Your business is growing, and it’s getting harder to manage everything. You know you should better balance which social media channels you’re using, and it would probably be helpful to understand how your competitors are reaching their customers, but how do you manage all that?
With a plan.
Marketing Strategy Refresher
A Marketing Strategy is a process that can allow an organization to concentrate its limited resources on the most significant opportunities to increase sales and achieve sustainable competitive advantage.
In short, it means keeping up with ever-changing marketing techniques to ensure you’re being as effective as you can with your messaging.
To be as effective as you can be, you need a plan. That’s where the Marketing Plan, or template, comes in.
The Parts
While a Marketing Plan should vary greatly depending on your type of business, growth goals, unique resources, etc., some elements could be standard items to consider.
- Business Information
- Location
- Mission Statement or Vision
- CKey Team Members
- Introduction and Goals
- Who you are in more detail
- How you’re going to get where you want to be
- Competitive Analysis
- SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats)
- Target Market Research & Analysis
- Competitor Market Research
- Brand
- Where is your brand now, and where do you want to be?
- What are your top marketing goals?
- Website
- Are you capitalizing on your current site?
- Would you benefit from a site refresh?
Did you know? 38% of Visitors Leave Unattractive Websites
6. Marketing Channels
- How you’ll use each channel to reach your audience and grow your brand
- Content marketing
- Social media marketing
- Email marketing
7. Measurements and KPIs
- How will you track results?
- How will you change goals based on results?
According to Forbes, “Without meaningful KPIs, you’ll never know what’s really working for your business. Instead of running around in circles, keeping track of carefully selected KPIs can allow you to monitor your successes (and failures) in black and white.”
Forbes
- Marketing Strategy and Tactics
- List marketing campaigns and initiatives underway
- Set a calendar to review and update the plan regularly
Why Marketing Plans Can Vary
It’s hard to follow an exact template when writing a marketing plan because who you are, what you do, and why you’re special matters greatly when developing the roadmap to your success.
Having a marketing specialist write your plan is a great way to get a fresh perspective on complex matters. It’s essential to have someone with an analytical eye pour over the current market, competition, trends, and figures to gather as much data as they can.
That data helps your marketing specialist develop a guide to your brand and a comprehensive strategy that outlines what success will look like and all the steps it will take to get you there.
A marketing specialist is a partner for your business. They’re the ones you would lean on to figure out which social media channel is hot this month (or this hour) and whether your competitor across town is turning social engagement into sales more often than you.
Our partnerships begin with a free strategy session to figure out the best way to make your marketing plan future-proof. If you’d like your book your session now, follow this link.
