A Simple Marketing Planning Process

Sometimes people ask me to help them build a Marketing Plan.  Plans are good because they help people understand what is ahead and what resources are needed to make those things happen.  It also allows people to see how they are doing and adjust accordingly when they are not on track.  A plan should not be a static document however, it should be under constant review and be at the heart of the business or department.

A simple plan should have several key elements.  An overview and opinion of the current position, some objectives, a strategic direction, a practical route to delivering that direction, some actions with timings and measures of success.

When you read a marketing plan, or any plan for that matter, in my view if you cannot summarise it in more than a couple of sentences it is not clear enough to be properly implemented.

So here is a template you can use to build your own Marketing Plan

Situation – what is our current position?  How did we get here? And is it a good place to be?

Objectives – based on our current situation what would we like to achieve next and why?

Strategy – at the top level how will we achieve our objectives?

Tactics – what are the practical things we need to do as part of the strategy and to make the strategy happen.  What resources do we need and when and how will we use them?

Activities – list and group the tactics as activities and then assign people to them and some timings, who does what when, and when will it be finished?

Control Measures – how do we measure how we are doing in delivering our Objectives, how will we know if our strategy is working or if it needs to be refined, how will we know if our tactics are working and are within our resource budgets, are we delivering our activities on time and on budget?  Build a set of measures, make sure everyone understands them and report on them regularly.

That is a very simple top line process to build a marketing plan. Based on the process I use as a Norwich marketing consultant.  If you need some help, get in touch.

The Marketing Mix – A Tool To Help You Frame Your Offering To Customers

I am often asked “What is meant by the Marketing Mix?”.   Well the marketing mix is quite simply the mix of tools, or levers as I like to call them, that you use to market your business.  Typically these fall into several key areas, the product itself, the price you charge for it, where you can by it (called place), how you advertise and promote it, what does the packaging do, who sells it or promotes it, and finally what are the processes someone has to go through to buy your product and use it.

Each one of these elements needs to be considered from the customers perspective and then benchmarked against what the competition offers.  When you have done this you can identify where there is room for improvement within your marketing mix.

So, we can start by listing the core elements of a typical marketing mix.  Remember this is just a typical list, you can add or subtract considerations if you think it particularly relevant to your business.

The core elements

Product – is the product right for your target customer and is it better that what everybody else offers the same customer for the same purpose?

Price – is the price good value for the customer and how competitive is it in the market?

Place – can people easily get hold of your product in places where they would expect to find it?

Promotion – how to do you talk to your customers?  Are you sending out the right messages and are they compelling and exciting to the customer?  How is your dialogue different to that of your competitors?

The Physical Evidence – when customers look at your product what do they see?  Is the packaging beautiful?  Is the product itself attractive?  Do people remember using your product?  What is left behind when people have used your product and what do they do with this?  Are you better or worse at this than competitors?

People – who sells your product?  Who are your ambassadors?  Think about everyone who comes into contact with your product?  Are they the right people?  Do they add value for your customers and enrich the experience?  Do you have better people than your competitors?

To help people see the marketing mix through the eyes of a customer sometimes it is helpful to switch the language from internal product or marketing language to the customer’s language and perspective, so

Price becomes Cost

Product becomes Usability and Functionality

Place becomes the Convenience associated with using the product

Promotion becomes the  Communication between the seller and buyer

Process become Ease of Use and Ease of Purchase

Physical Evidence becomes Memento’s from the use of the product

People stays as People because it is self explanatory from either perspective.

So to understand the marketing mix, you can use the following process.

1 – define your marketing mix and the strategy behind it

2 – consider how compelling that is to the customer

3 – benchmark against competitors

4 – review areas for improvement and action

Get In touch if you would like to help you develop your marketing mix!