If you want to increase the success of your business, you need to have a successful marketing plan. Creating a strategic marketing plan will give you a solid marketing strategy. But know this, your first marketing plan will most likely NOT be your forever plan.
For your business to grow your marketing plan will need to adapt to meet the ever-changing needs of your business. If you go into your planning with this in mind, you will be able to effectively and smoothly flow with the changes needed to make your business and your brand successful.
You know, creating a successful marketing plan is not easy. This plan is going to be used to move your business forward into a competitive stance. It will need to be able to make your dreams come to life by creating marketing goals that will be the foundation of your brand. But it also needs to be simple enough for your team to understand so that it can be executed well, with a strong positive impact on your business being the end result.
Don’t fret. I am here to help you learn some simple ways to create your marketing plan. Let’s start with understanding what strategic marketing means.
Strategic Marketing Definition
The definition of strategic marketing is simple. Strategic marketing is how a business makes itself stand out from its competition. The strategic marketing plan, executed by the company, does this by promoting its current and future strengths to show that they are better and will continue to be better, to customers, than their competition.
Marketing plans are used by businesses to help them find a target customer base and set out a plan that will not only bring in and retain customers but will increase satisfaction, profit, and make the company better at what they do and offer over time.
Strategic marketing is done with a specific goal for the business in mind. It outlines what the end goal is and how it is to be reached without wasted time or effort on random target groups and irrelevant marketing activities.
Strategic marketing is all about creating, implementing, and restructuring the plan of action for your business. A strategic plan is your business’ roadmap to success, detours and all.
Importance of Strategic Marketing
Preparing a strategic plan is essential to a business because it takes the primary goal of the business and makes measurable goals that will give the movement of the business a specific direction to follow.
A strategic marketing plan is not the foundation of the company but a tool to help bring the company to life and measure its success. It helps govern the daily decisions that are made and helps evaluate the needs and progress of the business and/or brand.
Creating a strategic marketing plan for your business will help keep you organized and focused on reaching specific goals and milestones while decreasing wasted time, effort, and monetary resources.
10 Steps to Create a Strategic Marketing Plan
We have talked about the need to have a strategic marketing plan for your business to be successful. Now let’s talk about how to create one.
- Create Objectives and Goals for your Business: All marketing plans need a purpose. The purpose of your marketing plan is to reach the long-term goals of your business. Before creating a marketing plan, take the time to set your long-term goals. When you have done this, give your goals objectives that can be measured by using your marketing plan.
- Know your current position: It is important to see your business with clarity. What are your strengths and weaknesses? Who is your main competition? How do you currently compete? Knowing this information will help you analyze exactly what you need to do to move ahead of your competition and strengthen your brand and consistently improve your marketing strategies as needed to increase the success of your business.
- Learn to map your messages: A crucial part of your brand and marketing plan is your message. To start, write a statement with the standard information about your business. This statement is the foundation for further messages about your products, services and who your target market will be. As you continue to map you will be able to create an even stronger foundation for other marketing materials, press releases, blogs and your company’s mission statement.
- Have your business live by your mission: What does your business value? Whatever you state your business values are, make sure it adheres to them. When you create the mission statement for your business, build it around your values. Allowing the consumer/customer to know where you stand and make sure you live up to it will solidify your brand and maintain consumer trust.
- Create your tactics: How are you going to get your message out? Direct Mailings? Email? Social Media? These are some common marketing tactics. Let your business and your target market drive what tactics will be best for your business.
- Set a timeline: Treat your business like a business. Set times for your goals and objectives to be completed, then work to meet your deadlines.
- Create a budget: Decide what you are going to spend on marketing and stick to it. Use options that not only save you money but reach your target audience and allow for follow-up marketing.
- Assign tasks: Use your marketing team to get the job done. Sharing the duties creates accountability while sharing the load and creating efficiency in your marketing efforts.
- Track your tactics: Keep track of the effectiveness of your marketing tactics. Keeping track will help you make the changes needed, in your marketing strategy, to continue to move forward.
- Keep your marketing relevant: As your business changes so will your marketing needs and goals. Review your plan at least yearly and make any necessary adjustments to keep your plan current and relevant.
Creating a strategic marketing plan is a must. Having a plan to get your business where you want it to go is a necessary tool, but can be confusing the first time. This is where my expertise comes in. With years of experience, I am here to help you get the results you are looking for. Contact me today.