Knowing how to make a marketing plan is the basis so that, through organization and correct management, any company can carry out a marketing strategy focused and directed to the main client in an organized way, much more profitable and achieving the objectives set. . Do you want to get it? Well, follow me to the end and I will reveal all the steps you need to follow.
Initial approach to know how to make a marketing plan
This is the most complex part, as it involves a deep reflection on what the company’s objectives are, if they are achievable and how they can be achieved. These objectives must follow the SMART logic, that is, be precise, measurable, achievable, relevant and be able to achieve them in a certain period of time. Miguel Santesmases Mestre defines this process as “the formulation of marketing objectives and strategies, together with the determination of the expected income, expenses and benefits budget”.
Premises of a marketing plan
- It must be structured and organized for all the departments that are involved in it, as it must be understandable and applicable by all parties.
- Its content must be very concrete and precise for each of the stages and actions, since otherwise there may be confusion and errors.
- You must establish what will be the lines of work for each objective and who are the coordinators or those responsible for those actions.
In short, there are two things that you must keep in mind to know how to make a digital marketing plan: real corporate objectives and a feasible and organized action plan. Without these two well established foundations, the marketing plan will not produce the expected results.
Marketing plan resources
- Analyze the structure and internal functioning of the company itself and its environment.
- Assess the strengths and weaknesses of both the company and the market in which it participates.
- Take into account possible forecasts and forecasts of the company.
- Set SMART goals.
- Study possible strategies based on your resources (financial, HR, computers, etc.).
- Analyse the strategies of the competition and study how to improve them.
- Determine budgets, analyze and organize them.
- Fundamental! Analyze the results. Doing this month by month will practically be the key to the success of the marketing plan, as it will allow you to make corrections as you analyze the results obtained.
In addition to this, and although it is somewhat obvious, you must also study and know in depth the demand, its search patterns, preferences and devices from which they are interested. At the end of the day, the survival of your company depends on the sales you make, so knowing your target audience perfectly, more than a duty, is a necessity. To do this, you can develop one or more buyer personas, that is, a real example of a person to whom your products or services are directed. Give it a name, age, nationality, place of residence, employment, economic capacity, etc.
SWOT analysis and PESTEL analysis
Before developing a timing that includes the actions and their duration, we must know the real situation of the company. One of the most useful tools to know current events, both internal and external to the company, is the preparation of a SWOT analysis, which details the company’s Weaknesses, Threats, Strengths and Opportunities. Given the new scenario and growing online competition, highlighting those strengths and differentiating yourself from other companies is essential. The analysis of strength and opportunities allow to determine what the real opportunities of the company are, as well as to focus efforts on those areas that the organization is stronger. Regarding the analysis of weaknesses and threats, we must counteract them with our strengths, establishing policies and favoring our strengths (price, variety, quality …)
Market segmentation
This will help you understand the structure of the market and the role that your business plays within it. It is also known as segmentation or customer or audience and consists of dividing potential customers into different groups according to the most appropriate characteristics for each business. In this way, your business will have the ability to send personalized messages for each type of audience and objective. If you have a veterinary company, for example, you could group your target audience according to the type of pet they have (dogs, cats, rabbits, etc.). Once done, you can send relevant information in each case, promoting dog food only among customers who have a dog. Other common segmentations can be based on demographic data such as age, gender, place of residence, etc.
Control
Once the strategies to be followed in the marketing plan have been marked, it is time to put it into practice and wait for it to meet the established objectives. In this control phase, the marketing department must monitor the evolution of the actions implemented, making the necessary plans if the results that are obtained are not as expected. This monitoring and control of the marketing plan must be based on the basic foundations of supervision.
- In the first place, we mention the control over objectives, which are analyzed annually and monthly, and even implementing semi-annual reviews.
- On the other hand, it is necessary to establish control over the procedures, covering the execution of actions both online and offline.
In addition, the short-term results can reveal if the marketing plan is working or if it is necessary to re-establish objectives or marked actions. Do not forget to prepare reports of metrics and KPI’s, which will yield data such as the number of visits to the company’s website, emails received, volume of followers on social networks, engagement or degree with which users or customers interact with the brand.
Conclusions
As we can see, the creation of a Marketing strategy is essential to organize all the actions focused on meeting the commercial objectives of the company. Using a good organization, we can distribute resources in such a way that we achieve the best performance and thereby achieve our objectives at a lower cost. PZT by Posizionarte can help you in the preparation of your Marketing Plan and even offer you inPlant consulting for a period of time, to do a more meticulous job knowing your business from within. If you think that your marketing plan can improve or you want to create it from scratch, contact us and we will help you
