My clients will tell you that I am a big proponent of planning your marketing.  A clearer way of saying it is that all businesses (proposed, new or well established), need a clear and comprehensive marketing plan.  It was Winston Churchill who said “He who fails to plan is planning to fail”.  That should be reason-enough, but indulge me for a few minutes please.

Individuals plan their personal budgets (hopefully), surgeries, financial retirements, vacations, weddings, golf outings, dates, and a whole assortment of other events.  Most bankers require a written business plan before they will loan money to a new business.  So I pose the question to you “Why should you plan your Marketing?”

Many businesses take a cavalier approach toward marketing.  Everyone thinks they are an expert at marketing and most businesses do have a really good idea of where they want to market their products or services initially.  Do you have a plan for managing the growth of your business?  What happens down the road when you run out of ideas of where to get more business?  Some would say that if that is a problem, perhaps the product or service offering was too narrow to begin with, or that the business model wasn’t entirely thought-through to begin with.  It is possible that there is some truth to that.  However, I propose that a comprehensive marketing plan can breathe new life into existing businesses and provide a roadmap for years to come about how to pursue your marketing efforts.  It can keep you on a correct path and keep you from spending precious marketing dollars unwisely on the latest trend that comes along, angling for your attention.

The goal of this blog is not to go into all the details of what is included in a comprehensive marketing plan.  Suffice it for now that it includes specific details on your company, your products and services, your customers, your competition and then exactly how you expect to market your products and services.  A complete plan would include details for the immediate future, one year, 3 years and perhaps 5 and 10 years in the future.  The marketing plan is a dynamic and living document.  As your business climate changes, and perhaps new marketing avenues come to light, your marketing plan should be updated.

When you budget for marketing each year, you should consult your written marketing plan.  Why a written marketing plan?  Let me answer that question with more questions.  Do you really want one marketing expert in your company?  What would be the effect if that one person died or became disgruntled and decided to leave the company?  Will you remember 3 years from now all the details of the plan if it’s not written down?  And perhaps most importantly, how will you measure which marketing efforts were most successful for your company if you can’t look back at a plan and evaluate all the ways you marketed your company?

I am a big proponent of setting benchmarks and measurement criteria within a company to measure your successes and failures.  How will you know what progress you are making if you don’t measure anything?  But that is a different discussion for another time.

  • AKOR Services
  • Allen Beck, Owner
  • 2229 NE Burnside Road, #19
  • Gresham, OR 97030
  • (503) 427-8553
  • http://www.akorservices.com

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