How often do you conduct a thorough review of your company's marketing strategy? An annual marketing plan will allow you to set the right course for your company's business goals. Think of it as a forward-looking plan that sets the right direction for your team's campaigns, goals, and development.
Not having such a plan can lead to a mess, and it's nearly impossible to calculate the budget needed for projects, recruiting, and outsourcing throughout the year.
Keep in mind that depending on the industry and your marketing team's goals, you need different versions of the marketing plan. Here is a list of what should be included in your plan.
1. Analyze the situation.
Before you begin drafting your marketing plan, you should determine your current situation.
What are your strengths, weaknesses, prospects, and risks? A SWOT analysis is a very first step to making a plan.
In addition, you should also understand your current market. What do you think about your competitors? A competitor analysis will help you in this step.
Analyze how far other companies' products are superior to yours. Also, pay attention to your competitors' shortcomings. What points are they missing? What could you do to gain an advantage over your competitors? Consider what makes you stand out from others.
Answering these questions will help you determine what your customer needs.
2. Identify your target audience.
Once you understand your company's market situation, you need to determine your target audience.
If your company already has a buyer persona, this means that you need to refine it.
If you don't have a buyer persona, you need to create one. This may require market research.
Your buyer persona can include demographics such as average age, gender, and income level. It should also include psychographics, such as problem points and goals. What motivates your audience? What problems does she face that your product or service can help her with? Once you have gathered all the information, you will determine your goals.
3. Formulate SMART goals.
You can't increase ROI if you don't define your goals.
Once you know your current position and understand your target audience, you must formulate SMART goals.
SMART goals are achievable, measurable, relevant, and time-bound plans. This means that all of your dreams should be specific and contain a time frame in which you want to achieve them.
For example, your goal might be to increase your Instagram followers by 15% in 3 months. This goal should be relevant and achievable in line with your overall marketing goals. Plus, this goal is specific, measurable, and time-limited.
Before embarking on any tactic, you should write down your goals.
4. Analyze your tactics.
Once you've written down your goals, proceed to determine what tactics will help you achieve them. More importantly, which channels and actions should you pay special attention to. For example, your goal is to increase your Instagram followers by 15% in 3 months. Tactics might include:
• Running a prize draw.
• Responding to all comments.
• Posting to Instagram at least three times a week.
Once you've identified your goals, it shouldn't be challenging to figure out tactics to achieve them.
5. Determine your budget.
Before you start implementing the ideas you came up with within the steps above, it's essential to decide on a budget.
For example, your tactic includes advertising on social media. But if you don't have a budget for that, it's unlikely that you'll achieve your goals. Immediately after drafting your tactics, don't forget to include an estimated budget. It can consist of the time it will take to implement the tactic and resources, such as an advertising platform.
Now you've learned how to make a marketing plan that will help you achieve your goals.
