5 benefits of a marketing plan for your business
There are many reasons why companies should create marketing plans. There are many benefits that a marketing plan can bring to your business. And which benefits they are, we will tell you in our article.
5 benefits of creating a marketing plan
There are many reasons why companies should create marketing plans. There are a number of benefits that a marketing plan can bring to your business:
Expanding your reach – companies can be strategic in expanding their reach, whether it is in a domestic or foreign market.
Unified information – a document that will keep your information in one place. You can build on it and draw from it when creating marketing materials, as well as planning other strategies.
Budget adherence – you will have more visibility of your budget if you allocate the necessary funds to each marketing activity.
Measurable goals – any effective marketing plan must include measurable goals so you know you are achieving the desired results. In this case, it is advisable to use SMART goals.
Brand Reinforcement – having a strategic marketing plan in place will help you to determine how best to raise the profile of your brand and will be particularly helpful in presenting it positively.
Which steps lead to creating the perfect marketing plan?
You may come across various formulas that will help you to create a marketing plan. However, if you want to create a truly perfect marketing plan, it is important to answer the following questions when creating one.
What do you expect to get out of your marketing?
Answering this question will help you understand what your marketing goals are in the first place. Determine what you expect to get out of your marketing activities in the next period (e.g. 1 year). You can take things a step further by specifying what you want to gain from marketing in the next 3, 5 or 10 years.
What is the maximum amount you want to spend on marketing promotion?
Based on previous spending, your future estimates, or a combination of both, determine and allocate your marketing budget for the coming year. To this amount, ideally add an extra 20% for unexpected marketing expenses.
How do you know it’s working?
Define your key performance indicators (KPIs) so you can evaluate whether your activities are working. If they are not being met, you can implement the necessary activities very quickly. KPIs can range from measuring revenue through your marketing campaigns, website traffic or ROI.
Who do you want to reach?
Determining who you want to reach with your marketing campaigns will help you specify your target market. It also helps you define who to target with your marketing activities to achieve the desired result.
How will you achieve your marketing objectives?
Once you know what your marketing goals are, you will be able to answer this question. At the same time, you will be able to set a marketing plan that will lead you to those goals.
How are your competitors doing marketing?
Do your research on your competitors. Focus on their website, social media, online reviews, and anything else you discover to define what marketing communications they provide. Along with this, you’ll also find out what their weak link area is, you can use that to your advantage.
How do you want people to get to know your organization?
Answer this question in terms of your identity. This includes your logo, your brand “voice,” colors, etc. In short, everything about how potential customers perceive you. Your brand identity must evoke a good feeling in the customer. Do you want to be seen as a brand that is kind, responsible and perhaps customer-centric? Be sure to include these points in your plan so you know how you want to achieve this identity.
What makes you different from the rest?
Define what makes you different from others. Identify your unique selling point (UPS). Do your research and ask your customers why they chose you. UPS will help you effectively create a marketing plan strategy.
How do you plan to implement the above points?
The answer to this question will help you come up with a plan to manage your marketing activities. Compile everything into one comprehensive document, including the initiation, planning, implementation, monitoring and closing phases. This will make it much more likely that you will complete all of your tasks and meet all of the goals of your marketing plan.
Now that you have the answers to all of these points and a document created that contains your complete strategic plan, there is nothing left to do but implement it into real practice. Putting the plan into practice and ensuring that you meet your goals, define measurable objectives and adjust them as needed will help you stay within your budget. Utilizing tools to help you implement your sales and marketing strategies will significantly increase your chances of success. And GoSMS is a very useful tool to smartly reach your customers via SMS messages and meet the selected goals of your marketing plan.
