MondayMorningMarketeer, The Folly of the Marketing Plan in Your Head or 7Things You Need to Know to Get Into Customer's Heads

Hosted by: technogranny Title: Monday Morning Marketeer-- Folly of the Marketing Plan  in Your Head Or 7 Things You Need to Know to Get Into Customer’s Heads

Time: 02/07/2011 11:00 AM EST Episode Notes: "My marketing plan is in my head, " you say.  Sure and so are the last two weeks, to do list! How many of those important, "to-dos" never happened and what were the consequences. If there weren't any consequences, then you were just plain lucky or your "to-dos" just weren't that important. There's a little more at stake with that marketing plan in your  head. The number one thing that you need "to-do" in your business is to market it. No matter how sharp you think you are, please don't leave this important task  to your very fallible brain. Today on Monday Morning Marketeer, hear some tips to help you get started. Listen to archive of this show at: MondayMorningMarketeer, 7Things You Need to Know to Get  Into Customers Heads

It's in your head, now you have to get
it out on paper, a plan is no good
unless it's written.

I recently attended a No BS Marketing Meeting which I attend every month because it keeps me fresh with the things that I am doing.  The moderator, Becky Ayres, asked how many people in the room of forty had a marketing plan.  A few of us raised our hands and then a busieness owner in the back of the room said, she had one also but it was in her head!  Wrong!  Not only is this a really bad idea, it’s against biblical advice and that’s the best business guide I know of.  Yes, I said it, the Bible is a great business guide.  In the bible it says, “Write your vision on tablets.”  I am not a biblical scholar just a follower and so I can’t tell you chapter and verse but I know that just like a contract keeps honest people honest, a business plan keeps a creative marketer on track.   It’s only February, please don’t get to the end of the year analysis and remember all of the great marketing ideas that you had that you never implemented.  Why?  BECAUSE YOU NEVER WROTE THEM DOWN, SILLY!   Am I yelling at you, yes I am!

One of the toughest marketing assignments is to write a marketing plan that is ambitious yet still attainable. Here are some simple things to do when you start your marketing plan.

Before starting on your written plan, you should answer the following questions:

1.      What is the product or service you are selling?

Whatever widget you sell whether it be a service or a manufactured product, you need a plan to sell everything, and you need a segmented marketing message for each product.  I do so many things that for a long time it was hard for people to understand what I really do, so I began segmenting my marketing for each of my products.

On that information highway you
have to have a division in your
marketing message to your
various segments of clients.

For instance if you are a consultant and you do public speaking, you have a book and you do billable hourly consulting but you also do group training, each of those is not only a tool to market you as a business/coach or consultant but also a product that needs promoted.  So decide what it is you are selling, what levels you are selling it at, and how many different variations of the product you are selling.

2.      Who is your market that will buy the product or service?

This is a tough one, let’s make a list for instance if I were to take this show and create information products who would I sell it to?

First of all, I would sell it to my current clients

Second, my listeners

If you think marketing is a game, then
learn to play chess, at least that's a
strategic game.

Third, others in the marketing business.  Whoa, horse, you are saying, others in the marketing business?  Absolutely, when you have information and if it’s not necessarily proprietary it is marketable to your competitors, maybe not the close ones, but if you make it public you can’t stop that but what about others nationally and internationally.  It’s hard to keep that information private with the internet so you may as well make money on it. 

Fourth, my blog readers

Fifth, attendees of my speaking engagements

Trade show attendees

Are you getting the picture?

3.      What need does the above market have for your product or service?

Affordable marketing

Increasing their business

Becoming known as an authority

Getting internet visibility

Using social media to get their message out

4.      What is the basic message that you would like to send to this market in regards to your product?

Don't let yourself be easy to miss, use
everything in your arsenal.

You are an authority at what you do or at creating what you sell

You have recommendations

You have endorsements

You have satisfied customers

You have a guarantee

On time, excellent quality

5.      What is the best way of getting in contact with your projected market? (i.e.- T.V, Radio, Print, Online)

Where is your marketing dollar best spent

If you don’t have a budget then perhaps you need to learn as much as you can about online marketing and social media as you possibly can.

After answering the above questions you will ready to start on your marketing plan. When answering question five keep in mind your budget limitations as you do not want to set yourself up for committing too much money to advertising. 

For More on this Topic:

 "Folly of Marketing Plan in Your Head, 101 Compelling Reasons to Write One" 

Click Here:  

This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:

© Joanne Quinn-Smith 2011, Monday Morning Marketeer™ 412-628-5048

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Blog:  MondayMorningMarketeeer Blog

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Joanne Quinn-Smith is the Creative Energy Officer of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and an expert on Web 2.0 Branding.

Joanne has also been designated by the 2009 U.S. Small Business Administration as the Small Business Journalist of the Year for her work with information relevant to and advocacy of small businesses.

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