Do You Have A Marketing Plan?

All small businesses need a marketing plan. Without one, you will be hard pressed to grow and attract more customers or improve your product. You might want to start with a two-year plan, which will provide a big enough window to see where your company might go under certain conditions. For example, you might decide to invest $10,000 in advertising strategies over the next two years in hopes of boosting your client base by twenty-five percent. After two years, you would then evaluate your plan to see how close you came to meeting your goals, or perhaps exceeding them. Without a plan your growth becomes more of a hit-or-miss approach without a guiding arm to steer you through tough times and possible revamping of your marketing strategy if the original isn’t working. If you don’t have a marketing plan, now is the time to make one. Start by creating or revising a mission statement and set of operational values. Have these printed and posted in your office as a constant reminder of the company’s overarching goals. Then create a template that can be reviewed and revised periodically as you continually check your progress toward outlined objectives. Begin by establishing a timeframe between one and five years. Then write your company’s goals for that period. Next, describe your action steps for reaching the goals. The action steps

might include advertising techniques such as printing a brochure, making twenty cold calls per week, or other tasks of this nature. These are measurable, precise steps that you can later check by writing “yes” or “no” as to whether these things were done consistently. Then state your long-term goal. This might be to increase sales, build your client base, or establish a community presence. Short-term goals might include hiring a part-time assistant or having company stationery printed with a view to enhancing long-term sales goals. Whatever your company’s goals, you have a better chance of reaching them when you start by writing out a marketing plan that will steer your efforts.