A-Z of marketing: Strategic marketing plan.
"Fail to plan, and you plan to fail." Coined by Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), this is certainly true in business. In this article, we explore why a robust Strategic Marketing Plan is crucial to business success.
From a one-man band to a multi-national organisation, everyone needs a Business Plan. No arguments there. But the plan is of little use without a well-conceived Strategic Marketing Plan at its heart.
So, what is a Strategic Marketing Plan?
Basically, a Strategic Marketing Plan is a roadmap covering what products or services you're going to sell, who you're going to sell them to, and which marketing tactics you're going to use to generate those all-important sales.
Getting the right plan for you and your business is essential. It can be time-consuming and unless you’re an expert in the field, knowing what will work well can be tricky so it’s worth getting some professional advice at this point.
6 Key Steps to an effective Strategic Marketing Plan
1. Situation Analysis
First of all, you need to fully understand your business – how it is perceived by existing (and potential) customers, and what makes it stand out from your competitors. The simplest way to do this is via a SWOT analysis - listing the 'strengths and weaknesses' of your own business, and the 'opportunities and threats' from outside.
The internal bit is about identifying your competitive advantage - but being realistic about any limitations - and the external part means highlighting any wider opportunities you can take advantage of, while recognising any outside threats which could affect you.
2. Goals
Next, firm up 3 to 4 key goals for the year. They should set the bar for what you want to achieve, and where you want to end up.
All the best goals are SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. So yes, that means your plan should include target numbers – because leads, sales, revenue and profit are the essential lifeblood of any business.
But don't forget other less tangible goals which could support sales – e.g. improving awareness and boosting exposure of your business and products through social media or PR, etc.
Need help defining your SMART goals? Speak to the experts at Ketchup Marketing!
3. Target Audience
Learn as much as possible about your target customers, so you can understand 1) what they want, 2) the best way to let them know you've got it, and 3) how and where they want to access it.
Remember, you’ll never be able to target everyone – so be as specific as possible about who your prime customer base is, and prioritise resources to target them with the best chance of success. In another blog, we’ll talk more about the importance of personalising their experience.
Targeting your audience will help you promote your business to the right people, in the right way, in the right place and at the right time – and make it falling-off-a-log easy for them to buy from you.
4. Tactics
Whatever you do, don't be tempted to dive into tactics before you’ve been through Steps 1-3, because you'll regret it (and probably waste money too!).
If you need some help working through the previous steps, get a helping hand from the team at Ketchup Marketing. We’re experts in all aspects of marketing strategy, Find out more.
The Strategic Marketing Plan is your concept, and the tactics are the actions – i.e. the what, where, when and how – detailed promotional activities you're going to undertake in order to achieve your goals. If you've done the groundwork in Steps 1-3, you'll understand which activities will give the best ROI (Return On Investment).
Bear in mind that all your marketing tactics will have a cost attached. Keep a close eye on this – clearly, the CPS (Cost Per Sale) should never exceed your profit!
5. Timeline/Plan
Next, put your tactics into some sort of schedule or calendar. Don't forget to allow realistic lead times to design leaflets, build a new website, recruit and train a sales team, etc.
Scheduling your activity will also help identify any pinch points. Beware of planning too much marketing activity to launch at the same time, unless you're confident you can handle all the forecast leads and enquiries.
There's nothing more annoying than losing sales because you can't get to the phone in time, your website crashes due to too many visitors, or you simply run out of stock!
6. Measurement
Constantly measure ongoing performance against the goals you set in your Strategic Marketing Plan. Keeping regular tabs on progress means much less chance of nasty surprises later in the year, when it's probably too late to do anything about it.
If things aren't going as well as you planned, do something about it - sooner rather than later! You may need to adjust the goals themselves, or change the tactics you're going to employ to achieve them. Either way, the earlier you realise this and take action, the better.
Need help?
Sometimes you may find you're too close to your business to put together an objective Strategic Marketing Plan – or you may just need someone to talk it all through with. That's where we can help!
At Ketchup, we've drawn up strategic marketing plans for many of our clients – including Buckminster Venues and Stamford Stone.