3 Things You Should Know Before Starting Your Marketing Plan

When you’re ready to grow your business, what’s your first move?  Businesses set the stage for profitable revenue growth with a Strategic Marketing Plan that identifies the who, what, when and how of marketing.

When developing your Strategic Marketing Plan you will take a hard look inside and outside your company. The process includes identifying gaps in how you go to market and deciding how you’ll fill those gaps. You’ll also identify unmet market needs that your product or company can uniquely satisfy.  Your plan will be the catalyst driving future business development behaviors and actions.

But what do you need to know before getting started?  This post offers three suggestions to help the small to mid-sized business owner get into a mindset conducive to developing and implementing a Strategic Marketing Plan.

MARKETING IS AN INVESTMENT

One of the most important reasons why businesses have a Strategic Marketing Plan is to increase the effectiveness of their tactics.  After all, few marketing tactics are free; in fact, they are serious investments in both money and time.  For this reason, they require monitoring and continuous improvement.  There is a lot of wisdom in the old adage that a former boss of mine used to say, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.”

Continuous improvement follows a cycle.  Here’s how the folks at the American Society for Quality (ASQ) describe it:

• Plan:  Identify an opportunity and plan for change.
• Do: Implement the change on a small scale.
• Check: Use data to analyze the results of the change and determine whether it made a difference.
• Act: If the change was successful, implement it on a wider scale and continuously assess your results. If the change did not work, begin the cycle again.

Fortunately, digital marketing offers marketers ample opportunity to understand what’s working and what isn’t and to make adjustments accordingly.  

In addition to money, be ready to invest time.  I frequently hear from prospective clients that they’re frustrated with marketing efforts that don’t work.  Quite often a primary factor in the lack of success is a lack of persistence. Be ready to invest the time to let marketing tactics bring in the desired results and the time to understand the preferences and habits of your market.  

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STRATEGY AND TACTICS

Strategy is a broad statement of “what” your company will market itself as.  If you are strong in product development, then you will likely follow an innovation strategy and be first to market with new technologies or products.  The reward that goes along with this marketing strategy is first-to-market companies enjoy a long period of industry leadership and large market share.  Or you may opt to develop new markets with your existing product line.  Marketing strategy is all about your place in the market and ties very closely to the specific goals you want to achieve.

Marketing tactics, on the other hand, are the “how” you’ll execute your strategy.  These are the promotional marketing or sales tools you deploy to grow revenue or build brand awareness, such as trade shows, event marketing, web marketing, public relations, direct mail, etc.

Strategy dictates the selection of tactics.  Understanding the difference between strategy and tactics will make conversations with employees and your advertising agency more efficient.

UNDERSTAND MARKET DRIVERS AND OTHER INPUTS

Firms need to look at the market drivers affecting their business, competitors and the environment.  Understanding market trends is essential to making key decisions in your marketing plan, such as identifying unmet customer needs.

Where do you acquire the right inputs? They come from numerous sources both inside the company and out. Market research firms, customers, staff and suppliers are all good sources.

You probably keep tabs on your market - is it growing or declining? A growing market typically means that all boats rise with the tide. However, many growth markets tend to attract a lot of competitors so beware. A declining market may indicate maturity, which is a market stage that is characterized by shrinking margins and heavy discounting.

You should also know enough about your primary competitors’ strengths and weaknesses to determine your position in the market and how to differentiate yourself. The ideal approach to research is to continuously monitor the environment rather than do it occasionally. That way there are fewer surprises.

CONCLUSION

The Strategic Marketing Plan will create the 30,000 foot view business owners need to chart company revenue growth.  It also ensures that scarce marketing dollars are invested wisely, results are monitored and adjustments are made when needed.  Setting Goals and Measures drives the organization toward success.

Having a destination can be a very motivating factor so get going on your strategic marketing plan!  

Who is Affinity Strategy Marketing, Inc.? Affinity is a marketing firm that works with small to mid-size companies that need both strategic and tactical marketing support. Clients access as much assistance as they need in growing their business profitably.  Sign up for our newsletter on our Facebook page.