Are you looking for a way to elevate your business to the next level? Are you ready to start seeing real results from your marketing efforts? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then writing a marketing plan is what you need.
Creating a marketing plan might seem challenging, but In this blog post, we will explain to you how to create a marketing plan that will help you achieve your business objectives. We will guide you step by step.
What is a marketing plan and what are its types:
It's the organization and direction of marketing efforts, creating a detailed map that guides your path, highlights various obstacles, and shows how to overcome them. It also specifies the human and financial resources needed to successfully achieve your desired goal. Marketing plans are divided into:
- Long-term plans such as five-year plans (five years or more)
- Medium-term plans such as annual plans
- And short-term plans, such as semi-annual and quarterly plans.
Types of marketing plans:
There are countless types of marketing plans and strategies, which vary based on a company's size, marketing budget, and the objective it aims to achieve. Some of the most well-known marketing plans include:
- Market Penetration Plan
- Expansion Plan
- New Product Launch Plans
What are the steps to write a marketing plan?
The first step in the marketing plan is Situation Analysis.
- Market Analysis :
- What is the size of the target market
- What are the expected returns on investment
- Is the market growing steadily with increasing demand, or is there an economic downturn
- How much do customers pay for the product or service you offer
- Who are your potential customers? :
Here, you should create an ideal buyer persona and identify psychological and behavioral characteristics, such as buying motivations, challenges faced, and problems seeking solutions. Additionally, consider demographic factors like age, gender, geographic location, and educational level.
- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
When analyzing the overall market situation, you should be well aware of your strengths and advantages, such as your position or location
market positioning Or having strong relationships with suppliers, or possessing a good reputation among the target audience.
Similarly, you should identify your weaknesses, such as limited human or financial resources, and a constrained marketing budget.
Lack of expertise or competence
- What are your opportunities and threats:
What are the opportunities in the target market, such as weak competition, audience size, and increased demand?
on the product or service
What are the threats that we face in this market, such as legal problems, political conditions, and price fluctuations?
Exchange, Double the purchasing power of individuals.
- Who are your competitors:
Determine who are the competitors in your industry, what are their marketing methods, their position in the market, and their market share.
Two competitors:
- Direct competitors: They offer the same product or service as you and target the same customer base as you
- Indirect competitors: They offer products or services similar to your product or service and target a different customer base, or they may target the same customer base but with similar products.
And here you can use SWOT analysis to accurately analyze your competitors and your market according to a ready-made template
- What is your competitive advantage:
What is the advantage that makes you superior to your competitors and makes customers prefer your product or service over other alternatives?
- Product quality
- lower price
- Brand fame
- After sales service
- Marketing budget:
Determine how big the overall marketing budget is for this plan and what is the expected return on advertising spending
And how much is the monthly spending on each of the channels in addition to determining the content industry budget
And the size of the discounts and offers that you will offer.
The second step in writing a marketing plan is setting goals:
After we have analyzed and studied the market situation, competitors, our strengths and weaknesses and those of competitors, we must move to the stage of setting goals, and we must focus during our formulation of goals on smart goals (Smart goal)
Suppose our goal is to increase profits, this goal should be
- specific : Profits increased by 30%
- Measurable: We know that our current sales amount to $100,000, for example, and therefore to increase it by 30%, our sales after implementing the plan should be $130,000.
- Doable: According to our study of the market and the purchasing power of the public, increasing the 30% is not an impossible goal if it is worked on according to certain tactics.
- Relevant to the general objective: The objective must be related to the general strategy of the company. It is illogical for the company's objective to penetrate the market, then we define our goal as increasing profits
- Time bound: Increase earnings by 30% during the first quarter of 2023
The third step in writing a strategic marketing plan:
In this step, you must define the general vision and paths that will lead you to the goal you set
and define key performance indicators KPIs andMeasuring the results, and how each element of the marketing plan contributes to achieving the overall goal in addition to including some alternative plans for contingency
And the possibility of modifying the master plan based on variables, market conditions, or analyzes and results.
The Fourth Step in the Tactics Marketing Plan:
What elements and tools will we use to reach our target audience and achieve our marketing goals?
- Free ways:
- Creating educational and informative content
- Search Engine Optimization
- Encourage referrals and word of mouth marketing
- Email marketing
- Participation in exhibitions
- or paid methods:
- Social media marketing
- Search engine marketing
- Advertising campaigns with influencers and celebrities
- PPC pay-per-click
- Affiliate Marketing
- Road advertising, television and radio
The fifth step in the marketing plan is the division of labor:
According to the plan we drew and the tactics we decided to rely on to reach our target audience
The role here comes on how to implement the plan and the financial and human resources that will be allocated to implement the plan
The tasks of individuals, the distribution of work and the budget for each channel will be determined according to the plan.
Examples of division of labor:
- Content industry:
- What is the content plan (number of publication times _ type of publications _ platforms)
- Who will write the content
- Who will design the photos and make the videos
- Who will post
- What are the key performance indicators KPIs
- SEO:
Who will perform the following functions:
- Selection and analysis of keywords
- Page optimization
- Building internal and external links
- Website speed improvement
- Affiliate Marketing:
- Design affiliate marketing programs
- Determine the percentage of commissions for marketers
- Determine the commission payment system
Thus, each tactic should be specified in detail who will work on it, how and when, what KPIs to measure and how much budget is allocated for it.
The sixth step in the marketing plan is measurement:
It is the final stage of the marketing plan and you must have specific tools and methods for measuring results
Marketing at every stage and making sure that you are on the right track towards the goal and adjustment
Plan by results, measure weekly and monthly, analyze your results and share
Results with your team to improve the process Save and learn from the results and study the reasons for success and failure.
Marketing planning may seem complicated and difficult at first, especially if you do not have enough experience
But the results you will get are worth the effort and save you a lot of time, effort and money
You can also hire a specialized agency to write a detailed marketing plan.
Contact us to get your free consultationWe hope to be part of your success. We have more than 10 years of experience in preparing and implementing marketing plans.
