The Marketing Plan

Marketing

Winning Customers with a "Workable" Plan

Volume 1: US Small Business Administration $uccess Symposium Series.

The better you do marketing, the bigger your profits.

· George Valli

· President, Intermatrix, USA

· Successful entrepreneur

· Marketing consultant

See the trends, and then capitalize on them. Economic and social trends. Who are your customers? Who are you? Are you the limo or pickup truck of your industry? Either one is fine, just know who you are.

· Adrienne Zolbe

· President, Adrienne Zolbe Advertising

· Successful Business Owner

· National Small Business Authority

Marketing is promotion. Should be consistent. Ambience, Attitude. Looks, how they fit with the company vision.

Many of the things you do can well wind up as a marketing decision.

· Where does successful marketing start?

· With a plan. One that can be done a little at a time.

A marketing plan is simply a document that organizes our mission, goals, vision, and your plan to achieve them. Most businesses fail because they do not have a marketing plan.

Six Steps to the Marketing Plan:

Tailor these to your goals, your clients.

1- Diagnosis. Who are you? How are you perceived? What services do you offer? Where do you get business? Define your markets? Geographic radius you serve? Where are you now, and why? Don't mislead yourself that marketing is a mysterious, abstract science.

2- Prognosis. Where are you headed if you stay on this path?

3- Goals and Objectives. What do you want to be? Think out 1 year, even 3-5 years.

4-Strategy. Separates the doers from the talkers. Have a budget. How are your going to get to your goals generally? Business lunches, newsletter, trade shows, etc. Work on your top three strategies.

5- Tactics. How do you get to where you want to be specifically? Who will do what? Plan. Schedule. Clarify roles and responsibilities.

6- Control. How are we doing? Look every three months. New accts., quality of new accts. Time versus return. Profitability. Don't paint a rosy picture, be realistic. Hire a marketing consultant if you cannot develop the plan yourself.

Getting to know your customers.

· Who are your customers?

· What do they want?

· Consumers? Decision Makers? Narrowly define your market. For example... 53% of households have one or two members... 24% of households are headed by singles... Almost a quarter of our country lives alone... Over halve the families with children under 17 have working mothers... 75% of the nation’s financial assets are controlled by the over-50 population.

How do you get new business? How do you find out what your customer want?

Six methods...

1- Ask existing customers over lunch

2- Send out surveys

3- Go to professional societies - they have data.

4- Go to conferences set up a workshop to get good feedback.

5- At a trade show, set up focus groups and ask them.

6- Focus groups with former clients - ask them why they left (listen without being defensive).

Positioning - capitalize on who you are. Motel 6 is an example of a small hotel that builds on being homey and comfortable.

· A marketing plan keeps you from being distracted; it's a path to follow to stay focused.

· If you targeted your customer properly, marketing money doesn't have to be wasted and it doesn't have to cost much.

· Pot-shotting is conventional wisdom, "run an ad and see what happens." Select one trade pub, or one newspaper, or one radio station and stay with it. Six exposures if a key metric for people to notice you.

· To start, go where you know the business, going into industries you know nothing about is tough, because you don't know their specific needs.

Where would you go today for information?

· Small Business Development centers at a college and get help.

· Join a Chamber of Commerce.

· Network immediately - get on committees.

· SBA has a wealth of information.

· Local public library - find associations for your trade.

· Nat’l Association of Women Business Owners.

How do I find a marketing consultant?

· Ask business colleagues for referrals

· Call Chamber of commerce

· Call trade associations

· Go for one in a firm that will consider you a respectable sized account versus small potatoes, one with experience with your industry.

· Interview a few consultants once you have some identified.

How much time is the initial meeting?

· Likely 1 hour, and is usually not billable.

· They may then help you develop a plan.

· Consultant are objective - so don't use your relatives who took Marketing 101 and doesn't see why you should pay a professional.

· Ask for a "work plan." This includes what each party will do and how much time it will take.

Don't go for a consultant right away. Get your feet wet, get involved, understand the problems and issues. Then get consultant help.

What one ingredient is the most important in marketing?

· Targeting - who are your customers ad what do they want.

· Recognize that marketing is not done by one person in the corner - but everyone is representing your company and contribute to people drawing conclusions about your company.

Everybody knows something about marketing, but they don't pay enough attention to it continually.