Marketing strategy and planning set the foundation for everything you do. Doing it right enables you to focus your time and budget on the right marketing programs to reach your goals. Show
On this pageVideo: Writing a marketing strategy and planWatch our video to help you understand why a marketing strategy is the key to what your business stands for. Topics include:
Transcript of video Effective marketing should be:
Marketing strategy and planning set the foundation for everything you do. Start with your marketing strategy, then develop a marketing plan to make it real. Your marketing strategy outlines the why and the what:
It sets out your long-term marketing approach. Your marketing plan describes the how and the when. It:
Having a clear marketing strategy and plan delivers significant benefits for your business. It will help to:
Templates for developing your marketing strategy and planChoose one of these downloadable templates to customise and complete:
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Develop your marketing strategy in 6 stepsYour marketing approach influences the way you run your business, so it's important to consult your internal team and external partners. As you work your way through the steps, capture your insights and findings in the relevant templates. Know your marketStart by capturing insights about your industry and customers. Market research is an essential part of your marketing strategy. It:
There are 3 main ways to do research:
You can do the research yourself or hire an external agency to carry out the research. Find out more about researching your market. Know your businessNext, you need an honest appraisal of your business from an internal perspective. A SWOT analysis can be a useful way to assess where you stand in your market relative to competitors. It highlights the major obstacles and business drivers and provides the direction necessary to:
This diagnostic tool can help you uncover foundational insights to guide your marketing strategy. Learn more about SWOT analysis and complete the template. Based on your business plan and goals, the next step will be to define marketing objectives that are:
These objectives will typically have a financial or communication focus and may cover different areas, such as:
It's important to be as clear as possible so you can effectively measure the outcomes. Make sure that each of your marketing objectives meet the SMART criteria:
To measure and report your progress towards your marketing objectives, you should identify and define key performance indicators (KPIs). These KPIs are quantifiable metrics (indicators that can be measured) that are meaningful for your business, such as:
Read more about tracking your digital performance. You'll know when your marketing objectives are right when they:
Review regularlyReview and adjust your marketing objectives based on your progress. A classic and effective marketing framework is commonly known as STP:
To become a customer-focused business, you need to find ways to get and use insights into your market. As a starting point, summarise the findings from any customer research you've done. This will reveal:
Based on this analysis, follow these steps to define your target segments:
Your business most likely operates in a competitive market. Customers are typically spoilt for choice. That's why it's essential to establish your brand positioning in a way that achieves sustainable competitive advantage. As part of your marketing strategy, you should maintain a profile of your key competitors. You can:
If you don't know where to start, find out how to do market research. Find information about each of your key competitors':
Use this information to help identify what sets your business apart.
Brand positioning is much more than just your name or logo. This is your business purpose. It's why you exist. It’s about making sure that your communications, culture and customer experience are all working together in harmony. The ambition is to build a distinctive brand. This is about what you want to:
It will guide everything you do and don't do. Work through the guidelines to help build your business brand. It's also beneficial to define your value proposition. In simple terms, it's a statement of the benefits you provide in exchange for payment. Think of this like a win-win for your business and your customers. It explains:
Your value proposition will look closely at the problems you are solving for customers. Remember to look at your value proposition in terms of the current situation and the ideal future. This will help you to prioritise future improvements. Discover more about how you can bring your value proposition to life. You can identify your high-priority marketing programs based on your:
Think about these as your strategic themes. For example, imagine you're running an innovative online store. Based on your analysis of the current situation and assessment of future opportunities, you might identify 4 marketing programs you need to drive growth:
These work packages will then direct your marketing actions and determine where you'll focus your marketing efforts. Be focused and consistent. If you're doing something outside of these themes, ask yourself why. Checklist: from strategy to planningMake sure you've completed the 6 steps discussed above before moving onto your marketing plan:
Translate your strategy into your marketing planOnce you have a marketing strategy, you can extend it into a marketing plan. The marketing plan reflects and builds on your thinking. It's your roadmap to get where you want to be. A marketing plan:
It's about the execution of:
A structured and documented marketing plan has many benefits. It:
Don't try to do everything at once. Adopt a phased approach based on the skills, time and staff you have available. Your marketing plan will be implemented repeatedly and change over time. There are different stages to this process:
To successfully achieve your marketing strategy, you'll need to:
Remember: your tactics should address the needs and wants of your customers. If you need inspiration, you can:
Follow this 3-step process to guide your thinking:
Repeat this process for each of your high-priority marketing programs. For example, you may have identified the need to increase awareness of 1 of your products amongst young adults aged 18 to 25 who live within 10km of your business. An appropriate tactic could be to implement a geo-targeted marketing campaign:
Don't be scared to test and learn. Test some ideas on friendly customers, partners and employees. Using the right tactics over time will connect with your target segments and ultimately improve your sales results. Once you've worked through your tactics for each marketing program, you need to turn this into an action plan. The action plan must capture all the actions you need to perform. For each marketing tactic, list the specific steps required in as much detail as possible. (You can download and use the action plan template below to guide you through the process.) This can include the following fields:
Regularly refer to, and update, your action plan. This will help you to:
Great marketing requires great people. The people in your business will determine how successful your marketing is. They need to be involved throughout the process and believe in what they are doing. Your marketing approach will also inform your sales techniques. Marketing and sales need to work together. Link your marketing KPIs and sales targets. Make sure you have assigned responsibility for each of the actions in your action plan. This is the process that allows you to track and report on your marketing performance and make the necessary changes if needed. Based on your business plan, you have developed a set of SMART marketing objectives. These will most likely be based on the following outcomes:
Within each of your high-priority marketing programs, you have assigned specific KPIs for each tactic. For example, these KPIs could be:
Before you run your marketing programs, you need to know how you'll measure and evaluate the results. A review of each activity will then help to:
Continue to review and revise your marketing. For example, on a quarterly basis, you should ask:
Marketing action plan templateDownload and complete the marketing action plan template. This plan also forms part of your larger marketing strategy and plan. Implement the marketing planTo implement your marketing plan successfully, you need to confirm you have everything you need to implement it. Resources and expertiseAsk yourself these questions about your skills and capacity:
Depending on the type of business and your marketing strategy, you may need to prioritise training and development. For example, with an online business, this could include website and social media management. Communication and collaborationYour staff need to be engaged and committed to make your marketing efforts to work.
Also consider...
What are the factors considered when designing a marketing plan?5 Things to Consider When Creating a Marketing Plan. Situation Analysis. The first thing to do is, to begin with, a snapshot of your brand's current situation. ... . Target Audience. ... . Marketing Goals. ... . Strategies and Measurement. ... . Budget. ... . Implementation.. What are the factors that need to be considered when developing a new product?The 8 key factors involved in new product development are Knowledge Management, Market Orientation, New Product Development Process, New Product Development Speed, New Product Development Strategies, New Product Development Teams, Technology and Top Management Support.
What 5 main things are needed in a marketing plan?The style is up to you, but it should include the following elements.. Marketing Goals and Objectives. ... . Define Your Target Audience. ... . Research Marketing Tactics. ... . Plan Your Marketing Tactics. ... . Develop Your Timeline and Budget.. What are the 7 factors of marketing?It's called the seven Ps of marketing and includes product, price, promotion, place, people, process, and physical evidence.
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