• Build strong relationships with your customers and establish your brand as a thought leader

Q: What are the 7 steps of a marketing plan?

• Set marketing objectives
• Conduct market research
• Analyze competitors
• Identify target audience
• Develop marketing strategies
• Establish budget and resources
• Monitor and evaluate performance

Q: How to plan out a marketing campaign?

• Define campaign goals and objectives
• Identify the target audience and their needs
• Choose marketing channels (e.g., social media, email, ads)
• Create engaging content and messaging
• Set budget and resource allocation
• Establish metrics for success
• Launch and monitor the campaign

Q: What are the 4 stages of a marketing campaign?

• Planning : Define goals, target audience, and marketing strategies
• Execution : Launch and implement the marketing campaign
• Monitoring : Track performance and metrics
• Evaluation : Analyze results and optimize for future campaigns

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Resources for Your Growing Business

The importance of business plan: 5 key reasons.

A key part of any business is its business plan. They can help define the goals of your business and help it reach success. A good business plan can also help you develop an adequate marketing strategy. There are a number of reasons all business owners need business plans, keep reading to learn more!

Here’s What We’ll Cover:

What Is a Business Plan?

5 reasons you need a well-written business plan, how do i make a business plan, key takeaways.

A business plan contains detailed information that can help determine its success. Some of this information can include the following:

• Market analysis
• Cash flow projection
• Competitive analysis
• Financial statements and financial projections
• An operating plan

A solid business plan is a good way to attract potential investors. It can also help you display to business partners that you have a successful business growing. In a competitive landscape, a formal business plan is your key to success.

Check out all of the biggest reasons you need a good business plan below.

1. To Secure Funding

Whether you’re seeking funding from a venture capitalist or a bank, you’ll need a business plan. Business plans are the foundation of a business. They tell the parties that you’re seeking funding from whether or not you’re worth investing in. If you need any sort of outside financing, you’ll need a good business plan to secure it.

2. Set and Communicate Goals

A business plan gives you a tangible way of reviewing your business goals. Business plans revolve around the present and the future. When you establish your goals and put them in writing, you’re more likely to reach them. A strong business plan includes these goals, and allows you to communicate them to investors and employees alike.

3. Prove Viability in the Market

While many businesses are born from passion, not many will last without an effective business plan. While a business concept may seem sound, things may change once the specifics are written down. Often, people who attempt to start a business without a plan will fail. This is because they don’t take into account all of the planning and funds needed to get a business off of the ground.

Market research is a large part of the business planning process. It lets you review your potential customers, as well as the competition, in your field. By understanding both you can set price points for products or services. Sometimes, it may not make sense to start a business based on the existing competition. Other times, market research can guide you to effective marketing strategies that others lack. To have a successful business, it has to be viable. A business plan will help you determine that.

4. They Help Owners Avoid Failure

Far too often, small businesses fail. Many times, this is due to the lack of a strong business plan. There are many reasons that small businesses fail, most of which can be avoided by developing a business plan. Some of them are listed below, which can be avoided by having a business plan:

• The market doesn’t need the business’s product or service
• The business didn’t take into account the amount of capital needed
• The market is oversaturated
• The prices set by the business are too high, pushing potential customers away

Any good business plan includes information to help business owners avoid these issues.

5. Business Plans Reduce Risk

Related to the last reason, business plans help reduce risk. A well-thought-out business plan helps reduce risky decisions. They help business owners make informed decisions based on the research they conduct. Any business owner can tell you that the most important part of their job is making critical decisions. A business plan that factors in all possible situations helps make those decisions.

Luckily, there are plenty of tools available to help you create a business plan. A simple search can lead you to helpful tools, like a business plan template . These are helpful, as they let you fill in the information as you go. Many of them provide basic instructions on how to create the business plan, as well.

If you plan on starting a business, you’ll need a business plan. They’re good for a vast number of things. Business plans help owners make informed decisions, as well as set goals and secure funding. Don’t put off putting together your business plan!

If you’re in the planning stages of your business, be sure to check out our resource hub . We have plenty of valuable resources and articles for you when you’re just getting started. Check it out today!

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