DIYPR - Marketing
Do-It-Yourself Public Relations for Work-At-Home-Moms

How to write your marketing plan
I know, you don't want to write a marketing plan because you think that you don't know how to write a marketing plan - but you do! A marketing plan is basically a list of your ideas on how you are going to achieve your marketing goals, broken down into steps. It doesn't have to be fancy, just get it down on paper - it will help you to get organized and stay focused.

There are some key steps you need to follow in order to make your marketing plan a strong one: describe your ideal customer, identify your competitors, and then outline a strategy for attracting and keeping those customers.

Step 1: Know your customer. You need to know who they are in order to decide how to sell to them.

• Look closely at your target market and ideal customer. Who are they? What's their age, sex, profession, income level, educational level and residence?
• What do your customers want from your product or service? What will it do for them? What do you do that the customer will value?

Focus on what your ideal customer is like and what they want out of life. Remember, if your marketing is more about "them" than "you" they are more likely to be swayed by your message.

Step 2: Know your competitors. In order to beat the competition, you have to know something about the competition. Do some research, and find out who is doing the same thing or something similar.

• What are their strengths? What are their weaknesses?
• How is your competition marketing themselves?
• Why should your ideal customer do business with you instead of a competitor? How are you unique?

Step 3: Your marketing strategy. Next it's time to figure out what marketing strategies will work best for your ideal customer.

• What would be the best (most effective) way to reach these potential customers to inform them of your uniqueness?

• How can you describe your product / service in relation to other similar products / services?

• How can you position your product / service to appeal to your ideal customer?

List all the ways that you can best market yourself to the ideal customer you described above (here are some ideas add hyperlink). Flesh out each of the ideas into smaller more manageable steps. Estimate the cost of each of your ideas at each step of the way.

Step 4: Make the time. At this point you need to decide on your priorities and a timeline.

• Which of these ideas will work best?

• What can you afford to do?

• What are you able to do yourself? What will you contract out?

• When will you do each step?

Be realistic about the time you are able to devote to this, and once you decide on a schedule stick to it. It's a good idea to set aside time each week devoted to implementing your marketing plan. Put it in your calendar and set up reminders for yourself. Your marketing can't be left for when you “have the time” because you will never have the time. You have to make the time! It doesn't matter when, but whatever day and time you choose, stick with it if you want your marketing to be a success.

Listen to your customer feedback
No single marketing strategy will work all the time for every business, so as you go along evaluate what is working and what is not, and adjust your strategy accordingly. Get feedback from your customers, track which things are getting results, and vary your approach slightly. This doesn't mean that you should be arbitrary about your marketing - consistency is still key - but try to have a variety of marketing elements in your plan.

No matter how your marketing message is packaged, its purpose is to prepare your potential customer to make a purchase. Be sure you are speaking to your customer about their needs and not just about your product / service and you will see much better results.

Basic marketing materials that you already have but may not be using correctly.