The importance of marketing planning
There’s an old adage that says “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”! A recent study* of nearly 2000 SMEs across Australia found that almost 60% of all businesses did not prepare an annual marketing plan and “many businesses are making informal decisions regarding their marketing programs...Marketing decisions are therefore more likely to be ad hoc with little attempt to identify the cost/benefit of the marketing spend.”
Is it that owners and managers of small to medium-sized businesses don’t have a need for marketing plans? On the contrary; the same study found that 80% of companies did not know the cost of attracting a new customer to their business, which should make the activity of planning a high priority for those who wish to grow their customer base and revenue using a planned and, more importantly, repeatable approach.
Why is it important to plan?
If you are just starting out, this is one of the most important activities you will do. Just like a business plan is vital, a thoroughly-researched marketing plan will ensure you give your new business the best possible chance at survival.
If you are well down the track with campaigns in place, don’t become complacent; a marketing plan is only effective when it is up to date and relevant. It is quite common for established companies to permanently file the plan, or to allow plans to become so out of date they no longer reflect current activities or new media options.
Costly errors can occur because time is not spent on the critical tasks of planning, ongoing research, testing, measuring and evaluating against the objectives identified in the company’s marketing plan. Ideally the plan should be viewed as a living document; it should be updated, changed, referred to and constantly reviewed to ensure the activities are reaching the desired outcome.
A marketing plan does not have to be complex or overly lengthy, but it should clearly:
- Define the objectives and priorities of your business
- Identify your products and services, prices and the profit margins of each
- Determine your placement, market position, industry and competition
- Generate a unique selling proposition
- Identify the ideal customer profile and how to locate such customers
- Plan optimal promotional strategies and tactics
- Identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
- Determine the optimal marketing budget
- Estimate the marketing return on investment (ROI)
- Evaluate the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns
- Include an action list with timeframes and allocation of resources
Think of your marketing plan as a roadmap. When you feel like you are getting lost, look back on where you wanted to go and how you were going to get there. It’s ok to take a different route and to upload new maps, but check on occasion you are still heading in the right direction.
*News Community Media SME Index Survey June/July 2009
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