The process of starting a business can be laden with so many complexities and challenges. From setting goals around efficiency, productivity, and profitability to marketing and sales, intending business owners are saddled with the responsibility of getting their business off the ground on a good note. This can be an overwhelming task, especially when no plans are in place. In this article I share 7 elements to make an effective business marketing plan.
Developing an effective marketing plan, for instance, can be a good start. It allows your company to establish its identity and identify more business opportunities. More so, mapping out a marketing strategy is essential in helping your business grow its market and maximize its potential.
If you are planning to start a business and develop a business marketing plan, the elements listed below are essentials you must consider and include for it to be effective:
An executive summary is more like a synopsis of your entire marketing plan. It’s a part of the document that gives a holistic view of your business’ marketing strategy. It succinctly and concisely explains why the business exists and what it intends to achieve. Though the executive summary appears first in the plan, it’s often written last.
The summary doesn’t have to be excessively lengthy. A one-page summary can be suitable for your plan. Nevertheless, you must ensure you adequately capture important information about your business, such as its mission, start-up history, information about its founders, a description of the products and services it’ll be offering, and how the business intends to grow in the years ahead.
In this section, you need to elaborate on what your business is offering, your target market, and your unique selling point (USP)—how you’re different from and better than every other business and even your competitors.
Your description should also capture the structure of the company. That is, how it operates. Is it a sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation? Are you a wholesale, retail, manufacturing, or service-oriented business? Is your business new or already established? This description should be detailed enough to provide an adequate understanding of the kind of business you are going into and what to expect from it.
In addition to describing your business, you’ll also need to define your offerings, either a product or a service or both. Emphasize their unique features and outline every detail that’ll give your prospective customers a clear idea of your intentions and offering as a business.
In the market analysis section of the document, you must present your insights about the industry you are a part of.
Take a deeper dive into the details of your potential customers. Information such as demographics, needs, buying trends, and the character of your target market should be provided and discussed. You should also state in the marketing plan, as a result of market research and forecast, how much of the market share you can capture as a business.
You can project a feasible market share for your business plan by considering the level at which the industry is growing and how well the users of your products and services will increase. Then you analyze how well you can get those available buyers to buy from you. With a high conversion rate, you can improve your share in the market.
Every business has existing competitors. In preparing a marketing plan for your business, you must consider your current competitors.
Whom will you be sharing the market with? What other similar and long-existing brands can your target market consider even while you exist? Who are your indirect competitors? What are their strengths and weaknesses? Are they already ahead in the market? If yes, how do you intend to catch up with them or set yourself apart? What are the existing opportunities available to you as a start-up?
All this information is to be captured in the competitive analysis section of your marketing plan. It’ll provide you with a clear picture of how you can withstand competition and gain an edge.
Businesses succeed and remain in business through effective and competitive marketing and sales. Your business marketing plan should point out how you will find, connect with, and sell to your customers.
More so, your sales strategies should also be well defined. How will you reach your market and get the right customers to do business with you? How will your sales team operate? What strategies will you deploy to recognize, attract, and convert leads into profitable business relationships?
All these answers should be captured in your marketing and sales section. Outline your marketing plans smartly and develop a reasonable budget to ensure smooth implementation.
This section of your marketing plan intends to elucidate how your business will operate and implement your defined marketing strategies. It should also present the business model and structure it’ll operate with.
Who will be the key players on your team? What roles will you need to fill, and what are the job descriptions guiding each position your employees will be occupying? What factors will further enhance your marketing strategies?
Spelling out your operational procedure and managing tasks and results at different levels can help your business gain shape and achieve marketing operational effectiveness.
Your business plan should end with a detailed summary of your financial reports. For instance, what is your target or expected gross income? How much do you intend to earn within a specific time?
Your financial summary section is a good place to give and review reports about your cash flow, assets, and liabilities. Through this metric, you’ll be able to evaluate and determine if the marketing and sales strategies in place are effective and are indeed making substantial profits.
Having a well-written marketing plan can certainly give your business a solid foundation. If you’ve not thought it needful for your business to have one, you should consider doing so now. With the tips above, you can develop a marketing plan that’ll serve your business effectively in the long term.
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Mashum Mollah is a digital marketing expert and contributor with over 10 years of experience in the industry. He is skilled in search engine optimization, social media marketing, and content marketing. Mashum is passionate about helping businesses achieve their online goals and is committed to staying up-to-date with the latest digital marketing trends and strategies.
