Every business utilizes marketing in different ways to engage its target market. A Marketing Plan is a comprehensive document that outlines your overall marketing efforts, including external and internal marketing, budget, and goals. A Marketing Plan is a blueprint that outlines how your business will implement a marketing strategy to achieve business objectives including sales targets or customer acquisition. In the following article, we are going to be talking about the importance of a marketing plan!
Reason 1 – A Marketing Plan Maximizes your Marketing Budget and ROI
A component of a marketing plan involves setting a marketing budget. According to the U.S. Small Business Administrator, startups and small businesses should plan to spend about 7% to 8% of their gross revenue on marketing and advertising. If profit is falling below $5 million annually, the U.S. Small Business Administration suggests bumping marketing spend up to 10% to 12% of gross revenue. However, setting a marketing budget involves more than calculating a percentage of your gross revenue. Your marketing budget should take into account all aspects of your business, including internal and external marketing, print and digital marketing, the launching of new products or services, customer service, client retention, and more! Writing down each component of your marketing will help you see the full picture of your efforts and ensure you are not neglecting any key investments in your business’s marketing.
Reason 2 – Marketing Strategy
What is your Unique Value Proposition (UVP)? Your UVP is a clear statement that describes the benefits of your offer, how you solve your customer’s needs, and what distinguishes you from the competition. A value proposition is a promise of value to be delivered. It’s the primary reason a prospect should buy from you. A UVP can also serve an important role internally as it forces you to consider your company’s mission and its very reason for being. As a business owner, you need to consider and communicate who your business is for, what drives you to offer the services you offer, and how you want to make a unique impact. Your UVP is your key differentiator and the reason your customer will buy from you and an important part of your marketing strategy for attracting new customers.
Reason 3 – Being Proactive Instead of Reactive
A strategic marketing plan helps you to identify new trends, avoid potential threats, and capitalize on future opportunities. Through brainstorming, innovation, and creativity your business will be able to discover and implement marketing in a proactive manner rather than being reactive and constantly having to pivot every time a change occurs.
Reason 4 – Creating Consistency
A marketing plan also increases the consistency of your branding and messaging. When we help our clients understand the importance of their marketing plans, we create campaigns surrounding business goals focused on reaching their target market through consistent messaging, branding, and look and feel. This helps your marketing better resonate with your customers, and hopefully keep your brand top of mind!
DID YOU KNOW? Younger generations expect a more personalized experience when interacting with brands.
7 Do’s and Don’ts When Creating a Marketing Plan
DO’S
- Do make SMART Goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-Based)
- Do evaluate your target audience and plan your strategy around them
- Do create a SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)
- Do evaluate your website and social media
- Do evaluate your target audience and plan your strategy around them
- Do focus on what your customers want and need
- Do implement a strong social media strategy
- Do make your marketing plans mobile-friendly
DON’TS
- Don’t forget to study your market
- Don’t forget to update your strategy often, marketing trends are constantly changing
- Don’t misuse multimedia
- Don’t hire multiple marketing vendors. Oftentimes businesses looking to improve their marketing will use multiple agencies in an attempt to save money but this just ends up costing you more of a headache and money in the long haul.
- Don’t lose motivation.
- Don’t get overzealous. It is ok to start small. If you set goals that are too big right from the start you are already setting yourself up for failure. Be realistic and reasonable with your marketing plan.
We hope you better understand the importance of a marketing plan! If you need some help growing your business with a strategic marketing plan, we invite you to schedule a consultation with Spotted Fox Digital and our marketing specialists!
