Why do I need a marketing plan?

We’ve found that many small business owners question the importance and relevance of a marketing plan to their business.  Many are so busy “running” their business they don’t have time to plan their marketing strategy however as a small business it’s unlikely that you have the money to throw at lots of marketing activity and let’s face it, who really wants to?

Having a succinct and focused plan that provides you with clear and simple strategies is like a road map for achieving your business goals – it lays out the direction you need to take in order to get your business noticed by potential clients. Planning a trip to somewhere new without a map would be pretty hard  and it’s the same for your business. A Marketing Action Plan (MAP) will help you to achieve your business goals by pointing the way and driving your actions.

You don't need a fancy looking 50 page marketing plan to develop effective marketing. A succinct plan that addresses your vision, your key objectives, who and where your ideal customers are and the best ways to reach and communicate with them are the core ingredients before you consider budget, timing and measurement f your results.

A marketing plan will also help you focus your business as it looks at:

• how it’s performing in the market
• who your customers are
• who you’re competing with
• what’s happening in the larger market

By analysing these pieces of the puzzle, you can better plan where you want to be in the next six or twelve months and how exactly how you are going to get there.

Marketing plans need to be consistently evaluated and adjusted to keep business growth on track as the market changes constantly (the economy, business environment, competition, technology are all evolving on a daily basis)  Review your marketing plan at least every 6 months to monitor the effectiveness of your marketing strategy and activity. Ideas Into Action specialises in developing tailored Marketing Action Plans for small business owners – contact us for a discussion to see how a tailored MAP can drive your business growth.