How to make a marketing
plan and why is it so essential to the success of your business? Find
out here, in the first section of our comprehensive guide to creating
a marketing plan.
By: Laura Tiffany
www.entrepreneur.com
Firms that are successful in
marketing invariably start out right if they make a marketing plan. Large companies have
plans with hundreds of pages; small companies can get by with a
half-dozen sheets. Put your marketing plan in a three-ring binder.
Refer to it at least quarterly, but better yet monthly. Leave a tab
for putting in monthly reports on sales/manufacturing; this will allow
you to track performance as you follow the plan.
The plan should cover one year. For small companies, this is often the
best way to think about marketing when you make a marketing plan. Things change, people leave,
markets evolve, customers come and go. Later on we suggest creating a
section of your plan that addresses the medium-term future--two to
four years down the road. But the bulk of your plan should focus on
the coming year.
You should allow yourself a couple of months to write the plan, even
if it's only a few pages long. Developing the plan is the "heavy
lifting" of marketing. While executing the plan has its challenges,
deciding what to do and how to do it is marketing's greatest
challenge. Most marketing plans kick off with the first of the year or
with the opening of your fiscal year if it's different.
Who should see your plan? All the players in the company. Firms
typically keep their marketing plans very, very private for one of two
very different reasons: Either they're too skimpy and management would
be embarrassed to have them see the light of day, or they're solid and
packed with information . . . which would make them extremely valuable
to the competition.
While your business plan and your marketing plan have a lot in common,
make sure to keep them separate. Your business plan should show how
you plan to support the operation of your marketing. When you make a marketing
plan should be a concrete working-out of the ideas implicit in your
business plan.
You can't do a marketing plan without getting many people involved. No
matter what your size, get feedback from all parts of your company:
finance, manufacturing, personnel, supply and so on--in addition to
marketing itself.
This is especially important because it will take all aspects of your
company to make your marketing plan work. Your key people can provide
realistic input on what’s achievable and how your goals can be
reached, and they can share any insights they have on any potential,
as-yet-unrealized marketing opportunities, adding another dimension to
your plan. If you're essentially a one-person management operation,
you'll have to wear all your hats at one time--but at least the
meetings will be short!
What's the relationship between your marketing plan and your business
plan or vision statement? Your business plan spells out what your
business is about--what you do and don't do, and what your ultimate
goals are. It encompasses more than marketing; it can include
discussions of locations, staffing, financing, strategic alliances and
so on.
It includes "the vision thing," the resounding words that spell
out the glorious purpose of your company in stirring language. Your
business plan is the U.S. Constitution of your business: If you want
to do something that's outside the business plan, you need to either
change your mind or change the plan. Your company's business plan
provides the environment in which you make a marketing plan that must flourish.
The two documents must be consistent.
