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Create Your Marketing Plan Your marketing plan should be a clear,
concise, well thought out document that guides you through your marketing
program. It should focus on the objective of your marketing and how you intend
to accomplish that objective. Whether your company provides products or
services, your marketing plan is essential to your success. The six major elements to creating a
successful marketing plan are listed below. You may only need only a sentence or
two per section... or you might want to break each down into a few succinct
bullet points. 1.
The Purpose 2.
Your Target Customer 3.
The Benefits of Your Product or Service 4.
Your Positioning 5.
Your Marketing Tactics 6.
Your Marketing Budget As you go through each section, keep the
following tips and hints in mind: Keep your marketing plan simple.
Many small business owners get so involved
in details that they lose sight of their goals. By keeping your plan simple, you
will create a clear roadmap that focuses on what you need to accomplish. Write your marketing plan down (as
opposed to thinking about it and keeping it in your head).
It is important to have a document that
will remind you what you are trying to accomplish. Be direct and be clear.
If you're not sure, ask a friend, relative,
colleague or employee to read your plan. They should immediately grasp your
goals. Don't build in too much flexibility.
You may be tempted to plan for various
market contingencies. If your market changes that quickly, then you should
incorporate that into your plan. But create a strategy you can keep to - that's
the purpose of having a plan in the first place. Review your marketing plan often -
quarterly or even monthly. That doesn't mean you have to revise it
every month. But take some time to evaluate it and make sure you're on track. Finally....never stop marketing!
Once you have your plan in place, you need
to take action. Commit yourself to your marketing program. Don't let yourself
stagnate. Keep at it, and you'll be giving your business the opportunity to
flourish The Purpose The general purpose of any marketing plan
is to maximize your business' profits. But what does that mean for your
business? Spell it out here. If you're a children's clothing designer, your
purpose might be "To sell the greatest number of infant dresses at the
lowest cost per dress". If you're a self-employed computer consultant who
helps companies utilize the Internet, your purpose might be "To book my
time completely by getting the greatest number of clients at the lowest possible
cost." Some things to think about when you're
writing this section: Your marketing plan's purpose may seem
obvious to you. But by putting it up front and in writing, you will stay focused
on your intent. Many businesses think their marketing plan
is about increased exposure, getting press, writing cool ads, and the like.
These are not purposes, they are tactics. The end result of any of these is to
increase your profits. If you're having trouble answering
"what is the purpose of your marketing plan," you might want to think
"why are you marketing?" Your answers to these questions should be the
same. Your Target
Customers In order to reach your target customers,
you've got to know who they are. Look for common identifiable characteristics.
Are they companies or individuals? Do they fall into a certain age, geographic
or income demographic? How do they buy your type of products or services? How
often do they buy them? What features do they look for? Don't use general terms - instead of
"people who want to buy a dress for an infant" use something like
"grandparents and other gift givers who are looking for a special outfit
for a newborn." Be careful not to spread yourself too thin.
Not everyone is your target customer. Don't sell to everyone - segment your
markets. If you are selling home heating oil in a specific region, you could
target your marketing at every household in that region. But would that be an
efficient use of your time and money? Probably not. You'd want to narrow your
focus. Is your target customer existing users of home heating oil or is it
people who use gas heat but are thinking of converting to oil? Or are you
looking for people who've just bought a house and haven't decided who they will
buy their oil from? Are you selling to residential customers or to local
businesses? Some other things to look out for: Be sure your target market is large enough
to support your sales objectives. Don't guess who your target market is. When
possible, quantify by numbers through research. Call trade associations; go to
your research library and look up market data; use demographic information from
the census; etc. The purchaser of your product or service
may not necessarily be the user. If you're selling business-to-business,
remember that your product or service is bought by a person, not by a company. The Benefits of Your
Product or Service You don't market a product, and you don't
market a service. You market benefits. Describe them here. Think in terms of the
distinctive features of your product or service that set you apart from your
competition. This is also known as your Unique Selling Proposition, or USP. It
could be the design of your product, your knowledge of the market, a new
technology, a special service, a singular talent, or something else. For
example, the USP of a Sony television is the superior picture of the Trinitron
tube. Burger King's USP is that its burgers are flame broiled. Think about these points when you're
developing your USP: You might want to consider your weaknesses
as well as your strengths. Once you know what they are, you can use marketing to
maximize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses. Also consider your competitors' strengths
and weaknesses - so you can minimize their strengths and take advantage of their
weaknesses. Your Positioning Position is your identity in the
marketplace; how you want the market and your competitors to view your product
or service. Your positioning will have an impact on every segment of your
marketing. Base your positioning on the benefits your
offer, who your customers are, and how your competitors are positioned. Keep
your positioning statement highly focused and succinct. For example, Acme Movers
could be positioned as "the most dependable moving company in the Tri-City
region." Two architects who specialize in kitchens could have totally
different positions - one could be "the most innovative designer of modern
kitchen environments," while the other could be "the most
cost-effective designer of traditional kitchens." Whose kitchen do you
think you'd see in Metropolitan Home and whose do you think is targeted
at the average buyer? Some positioning tips: When creating your positioning statement,
think in terms of extremes - the "most," the "best," the
"fastest," the "cheapest," the "only," etc. If there's not much difference between you
and your competitors, look for a meaningful customer want or need that has not
yet been filled. Don't position directly against a
competitor, if possible. If you do, you may be caught without a position should
your customer change its focus. Instead, focus more on your product's or
service's strengths. Be very careful if you position solely on
price, since that position can be very easily pre-empted. Don't position just on image. You need to
back up your positioning with substance. If you can't, it's a recipe for
disaster. Your Marketing
Tactics Describe the specific marketing tactics you
intend to use to reach your target customers - advertising, public relations, or
sales promotions, for example. These are the weapons of your marketing strategy.
Choose them wisely. Make sure that they agree and support your positioning and
your benefits. It is not necessary to spell out in your
marketing plan exactly how you will use each tool. You might want to discuss
briefly the purpose and the tone of the various tactics. For example, an
Internet consultant might write: "Press releases will focus on our Internet
expertise"; "Top management will speak at computer trade shows";
"Print advertising will focus on classifieds in The News' weekly computer
section." Remember that your marketing plan is your guide - you don't want
to get enmeshed in details. Here is a list of tools that you might be
using. Of course, there are many other marketing weapons you can choose.
Your Marketing
Budget Briefly discuss your how much money you
intend to invest in marketing as a percentage of your projected gross sales. You
can break it down on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis. Ideally, you will
have already determined the amount of your marketing budget when you created
your business' various financial statements. The figure you choose will depend
greatly on your type of business and your goals. It can be anywhere from 5% to
50% or more. If you're a heavily marketing driven venture - a company selling
products through direct mail and direct response advertising, for instance -
then you will likely allocate more than a company that will build its client
base through networking and relationship marketing. Here are a couple of other things to
consider when you're creating your budget: By putting down
a figure, you are committing yourself to supporting your marketing program. You
will know how much you can afford to spend on different forms of advertising,
PR, and other tactics. Be sure to keep
track of how effective each marketing tactic is. You want to get the maximum
return on your marketing investments.
SWOT Analysis
What is it?
You can use a SWOT analysis to identify and
analyze the Strengths and Weaknesses of your organization, as well
as the Opportunities and Threats revealed by the information you
have gathered on the external environment. Who uses it?
The team members, the managers. Why use it?
To develop a plan that takes into
consideration many different internal and external factors, and maximizes the
potential of the strengths and opportunities while minimizing the impact of the
weaknesses and threats. When to use it?
While developing a strategic plan or
planning a solution to a problem, after you have analyzed the external
environment (for example, the culture, economy, health, sources of funding,
demographics, etc.). How to use it:
1.
Internal Analysis:
Examine the capabilities of your organization. This can be done by analyzing
your organization's strengths and weaknesses.. 2.
External Analysis:
Look at the main points in the environmental analysis, and identify those points
that pose opportunities for your organization, and those that pose threats
or obstacles to performance. 3.
If you need additional information Decide whether the answers or the data
collected reveal external opportunities or threats. 4.
Enter the information you have collected in steps one and two into a
table as illustrated below:
1.
You can use this information to help you develop a strategy that uses the
strengths and opportunities to reduce the weaknesses and threats, and to achieve
the objectives of your organization. Example:
Force Field Analysis
After developing the Vision and Mission
Statements, Mrs. Alvarez is eager to take the next step, which is to define the
Strategic Plan. This will result in the action plan that the health center will
take to achieve the mission, as presented in the mission statement. There are
four main steps to the strategic analysis technique: 1.
Force field analysis (which includes brainstorming) 2.
Generating alternatives (which includes using the affinity technique) 3.
Viability analysis (which
includes using a prioritization matrix) 4.
Developing a Plan of Action Force Field Analysis
To begin the force field analysis, the team
invites the other clinic staff to a brainstorming session to determine the
different forces that promote or hinder the health center's achievement of its
mission. Brainstorming is a lively technique that helps a group generate as many
ideas as possible in a short time period. Nurse Cruz volunteers to be in charge of
the brainstorming session. First, she explains to the group that their opinions
are important and welcome -- and will not be perceived by management as
criticism. She draws two different columns on newsprint, one for the driving
forces (the factors that promote achievement of the mission), and the other for
the restraining forces (the factors that hinder achievement of the mission). As
the brainstorm continues, Nurse Cruz puts the ideas in the appropriate column.
Generating Alternatives and Viability
Analysis
Generating Alternatives
Keeping the driving and restraining forces
in mind, the team has a brainstorming session to generate possible lines of
action for achieving the Mission, again using the affinity technique. As a result of the brainstorming, the team
comes up with five possible strategies: 1.
better marketing of health center services to the community so that users
know about the services provided by the health center; 2.
restructuring of the health center's facilities to make people feel more
comfortable in the health center; 3.
improving staff performance through training and through reorganization
of the health center; 4.
improving quality of services; 5.
coordination with other providers to improve coverage. Viability Analysis
The team reviews the possible strategies to
see if they are viable and consistent with the health center's mission
statement. Mrs. Alvarez introduces the team to a technique called Viability
Analysis and the tool, prioritization matrix. She explains that this exercise is
founded on a strong participatory principle with each person voting three times
for each criteria. She encourages the team to take on this responsibility and
asks them to express any concerns. Satisfied that this is real work, they agree.
Mrs. Alvarez explains that a prioritization
matrix is a useful technique for achieving consensus about an issue. The matrix
helps the team rank problems or issues (usually generated through brainstorming)
by a particular criterion that is important to them. The team decides to base the analysis on
three criteria: effectiveness, cost, and technical feasibility. The team will
examine each of the alternatives using these three criteria.
Mrs. Alvarez asks the team to vote on the
most effective, least expensive, a nd most technically feasible line of action.
Each participant votes three times for each of the criteria, and each vote has
the same weight (1 point). After the voting is completed, Mrs. Alvarez adds
together the votes received for each suggested line of action and tallies the
votes in the right-hand column, under Total. Viability Analysis Using a Prioritization Matrix
Developing a Plan of Action
The team prioritizes the alternative lines
of action based on their totals. Marketing seems to be the most popular strategy
among the staff. However, Mrs. Alvarez reminds the staff that realistically,
they need to work on all five strategies at some point to fulfill the mission
statement. The strategic line of action, as determined
by using the four steps of the strategic analysis, is the following: "Improve the overall quality of
services provided by the health center by
The marketing mix
In order to achieve your marketing
objectives you need to have a strategy that includes different elements - the
various parts of the marketing mix. Calling it a mix reminds you to try and get
the balance right between the different elements. It is easy to assume that one
part of the mix is wrong, when in fact it is another. For example, if take-up of a newly-priced
service is poor, it could be that the answer is to change the service, or to
deliver it in a way that is more convenient to the user, or to improve the
quality of the promotion (rather than to cut the price). McCarthy identified the four P's of the
marketing mix:
There are two ways to impress bluffers.
The second way to show your marketing
knowledge is to dismiss the P's as being as old fashioned as the 1980s, and
insist on the C's developed by Robert Lauterborn (1) and put forward by Philip
Kotler:
These C's reflect the client-oriented
marketing philosophy of the 1990s. They provide useful reminders - for example
that you need to bear in mind the convenience of the client when deciding where
to offer a service. Some would argue that the marketing mix is too
product-oriented, and that modern marketing should not focus on it. However, it
does provide a handy framework for marketing analysis. The C's are also not
nearly so memorable as the P-words, and marketing texts still tend to use the
latter to describe the elements of the mix. Mission Statement A mission statement should embody the
vision and values of an organisation and ensure that everyone knows what they're
aiming for. It is important that the staff of an organisation identify with and
'own' the mission. If they do not, the mission is unlikely to be achieved,
particularly if you are offering services (which depend on the commitment of
staff). The other stakeholders (customers, funding bodies etc.) should also be
able to fit the mission to their idea of what the organisation is about. If
there is too much of a mismatch (e.g. if you were running a small college
library and had as your mission 'to be the best library in the world'), people
are very sceptical about the stated mission. Mission formulation and organisational
objective-setting have received much more attention in the information and
library press recently. This area is relevant to marketing because you can only
set priorities for your marketing plan, if you know your overall priorities. For
example, if a local authority has set ethnic minority needs as a priority, or if
a company is focusing on a particular sector of its business, this will need to
be reflected in the information centre's marketing plan. Market Research Market research is supposed to be a
systematic activity - orderly and impartial. Information scientists and
librarians have been undertaking market research for many years, but tended in
the past to call this 'user studies'. This term has become less fashionable as
it has been realised that it is as important to study non-users. The cycle for market research involves: 1.
Defining the problem (eg 'Department X scarcely ever asks me for
information') 2.
Developing a hypothesis (eg 'They don't realise how much relevant
information I could access') 3.
Deciding how to test it (using either secondary data, or primary data -
see below) 4.
Information gathering 5.
Collation and interpretation 6.
Decision making Problem and hypothesis
One danger to be avoided is making too many
assumptions about what is causing the problem. In the above example, it might be
wrong to assume that the potential users were unaware of what you had to offer.
It could be that they knew about it, and didn't think it very useful, or that
they were obtaining better information elsewhere. Therefore it can be useful to
brainstorm at the 'Hypothesis development' stage. Starting out with a hypothesis
(as opposed to deciding to 'find out what users want') should help to focus the
research on the questions that you really need to know the answers to, and helps
to avoid unnecessary questions. Research and analysis
It is important to decide how you are going
to analyse the results of your research, and how you are going to use this
analysis in the decision-making process, before finalising your research method.
Anyone who has been involved in original research will know that planning, data
collection and analysis can take a great deal of time. You therefore only want
to collect information you are going to be able to analyse properly, and only
analyse information you will use to make decisions. Secondary data collection involves
collecting material relevant to the problem, but not gathered specially for it:
ie, existing data. This can either be internally or externally produced, and is
the part which information scientists should be able to do rather better than
some market researchers. Primary data is collected specifically to
help with the question you are addressing. It is normally collected through
observation or surveys. There may also be more rigidly controlled experimental
research, but this tends to be carried out more often on the captive audiences
of the information science schools. If you have lots of money you may be able to
commission commercial market research consultants to do research for you.
If the target population is too large to be
surveyed in toto, sampling (choosing a limited number of people to
represent the whole population) is the usual approach. Ideally you should try to
eliminate bias (which might, for example, be introduced if you just surveyed
users who happened to come into your information centre) by using:
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