8 Steps to a Great Marketing Plan  

Trying to achieve success in business without a good marketing plan is like boarding a plane and not knowing its destination. While you will get somewhere, it probably will not be where you want to be. Without a marketing plan, you will waste your marketing dollars and your promotional budgets will not yield the best results. In order to really succeed, you and your business need to have a plan to reach out to prospective customers.

Creating a marketing plan is not that difficult. Just follow these simple steps, and you will be able to make your marketing part of your everyday routine and reach your growth goals that much sooner.

1. Examine your current business.
The first step in your marketing plan is to figure out where you are right now. What is your core business? What is its position in the market? Do your prospective customers see you the same way you do? One thing you may want to do is to ask some of them for their feedback.

Try to summarize your business, including its philosophy, strengths and weaknesses in four or five paragraphs. It does not have to be a book--just get everything down on paper. Be concise and be specific.

2. Determine Your Goals
Now you can decide where you want to go. What you are trying to accomplish with this plan? Increase the number of sales? Increase the value of each sale Obtain new clients? These are the three basic ways of building your business and the right marketing plan is critical to your success.

Be as specific as possible as you outline each of your goals. Optimism is great but use a healthy dose of realism to keep you grounded. "I want to double my sales" might seem like a worthy goal but is not specific and may not be realistic. "I plan to increase the number my sales by 10% by target marketing to current clients" is a good start and probably is obtainable. If you have multiple goals, prioritize them so that you can create a realistic plan to achieve them.

3. Focus
What is your target market? If you don't know, how will you ever be able to reach them? Don't try to be all things to everyone. Break your target market into distinct segments and create your messages to reach each segment. Be as specific as possible. Are you marketing business to business or business to consumer? If you have several markets, rank them in order of priority.

4. Research
There is a variety of sources you can use to obtain information about your target market. Many of these sources are free. You will want to learn about the demographics (the physical characteristics) such as age, geography, income level, etc of your market as well as insights into trends, buying habits, market segments and the like.

For business to business (BTB), there are industry specific resources such as trade associations and industry publications. Your state or county Department of Economic Development can provide information about consumer audiences in your region. The Small Business Administration (SBA) is another free resource.

Armed with this information, you will now be able to write a detailed profile of your market segments. Include all the demographic and psychographic information that you can. Again, the more specific you can be in defining your target market, the better your plan.

5. Create an Action Plan
This is the essence of your marketing plan. Create a strategy, key messages and a series of specific steps that will help you accomplish your goals.

Consider all available media and then select those that may be best for your specific market. In addition to the usual newspaper, radio, TV, magazine or outdoor advertising consider direct-marketing programs, including postcards, sales letters, fliers, business reply cards, and newsletters. In addition, think about 800 numbers and PR elements such as publicity, events, speaking engagements, sponsorships, opinion polls and the like.

Don't neglect the power of the internet with pay per click advertising and especially your own website. Online promotional opportunities include blogging, posting articles, or uploading information to a newsgroup or special-interest forum.

 Other options to achieve your goals and cut your costs include teaming up with related, non-competing businesses for in-store promotions or cross-promotional outreach.

6: Budget Your Marketing Plan
Often when business slows down the first place business owners cut is the marketing budget. But this should be the last place to make cuts! In fact, the marketing budget should increase in slow times - you need to make potential customers even more aware of your products and services.

A better idea is to look at where you are spending those precious dollars. Track results carefully and use your budget where you will get the best return on your investment. You need to monitor the budget and prioritize.

7: Schedule Your Projects
Once you've broken down the steps involved in each marketing activity, determine how much time each step will take and set a deadline to each step. Take small steps if necessary and be ready to adjust to the results.

8: Do It!
You now have an effective step by step plan that will help you reach your target market in a well researched and carefully constructed manner.

But your marketing plan should be revisited and revised from time to time. Track results and if something isn't working, discard or change it.