Four Steps to Writing Your Marketing Plan - Part 1
A Marketing Plan? Sounds Scary
When creating a marketing plan, it is best to put it into writing…and I don’t mean on the back of a napkin like I do when out to dinner with my husband. I was recently reading a Forbes article that got me thinking that there was a little more information that could be provided to readers such as yourself to help make marketing plans not be as scary as the Big, Bad Wolf! Below I have outlined thirteen sections of a marketing plan over the next four blogs that will help you, your team, or anyone that will be financing your project understand your plan to market your business. Now, thirteen may seem like a scary number, but don’t fear. I will break them out, and NONE of them have to be a thesis paper. Some even may only need a paragraph or two! Take your time and remember….this is about YOU and YOUR business.
Who Are Your Target Customers?
This trips many people up. I know when I first started my retail store, I thought my target customers were anyone who needed to purchase a gift. But in reality, that isn’t true. I needed to detail out these parts of my target customer:
Demographic Profile
Gender
Age
Income
Possibly their education level
Marital Status
Children vs none
Employment status
Geography
Are they local to you for pick up or drop off only?
Are you willing to ship to further locations?
Will you ship internationally?
Psychographic Profile
What do they like to do (cooking, hiking, pets, reading)
Where to they like to go (sports games, concerts, restaurants)
Will your products/services be of particular interest to people with particular interests/likes
Business vs. Consumer
Are your products for other businesses or direct to consumers?
Creating this can be tricky. It may be helpful to picture your ideal customer. If you had a physical location (or maybe you already do), and a customer walks in the door, what do they look like? How old are they? If you started chatting with them, what do they love to do? Create that character in your mind, give them a name, and build out your target market!
What is Your Unique Selling Point
This may take some thinking for you to do. Why is your company different from your competitors? It may be helpful to go online or visit some of your competitors. What problem do you solve that they don’t? Most people, when searching for a business, are looking for something to do, some place to go, or purchase something. In those critical moments, what can you do for them that no one else can? That is your unique selling point.
Conclusion
Stay tuned for next week when we continue on with the marketing plan project. Don’t stress yourself in writing this out. Instead, take small chunks, work on it multiple stages if need be. This is YOUR business for YOU. Happy writing!
