10 Steps To An Effective Marketing Plan

by Barbara K. Mednick

As the old saying goes, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you won’t get
there.” Just as a sailor needs to use a compass to navigate his/her way, so too
must entrepreneurs who must continually market their services to current and
prospective clients. This is particularly important in today’s uncertain economy.
As an independent communications consultant, I know it’s challenging to update
my marketing plan. Following are ten steps I’ve developed to help you write an
effective marketing plan.

Blueprint for Action

“The purpose of the marketing plan is to define your market, identify customers
and competitors, outline a strategy for attracting and keeping customers and to
identify and anticipate change,” according to the U.S. Small Business
Administration (SBA). Developing a marketing plan involves four stages of
action:
* Researching and analyzing your business and the market
* Planning and writing the plan
* Implementing the plan
* Evaluating the results

Marketing Plan Format

There are many variations on a marketing plan format, but typically it should
include these ten sections:
1. Situation Analysis
2. Market Overview – trends, market segments, target markets
3. Competitive Review
4. Description of Product/Service
5. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
6. Goals and Objectives – sales goals & marketing objectives
7. Strategies – positioning, product, pricing, distribution, promotion. The
promotion strategy includes advertising, public relations, direct marketing,
promotions and events, product/company marketing materials, premium items
and the sales force.
8. Marketing Budget
9. Timing
10. Evaluation

Ten Step Process

Drawing from my experience of consulting with various clients to create
marketing communication plans and from keeping abreast of industry trends,
here are ten steps to developing an effective marketing plan:
1. Define Product or Service
* Describe product/service and mission in simple terms
* Emphasize your “point of difference”
* Communicate intrinsic benefit/value to your customer

2. Identify Target Audience

* Your audience refers to the people you aim your sales effort at, otherwise
known as your “target market”. You may have more than one target market.
* This includes two factors: 1) Who needs your product/service? 2) What is the
profile of your ideal customer and what are their habits?
* Target markets are described in terms of their shared characteristics.
o For example, if your product/service is aimed at individuals, you can describe
them by age, income, geographic location, and lifestyle.
o If your product/service is aimed at organizations, you can describe them by
number of employees, sales, geographic location, and industry

3. Determine Goals and Objectives

* Set the bar as to what you want to achieve.
* Measure your success against your own efforts, not your competitors.
* Two types of goals:
o Quantitative – those with specific, measurable results and numbers.
o Qualitative – bring increased value, like improving image or visibility.

4. Define the Brand

* Focus your message by identifying 3 to 4 “key messages” to be woven through
all marketing materials.
* There is a lot of “media clutter” — customers are bombarded daily with
hundreds of sales and marketing messages about numerous products and
services.
* To succeed, focus on a particular market and emphasize features/benefits to
them.

5. Set Pricing
* A guidepost for setting price involves estimating the monetary value your
customer will receive, and understanding your financial goals and objectives.
* Remember to price the product/service at a rate higher than your fixed and
variable cost.

6. Establish Marketing Budget

* Set aside a specific dollar amount either per quarter or per year. You need to
make the best marketing decisions possible to maximize the return on your
marketing dollars invested.
* Evaluate marketing decisions such as advertising in the yellow pages, hiring
sales reps or conducting a PR program based on the amount of business a
particular initiative generates.
* Track each initiative and evaluate what worked, what didn’t.

7. Choose Marketing Strategies

* Strategic marketing tools to deliver your message to the target audience.
Brainstorm ideas to reach target market. Be creative — don’t sensor wild ideas.
* Divided into paid, non-paid and non-traditional media.
o Paid media: direct mail, newspaper, radio, TV, billboards, direct sales
o Non-paid media – referred to as public relations because it is exposure through
traditional media without paying for advertising in that media.
o Non-traditional media: includes everything else — sponsorships, ad specialties,
shows/events, electronic media and the Internet.

8. Determine Tactics
* List out specific action steps to achieve each strategy.
* Includes deadlines and key dates for executing all of your marketing activities.

9. Establish Timing
* Establish a specific timetable for each tactic.

10. Measure Results

* Track results of your marketing efforts on an ongoing basis, using tracking
devices such as ad codes, call-in logs and reply cards (if the budget allows).
* Evaluate at the end of the year to see if the results matched your stated goals.
Increase Sales by Changing Two Variables
By Laura Lake
This weekend I had a great time going into Missouri Wine Country, we took a 2.5 hour drive to
explore a few wineries in Herman, Missouri.

I was reminded that 75% of a sale is experience driven. The first winery we attended took us through
a tour and then a quick wine tasting; starting off with the wines that were really not our style. The
second we were personally attended to. We were able to select the wines we wanted to taste and
each wine was paired with a cracker to bring out the flavor of the wine. The lady behind the counter
was attentive and courtesy. We walked out with a list of several wines that hit our favorite list. I
believe some of the wines had a better flavor than the first winery we went too, but maybe it's
because we didn't taste the wines that were of our personal interest? We were bundled in a group and
each of us tasting the same wine. When we vocalized that we would prefer to taste the dryer wines
the older guy behind the counter joked about confusing him. As a result of that experience we walked
out of that winery without purchasing any of the wines we had tasted. The second winery sold us two
cases and a few boxes of the cheese straws that they had paired with the wines.

The point of my article this week is not to rave about the Missouri wines, but rather to emphasis the
importance of creating the experience for your buyers. By creating the experience you increase your
sales rate by 85%.

Here are five ways to create a more positive experience that in return will increase your sales;
therefore increasing your revenue:

• Get Interested: Truly care about your customer. Ask questions, take notes even if they
are only mental, engage in their answers. Take an interest in your customer and they will
remember you.
• Pay Attention: Observe their eyes, their handshake, their facial expression and tone of
voice. Listen to what they say, because they will tell you what they want.
• Make Eye Contact: Do you know how hard it is to get people to look you in the eyes in
the sales process? Differentiate yourself by making eye contact initially and during
conversation.
• Be Friendly: Leave the formal business speak at home. Be friendly – enjoy what you do.
Have fun doing it and those prospects will want to spend time with you.
• Personalize: Get their name, learn their name and use their name. You've now
personalized the sales process and they know you have a genuine interest in taking the
time to get to know who they are and listen to their needs.

Your success in sales is directly determined by the way you are perceived, and the amount of effort
you put into the sales process. Change either of those variables and it will have a huge impact on
whether you success or failure in sales career
13. Distribution Objectives:
What are your distribution objectives? What is the distribution pattern and how is it done and by
whom and what percentage of the costs or price is it? Is it effective and cost-effective?
14. Staff and Outlet Communication Objectives:
Loyal employees create loyal customers. Employee loyalty increases business profitability,
competitiveness and market share. What, how, when, where, why and to whom do your
communicate? And how does it fit in with your overall plans?
15. Training:
Marketing is a hands-on medium, and you need qualified, experienced, dedicated and motivated
personnel - internally and externally. If they are not adequately prepared or trained to support
your marketing efforts it can ruin many successful strategies.
16. 3rd Party Participants:
Which industries, companies or products can be tied in with your products?
17. Research:
Looking at your products and services now and the objectives to be met, do you know enough
about the market, the target market and the competition? What existing research is available?
What further research should be undertaken to help you plan your marketing strategy?
18. Restrictions:
What restrictions exist on words, phrases, slogans, policies, legislation, packaging, mailing,
distributions, etc. What are they and how will you address them?
19. Timing:
When are your trading and financial year-ends? When is the right time to do things?
20. Budgets:
All your marketing activities are expensive and can erode profits quickly unless kept under tight
financial control. The cost of each and every activity should be budgeted for (fixed and variable,
front-end and back-end costs) in advance, so that you can tailor them to maximise the value of
your Rands invested (ROI), related to the increase in revenue which it is designed to achieve.
21. Control, Evaluation, Measurement, Accountability (call it what you want):
Evaluate your efforts, review the situation and initiate corrective action and adjustments in
mission, objectives, strategy or implementation, in the light of actual experience, changing
conditions, new ideas and new opportunities. Analyse and measure the right things - against
your quantifiable objectives. Plan who should do it and keep the results and use the information.
22. The Future:
Remember - long-term planning and short-term action!