Small Business Marketing Plan
Why do you need a marketing plan? It’s more than the old saying "failing to plan means planning to fail." A marketing plan will help you build your business. It will help you identify the right customers for your business. It will help you determine the steps you need to take to develop your business.
Questions you need to ask to create your plan…
- What product or service will I provide?
- What unique benefits do I offer to differentiate from others?
- Who is my ideal customer? How can I find them?
- What will my ideal customer be looking for related to what I provide?
- Why will they want to buy from me?
- Who are my competitors? What are their strengths/weaknesses? What are my opportunities?
- How do I want to be known in the marketplace? What are the attributes of my product/service?
- How will I get word out to my target market? What methods will I use?
- How will I determine the best ways to use my limited dollars on marketing?
- How will I develop my marketing mix?
- What outcomes/goals do I have for marketing?
Marketing does not need to be expensive to be effective. But the first step in effective marketing is creating your marketing plan.