Strategic Marketing Plans - 5 Steps to Developing a Plan That Works

For a business to succeed, there is a planning process that must take place. Decisions must be made on the best way to compete effectively in today's market. Strategic marketing plans are documents that are written with the steps you must take to reach their marketing goals. In this article I will show you 5 steps to be taken in developing your marketing plan.

5 steps to develop a plan that works:

1. Make a list of your goals: The first thing on the list of strategic marketing plans is to make a list of objectives. This should include desired profits, total sales and aim for quality clients. Your goals should be at least a year and you need to make realistic and achievable.

2. Determine your situation: Second, we need to analyze your current business situation and have a realistic view of your market. What is your current market size and what are their strengths and weaknesses of skills and how they compare with yours? This is a very important part of strategic marketing plans as it will have a better understanding of how to overcome their weaknesses.

3. Its target market: When you are figuring out who is your target market, consider what kind of people would be attracted to the product you offer. After finding out who your target audience will, focus on what will make your product more attractive to that specific group of people. This is a fundamental part of strategic marketing plans.

4. Know the current marketing trends: marketing trends are always changing so when you are developing strategic marketing plans will require the use of techniques that are current and will help you achieve the goals you set. Search Engine Optimization, direct marketing and e-mail, viral or social marketing are just some of the marketing trends that you can use to make your business successful.

5. Use the 4 P's of marketing: The final part of their strategic marketing plans is the 4 Ps - product, price, promotion and place. These are also known as the marketing mix and if you come up with creative ideas for each of the 4 P, which will be a great benefit to your business. Too much information on the 4 P to put in this article, but I encourage you to learn more about them and use them in developing their marketing plan.

If you use these five steps in their strategic marketing plans and implementing unique ideas and customized for your business stand above the rest. It's a good idea to get some training from a reputable marketing company to help you become an expert on marketing strategies and how to use to make your business successful and profitable.

Strategic Marketing - The Key to Making Marketing Really Work

Part 1

A dairy company decided to implement an interesting promotion hoping to increase sales dramatically. Within some of its milk cartons placed a small device that makes a MOO sound when the box was opened. If the consumer had the cardboard, it would be a winner. The promotion was well until over one of the cartons are opened on a plane and the "lucky winner", looked inside and saw the wires. Panic spread and the plane was forced to make an emergency landing. The dairy company is responsible for all costs associated with the emergency and had to pull the promotion of the market immediately. What began as a great idea, ended in disaster for the company.

So what happened?

In short, the company has designed the promotion, without regard to a number of external factors, although anticipated, would have helped prevent this disaster from happening. For example, if he had seen exactly where their small cardboard boxes being distributed, they would have realized that placing this type of promotion in the hands of airline passengers can have very logical and frightening.

In this example, the company was guilty of merely adopting tactical marketing approach and did not look at the strategic implications as they should. A strategic marketing approach would have prevented this disaster from happening.

In this article I show how marketing is a strategic task, and should not be driven by tactics and tools. I will show how, if you do marketing at a tactical level, which could be losing money (and potentially lose money as the dairy company mentioned above) and is less effective. People often say "marketing is expensive." I agree with that statement if that marketing is not well thought out and planned beforehand. Often a great idea is just that - a great idea - but when the rubber hits the road and establishes the fact that great idea has to have something more than creativity. You need a dose of reality and honest and that instead of analyzing the potential risks through strategic eyes.

What you should look for - to maximize their opportunities

Marketing is all about choices and making the right decisions that give the possibility to maximize the opportunities. It is too simple to choose a marketing tactic in isolation and to implement it, without weighing the options of "what else can we do?"

Small and medium enterprises are particularly guilty of this because they often do not have the time or resources to evaluate all possible options that are available. Simply go to the Proven "old" - brochures, business cards, etc. web site - and feel that the time you have spent your money on these marketing tools, then fine. I do not understand is that you are placing the most dangerous place in the minds of potential customers: "ME TOO-ville." That will look and feel like everyone else and makes them vulnerable.

So how out of "ME TOO-ville." Well, it's very simple: change your thinking. Start looking for opportunities that are not being met, rather than an imitator.

What marketing is - the tactics and tools

At home I have a toolbox. It is filled with all the latest gadgets, widgets, devices that allow me to fix things around the house. Therefore, my toolbox is full of the best tools in the business - then why is my house in a state of disrepair? It's actually pretty simple, just because I have the tools does not make me a handyman. And if I was handy, it would really be able to solve the electrical and plumbing problems that require a little more knowledge, and all because I have a full toolbox. Absolutely not.

What is the key to this problem? It is about knowing in advance what can and can not do. Do not buy the tool and save it in the toolbox, if you have no real need for it, or if someone else uses it because they lack the knowledge and experience. In fact, having this tool is a waste of money and could actually be very dangerous in the wrong hands.

What are the marketing tools we have in our marketing toolbox? Well, there are tons of them (to name a few: business cards, brochures, flyers, warning, social media, website, trade show, etc), and like most of the tools in a box tools, used only a few achieve. The other will lose and it is those others who are often the most important and impressive. So how does that work?

Decide before you buy (or use) of the tool, whether it is appropriate to have. And that is called planning.

Recently, a very intelligent budget caught my attention: "If you do not have a plan for you, you will be part of another person." I realized that it was absolutely true and completely unavoidable. The fate of any kind is in your hands if you do your plan. Is not part of a plan, after the destination is in the hands of another person. Are you sure you are satisfied with that? If not, then get planning.

People often have difficulty with the definition of marketing, and I recently met one of the simplest definitions that not only puts in perspective of marketing, but does the same for sale.

Marketing is the thinking part of the sale - to decide what products to sell and at what price, so the distribution channels and how to promote them. This is a planning, the positioning function.