Does your business have an annual plan outlining your business goals, and strategies to achieve these goals through your marketing efforts? If not, your business may be missing a key component for success: a Strategic Marketing Plan!
Knowing your overall business goals is one thing,
but if you have not developed a plan to achieve those goals through your marketing,
you may never reach the success you dream of for yourself or your business!
If your marketing efforts are not helping you achieve your business goals, it may be time to develop a more comprehensive marketing plan aligned with your business goals – this is where Stephens Consulting can assist you.
What is a Strategic Marketing Plan?
Don’t settle for cookie-cutter marketing plans – they will never be able to help you achieve your business goals – what your business needs is a Strategic Marketing Plan (SMP). A well-developed and executed SMP can be your key to success. It is your business’ overall game plan for reaching prospective customers and turning them into loyal users of your products or services. Your SMP's primary goal is to identify your target market(s) to ensure that you are able to reach the correct people on the channels and platforms they prefer using language that resonates with them. By doing this, you turn them from potential customers into loyal customers and brand promoters.
Your marketing strategy is one of the most important strategies you will ever develop, and it’s worth investing in to get it right. A marketing strategy contains the company’s value proposition, essential brand messaging, data on target customer demographics, and other high-level elements. A thorough marketing strategy covers "the four Ps" of marketing—product, price, place, and promotion.
What does a Strategic Marketing Plan include?
A Strategic Marketing Plan includes all the information your team needs to execute the plan. This will vary by business and can be customized to fit your needs. If your business does not host events or does not need a fundraising plan, skip those sections – it is completely customised to your organization and its needs. Here is an overview of what an SMP can include:
Executive Summary – summarizes everything included in your plan.
Company Outline – who are you as an organization?
Products / Services – including pricing and how to access your products/services.
Value Proposition – What problem does your business solve? How do you differentiate your products and services? What is your competitive edge?
Target Audience(s) – You may have various target audiences based on your products and services. The more specific you get with identifying who you plan to serve with your business, the more effective your marketing efforts will be, so dig deep. Who are you planning to help, and how can you help them?
Business Goals – What are your overall business goals – more revenue, launch a new product/service, expand your reach?
Marketing Key Strategic Priorities – based on your business goals, what do you need to prioritise to achieve those goals? - Brand awareness, lead generation, customer engagement and nurturing, online presence, thought leadership, new product launch, etc…
Marketing Campaigns / Fundraisers / Event Plans to help achieve the business goals (Monthly, Seasonal, etc…)
Advertisement Details (Outlets, size, duration, etc…)
Estimated Advertising Costs
Deadlines for submissions of advertisements
Contracts with:
Marketing Firm (If work is being outsourced)
Advertising Outlets (Television, Radio, Newspaper, Magazines, etc…)
Quotes For Printing Services
Personnel Needed for various tasks
Marketing
Graphic Design
Ad placement
Social Media Management
Web Development
Content Development
Accounts Administrator
Evaluation Methods (Key Performance Indicators/Metrics)
Sales growth
Leads
Website Traffic
Social Media Engagement
Email Marketing Data
Here are four main ways your Strategic Marketing Plan can help your business:
1) Focus Your Marketing Efforts Based On Business Goals
Your SMP helps to focus your marketing efforts and allow your marketing to align with your overall business goals. Too often, businesses need more clients, but instead of focusing on the type of clients they need and how to reach them, they may double down on what they are currently doing, which isn't working. With your SMP, you can determine if the data from your marketing does not support your marketing and business goals, and as such, you have to re-evaluate and pivot your strategies accordingly.
2) Save Resources
A well-written SMP can help you save time, money, and energy. If your business has multiple campaigns per year, advertises in various media, and sponsors events - having an SMP will help focus your efforts and keep your budget on track. At a glance, you can determine the marketing theme(s) for the month/season, any outstanding ads, staff members involved, and due dates for key projects.
3) Manage Workload
Once you see the various tasks for each project, you can better manage the workload amongst your team - it will also highlight if you need to outsource any services or hire additional help. When your work is broken down into its subtasks, it is easier to determine how much help and time you need to accomplish the goals of this project.
4) Allows You To Measure Your Success
By having your business and marketing goals outlined and developing targets for each project, you can better measure the success of each project and overall as a business.
How We Work With Our Clients To Develop Their Strategic Marketing Plan:
At Stephens Consulting, we get to know you, your business, and your business goals before we begin working for you. In developing your annual Strategic Marketing Plan, we can break down those business goals and create marketing goals to help you achieve your business goals. We connect all of your marketing platforms through this process – your Website, Social Media, Public Relations, Digital Advertising, Print Advertising, and more - this creates a cohesive brand that assists with achieving your business goals.
Your Strategic Marketing Plan should be easy to understand and accessible to all relevant parties in your business – marketing, finance, fundraising, etc. It can be designed in any way you want, but we design ours like a calendar – sharing weekly, monthly, quarterly, and seasonal themes in marketing, special offers, sales, and more. This plan also includes where each promotion will be featured – your website, social media, newspaper, radio, television, or some combination of them all. Your plan also includes estimated advertising costs based on current fees for various advertising outlets or any advertising contracts with media outlets. It also includes all campaigns, events, sponsorships, and much more. All of this ensures that you get the best return on your investment. Once completed, your Strategic Marketing Plan becomes a roadmap to success!
Stop the guesswork - let Stephens Consulting develop an annual Strategic Marketing Plan for your business! We work with our clients to identify their business goals, create correlating marketing goals, and then develop an annual Strategic Marketing Plan to help you achieve your business goals! We focus on your root problems and help build campaigns to solve the actual problem and not the symptoms. Sometimes it's not that your marketing efforts aren’t working but that you are not speaking to the correct audience – a simple change can have a tremendous impact. You may have an exceptional product but not enough brand awareness – whatever the problem is, we will develop a plan to help you achieve your business goals!
Contact us today to schedule your FREE marketing consultation! We look forward to helping you achieve your business goals!