A marketing plan is very important part of your overall business plan. HOWEVER, creating it is only the first of three major steps.

  1. Create the Marketing Plan.
  2. Implement the strategies in the plan.
  3. Look at your marketing plan monthly.

Looking at your plan monthly is very important. Many business owners create a marketing plan and then never look at it again. This is a HUGE mistake. You can’t hit a target with blindfolds on. You need to always be assessing your strategies and tactics to make sure you are on course for success. This way you can make corrections.

Need help deciding what to include? Here is a tip.

Every time you see a competitor doing something that is taking market share away from you then look into it. See what they are doing, make sure they are making money and then try to incorporate their strategy into your plan.

When was the last time you updated your website? Your website should be constantly evolving. To do this properly you need a quarterly plan. You should be constantly trying to improve the experience of your visitors and increasing your conversions. You should be constantly testing price points. You should be constantly trying to better your customer service. You should be constantly be updating your content. You should constantly trying better ways to be FOUND by qualified visitors! Get the picture? A website is not a novelty it is a living extension of your business and it needs proper care and feeding.

Are you neglecting your social media marketing plan?

Your need to have a planned social media marketing strategy. Don’t think you are going to wing it. It will not be as effective and in addition, trying to implement things that are not yet thought of is crazy. Take out a calendar and circle the days you will be posting to social media. Also develop a content schedule ensure you post great content. Then STICK TO IT! Your competition probably is.

If you are having difficulty with a marketing plan maybe you are trying to be too perfect. If you are not going to be presenting your marketing plan to a bank for a loan than I suggest you make a overall strategy with a list of tactics you need to do. Determine how much revenue you can expect from the implementation of the tactics and if the outcome is reasonable then go for it! It’s much better to do something then nothing. You can always make corrections. If you are scared you will lose money on untested tactics then might I suggest you do things that have had a return on investment in the past then take revenues from those tactics to fund you scarier plans. The great thing about it is you will be doing something.

Let me know if this helped you. Also, keep in touch. I am always happy to hear about your success.

As always, your comments are welcomed and appreciated.