Elements of a Basic Marketing Plan

Your business cannot be successful if you do not properly market it. Word of mouth advertising is valuable, but it can only take your business so far. A strong basic marketing plan is vital to pushing your business toward success. This is what it should contain:

Mission Statement

Your mission statement drives every decision you make in your business, especially marketing decisions. Make sure you carefully outline your mission statement. Are you trying to raise awareness, sell a product or service, or use your marketing to build stronger relationships with your existing clients? The answers to these questions will help you create your mission statement.

Objectives

Your objectives should highlight your mission statement. It should also show what you wish to achieve over a longer period of time, typically a year to two. The difference between the objectives and the mission statement is that you need to create specific, measurable objectives, such as a certain percent of increase of a specific product over a set number of years or months. If you cannot measure it, it is not an objective.

Target Audience

Who is going to interact with your marketing endeavors? A basic marketing plan is going to fail if you do not carefully define your target market. Who are you targeting, what are they like, and how can you reach them by following your objectives.

Media Integration

This section of your plan will outline the media you will use to market your business, the scheduling, and the basic message platform. This is an overview, rather than a detailed section. Be creative in selecting media options.

Tactics

Here you will further detail the methods you will use. You will show how they are effective with your market as well. Outline events, media sources, activities, direct mail programs, and any other tactics you plan to implement. Details are important here!

Logistics

This is tied directly to the tactics. How are you going to implement them? What will it cost? Do you have the technical requirements to do it effectively? This section will help you notice any areas where you are lacking in budget, personnel, or other assets to implement your strategy.

Measuring Results

Your plan should show how you will measure the effectiveness of your efforts. Remember, your objectives need to be measurable, but this also means you need a way to measure them. How will you collect and analyze your data?

Budgeting

Do not neglect to discuss your budget in your plan. You have to be able to buy the marketing you will be doing. Make sure you can meet your budget while still following these goals.

Timeframe

The final aspect of the plan is your timeframe. When do you plan to implement the various strategies and tactics discussed? When will you be measuring and reporting results? At what point will you determine whether or not a plan has worked? What milestones do you intend to reach, and when? This will help guide you once you implement your brand new, highly effective marketing plan.