I believe one of the single most critical components to any comprehensive business plan is the Marketing section. I mean, regardless of how great your product or service is, no one will buy it if you can’t effectively target and reach your prospective customer base.
In my many years of PR and Marketing Communications, I have developed countless Marketing Plans for businesses of all types, sizes and at different stages of growth – from the fresh start-up to the established bellwether that is launching a new campaign. From these experiences, I have learned that a carefully researched, planned and executing Marketing strategy is imperative to the success of any business.
The many successful Marketing campaigns I’ve managed all consist of certain key components that I would argue should never be left out. These include:
A. Situation analysis – synopsis of the market landscape (competitors, target customers, business need, etc.)
B. Market opportunity – What niche exists in the market? What is your anticipated revenue? Can you build or steal market share?
C. Business objectives – What is your business trying to achieve through its marketing efforts? For example: Is it market share, expanding reach into existing set of core customers, expansion into new markets, increased sales, etc.?
D. Key messages – business differentiation statements that uniquely position your business and its offerings against your competitors
E. Strategies – What key approaches will you take to effectively achieve your business objectives? For example: if one of your business objectives is to expand your reach into existing set of core customers, then a supporting strategy might be an executive-level ad campaign targeting senior level executives.
F. Tactics – These are the specific tactical actions you will take to fulfill your strategies. For example if one of your strategies is an executive-level ad campaign, then a supporting tactic might be to develop a new ad that appeals to C-level executives.
G. Execution timeline – putting target completion and execution dates to each tactical action item you have outlined.
This may sound like a lot, but there are many different types of specialized agencies out there to help you flawlessly plan and execute such a strategic Marketing plan including Public relations agencies, Advertising agencies, special-events firms, branding agencies and more.
Thank you Judy for the feedback! I’m thrilled to hear that this has helped you.
Very best,
Kevin
Kevin,
You’ve done one of the things I like best – take a complex situation and distill it into something manageable and understandable.
The entire goal behind my company was basically to do just that – create a simple and effective marketing system for small businesses that they could understand and easily implement.
After creating that marketing system myself, it’s very interesting to see what you picked out as important and how you phrased the different categories.
Thanks for the great work,
– Mason Hipp
Kevin,
This doesn’t sound like a lot at all.
It’s right on point and I learned some things too. I especially appreciate your straightforward question, “Can you steal market share?”
A great refresher to help one get back to the basics. Thanks!
Judy Asman
http://www.judyasman.com
I like all the points. I have been looking a list that complete like this one is. Most are just one stage of the marketing process but this one is the complete picture.
Fred – great feedback! Thank you. Yes I too believe this list is the complete picture.
Mason – great feedback! thank you. Yes I have been told I have a knack for writing with brevity. It’s probably the years and years in Public Relations!
Kevin,
Thanks for articulating these elements. Putting together even the most basic of marketing plans is essential. I would add self-introspection as a key component. Perhaps you could fit that within business objectives.
My experience with small businesses has been that they spend a lot of time thinking about the customer, tactics, and strategies, but not enough time thinking about themselves. By this I mean putting together a true picture of themselves to present to the public.
Jay – good input but I think we might be talking about the same thing. The element I included called Key Messages is where I recommend my clients’ articulating their business proposition.
Kevin
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