How to write the best marketing plan for your business
In most cases, as a small business owner, you also need to be your company’s VP of marketing. The first step you’ll need to make is writing your marketing plan. Sounds scary? It’s really not that bad.
What are the main things you want to consider?
1. Define your marketing goals:
This could include increasing brand awareness, generating leads, driving sales, expanding into new markets, or building customer loyalty. Determine your top three goals in this effort.
2. Know your audience:
Describe your target audience in detail—their demographics, preferences, needs, and pain points. Try to write down the profile of an ideal customer as if they were real to make it easier to understand their characteristics.
3. Conduct market research:
Gain insights on your industry, competitors, and market trends. Analyze your competitors’ marketing strategies, identify gaps or opportunities, and determine how you can differentiate yourself. You can use our business competitive analysis template to help you with this.
4. Develop a unique value proposition:
Your value proposition should communicate the benefits customers can expect from your products or services. Once you realize what your main benefits are you can start to understand your value proposition.
5. Positioning and messaging:
After you identify your value proposition it’s time to develop compelling messaging that differentiates your business from competitors. Clearly communicate the benefits your products or services provide to your target audience.
6. Determine marketing channels:
Choose the marketing channels that are most effective for reaching your target audience. This could include a combination of online channels (specific social media channels, email marketing, search engine optimization, etc.) and offline channels (print advertising, direct mail, events, networking, etc.). Most small businesses can handle 2-3 channels, tops. For example, one SMB may choose to focus on Instagram, TikTok, and email marketing. Don’t be afraid to narrow it down.
7. Set a budget:
Determine your marketing budget based on your financial resources and goals. Allocate funds to different marketing activities and channels based on their potential return on investment (ROI). You can also decide to invest in organic channels like social media or blog articles.
8. Create a marketing calendar:
Plan your marketing activities over a defined period of time (e.g., quarterly or annually). It’s okay to plan for a short time period. This helps you stay organized, ensure consistent messaging, and optimize your marketing efforts.
9. Measure and analyze results:
Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of your marketing efforts, such as website traffic, conversion rates, social media engagement, lead generation, and sales. Online marketing is easier to measure than offline marketing, but it doesn’t mean it’s less effective. For example, if you feel that events increase your sales, keep on planning them!
After you’ve created your first draft, we highly recommend showing your marketing plan to a few people around you, to make sure you’re headed in the right direction. You can even consult with marketing experts to make sure you’re on track. Hearing more people’s opinions is important in this process and can help you become the pro-marketer you wish to become.
*The purpose of this page is solely to provide information and should not be considered as financial advice
**Melio does not provide legal, tax or accounting advice; you should consult a professional advisor before making any financial decisions.
