Planning

Strategic market planning and budgeting is critical to cost-effective marketing. And, it is the component too many small businesses overlook.

Unlike your brand identity, advertising, and website, strategic market planning is not sexy. But, like paying your bills and filing your taxes, it’s simply something you have to do. Without it, you can find your business spending too much or (more often) not enough on the engine that drives your business’ success – acquiring and maintaining your customers.

Your marketing plan must be written down with clear, concise goals with specific action items and related budget. Take your time. Even though a small business marketing plan may only be ten to twelve pages, it should cover the full year and take a few months to develop (determining objectives, budgets, specific project, researching your market/competitors and determining costs).

Share the draft with key stakeholders in your business, your management team, financial advisers, legal, and sales and customer service. Let them share their ideas and provide feedback to help improve or streamline the plan. If you have a very small team, share it with knowledgeable friends or a marketing consultant. Planing is not something your should do alone.

Once the plan is finalized, share it with your staff (either the full plan or the overview). Corporate communications help your team march in the same direction to the same beat. The formal plan should be in a 3-ring binder that is always at hand. Sometimes, there are unforeseen events or circumstances that may require adjustments to the plan. Don’t just veer from your written plan, change it – even if its just hand-written notes added to the binder (Trust me, this will be invaluable with your planning the next year).

To implement the plan, it is a good practice to break down each component into action items, deliverables, time lines, deadlines, assignees and budgets. Add them to your calendar and that of relevant staff. Periodically revisit the plan and the action items to update their status and make necessary adjustments.

Your plan is more than something you write at the beginning of the year and shelve. It’s the road map that keeps your business on track. Small Business Marketing 101 will help guide you through the planning process.