Any entrepreneur knows that they need a business plan. What most tend to ignore is that a marketing plan is just as important for the company. A good marketing plan will not only help you acquire new clients but will also be vital in retaining the ones you already have.
It is your plan of action that details what you will be selling, who is your target audience and what are the tools and tactics you will be implementing in order to reach your goals.
It doesn’t have to be long, you can actually write everything down in a bullet point list and it can get you started and moving pretty effectively.
If you are struggling to begin and feel overwhelmed by all of the information out there, start with these 5 easy steps and get the creative juices flowing.
- Situation Analysis
Start mapping out where you are right now. Define your company and your product or service and write down the benefits your company has in comparison to your competition. Take into consideration that target audiences have become really segmented and you have to have a profound understanding of your niche. Overview your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, this will help you foresee expansion possibilities and external opportunities.
- Your target audience
Write down your prospective client’s profile and take everything into consideration. What do they do for a living? What do they like? What do they don’t like? What are their pain points? Describe your prospects in terms of demographics (age, sex, geographic location) and lifestyle. What is their personality? How much do they earn? Every point that will make that perfect customer come to life through your representation.
- Your marketing goals
What are you looking to achieve? Are you planning to increase your sales by 10% every month? Write down a list of goals and make them measurable so that you can then analyze the results and compare.
- Strategies and tactics
It’s time you list the tactics you will be using in order to reach the audience you previously described and accomplish your goals. Create an outline of your strategies and include the tactics you will be using to reach your public in the different stages of your sales cycle.
- Your budget
Marketing is absolutely essential and most of the times it is what gets cut off first when a company is trying to reduce costs. Try different mixes of tactics to see which aligns better to your budget. It is key to never stop promoting your business, just save the costliest tactics to when you can afford them.
Now that you have everything set up, Virtual Emily can be the perfect right hand that will support you in implementing your whole marketing plan.
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