Marketing Plan

Synopsis

Lack of internal alignment, budget limitations, absence of innovation, broken data and inaccurate customer insights are some of the pain points that keep marketers up at night. The good news is that a solid marketing plan might be the answer to most of them. With our Marketing Plan deck, you can make your goals visible and measurable to minimize customer churn and maximize profits.

Questions and answers

How can a marketing plan be used to track progress towards marketing goals?

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A marketing plan can be used to track progress towards marketing goals by making the goals visible and measurable. It provides a roadmap for achieving the set goals and allows for regular monitoring and evaluation of the progress. It helps in identifying any deviations from the plan and taking corrective actions promptly. It also helps in minimizing customer churn and maximizing profits.

What are some common elements of a successful marketing plan?

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Some common elements of a successful marketing plan include clear and measurable goals, a thorough understanding of the target audience, a comprehensive competitive analysis, detailed budget and resource allocation, innovative strategies, and a plan for tracking and measuring success.

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Slide highlights

Use this slide to communicate the results of your Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP) research. This means talking about your strategy to Segment your market, Target your best customers and Position your offering.

Introduce main marketing objectives (brand's defined goals) to your stakeholders with this slide. Make sure that your objectives are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Also mention, how you'll will qualify them.

Marketing executives are often challenged with justifying budgets to the company leadership. That is why discussing financial objectives is imperative. Talking about expenses upfront will better your chances of staying within the allocated budget.

Overview

Strategic marketing plans focus on the marketing objectives and explain how marketing efforts will help the organization achieve its bigger goals. They also focus on the company's resources on reaching target customers and encouraging them to act.

Some of the most common marketing strategy plans are:

• Quarterly Marketing Plan
• Annual Marketing Plan
• Paid Marketing Plan
• Social Media Marketing Plan
• Content Marketing Plan
• New Product Launch Marketing Plan

Our Marketing Plan deck begins with an Executive Summary, then moves on to Environmental Analysis, Segmenting-Targeting-Positioning (STP) modeling, Market Base and Customers, Target Market Segmentation, Market Share and Competition, Strengths and Weaknesses Profile, Opportunities and Threats Analysis, Chance-Risk Analysis, Key Marketing Objectives, Marketing SMART Goals, Marketing Mix, Product Mix, Product Portfolio Analysis, Promotional Mix, Pricing Strategy, Marketing Communication Policy, Marketing Management Process, Personnel Requirements, Financial Requirements, Marketing Plan Rollout Timeline, Gantt Chart and, finally, a variety of Marketing KPI Dashboards to always keep your goals in check.

Questions and answers

What is the purpose of advertising as a marketing communication policy?

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The purpose of advertising as a marketing communication policy is multi-fold:

Firstly, it's used to create awareness about a product or service. This is crucial for new products or services entering the market.

Secondly, advertising helps to differentiate a product or service from its competitors. It highlights the unique selling propositions that make the product or service stand out.

Thirdly, advertising aims to persuade customers to purchase the product or service. It does this by showcasing the benefits and value the product or service can bring to the customer.

Lastly, advertising helps to remind customers about the product or service. This is especially important in saturated markets where customers have a wide range of options to choose from.

Remember, effective advertising is a key component of a successful marketing communication policy. It should be strategic, targeted, and aligned with the overall marketing objectives of the business.

How can a marketing plan help make an organization's goals measurable?

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A marketing plan can help make an organization's goals measurable by setting clear, specific, and quantifiable objectives. These objectives are often set using the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) framework. The plan also includes Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that provide measurable outcomes to track the progress and effectiveness of the marketing strategies. Furthermore, tools like Gantt charts and timelines can be used to monitor the progress of the plan and ensure that the marketing activities are on track to achieve the set goals.

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Application

"A marketing plan contains one or more marketing strategies. It is the framework from which all of your marketing strategies are created, and helps you connect each strategy back to a larger marketing operation and business goal," HubSpot team says. According to them, the below steps will help you put together a comprehensive marketing plan.

Questions and answers

What are some effective ways to define and measure key performance indicators in a marketing plan?

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To define and measure key performance indicators (KPIs) in a marketing plan, you should first align them with your business's mission. The KPIs should be specific enough to track the progress of your mission. Once you have defined your KPIs, you can measure them by tracking the relevant data. For example, if one of your KPIs is to increase customer engagement, you could measure this by tracking metrics such as website traffic, social media engagement, or email open rates. It's also important to regularly review and adjust your KPIs as necessary to ensure they are helping you achieve your business goals.

How can content initiatives and strategies contribute to the success of a marketing plan?

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Content initiatives and strategies play a crucial role in the success of a marketing plan. They help in attracting and engaging the target audience, thereby increasing brand awareness and customer loyalty. They also provide valuable information to the audience, helping them make informed decisions. This can lead to increased sales and customer retention. Moreover, content initiatives can help in SEO, driving more traffic to the website and improving its ranking on search engines. They can also help in establishing the brand as a thought leader in the industry, enhancing its credibility and trustworthiness.

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1. State your business's mission – a mission is specific to your marketing department, however, it should serve your business's main mission statement. "Be specific, but not too specific. You have plenty of space left in [your] marketing plan to elaborate on how you'll acquire new customers and accomplish this mission," HubSpot experts say.
2. Determine the KPIs for this mission – describe how the department will track its mission's progress and determine your key performance indicators (KPIs).
3. Identify your buyer personas – a buyer persona is a description of whom you want to attract, including age, sex, location, family size, job title and other details. "Each buyer persona should be a direct reflection of your business's customers and potential customers. Therefore, it's critical that business leaders all agree on what your buyer personas are," the experts say.
4. Describe your content initiatives and strategies – include the main points of your marketing and content strategy here.
5. Define your plan's omissions – a marketing plan's purpose is to explain what the marketing team is going to focus on and what the marketing team is not going to focus on. HubSpot team explains that omissions help to justify your mission, buyer personas, KPIs and content.
6. Define your marketing budget – your strategy might leverage many free channels and platforms, but there are always hidden expenses to be accounted for, such as freelance fees, sponsorships or a new full-time marketing hire. Develop a marketing budget and outline each expense in this section of your marketing plan.
7. Identify your competition – "part of marketing is knowing whom you're marketing against. Research the key players in your industry and consider profiling each one in this section," the experts say.
8. Outline your plan's contributors and their responsibilities – explain who's doing what and assign tasks and make it clear which teams and team leaders are in charge of specific content types, channels, KPIs, etc.

Expert advice

Top industry specialists shared enlightening tips with "Inc." magazine. Here are some of the most inspiring ones:

Andrew Pickering and Pete Gartland, co-founders of Andrew and Pete

"Spend 90% of your marketing efforts doing something remarkably well and 10% experimenting."

Jeff Sauer, founder of Data Driven U

"Take a step away from Google Analytics and go as low tech as possible; use a whiteboard or Excel to write down your objectives."

Emeric Ernoult, co-founder and CEO of Agorapulse

"Focus on monetization, retention and acquisition. Companies that focus on these key factors grow three times faster than those working solely on the acquisition. While the acquisition is important and seems easier, it isn't the driving factor of growth for most businesses. By spreading your energy across retention and monetization, you can reap the full benefits from current customers."

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Julia Bramble, social media strategist for Bramblebuzz

"Act more like a friend on social media. [...] Businesses must begin to share the tips and information that our friends need. That means sharing a funny story, asking questions, being empathetic, following up and raising a smile."

Ieva Zelca, CMO at Accuranker

"Experimenting with strategies can help strengthen the weak areas within your business, as long as you create actionable goals and record the new method's impact over time. It's important that you measure your results because, then, you'll learn more about what works for you and what doesn't."

Sarah-Jayne Gratton, technology futurist

"Keep an eye on artificial intelligence. Marketers need to be aware of how predictive analytics can understand and see the behavior in retail, or any aspect of the business."