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Last Updated on 2023-02-04 by Kassandra
Looking for how to create a simple marketing plan? You’re in the right place.
There is no straight path to success, but there is a map to help you avoid potholes.
In this post, I am going to be updating it from time to time about lessons learned through my experience relating to creating a marketing strategy plan.
Whether you are attempting to promote an event or developing software & need to create a go to market strategy plan, the intention is clear. You need to put something in front of more people. And there are numerous ways with which to do so.
Be sure to bookmark this page or follow me on your preferred social media. I will be updating this with more trainings as they are created.
Or if you simply cannot wait?
I am hosting a workshop for my students in February 2023. If you want more information, shoot me an email. You can learn more in the contact section of this site.
What Is A Marketing Plan?
If you want to expand reach more people about a product, service, event, or idea … Then creating a comprehensive marketing plan is key to increasing brand awareness and growing sales.
Marketing plans are tools that businesses use to identify their target market, develop strategies based on the needs of the target market & efficiently execute them to meet specific objectives. In short, they provide the blueprint for achieving your desired success.
Today’s competitive landscape requires the development of an effective marketing plan.
With the right information and strategy, you can build an actionable marketing roadmap.
Marketing Plan vs Business Plan
A marketing plan and a business plan are two separate entities, though often work in tandem. The key difference is that a business plan focuses on the business itself (making money) where the marketing plan is on how you will advertise the product, service, idea, or event.
A business plan outlines a company or project’s goals and the (hopefully detailed) plans to achieve them. This usually covers all aspects of the business or project and includes things like finance, operations, sales, and customer service (or stakeholders).
A marketing plan focuses specifically on the strategies related to attracting customers and generating revenue. It is focused on understanding customer needs, developing solutions that meet those needs, setting pricing strategies and designing promotions to attract customers. This plan should be a living document that is regularly updated as new information becomes available or market conditions change.
How To Determine Your Marketing Goals
When it comes to creating a marketing plan, the first step is to determine your marketing goals. Your goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound (SMART). Having clear objectives helps you focus your efforts, allowing you to create greater impact while developing an effective strategy for success.
To get started, ask yourself questions like:
- What do I want to accomplish with my marketing plan?
- Who am I targeting?
- What kind of results do I want to see?
Once you have identified your goals, you can begin developing a strategy for achieving them. Consider the resources available to you—including budget, personnel & technology—and how they can be used to reach your target audience.
Here are 9 questions I always answer before planning for the marketing strategy of a new product, event, or idea.
What Are KPIs?
KPIs (or Key Performance Indicators) are measurable values that help businesses track progress towards specific goals. Used to measure the success of different projects & initiatives to determine if you’re on track, KPIs can be used to measure both short-term and long-term performance, thus they can provide a comprehensive view of how well a company is performing.
KPIs are important for anyone looking make effective progress on a project or in their business. By tracking these indicators, you can identify areas of improvement and making adjustments as needed. Additionally, KPIs provide an objective way to evaluate the effectiveness of different strategies and campaigns. Once you have these key indicators and processes in place to work towards them, review of the data allows you to make informed decisions about which marketing campaign strategies should be continued and which should be abandoned.
Types of Marketing Strategy Plans
Just like you have different social media platforms with different requirements to beat their algorithm, you need different types of plans when it comes to your marketing strategy.
Quarterly or Annual Marketing Plans
Quarterly & annual marketing plans are time based. They are a high level overview of what you would like to accomplish within the next year.
Having smaller milestones allow you to take a step back, see what is and isn’t working, then make adjustments as needed.
Sometimes it’s not the marketing that’s the issue!
These reviews will also provide you with time to determine how you to want to approach changing your plan as needed.
Content Marketing Plan
Content marketing is a type of marketing that involves creating and sharing content (e.g., blog posts, videos, podcasts, etc) in order to attract, engage, and retain customers. This type is often used to build brand awareness and trust, on top of generating leads and sales. You should expect to outline the strategies, tactics, and goals for your content marketing campaigns.
When planning your marketing strategy, it’s important to consider the different types of content you will create, the channels you will use to share your content (e.g., website, social media), how often you will post new content (daily, weekly), who will create the content (in-house or external resources), and how you will measure success for each channel.
Social Media Marketing Plan
Social media marketing is an essential part of any successful business strategy. As technology continues to evolve, more and more businesses are utilizing social media platforms to engage with their customers and promote their products or services. A social media marketing plan helps you create a cohesive strategy for leveraging these networks in order to reach your target audience, increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, and ultimately boost sales.
Your social media marketing plan should include objectives that align with your overall business goals, an analysis of the competitive landscape, research into the various types of content that resonates with your target audience, and strategies for engaging with customers on each platform. Additionally, it’s important to set specific metrics for tracking success so you can determine which tactics are working.
How To Create A Marketing Plan
One you know who your targe audience is, what their issues are and how you can solve them, as well as what digital marketing channels you can use? You are now ready to create your marketing plan!
Here are some things to consider:
- Will you go live every day?
- Will you go live once a week, then take short clips to propagate on other platforms
Tools To Consider For Project Management
Here are a few of my favorite tools I’ve used personally in my business, for my clients, as well as in corporate America. Please note that some of these may be affiliate links. If so, then I may receive compensation should you decide to purchase from the merchant.
- Asana
- Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive
- Jira
- Miro
- Nifty – similar to Asana
Creating Your Marketing Plan Timeline
When you’re ready to create your marketing timeline, I go more into depth about this here.
Last Minute Thoughts
In today’s world, being able to juggle all the projects, events, and so much more going on can get overwhelming. So I also wanted to provide this link on time management tools as well as this link on a possible scheduling formula – in case they’re helpful.
I also wanted to let you know I plan on updating this post in the near future with additional information on my experiences that may benefit you. So please bookmark this page and come back soon – or follow me on your preferred platform for updates!
Joining My Mentorship Program
If you are interested in joining my monthly mentorship program, please send me an email.
Thank you for joining me – have a prosperous rest of your day!
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