10 Easy Steps to Create Great Marketing Plan

Let's make one thing very clear, Marketing Plan is CORE of it all. Without it, tactics have no sense or purpose. No matter what anyone might think or say, without clear Marketign Plan, you're up to losing some serious money, time and credibility.

So, to make your life a bit easier, here are 10 extremely easy steps you should take to create great (mostly) Marketing Plan that works. It comes in a form of questions:

1. How will your marketing plan support your business goals?

This way you'll be able to write down your Marketing Strategy.

2.  What are you trying to accomplish and why?

From this you're on your way to write down your Mission Statement. You need to be able to explain it to your grandmother and your kids. And they should be able to understand it.

3.  Who are you trying to reach with your marketing activities?

This is Targeting and it's one of the most important early steps in this process. Don't think, rather know. To be in the know, do research. Without it, you're blind as bats. And not in a good way.

4.  Who are you up against, and where do you rank?

Again, very important question. You might be surprised with answers.

5.  What makes your business unique?

Be careful with this one, as many start daydreaming here and fall into traps of setting Unique Selling Propositions that make no sense whatsoever. Be very, very careful and straightforward. Do not think Unicorns!

6.  What will you charge and why?

This one is crucial as from the moment you put down prices, this creates your market value. So, do your job and calculate thing properly. Many fail to do so and end up broke and forgotten.

7.   How will you reach your target market?

This is where you begin with Promotional Planning. Sounds easy, but it's f**ng hard, because numbers baby.

8.   How much money will you spend, and on what?

This one is tricky. Be careful with decisions as they can easily put you on a road of confusion and desperation. ROI is the most important thing. Also, have at least three KPI's that really matter. Don't fall into a trap of ?this is cool and trendy?.

9.   What tasks do you need to complete to reach your marketing goals?

Here comes tactics. Create a very good Action list and know why you're doing things you're about to do. Again, don't fall into a trap of ?this is cool and trendy?. Market works very simple. Think media-mix.

10.  How are you implementing, and where can you improve?

Metrics. Without results and reports, all of the above is useless. Without metrics you will not be able to decide for proper marketing tactics. One word: standardisation.

All 10 steps are important, but The most important step is Marketing Strategy. Without it you're left with probability. Sadly, most marketers today completely ignore strategic thinking, analysis and planning. Learn 4 Ps of Marketing and start being honest not only with yourself, but with the Market. Because Market will be extremely honest with you.