What do I want to do?

When you write a marketing plan you need to have a clear idea of your objectives.  TWO will work with you to determine which strategies generate sales and will give advice on planning your promotional activities. 

Marketing is a key part of business success:

• You need to decide which customers to target
• You need to work out how you will reach and win new customers
• You need to make sure that you keep existing customers happy
• You also need to keep reviewing and improving everything you do to stay ahead of the competition

Your marketing plan should be the reference document you use as a basis to execute your marketing strategy.  It sets out clear objectives and explains how you will achieve them.  Perhaps most importantly it looks at how you can ensure that your plan becomes reality. 

Make sure you think through each of your objectives logically.  For example, you might set a target for the number of new enquiries, but if you don't provide the resources and training to turn these enquiries into sales, you will have increased costs without any benefits.

Remember that marketing in itself will not guarantee sales, but by adopting a well-researched and coherent plan, you have a much better chance of building long-term, profitable relationships.

Plan your marketing tactics

Once you have decided what your marketing objectives are, and your strategy for meeting them, you need to plan how you will make the strategy a reality.

Many businesses find it helpful to think in terms of the four Ps:

Product - what your product offers that your customers value, and whether/how you should change your product to meet customer needs.

Pricing - for example, you might aim simply to match the competition, or charge a premium price for a quality product and service. You might have to choose either to make relatively few high margin sales, or sell more but with lower unit profits. Remember that some customers may seek a low price to meet their budgets, while others may view a low price as an indication of quality levels.

Place - how and where you sell. This may include using different distribution channels. For example, you might sell over the Internet or sell through retailers.

Promotion - how you reach your customers and potential customers. For example, you might use advertising, PR, direct mail and personal selling.

We look at 2 additional P's - they are PR (Public Relations) and Promise. Always remember whatever you do must live up to what you have promised your customer.

Selling more products or services is one of the most effective strategies for business growth.  This can be achieved by expanding your share in your existing market, finding new markets, finding new products or services, or diversifying.

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