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The Key Elements Of A
Marketing Plan
To create a winning Marketing Plan you need to include a number of key
elements. Grant Eagle has generated hundreds of Marketing Plans using the
following proven formula...
Step 1 - Research
The first step in any Marketing Plan is to carry out research. No
decent Marketing Plan should ever be put down on paper unless research has
been carried out first. The three critical areas of research that need to
be covered are customer, competitor and staff research.
You will also be able to see what your competitors are doing in terms
Marketing Strategies such as Guarantees, Offers, Headlines and Calls To
Action.
Doing this will uncover a myriad of opportunities and gaps for you to
exploit in your Marketing Plan sitting right under your nose.
Step 2 - Target Market Focus
The second step in your Marketing Plan is to decide on your Target
Market. Without a Target Market you have nothing to aim at. This is
critical when you're a small business as you don't have the time or the
money to aim at everybody. Secondly no message or offer can be that
exciting if you're trying to please everybody. I can't overstate how
important it is to know and focus on a Target Market or Niche when you're
a Small Business.
Step 3 - Unique Message Creation
Once you've completed your research and decided on your Target Market
you want to spend some time creating your Unique Message. For some this
may be based on service response time. For example, Dominos Pizza came up
with "Hot delicious Pizza delivered to your door in under 30 minutes or
it's FREE!" This exploded their business overnight and created an
international success story. The trick with Message Creation is to match
it to the biggest 'want' of your Target Market. We call this
Market-Message-Match. Then the purpose of the business is to deliver on
the Unique Message. It centres you, gives you a laser focus and allows the
prospect to immediately see why they should take a closer look at you
rather than someone else.
Step 4 - Media Selection
This is where most Small Business Owners start their Marketing Plan but
in reality it should be one of the last things you do. If you haven't
targeted a tight enough group and created a Unique Message that punches
above it's weight then it won't matter what media you select (such as
Direct Mail, Google AdWords, Postcards, Email Marketing, FREE Reports,
Classified Advertising, Magazine Advertising, Joint Ventures) you're not
going to get the right return on the money you spend in this area of your
Marketing Plan i.e. attract enough paying customers for the money you
spend.
The other big mistake Small Business Owners make at this stage of their
Marketing Plan is they don't implement enough 'Routes To Market'. You want
at least 5-7 forms of Media in operation at one time. In saying this it
makes sense to put 2 or 3 methods in place to begin with and then add one
a month after the first 8 weeks.
Step 5 - Testing Plan
Once you've selected your Media it's imperative that you know how to
test the Media your spending money or time implementing. This is a never
ending process and will eventually form the biggest part of your Marketing
Plan.
If you don't know "what's working and what's not" how are you ever
going to get the best return from the money you're spending on the Media
you've selected in your Marketing Plan?
Important Note:
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