Where are my planner and list ladies at? No matter your business size or advertising budget, you should always have a marketing plan in place! It doesn’t have to be long or complicated to reap the many benefits it can bring to your organization. Aligning your thoughts, goals and vision for your business’ marketing endeavors in a visual plan will keep you on task, on time and on your way to pain-free growth!
Create an Outline
An easy way to get started is to organize your plan in the form of some sort of chart or calendar. This is where you can determine how you will realistically accomplish each task, what time, what platform and specific notes about each item. Having a blueprint will keep you accountable to yourself and make sure you are maintaining appearance and visibility with your clients and prospects by also keeping to a schedule. Consistency is also very important. Having an outline and a plan will keep you on task, keep everyone on the same page and help you present a consistent message and image to viewers!
Getting Started- Objectives
All you need to determine are a few basic guidelines and details for your business’ desired plan. Foremost, who are you trying to reach? As we have discussed in previous posts, knowing your target market is key. You must know this demographic in order to know where you can best place yourself. Leading us to the next question, where? Identifying what platforms you will use will keep you organized and help you plan out posts in advance.
These items can be loosely defined by some objectives or goals you can set for your marketing plan. Writing down the vision you have for your business can help bring it to fruition and give you a clearer idea of what that action plan looks like. Don’t be afraid to write down a list, even three small baby steps are bringing you closer than you were! These objectives and tasks can help you visualize and create the brand image that you want your customers to see and think of when they look at your business. Use your unique features and attributes to really narrow in on what value you want to create for your clients!
Schedule Schedule Schedule
Next you need to determine when. Certain audiences are more active on certain days of the week and at varying times. Keeping a consistent time frame and theme will also help you engage your audience, and playing with times can help you find when your target market is best reached. Not only will you be able to know exactly what pieces you need to be working on, planning or posting at each point in the week, but you will be more EFFECTIVE at the same time!
What to Invest?
Lastly, one of the harder questions. How much time or money will you invest in each action (each post, blast, mailing list or other avenue)? Having a plan will make budgeting much easier as you can determine how many resources you need to allocate for each channel as well as where your money spent is really bringing back a positive return. Remember that advertising (the right way) is how you will gain more customers, more revenue and more brand awareness- so keep that in mind when setting your budget.
Bringing it Home
Whether you are a boss babe trying to get it off the ground, an established business owner, or just want some helpful tips to help you with endeavors on the future- marketing your brand and making moves does not have to be rocket science! Keep it simple stupid, as they say, and you will be golden.