Marketing planning is a key action that drives business success. The planning process can be summarized into 5 steps, each of which can strategically use research to develop a successful plan.
Step 1: Analyse Your Business
The first step in any planning activity is to determine your basic purpose. Keep this simple - having an achievable and clear purpose motivates you through the challenging times and helps you set objectives that guide your marketing.
Also, conduct some internal business analysis. Describe the strengths and weaknesses of your business, and of your key assets and management. It's also useful to research what level of sales your business can handle, so your marketing plan is designed to attract the number of customers you're really looking for. Too much success too quickly is actually a bad thing for most businesses, resulting in stress and feelings of being overwhelmed. If you're already fairly busy and only want a slight increase in business, plan more narrowly-focused marketing activities such as direct mail rather than ones that will bring in more work than you can currently handle.
Step 2: Analyse Your Product and/or Service
Conduct some primary research so you gain a thorough understanding of the benefits that your products/services bring to your customers, as well as any problems they are having. One of the best ways to learn this is to ask your customers. Don't be shy about asking - most customers will be happy to let you know whether or not they are satisfied. The level of formality in your approach is partly determined by your industry, the type of customers, and the number of customers. A well-managed survey can be an effective way of learning information about your customer's needs and wants, which is key in keeping your current customers. This is important for many reasons, including the fact that it's more expensive to land a new client than to keep a current one.
Step 3: Who and Where are Your Ideal Clients?
Every business has customers who are more profitable and just plain more fun to deal with than others. When you look at your best customers, what similarities can you see between them? What demographic features do they have in common? What problems do they share, and what needs or wants do they try to fill through your business? For B to B businesses, are your best customers all from the same industry, or the same type of company? How would you describe an ideal customer for your business? Answering these questions will help you define a market niche, which will then guide your marketing activities.
Step 4: The Market and Your Competition
Market and competitive research plays a role in any marketing planning. Look at what is happening in your market, including sales figures and who else is serving your market. While true competitive intelligence can involve sleuth-like activities, for most marketing planning, what you find on the Internet is sufficient. Learn your competitors' strengths and weaknesses, because they affect the market you're in. Can you see room in the market that your competition is overlooking?
Step 5: How to Reach Your Ideal Clients
Finally, research where the people or businesses that fit your profile of an ideal customer are located. Where do they like to hang out? What associations do they belong to, and what might they be reading or watching that would make good communication vehicles through which to contact them? Develop methods of reaching them that coincide with their activities, such as placing an ad for a canned food on the inside of shopping carts so people see it when they're deciding what food to buy.
Once you have your plan, then do some test marketing. Be ready to tweak your marketing plan to improve it.
Many small business managers lack time to focus on marketing. We can help. While you focus on the main key to your success - your product and/or service - we can develop and manage a marketing program customized to your goals. From generating marketing ideas right through to final implementation, Route One Research & Marketing Services can help you target new customers and generate brand awareness, giving you a competitive advantage to help your business thrive.
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