The first question is why build a marketing plan. The main reason is that is forces you to think about your business and answer some specific questions. The answers to which will get you to either think about your business differently or will focus you on specific areas.
The easiest way to build a marketing plan is to work through a number of questions which force you to think about your business. It can be valuable to do this in a small group, say 2 or 3 key people. Doing this as a group will help you reach agreement around the key topics. Don’t underestimate the value of reaching an agreement or shared view of the world within your business. Having everyone or at least the core team swimming in the same direction can unlock an incredible power within the business.
Key questions you need to ask:
- Who are our target customers?
- Where do our customers spend their time? What media do they consume?
- What are we here to do? What do we help our customers achieve?
- What’s our point of difference? How are we different to our competition?
- How do we authentically demonstrate this to our customers?
- What are our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT)? Build a realistic view of the state of the business now.
- What can we do to address the key issues and capitalise on our strengths and opportunities?
- What is our communication plan – do you have specific messages to communicate at different times of the year?
Author: Duncan Shand
