A real pleasure to speak to the East Cobb Business Association today! Today's topic: The seven critical steps to constructing a marketing plan. I promised the group that I would make the outline available to those that wanted it.
Reminder, these steps are to be developed and considered in sequential order. Not randomly selected.
1. UNDERSTAND YOUR MARKET AND YOUR COMPETITION
Is there a market that wants what you sell? Is there enough opportunity to run a profitable business? What about the competition? Is there so much that it will be virtually impossible to get enough market share to run a profitable business? How has your competition positioned itself? Are they underserving a segment of the market that you can serve? If your competition is zigging, can you zag? And zag profitably?
2. UNDERSTAND YOUR CUSTOMER
Who are they? Where are they? Why do they buy? What motivates them to buy? How do they buy? Where do they buy? How do they get their information (trade mags, search engines, industry blogs, social media)? Who makes the buying decisions (lady of the house, the father, the purchasing agent, CEO)?
3. PICK A NICHE
The world is big. Way big. You cannot be everything to everyone. Narrow your focus to a very select target audience that is easily identifiable and easy to contact. If you are a mechanic, specialize in repairing one specific type of automobile. Not every vehicle in Metro Atlanta. And don't forget...you can fix any car that pulls into your garage. But your marketing message must be focused on your niche.
4. CREATE YOUR MESSAGE, YOUR STORY
How are you going to communicate to your niche audience? What is your story? What is the "why" of your business? What is your purpose? And remember, it isn't about you. Or even your product. Your message is about how you serve THEM. It is about how YOU fulfill a want or solve a problem. Yeah, it is an elevator pitch, but your marketing message is so much more than that.
5. PICK YOUR MARKETING TACTICS
This is the fun part! This is HOW you deliver your message. The tactics. The medium you use to deliver your message to your niche audience. Direct mail? Cable advertising buys? Social media? Networking? Magazine advertisements? Newsletters? E-newsletters? Goodyear blimp? And be smart about this. Don't use Twitter to reach an 89-year old grandmother. The goal is to find a medium that reaches the most possible amount of people in your targeted, niche audience, as inexpensively as possible. Harder to figure that out without steps one through four.
[and too many small business people start with Step 5, and market by throwing noodles against the wall, hoping something sticks]
6. SET SALES AND MARKETING GOALS
How many widgets do you have to sell, how many contracts signed, how many purchase orders completed to meet your profit goals? [profit is your goal, correct?] You have to know this. Too many small business people do not. And what is your close rate? If you need to sell 100 widgets to be profitable, and you close 10% of the people you pitch, you need to talk to 1,000 people to close enough business to be profitable. And when I say "talk" to people, I mean that you are engaging with a qualified prospect. The reason most small business owners aren't making it, is that they are NOT talking to enough prospects in the first place. Yeah, it is kind of a numbers game.
7. SET YOUR MARKETING BUDGET
This process is actually simple. Your marketing spend should do one thing: enable you to get an audience with the right amount of qualified prospects. Using the example above, you should spend enough to get you talking to those 1,000 prospects. The problem is, most small business people start with this step and say they only have X to spend on marketing. This is the wrong approach. Because you are flying blind.
Thanks for your attention today, I hope this has been helpful in providing a framework to construct a simple marketing plan for your business. Feel free to email me with questions, or in the comments below.
[you can also join my weekly intrepid marketing tips email list here! i hope you'll join us!]
And here is a short video on this same idea from SalesChaosTV: