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Welcome to the The Marketing Source e-newsletter! Our goal is to provide
you with real-world marketing tips.If you have any ideas for articles,
please send them along.
Resolve Yourself to Plan Your Marketing & Communications: Part I
 How is it possible that the first quarter of the year is already over? After all, you haven't even tackled those January projects (BTW: how's that diet going?)
Never fear, it's never too late to get started on your New Year's resolution to write a strategic marketing plan. Click here to download our favorite format and keep reading.
Start From the Top: Organization Goals
Your marketing plan should be an extension of your company's overall strategic business plan. If you are not already armed with a current company planning document, get in sync by setting up a meeting with your CEO, and/or the senior executive team. This is a great opportunity to discuss where the company is going, how it will grow, big opportunities and of course obstacles including competition.
The View from 10,000 Feet Up
Once you are familiar with business- wide goals and objectives, it's time for you to do some research to assess your organization's internal and external environment. Research can take lots of different forms, qualitative and quantitative analysis each have a place in a good plan. However, one quick and easy way to get a good handle on the organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats is to use one of our favorite tools, the SWOT analysis. You may have used it before, but don't overlook this simple, powerful tool that can give you a new perspective on old problems and open your eyes to challenges headed your way.
Be brutally honest about what your organization does well (and what it doesn't), as well as the challenges it faces. It's tempting to sugar-coat the negative, but it won't help you in the long run. Keep it short and sweet. Use short, active phrases and save the wordy sentences. Use facts, figures and examples when you can, but don't get stuck on the details. Think now - and later. Consider the current situation, as well as what's likely to happen in the future. Many items can fall into more than one category; a threat might also be a weakness. Don't be too concerned about where things fall, just record them where they seem to fit best.
Target Market Analysis
What is a core target market? It's a specific group of people that need your product to fix/help/solve their problem, real or imagined. But how do you define your target markets? Start by asking yourself some questions.
#1 Who needs my product/service?
- Is it a whole company?
- Is it a family?
- Is it a person?
- Is it the same type of customer/client you have now?
#2 What are their demographics? Geography?
- Age?
- Education?
- Income level?
#3 Where else do they spend money?
#4 And who influences their purchase decisions directly or indirectly? A boss?
- A vendor/supplier?
- A project manager?
- An office manager?
- Mass media?
- Friends?
#5 How do you choose which audiences are the most important? Prioritize. And consider the following: What are you trying to accomplish
- Where does your business come from now?
- Who is most likely to respond?
- Who needs to know?
- Who will be willing to spread the word?
- Who can you reach?
Now that you know who you your targets are, think about what you do for them?
#6 What benefits (not attributes) are they looking for from you? Don't know?
- Listen - research (including published studies and industry research)
- Ask - surveys, focus groups of donors and clients
- Watch - observe clients using your product or service
- Let your clients figure it out - reward people who find new uses for your product/service
The more specific you can be when identifying your audiences, the better. Knowing your target audiences allows you to craft messages and know where to place those messages (promotional mix) for maximum affect.
Marketing/Communication Goal Setting
It makes sense that your strategic marketing and communication goals should reflect the organization goals and your environmental analysis. They should also be SMART! SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Time bound. Making every goal SMART insures that you don't set airy fairy goals like "increase general awareness."
A better goal would be "Develop and launch multimedia campaign with goal of increasing new sales by 10% in period July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2009." This example is specific, measurable, actionable, and realistic and time bound.
We recommend that your plan have between 4-8 goals.
To be continued
Next month's newsletter will review strategies, marketing channels, tools and evaluating the plan.
So, get to work. You have a lot to do. Next month we'll follow up and provide you with more tips and tools so that you can fill out the rest of your plan.
By the way, think of your plan as a very thorough to do list that you will revise time and again. This more casual view of a plan will free you from stuffy language and keep you going towards actually writing it!
Good luck!
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