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Why you need a marketing plan for ultimate success
The key elements of a successful marketing plan are:
1. Know your customers: their likes, dislikes and expectations.
2. Know your competitors, their strengths and weaknesses. Only by identifying these factors can you develop a marketing strategy that allows you to anticipate and meet the needs of your customers, better understand your competitors, and identify changes in the marketplace that can affect your bottom line.
The purpose of a marketing plan is to define your market, that is, identify your customers and competitors, outline a strategy to attract and keep customers, and identify and anticipate change. Careful planning and in-depth knowledge of the market are needed to develop a strategy that will ensure success.
For example, in the case of a franchise, the franchisor has already done the market research and developed a marketing plan, so you will need to review the plan the franchisor provided you. Review the plan to determine what product/service it will offer and write a description of it.
Even though the franchisor has already described your product or service, it's a good idea to develop and write your own description because this process will help you develop invaluable knowledge of your product or service, a key element in any successful marketing plan.
When describing your product or service, describe what you think are its unique aspects and explain how or why these aspects will attract customers. Emphasize the special features and benefits that you think are your selling points. These features and benefits are what you will use to convince customers to buy your product or service.
Then review sales projections, determining if there is a demand for the product or service. Again, in the case of a franchise, the franchisor will already have developed the projections. Study this data carefully to see how the franchisor arrived at these projections. This will help you better understand how the market works in relation to your product and service. It can also help you develop the skills necessary to identify and anticipate market changes.
Start your own archive on market trends and collect your own data. Periodically review your data, looking for changes in the market. If changes are taking place, you must modify the marketing plan to match these changes. In franchise operations, it is typical for the franchisor to update the marketing plan periodically to reflect changes in the marketplace and to keep the marketing program current.
An effective marketing plan must answer these questions:
* Is this product or service in constant demand?
* How many competitors offer the same product or service?
* Can you create a demand for your service or product?
* Can you compete effectively on price, quality, service and
delivery?
* If it is a franchise, will the franchisor set the price of the product or
service to give you the projected profit?
Review your marketing plan carefully to make sure it answers these questions. If your plan does not answer the questions, you will need to modify it to answer the questions.
Even if you adopt a marketing plan that has been developed
In other places, it is your responsibility to promote your product or service by cultivating the market, that is, attracting and keeping customers. You can only do this by knowing your market, your customers, your competitors, and your product or service. NEVER rely solely on the marketing plan provided by a franchisor or other source. Compile and evaluate your own data.
By compiling and analyzing this information yourself, you'll be better able to determine if your marketing plan is in line with your competitors, industry averages, and what adjustments you need to make to improve your overall competitiveness and results.