Key elements of a Marketing Plan

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Chances are if you are thinking of or already have your own marketing company — you have a marketing plan in place.

This key document provides individuals an idea of what your business is about.

Although all of the sections of the marketing plan are important, we are going to breakdown the most integral parts:

• Market for your product or service: This step involves more work than the perceived simplicity it may convey. This requires studying the “market”, conducting marketing research and devising a carefully thought-out strategy of how your company can tackle that particular category. Before a company goes through the formation of registering it, it may help to do local case studies/focus group testing. It is also important to note that using a generic statement, such as “the size of the market is..” should not be used as a substitute for your company goals — the company is specific to your needs, not the market.
• Marketing Financials: The idea of having extravagant marketing ideas to attract different buyer personas is awesome — until you or the organization have to hit reality — calculating costs, making sure projections are accurate, developing a marketing budget, diversifying where money is being spent. It comes down to managing the company financials in addition to other responsibilities.
• Developing a SWOT Analysis: SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. This mini, but important framework plays a vital role in an evolving market — it not only helps position yourself from competition, but indirectly forces an organization to study their competitors and adjust accordingly.
• Identifying a “Buyer Persona”: This is marketing lingo for identifying a demographic for your product/service. It is important to study what keeps them engaged and how they respond. Each generation will be different. Your organization should carefully study these behaviors and target each demographic accordingly.
• Marketing Mix: By far, the most important step when writing a marketing plan — this is where the marketing strategy is defined and incorporates the 4P’s — price, place, promotion, and positioning. It is extremely important to have a clearly defined strategy.

Marketing plans play a critical role in any business — and should be a guide on how to “improve the craft” or adjust to the market’s needs.

Sources:

[1] Google Images, Marketing Plan

Tej Yale is the Founder/CEO of ThinkImpact Inc, a Marketing Company based in Rochester Hills, Michigan. They offer Social Media Management, Content Management, Graphic Design, Event Promotion, Website Development, Marketing Consulting, Project Management, Business Support.

You can learn more at www.thinkimpact1st.com