Marketing planning should not be a pain!
25/06/2008 send to a friend
In the last 24 years, Dee Blick has worked with hundreds of small businesses - she’s yet to come across one that wouldn’t benefit from a simple marketing plan. The problem, Dee says, is that marketing books can be full of complex advice and bewildering diagrams. So, if you want to write a marketing plan for your business - a practical document that can direct you to profits and growth, where do you start?
1. Map out some simple and meaningful objectives. How about: in the next year we are looking to sign up (X) number of customers and to achieve (X) amount of turnover. The great thing about objectives is that they focus your mind on achieving them.
2. Map out your products and services. What’s in your mind should go down on paper. This simple process will really open up your mind and you will identify new income streams. Look at what is going on in your marketplace and match this up with your extensive knowledge. Whilst you may think you only have one product, you most likely have many more, and more products means more income streams - and less risk.
3. Map out exactly why potential customers should use you. What are the real deep needs that you are satisfying? This means standing in their shoes and looking at the landscape through their eyes. It goes beyond a benefit statement and it helps you to build a genuine customer centred business.
4. Identify the target customers that you want to engage with. The chances are you will have more than one group of target customers. Draw up a picture of each group, looking at all of their characteristics.
5. Time to get down to the nitty-gritty of identifying how you can reach these different groups of potential customers. Are there any influencers or third parties that can take you to them? Simply draw up a list for each group. The idea is that when you come to planning your marketing tactics, you know exactly where you will find these different groups and you will develop great communications to engage them. This will save you no end of money and time.
Look out for my next article where I will share more tips on how you can create a simple and effective marketing plan for your business.
Dee Blick is founder of The Marketing Gym and Enterprsie Nation contributor.
Pose your marketing questions to Dee in our first ever webchat on Thursday 10th July, from 12 -1pm. For that hour, Dee will be on hand in the Enterprise Nation forum to respond in live-time to your questions and comments. It’s free to participate. You just need to be registered on the site to post questions.
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Comments
Author: Alex Schlup
Date: 25/06/2008
Comment: I have used Dee myself and I know several other companies that are using her. Without fail they are chuffed to bits with her work.
Small businesses have a fear of marketeers. The usual experience is of someone who's full of waffle and jargon, and the first thing they tell you is what their monthly retainer is.
Dee opened my eyes to what marketing is really all about. She is full of practical ideas which are affordable to and achievable by small businesses, and where the results can be measured. The advice given in this post is typical of her plain speaking no-nonsense approach.
Website: www.brandshare.co.uk
Author: Sam Francis
Date: 25/06/2008
Comment: I have referred Dee to so many companies that have benefited from her simple but amazing ideas as I have over the last 8 years.
When I first started my company, marketing was the bit that scared me the most. This became amplified when I approached PR & Marketing specialists who bamboozled me with suggestions that would cost the earth and that would have no impact for my business!
It was so refreshing to meet Dee and we instantly arranged a meeting and I haven’t looked back or elsewhere since.
Website: www.tekexpress.co.uk
Author: Paul Shekdrake
Date: 26/06/2008
Comment: We have been working with Dee for quite some time,
And have found her help and ideas extremely worth while.
Dee has a wealth of knowledge on marketing plans and ideas, which are effective and hit the spot.
Small businesses can spend a fortune on advertising and mail shots, but if the content is not right you might as well set fire to the money from the start !!!
The ideas that Dee has put forward for our business have been measurable and the Marketing Campaigns have taken us to the next level.
I would Reccomend Dee to any business looking to grow or maintain their market share.
Website: www.creativevisionpromotions.co.uk
Author: John Thompson
Date: 26/06/2008
Comment: I have known Dee for 6 months and am amazed by her energy and enthusiasm for spreading the entrepreneurial word.
We used her services to remap our UK marketing thrust and within no time a detailed plan and press release were in place.
Marketing Gym is the best marketing investment we have made since the incorporation of Hilton Thompson Chartered Loss Adjusters in 2001. JT
Website: www.hiltonthompson.com
Author: Andrea Sarlo Photography
Date: 26/06/2008
Comment: I have been priviledged to work along side Dee as a photographer creating imagery to help grow the business' she is marketing for.
I am looking to grow my busness more in the future and I know who and where I will be turning to!
Great to get some ideas off her in this article on this site - one we should follow installment by installment too.
Her ideas are as effective and dynamic - as she is!
Website: www.andreasarlo.com
Author: Nikki Relffe-Arnold
Date: 26/06/2008
Comment: This article is tpyical of the straightforward and no-nonesense but passionate approach that Dee takes towards her work. We are currently working with Dee and she is the commensurate professional, and practices what she preaches at every level.
It is so refreshing to find a marketing professional of Dee's calibre that is as passionate about your goals as you are.
This article is great advice for small home-based businesses like ourselves. I hope they are many more to come Dee!
Website: www.mantramagazines.co.uk
Author: Nikki Relffe-Arbold
Date: 27/06/2008
Comment: This article is embodies everything that Dee is about. Her no-nonsense yet passionate approach to marketing is helping us enormously in our small business.
Dee understands small lbusinesses, and appreciates that marketing budgets are often smaller than the business owner would like. However, her "marketing on a shoestring" philosophy can be put into practice by any small business who wants to effectively market and grow their business.
Website: www.mantramagazines.co.uk
Author: Nick Swan
Date: 29/06/2008
Comment: Well summed up - Straightforward and practical. A two minute read that will be generating hours of thought!
Website: www.lovewater.com
Author: Claire Love-Jones
Date: 02/07/2008
Comment: We've been working with Dee for three months now - planning the launch of our new graphic design and marketing arm - and enhancing the marketing of our now well established web and graphic design business. Dee is amazing - the fact that she has more energy than I have amazes me for a start! Her enthusiasm, knowledge and style of working are just outstanding. I feel priveleged to have been able to retain Dee and love every minute we work with her. The impact upon our sales is already showing. Well done Dee - and great article.
Website: www.localwebsolutions.co.uk