A marketing plan is a necessary step in starting
a business or launching a new product, as it enables you to identify the costs,
time and effort you will need to invest in your business if you want it to
succeed.
Your marketing mission will be to:
Identify your target market
Determine
who your intended customers are by age, sex, ethnicity, level of education and
income bracket, place of residence and work, spending habits, and career. Begin
with customers who are almost certain to be interested in your product, and
only once your business has seen some growth, consider including those interest
is not that assured.
Identify your competition
Look
for companies in your area that offer similar products, and research which of
these products are most popular and why. You’re trying to uncover the
weaknesses and strengths of your competitors, as well as determine which
businesses are doing well and which are unsuccessful. Having inspected the
products produced by your competitors, identify the features of your own
product that are unique and that may be emphasised in your marketing strategy.
Keep a file on each of your competitors, which should include their product
pricing, marketing materials, and any relevant information about them, and be
sure to stay abreast of what they are doing at all times.
Describe your product
From
a client’s viewpoint, determine the attractive qualities your product embodies
that can be used as selling points. What features make it preferable to other
similar products, and how do these features satisfy the buyer’s needs? Ask
buyers for input on how the product could be altered to better satisfy their
needs.
Formulating a market budget
This
budget needs to account for costs associated with promotions and advertising,
such as the required materials, and for the mediums of advertising to be used.
You may determine the scale of your market strategy according to your operating
budget, or set accrue marketing funds over a period of time until the fund
meets your intended budget.
Pricing strategy
Study
the pricing of your competitors. It is imperative to price your products in the
same region of your competitors. Do your overhead costs permit this? Have you
managed to keep production costs low enough to render selling prices on a level
with your competitors? If not you may need to source cheaper suppliers, and
look for ways to economise on the manufacturing process.
Formulate a promotional strategy
What
is the best way to reach your target market? Some research into the behavioural
patterns of your intended consumer at this stage is wise. Will you reach them
best via printed media, television, radio, internet or networking, or a
combination of them all?
No matter what your industry, you need a marketing plan if you want to attract customers. It can be simple or it can be complex, the important thing is that it needs to reflect your target market’s needs.
Author Bio:
Jay
Ruger writes for The Tangled Web, which provides marketingadvice, including PR, the importance of web development, and online and
offline marketing.