Bullet-Proof Marketing Plan Template for Small Businesses

A marketing plan is the “how” of achieving your marketing strategy.

Without a well-thought-out plan you can’t achieve the goals you developed as part of your marketing strategy.

And by the way, if you don’t have a marketing strategy yet, we have a blog for this. It’s called 5 Steps to Building a Marketing Strategy Template for Successful Businesses.

Once you have your marketing strategy, you need a plan to implement it.

If you unsure where to start, this article walks you through the key elements of a marketing plan template that you can use for your business over and over again.

Start by Developing Your Marketing Mix.

Your marketing mix refers to the elements you’ll use to show prospects why your product or service is different and better than your competitors.

The marketing mix consists of the 4 Ps:

For example, adventure site, Go Outdoors, is a one-stop-shop for all your activity needs. They are constantly communicating their promotions and price reductions on their website.

Image Source: www.gooutdoors.co.uk

If you’d like more information on how you should use these 4Ps in your marketing strategy, then read our article.

Now, let’s move on to the “what” and “how” of your marketing plan.

Get Your External Marketing Communication Going

External marketing communication is the process of delivering targeted messages to your customers and prospects at the appropriate time.

There are predominantly two ways you can communicate your message to your target market:

1. Online: It’s important that you match your marketing message with your buyer’s journey. You’ll need to create a marketing funnel. This is when you map out a customer’s journey from when they are a complete stranger to when they become a lead. You can then communicate with them at each touch point to encourage them to move through this funnel.

2. Offline, preferably via word-of-mouth marketing. This lets your customers do the marketing for you and is pivotal to your ongoing business success. People start talking, telling other people and the word spreads. Nothing can replace word-of-mouth marketing and the powerful effect it has on your business.

You can ignite this initial chain reaction and keep the fire burning by:

It’s not about choosing one approach over the other but rather applying both.

Develop Your Marketing Message

Don’t try to tell your customers everything about your product or service.

Narrow your message and be specific so customers will receive one important message.

Your first step will be to identify your target market’s problems. Then you need to present your product or service as the solution.

This step is important because most people won’t take action if the solution seems too complex or unlikely.

For example, if you own an antiques business, and you know customers are wary of fakes, making them uncertain about their purchasing decision, your message might look something like this:

Authentic Antiques: Even experts get duped – avoid fakes and get peace of mind when you purchase from us. Each unique piece comes with its own confirmation of authenticity.

The Problem: Potential customers aren’t completing their purchase, because they don’t trust you.

The Solution: Demonstrate trust by providing tangible proof; a certificate of authenticity.

Wiggle.co.uk provides customers with a clothing comparison chart, solving their problem of indecision by helping them make an informed decision.

Image Source: www.wiggle.co.uk

Pick Your Marketing Channels

If you don’t have a large budget and you’re trying to market your products, don’t worry.

Plenty of companies have succeeded in the past without spending massive amounts of money on marketing. Here are some ways you can do marketing for almost free.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is a great way to get new customers to engage with your business, as well as maintain relationships with existing customers.

It’s extremely cost effective and one of the most powerful marketing tools available to a small businesses. This is because it provides predictable results and costs little or nothing to use.

Email marketing is still one of the quickest and most direct ways of communicating.

Remember to continually collect contact information to grow your database and follow-up on a regular basis. The kinds of emails that get the best response include:

BuzzFeed uses awesomely written subject lines and preview text to support their marketing efforts. They are always short and punchy. For example, if the subject line is a question, the preview text is the answer. Or if the subject line is a command (Get up! Get up Now!), the preview text seems like the next logical thought right after it.

Image Source: Pinterest.com

Content Marketing

Content marketing is a low-cost marketing solution for effectively explaining products or services in an interesting way.

The more valuable content you give away the more deals you’ll close.

If you want to increase your conversions, then start captivating your target audience by providing them with the information they’re seeking.

Fine+Rare uses their blog to educate prospects and customers on fine wine.

Image Source: blog.frw.co.uk

Digital Marketing

Digital marketing tools and techniques provide business owners the best chance for beating the competition and increase business growth.

Digital marketing is the promotion of products or brands via one or more forms of electronic media.

Video Marketing

Using video, especially “how to” videos, will help engage visitors for a longer period of time, allowing your brand message to sink in. Take a look at our blog telling you all about Video Marketing.

Video is very searchable and shareable, increasing the likelihood of your website content being found, and shared.

How to use video in your marketing plan:

Leverage Social Networks

Besides having a website, you should use popular social networking sites to distribute your message and create brand awareness.

Twitter and Facebook are invaluable for describing existing products, introducing new products, offering promotions and announcing sales.

Focus your efforts on networks that hold the key to your target audience and objectives. Read our ‘5 Steps to Building a Social Media Strategy’ for a more in-depth information.

Juniper, a UK-based training business, utilises the power of Facebook and digital marketing to spread their marketing message. In the screenshot above you can clearly see their location, immediately establishing credibility with possible customers.

Measure Your Marketing Plan Success Using Analytics

Finally, make sure that the plan you’ve built using the marketing plan template actually works.

By using the data gathered from the marketing channels above, you can gain deeper understanding into your customers’ behaviour and tailor make marketing messages to suit their wants and needs.

This will also assist you in positioning your products and services to sell.

4 Google Analytics Reports You Should be Using

Google Analytics is a great source of customer data.

There are four categories of reports you need to constantly review – each one is the key to understanding certain insights that impact the performance of the message you’re trying to promote:

Tah-Dah! Here’s Your Marketing Plan Template

Conclusion

This marketing plan template will help your customers understand why your product or service is better and how you can uniquely solve their problem for them.

If your first attempt at a marketing plan doesn’t turn out great, don’t get discouraged. Go back to our marketing templates and determine what you can do better.

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