Sunday, May 31, 2015

Take Time to Draft Your Small Business Marketing Plan

Make time to draft your marketing plan. We live in a busy world and finding enough time for everything, if you are running your own business, becomes a real challenge. If it is a small or home based business, where you don't have much back up in the way of competent staff, then running and marketing your business becomes a blur of confusion.

When the days become busy is when you really need a well researched plan to follow. This relieves any unnecessary 'spur of the moment' trial and errors that you will regret later.
There is a return on your investment for making time to draft a marketing plan. Here are five reasons that will get you started.
1. Compels you to think about your business.
The biggest advantage is that it forces you to sit down and think about your business. What is your current situation in regards to customers, marketing activities, and ROI? Who is your competition and is there anything going on in the environment that can change how you do business? What are your goals for the next week, month, and year? Without a plan you will not know how to get from now to then. Begin to understand what resources your small business will need to meet those goals etc.
2. Creates Organization.
The second advantage is that a small business marketing plan organizes all your marketing activities you plan on using. This will eliminate those costly and ineffective last minute decisions. You know what you are going to do to market your business over a set time frame.
3. Decide how and where to spend your marketing dollars.
By developing a marketing plan you will have to decide on how and where you are going to undertake marketing activities. Think about money, time, and any other resources you will need to carry out your marketing objectives before you take action. This ensures that you do not over spend your budget.
4. Plan when and where to begin your marketing tactics.
A marketing plan will outline details about when you initiate your marketing objectives and tactics. Most businesses have cycles when there are busy cycles and slow down periods. While drafting your plan you will decide if you want to increase your marketing activities to generate sales in quiet periods? You will also have thought about if you would be able to handle the increased demand if you marketed aggressively during busy periods?
5. You'll know what you want to achieve.
The marketing research you did for your small business marketing plan will ensure that you know the return on investment you expect your marketing activities to achieve. To analyze the actual campaigns you will put mechanisms in place to measure the results against expectations.
The return on investment you will receive by drafting a marketing plan is peace of mind about, and organization of, marketing activities. You will have information that helps you make better decisions, you will know your competition, business environment, your customers and potential customers, and you will increase your bottom line. Take the time to draft your small business plan to save you time to run your business and ensure that your business prospers.
Toni Grundstrom is a freelance writer with emphasis in the Marketing field. She has worked for a professional legal association, government entity, and small businesses. With 17 years of experience I provide valuable content in all aspects of Marketing. Click Here for additional information about drafting your Small Business Marketing Plan.
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1 comment:

  1. Nice post! Are you worried about sub-optimal business performance for your established business or startup. Here are some tips on revitalizing your business with a new Business Plan : planthybusiness.com/2016/09/01/how-to-turn-around-your-business-with-a-new-business-plan/

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