The most useful class that I took in graduate school was a class about developing a basic marketing plan. It was useful for two reasons; it gave me the tools I needed in order to create a practical marketing plan, and it gave me the foundation for my graduation project that I was taking on the next semester.
At first, I really struggled with it. I’m someone who writes as if I’m writing online; I’m brief and to the point. This was something that needed a lot of thought and detail. By the time I was done, I went through at least 10 drafts that I would hand in and get handed back.
I did this a lot. Photo credit to photosteve101 via Flickr Creative Commons
Since then, I’ve helped put together 3 more marketing plans for various organizations and businesses, including a local independent band. It’s gotten easier every time. Today, I’m going to share how to put together a very basic marketing plan.
- Determine your issue and/or goal. Do you need to get more subscribers? Maybe more advertising? Are you not getting enough traffic to your site or are you not producing enough revenue? No matter what your issue is, pinpointing it will help you be able to create an effective marketing plan.
- Do research on how other organizations like yours dealt with the issue or accomplished the goal. Do you know of organizations or businesses like your own? Chances are, you aren’t the only one who has dealt with the issue or goal that you are targeting.You can most likely find any information on how they accomplished their goals online. Take some time to check that information out.
- Figure out your target audience. This is likely the most difficult part of your marketing plan endeavor. Sit down and discover who you’re truly aiming at in your marketing and make the rest of your plan about reeling them in.
Hit that target audience! Just... not with arrows. Photo credit to Ben Sutherland via Flickr Creative Commons.
- Be creative! Don’t stick to the same old stuff that you’ve done year in and year out! Get creative. Use new technologies, revamp old ideas, do that thing you’ve always wanted to do. If you have an intern, look to them for some fresh, new ideas. Scan the internet. Be different, be creative, be gutsy!
- Set a budget. Get a dollar value on it. Break up the cost of each individual step and get an overall total. Estimates are fine, but try to estimate on the high end instead of the low end.
- Establish a timeline. Timelines are the best! It gives you a visual representation of what you’re planning to do. The best part? It’s not like your plan will totally fail if you don’t follow it exactly. It’s meant as a guide to help you through the implementation, not as something you cannot deviate from.
- Go for it! The most important part of any marketing strategy is to actually follow through with it. It means nothing to have a plan and then ignore it. So, go for it!
Sitting down and putting together a marketing plan is better than just grasping for straws and pretending to know what you’re doing. So, get to it! Have a great weekend!
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