Whether you’re just starting out with your business or have years invested already, it’s never too late to build a successful marketing plan. With the right strategy in place, you can work to drive more traffic to your website, generate quality leads, and grow your business.
Know your ideal customer
The first step in developing your marketing plan is to know who you’re marketing to. This may sound like a no-brainer, but you have to be sure that your marketing is focused in order to get the results you want.
Start with creating a profile of your ideal client. What are their demographics (e.g. age, sex, income level, education, etc.)? Where do they shop? What are their interests? The more you know about the person you are trying to reach, the better you can direct your marketing efforts.
In addition to building out a client profile, take time to talk to previous clients. Whether you speak to them on the phone or send out a simple survey, you can get valuable information about why they chose your business.
Research your competitors
A key part of developing your own marketing plan is knowing what your competitors are doing to promote themselves and generate leads. Competitor research helps you see what’s working for other businesses in your niche and even find opportunities you may have missed otherwise.
Check out your competitors’ social media pages and ads to see what they’re offering, what kind of posts they make, and what images and content seem to work best for them. Just remember that you’re trying to copy what they’re doing—you want to do it better and with your own style.
One of the easiest ways to keep an eye on your competitors is to sign up for their emails. This way, you can stay on top of their special offers and discounts and get insights into their marketing strategy.
Decide what platforms to use
Today there are more ways than ever to get your name out there in front of potential customers. From traditional print advertising to digital ads and social media, the options can seem overwhelmingly endless.
Instead of advertising in every possible place, take time to determine which platforms can give you the best return on investment and fit well with your brand. Don’t start running Facebook ads just because everyone else is doing it. If you want to advertise, make sure you have a clear plan for how you present your company and what content and media you want to use.
It’s also important to consider places where you already have an established audience. Maybe you’ve spent years building up your Instagram following. If that’s the case, you should take advantage of the audience you have there and market specifically to them.
Have clear goals for your business
Success looks different to everyone, and before you put your marketing plan in place, you need to know what success means to you. Develop specific, measurable goals that you can realistically reach.
Whether you want to grow your email list or bring in a certain number of new clients, make sure your goal is attainable and something you can track. Then set a timeframe in which you want to reach the goal, whether that’s the end of the month or the end of the year.
Having measurable goals gives you something to work toward and helps you keep your marketing strategy focused. It also gives you an opportunity to track your progress and see what’s working and what you need to improve to hit your targets.
BONUS: Plan and keep track of your marketing campaigns
To make sure you’re getting the best possible return on your investment, you want to monitor your marketing campaigns and see where you can make improvements to improve your ROI.
Before you even start building a campaign, it’s essential to determine what your goals are. How many leads do you want to get? How many bookings? Figure out what success looks like for you and develop clear, measurable goals that you can track. That way, if your campaign is not reaching the goals you set, you can take a second look and figure out what you can change or improve to make sure you reach those goals.
If you have run marketing campaigns before, you can also compare your current campaign to previous ones to get a better idea of what strategies work best for your business and deliver you the best possible return on your investment.
Don’t have time to plan out your marketing strategy? We offer a complete Strategic Marketing Plan that includes three competitor profiles. Click here to learn more.
Get all the resources and training you need to plan your marketing strategy with MRFP Lifetime Access. For a one-time fee, you will have access to tons of blog posts, keyword research, page templates, courses, and more! Click here to get your MRFP Lifetime Access today.