Monday, September 17, 2012

Ten steps to take now to jump start your marketing plan!



If you run a small business or work for one, hopefully you developed a business plan, which included your original marketing plan, during your start up. Chances also are that your business and marketing plan are either lying in a file somewhere collecting dust, or, if you are electronically efficient, sitting in your electronic file storage unopened for months or even years.

Things change so dramatically nowadays, we recommend to our clients that they review their marketing plans quarterly, at a minimum. Marketing plans should always be fluid, and regular reviews allow you to look at what has been working and what hasn’t and make adjustments accordingly. It’s also a great opportunity to consider new marketing avenues that are available to you.

But how do you go about it? If you are a solopreneur, engage your network in some of this process. If you work with others, bring in a team that represents each area of your organization. If you work with a marketing consultant, they should facilitate the review with vital members of your team. Taking a team approach to review will help you see the bigger picture. Following are ten steps we recommend for reviewing and jump starting your marketing plan: 

1.    Review your company’s goals and objectives, mission and vision statements, and elevator pitch. Make adjustments as necessary based on changes in the marketplace, changes to your products or services, and changes to the organization.

2.    Review your target market(s) and revise them as necessary. Is it time to expand into other markets or other geographical areas?

3.    Once these items are all in place, review your previous marketing plan – did you complete everything you wanted to? Review analytics to see what worked best and what didn’t.

4.    Review the budget available for marketing activities. Whether it’s $1,000 or $100,000 you need to know what you have to work with.

5.    Brainstorm possible new marketing activities. Get out the flipcharts or white boards. We work remotely and we are visual people so we use www.Scribblar.com to help in our brainstorming activities.

6.    Research, research, research. Once you have all your possibilities down, go do the research. What will it take to meet the goals you’ve set? And, what are the projected outcomes of each activity?

7.    Once you have all the research in place, bring your team back together to talk about what you actually can do within your budget and team resources. You won’t likely be able to do everything on your wish list, but save the research so you can update it later if things change. Decide if hiring a consultant to help with some or all of the implementation would benefit your organization.

8.    Develop a launch schedule and timeline. Typically you want to keep a rolling 12 month marketing schedule in place. Put in all of the activities you want to accomplish around each of your marketing tactics, assign each of them a date and a responsible party. Add a comments section so your team can keep each item up to date as you progress through the year.

9.    Have your team review the schedule and marketing plan to assure everyone is on the same page.

10. Schedule a time for your next quarterly plan review!

Take some time this month to dust off that old marketing plan and revise it based on what you know today. It will not only jump start your marketing activities, it will motivate and jump start your business!

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Kerry Brooks is Co-owner of
ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing and support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff.