Building
the Plan for Success
Now that you know who you
expect your customers to be, what their needs are, what they think
about your product, what will cause them to purchase your product
or service and how you will be affected by competition, you are prepared
to map out strategies for successful marketing.
The Marketing
Plan
The marketing plan is a
component of your overall business plan which maps out specifically
your strategies for marketing, distributing and selling your product
or service. The information you have gathered through your marketing
research is used to make decisions on the features and benefits of
your product, the packaging of your product or service, its price,
its distribution and the most effective methods for communicating
with your potential customers.
Key elements of a marketing
plan include:
1. A description
of the product or service you are planning to market.
2. An explanation of
how your product or service meets the needs and wants of your potential
customers.
3. A profile of who you
expect your typical customers to be:
- where are your customers
located?
- why would they purchase
your product?
- is this a growing
group?
4. A description of the
competition and how your product or service is unique enough to
cause customers buy from you and not your competitors.
5. An explanation of
how you will price your product and how will that compare to what
customers are accustomed to spending.
6. An explanation of
your positioning strategy (what makes your product or service unique).
7. A description of your
how you will package your product or service. 8. An outline of your
sales plans: sales goals and the strategies to reach them.
9. A description of your
distribution and delivery systems
Key Marketing
Decisions
If you are purchasing a
franchise, most key marketing decisions are already made for you.
Most franchises do not allow for variations in the marketing plan.
If you are purchasing an existing business, many marketing decisions
have already been made. You will need to evaluate which of those to
continue with and which to change. If you are creating a new business
then you have the freedom to decide strategies you believe will be
most successful from the beginning.
1. Name The name
of your business and your product line should express clearly to your
potential customers what your business is and what the product is.
Creativity is important, but clarity to the customer is vital. You
should consult your attorney when choosing a name to make sure that
you are not choosing a name which belongs to another business.
2. Niche This is your
position in the marketplace. It explains what segment of the market
you will be selling to. It expresses the uniqueness of your product
or service.
3. Image The image of
your business should be one which expresses your company's personality
and values. It should reflect a theme consistent with the nature
of your business. If you are opening a clothing store specializing
in cowboy hats and boots your letterhead, for example, shouldn't
look like a law firm's. Your business image should be comfortable
and attractive to potential customers. You express your business's
image through:
- Logo or trademark
- Product or service
packaging
- Business cards
- Stationery
- Store or office decor
(especially if customers will come to your place of business to
purchase your product)
- Signs which identify
your business location if customers will come to your place of
business
- Location (If customers
will purchase your product or service through means other then
coming to your place of business, location will have less an impact
on the image.)
4. Distribution How will
you get your product or service to the customer?
5. Sales plan How will
you communicate and sell to your customers? Face to face? Over the
phone? Through the mail? Through other businesses? Will you purchase
a list? Will you display your product where potential customers
will see it? The sales plan should be designed to find the most
effective route to the customer. How you decide to sell your product
will also determine what marketing and sales tools you will use,
such as brochures, advertising, billboards, catalogs, trade shows
or other avenues available to capture the attention of your customer.
An important component
of the sales plan is to determine who will sell your product or
service. Will you need sales representatives and will they be employees
or independent?
6. Customer service strategies
What will you do to show your commitment to customer satisfaction?
How do you intend to continually stay in touch with your customers?
What are you willing to do correct a customer problem? How will
you handle customer complaints? Consistent strategies for handling
customer problems will help to build the reputation and image of
your business. The best marketing edge is a very satisfied customer.
Projections
of sales success
Your marketing plan will
need to estimate how many sales you expect to get with your initial
strategies and determine how much money these sales will generate.
The sales revenue projections should then be compared to the costs
of the strategies you will use to get these sales. The difference
between the costs of sales and the revenues you will receive will
indicate when you can expect to make money with your sales efforts.
Remember that these projections must also be used in your business
plan to show when you can expect the business to be profitable. The
cost of doing business will include more then just the cost of selling
the product. It will include the cost of producing your product and
operating the business.
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