“A battle well begun is half won.” ~Proverb
It’s not for no reason our ancestors said that. Wouldn’t you agree? Think about it-why do we need business plans at all? Planning is a battle well begun. Without an effective marketing plan in place, you are bound to have a rough start.
A lot of companies just let their marketing plans to gather dust once they are written. It’s as if a plan is just for the records, and not for real life implementation.
Well, guess what? Successful companies do the opposite-they not only write awesome marketing plans but also realise them in the physical world.
Are you ready to get down and dirty and implement an awesome marketing plan for your business? Great, let’s start with writing one first.
3 Tips: How to Create Awesome Marketing Plans for Your Business
1. Don’t just stick to the old marketing channels:
It’s true, change is uncomfortable. But to boost sales, change is a must. Moreover, a measurement on your ROI is pivotal. So if you’re stuck with a single channel like a magazine, TV channel or a newspaper when it comes to promoting your business, think differently now.
Try online marketing. Or do up some nice brochures. Refresh your website and write blog posts to promote it. Whatever you do, make sure it keeps changing every few months. Mix and match!
2. Integrate online & offline plans:
Many times, a new client will call us in order to devise a new online strategy. In all the excitement, they completely forget their already in-place traditional plan. We advise against this-a marketing plan should cover everything you’re doing, whether it is online or offline.
This creates a consolidated plan that acts as an umbrella of activities and allows for easy fine-tuning and revisions as well as measurements.
3. Leverage on free marketing:
“Is there such a thing as free marketing?”
This is what most of our clients ask when they are new with us. The answer is a resounding YES. Yes, there are ways to promote your business for free.
Well, not exactly free because it will take time and effort on your part, but the best part is they don’t cost as much as ads and other printed collaterals do.
The digitisation of the media has led to several such ways: Press releases, blogs, newsletters are a few to name. Create great press releases for your business and submit them online to free directories. Some may cost modestly but it’s worth it.
Newsletters and blogs are another way to attract traffic to your website. Send a monthly newsletter to your customer base and write at least one blog post a week. Start somewhere-you’d be surprised by the results!
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