Office Move
02.06.10

Digital and Traditional Marketing
23.04.10

Create a 2010 Marketing Plan
14.01.10

Would you like to
receive useful marketing tips & information?
Yes please, sign me
up to your occasional newsletters.

Create a 2010 Marketing Plan

It’s cold, the weather is miserable and the recession’s still biting, so there couldn’t be a better time to do some forward thinking (of blue skies and warm sun) and some longer term planning for your business. We all engage in marketing activities of different kinds, but are they effective and do they really help to bring in new revenue?

Having a 12 month marketing plan can really help to crystallise your vision, motivate your staff and keep everyone on track. You don’t have to generate a long report, but the process gives you the opportunity to step back, review what has happened in the past and set out the milestones and actions for the coming year.

So what should the plan include?
You probably already have financial projections, which will form the cornerstone for sales activity and revenue streams. Too often we just repeat last year’s marketing activities though, so it’s worth considering how marketing will support sales to bring in the required new customers.

Who is going to buy from you?
Analyse your existing records to expand your target market. Who are your best customers, who has lapsed, or not bought anything from you at all? Could you approach a new market sector? Consider different ways to communicate with each segment to sell more of your existing products or target with new products.

Review pricing
Always difficult in a recession, but a small annual increment may be easier for clients to swallow than a large price hike a couple of years down the line.

Look at your product portfolio
Which are your best sellers, do some products no longer make money, and is your new product development programme on track? Be ruthless – axe products that are no longer successful – but innovate with an understanding of what your customers want. Don’t forget to keep an eye on the competition, stay one step ahead and make sure the sales team can handle competitor-related objections.

Communication and promotion
Take a look at your website and on-and off-line communications. Are they consistent and do they clearly reflect who you are and what you stand for? Did last year’s promotions (exhibitions, seminars, e-marketing, direct mail, etc) work. Could you make them work harder or do you need to look at other, more effective options?

Distributors
Are you taking care of all your distribution channels? Are some no longer worth supporting? Do you need new outlets?

This review will generate a big ‘to do’ list. Work out your priorities, list the actions with timescales and deadlines across the coming months and then transfer to a table in Word or use a spreadsheet. Keep all staff members on board with a verbal presentation and brief written take-away. The plan itself will become a valuable document which can be referred to at regular sales and marketing meetings, and will provide the framework for the coming year.

Questions or feedback? Please click here to send an email.