Wondering What To Do About Your 2010 Marketing Plan?

Are you even developing a marketing plan for next year? I certainly hope so. Even the smallest of businesses should have a marketing plan, including marketing services agencies. I see so many small marketing firms so busy doing work for clients that they ignore their own needs for marketing. What typically happens is that they scramble to market themselves during the down times and skip the marketing during the busy times. But, marketing is all about consistency. Consistency of message ... consistency of timing ... consistency in the distribution of that message. This is regardless of what size company you own or work with. It's a constant battle for any entrepreneurial business. So, here are a few tips to help you develop next year's plan.

• Start out by making some marketing goals for your company as well as some sales revenue targets and company goals. What do you want to be when you grow up, so to speak? Create a mission statement and develop and overall company philosophy of how you want to run your business.

• Decide how you want to meet your goals. What types of marketing activities will you have to do in order to meet those targets? Will you need to expand your product line? Will you need to focus on new applications? Is your customer base shifting? Will you need to look for customers in another industry?

• Analyze your competition. I know most small businesses think they don't have any competition and that's where they make a big mistake. We all have competition from someone or something. It could even be a new technology that will replace the need for your product or services.

• Truly analyze your strengths and weaknesses. Be brutally honest about what you do right and what you do wrong. Even canvass some of your customers or vendor partners to get a third party to comment.

• And, don't forget the four P's of marketing: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. Does your product name intimate what it does. Should you rename it, reposition it, repackage it, or upgrade the quality of your product? Is the price right for your market. Have you priced yourself out of the market or underpriced yourself? Are there any price barriers in your market? Are there any external regulations that may affect your pricing strategy?

• How do you distribute your products? Do you have a sales force? Or are you a one man show? Do you need to hire an account executive to help you get new business or are you the principal and your name and image is the image of the company?

• And last, but not least, how can you promote your products? Many small companies have a tendency to skip this part because they feel it is too expensive to advertise or use other methods to promote their products or services. Don't have the view that "if I build it ... they will come" because your product is so terrific that everyone will be scrambling for one. You'll find out that no one knows you, and no one cares, either. So, spend some money on advertising. With social media, the barriers to promotion are almost nil.

You need a marketing strategy and a plan. Analyze your successes and failures this past year and put a plan in writing. Having a guide to follow, will pay many dividends.

KISS: Simplify Your Marketing

Do you think marketing is complicated? Well, it can be if you make it that way. But, you really should simplify your marketing strategies. Here are a few things to remember when creating your marketing plan.

• Know your target audience. Make sure you are aiming for the right people. So many companies continue doing the same thing over and over again when it isn't working. Just because "we've always done it this way" doesn't mean the market hasn't shifted or changed. Stay on the pulse of what's happening in your industry and with the people who have bought your products in the past. Are they shifting to a new technology, a different product, or another supplier? Find out from your customers how the market is trending.

• Make an irresistible offer in all of your marketing material. Too many marketers simply state their product's features. Always answer the question for your audience "What's in it for me?". Get your audience to engage with your company. Offer them something of value. The valuable item will be different for each company. It could be a white paper, free product samples, or a free demonstration. You'll have to find out what your audience wants the most.

• Make your marketing consistent. I see it all the time with my clients. They'll start a marketing program for a few months, then lose interest. And then they wonder why their marketing isn't working. Placing an ad once or publishing one press release will not increase your company's visibility. A sustained and consistent marketing program will increase awareness of your company and its products. If you only have the budget to do one marketing program, make it the best you can. If you can only afford to do some press releases, then send at least one out per month. Or, if you can only afford to send out an e-newsletter, send it out to your mailing list at least once a month. But, make sure you are providing your readers with quality information. It is most likely that you have a pretty good in-house mailing list. So, utilize that contact information to the fullest.

Following some simple rules of marketing will do wonders to promote your company. Keep it consistent, follow a regular schedule, and keep your message clear.

Magic Bullet Marketing

Wouldn't we all like to have that magic formula for taking our marketing to the next level? I think most people really don't understand what marketing is all about. The common theory is "build it and they will come". Many companies just don't get it. They don't understand the value of really good marketing tactics. Marketing is really about crafting your message and developing your products with the right features for the right audience. It's also about having clearly defined marketing goals. Here are a few mistakes many companies make today that cause them to fail.

• Not clearly defining your target audience. Can you clearly define your ideal customer? Do you have a customer profile? And I mean a "real" customer profile. Not just what industry or title they have. Have you segmented your market using demographic parameters? Do you even have the basic information in your customer database such as name, title, company name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and Website URL? If not, start there by completing your data base with general information. Then add on additional information such as trade shows they attend, journals they read, buying habits, etc.

• Focusing on features rather than benefits of your product. How many of you can recite an abundance of features about your products or services, but don't have a clue how they benefit your targeted customer? Once you understand what the benefits of your products are and how they relate to your customers, you will be able to craft a message to communicate those benefits. But, I contend that you should go one step further and add the key advantages to the benefits. Your competitors may offer the same benefits. You will stand out if you also communicate the advantages.

• Executing haphazard marketing tactics. The key words in successful marketing are consistency and regularity. I work with many clients who haphazardly market their products. They'll send out an e-newsletter or a direct mailer, for example, once in a blue moon and wonder why their marketing program is not working. Or, they'll place one advertisement in one journal one time and wonder why they are not getting a flood of leads. Or, they send out one press release and wonder why they aren't getting a deluge of editors calling them to do feature articles on their company. They key to good marketing is to have a plan and to stick with it. Send out a monthly communiqué to your customers; otherwise, they may not remember you when it's time to buy.

So, you need to truly understand your target market, create marketing tools that fit your audience's needs and distribute those tools in a timely and regular basis.