by: Marketing Basics
Effective marketing plays a critical role in businesses that are
successful. How effectively the marketing plan you develop
markets your business, will ultimately determine your degree of
success or failure.
The key elements of a successful marketing plan are to:
1. Know your customers--their likes, dislikes and
expectations.
2. Know your competitors--their strengths and weaknesses.
Only by identifying these factors, can you develop a marketing
strategy that will allow you to anticipate and fulfill your
customers needs, better understand your competitors and identify
changes in the marketplace that can affect your bottom line.
The purpose of a marketing plan is to define your market,
i.e.,identify your customers and competitors, to outline a
strategy for attracting and keeping customers and to identify
and anticipate change. It takes careful planning and a thorough
understanding of the marketplace to develop a strategy that will
ensure success.
Generally, the first and most important step in understanding
the market is to study it through market research. For example,
in the case of a franchise, the franchisor has already done the
market research and developed a marketing plan, so you will need
to review the plan the franchisor has provided. Look over the
plan to determine what product/service you will offer and write
a description of it.
Even though the franchisor has already described your product or
service, it is a good idea to develop and write your own
description because this process will help you develop
invaluable knowledge of your product or service--a key element
in any successful marketing plan.
When describing your product or service outline what you feel
are its unique aspects, and explain how or why these aspects
will appeal to customers. Emphasize the special features and
benefits that you feel are its selling points. These features
and benefits are what you will use to convince customers to
purchase your product or service.
Next go over sales projections, determining if there is a demand
for the product or service. Again, in the case of a franchise,
the franchisor will have already developed the projections.
Study this data carefully to see how the franchisor arrived at
these projections. This will help you to better understand how
the marketplace operates relative to your product and service.
It can also help you develop the skills necessary to identify
and anticipate changes in the marketplace.
Start your own file on marketplace trends, and compile your own
data. Periodically review your data, looking for shifts in the
market. If changes are occurring, you should modify the
marketing plan to coincide with these changes. In franchise
operations, it is typical for the franchisor to update the
marketing plan periodically to reflect changes in the
marketplace and to keep the marketing program current.
An effective marketing plan should answer these questions:
* Is this product or service in constant demand?
* How many competitors provide the same product or service?
* Can you create a demand for your service or product?
* Can you effectively compete in price, quality, service and
delivery?
* If a franchise, will the franchisor price the product or
service to give you the projected profit?
Review your marketing plan carefully to ensure that it answers
these questions. If your plan doesn't answer the questions, it
will need to be modified, so that it does answer the questions.
Even if you adopt a marketing plan that has been developed
elsewhere, it is your responsibility to promote your product or
service by cultivating the marketplace, i.e., attracting and
maintaining customers. You can only accomplish this by
thoroughly knowing your market, your customers, your competitors
and your product or service. NEVER rely solely on the marketing
plan provided by a franchisor or another source. Compile and
assess your own data.
By compiling and analyzing this information yourself, you will
be better able to determine if your marketing plan is in line
with your competitors, industry averages and what adjustments
you need to make to improve your overall competitiveness and
bottom line.
About the author:
Marketing Basics specializes in writing articles that teach,
explain and define basic marketing principles and techniques.
http://marketingbasics.blogspot.com/
