A marketing plan is as important to a business as a “breathing tube” is to a newborn baby. For a baby, a strong and healthy “breathing tube” means having enough oxygen to nourish and sustain their growth.
Without this strong and healthy “breathing tube,” a newborn may require medical intervention, hospitalization, or even surgery so that its lungs can get the oxygen they need. In business, a marketing strategy is the “breathing tube” that provides a business with customers and profits to keep it alive and growing. Every business owner should care about the health of his or her company as much as he or she cares about the health of a child. From conception to birth, from infancy to adulthood, the health of both the business and the child are sensitive to their environment. Both require constant attention, care, supervision, and periodic “check-ups” to ensure that they are properly nurtured and developed. Disease prevention… When I am called in to assess a prospective client’s business, many of the “cures” are “prescribed” and “dissected” by the past or future team. Their “cures” simply mask the root of the problem and do nothing to fix or replace the fundamentally flawed business plan. Companies are sometimes even left to fend for themselves. …More than a cure To attract more customers and profits, your business must first have a strong and healthy “breather” or a viable marketing plan. In most established businesses, the operations and financial systems are always the strongest while the marketing plan is always the weakest. Without any properly directed initiatives to add or maintain customers, it is the steady flow of new and old customers that keeps the business alive. A strong and healthy marketing plan consists of 6 components. Almost all weaknesses in a business can be strengthened by starting to familiarize and apply one or more of the following 6 processes: A typical marketing plan: is a plan whose strategic features include:
- Marketing research and analysis
- Customer retention
- Community relations
- Marketing database
Direct Marketing Making these processes part of your regular business operations will ensure that your business “breathing tube” is constantly being filled with new and existing customers. If you are not using these 6 strategic marketing processes, how can you expect your business to be healthy and grow?
A sample strategic marketing plan:
Executive Summary
· Situation summary table
· Key aspects of marketing planning
Situation analysis
· Market characteristics
· Key success factors
· Product competition and comparison
· Interest in technology
· Legal environment
· Social environment
· Difficulties and opportunities
Marketing objectives
· Product description
· Target market
· Target volume in USD or per piece
Marketing strategy
· Product strategy
· Pricing strategy
· Advertising strategy
· Distribution strategy
· Marketing strategy project.
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