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Marketing Planning Process: 5 Steps for Success
A marketing plan is one of the most important documents in a business for planning their long term success. Done right, it’s a road map that analyzes the business environment, threats and opportunities in the industry, and puts a marketing strategy in place to achieve business objectives. Don’t confuse this with a typical business plan. A marketing plan is more focused on strategy, whereas a business plan has its focus on the financials. In addition, a business plan is typically used as a tool to assist companies raising capital, while a marketing plan aims to give direction for a company, and is a core component of a business plan.
If you’re interested in running through the details, this recent post covers the four steps you need to follow for success in planning your marketing. Within the marketing plan, there is a specific process to follow to ensure you get it right, and plan out how each phase will be accomplished. All you need is to follow these basic process steps:
1. Determine the overall mission of the organization.
The starting point for your marketing plan is determining the goals and the basic objectives you are planning to achieve in your company. Sometimes these are already in place, but if you’re working on a new venture you may need to create this from scratch. This involves setting the company mission, defining what your company is all about, and identifying what makes it unique. Put your focus on the needs that your company solves for your customers, and not simply the products or services you plan to sell. Every good business solves a need. The company mission is the foundation from which all of your marketing plans will be built, and gives you a set of objectives with which you can strive for, and evaluate your performance against. For traditional marketers you can take this course and learn what it takes to be a digital manager in the internet age.
As you work on defining your goals and objectives, remember to clearly articulate the culture, values and philosophy of your company. This helps to give direction to all of your employees, customers, and suppliers – so that everyone knows where the organization is heading, and the ways you plan to get there. Getting these in place helps to motivate employees, and communicates that you’re not just concerned about profits. Once you have all of this together, form the objectives you plan to achieve. As you brainstorm and create the goals to strive for, remember to keep them SMART – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound. By being clear in your objectives, everyone knows what you’re trying to accomplish.
