Have you ever wondered how to write an effective marketing plan in just 5 minutes? It is actually pretty easy with the right guide. With this outline, I have never seen anyone need any more than five minutes to complete this highly beneficial exercise. The trick to doing this is to keep the plan to 7 simple highly targeted sentences.
The first sentence states the purpose of your marketing effort.
What action do you want people to take after they have seen your marketing promotions? Do you want them to call a toll free number or go to a website?
Do you want them to look for your product the next time they are at the store?
What physical act do you want them to take? That is all that is required in the first sentence.
The second sentence states the competitive advantage of your product or service. Every offer has benefits, but yours must have something that your clients or competitors do not offer. You must stress to your potential buyers the advantages that you provide. Reiterate your competitive advantage, not eight competitive advantages, although you may have eight, use just one.
The third sentence- also short and simple – is your target audience. Your target audience is your potential buyer or client. You may have more than one target audience, and that is a good thing, but for this exercise let's just sticks to one.
The fourth sentence- which is the long sentence – tells the marketing weapons that you will use. In my various marketing presentations, I outline over 200 different awesome promotional weapons. Of the 200, more than half of them are free. Put your thinking cap on and list the weapons you intend to use in this fourth sentence.
The fifth sentence outlines your niche in the market place. What do you stand for? When people hear your name, what is the first thing that enters their mind? For example, when you hear the word, "Volvo," you think safety. You say "Mercedes," or "Porsche," and people think luxury, excitement and money. What is the first thing that enters a person's mind when they hear your name? Who you are, and what you stand for needs to come shining through loud and clear in all of your marketing.
The sixth sentence describes your identity, or the personality of your company. People like to deal with other people, not a company image. Companies that have personalities clearly define themselves in their niche. "Image," is a lie. It is defined in the dictionary as a facade. Your identity / personality is your sixth sentence.
The seventh sentence is very simple. It enunciates your marketing budget, which simply stated, should be a percentage of your projected gross sales. In 2010, the average business in Australia, America and Europe invested 4% of their gross revenues in marketing. However, do not forget that statistically the average start up business goes out of business within five years.
Although you do not really have to know what the average business does, it is still a good benchmark to follow. If you address these seven points, you can write a very simple marketing plan. Once you write that, pretty much everything will start falling into place, and you will be able to do what you need to do in order to make your marketing dreams come true.
