Eight things to remember when creating your first marketing plan
Developing a marketing campaign is a crucial step for businesses to connect their product or service with their customers or potential customers, or to build a brand. But problems can arise when crafting your plan, especially if you’re considering a new approach or still getting your feet wet in how everything works. Things that make sense on paper can end up with no traction when they go live or, worse, hurt your company’s reputation or customer engagement. In order to avoid mistakes, decision makers need to know where things could go wrong in a marketing plan and then figure out the best way around that possibility.
For leaders new to this aspect of business, identifying the weak spots in a marketing plan may not be so easy. To help you navigate the process, we asked the experts at the Forbes Agency Council for their top tips and tricks when putting together a project. Here’s what they advise you to consider:
Photos courtesy of individual members.
1. Be specific
More often than not, I have found that brands offer lenses that are far too generic. For example, the goal of a 5:1 return on investment may seem correct at first glance, but when you dig deeper, you can see that this goal is too generic in that it does not take into account factors such as volume, type of customer (existing versus new customers), incrementality, etc. More specific goals lead to better overall results. – Vic Drabicky, Digital January
2. Be brief
A constant challenge across all verticals when developing a marketing plan or campaign is the desire to say too much. Shakespeare said it best: “Brevity is the soul of wit. The key is to distill the message down to its essence and keep that ribbon of thought consistent throughout the plan or campaign. -Julie Gibson, SJ Consulting
3. Keep your eyes on the goal
A marketing plan fails because it focuses on tactics rather than goals. Or it fails because it doesn’t define any success metrics or record sequence. Defining KPIs is common, but stick to a 1:1 ratio. Make sure each KPI is a unique numeric value assigned to a single objective. Eyes on the goal. Similarly, a single person should be ultimately responsible for each goal, with both execution and team reporting planned. – John Farkas, Golden Spiral
4. Punch holes in your plan
Are you drinking too much Kool-Aid? One of the best predictors of entrepreneurial success may also be the biggest risk factor. Find someone who understands business and marketing but isn’t a fan of your form of Kool-Aid. Have them punch holes in your plan, then be prepared to tackle them head-on before taking another sip of what you’re selling. -Ilya Welfeld, Seymour Public Relations
5. Manage expectations
When we make a marketing plan for personal brands and businesses in a social space, it is extremely important to manage customer expectations. Within any social platform, it is absolutely necessary to educate your customer on realistic social platform growth and conversion, not vanity metrics. -Michael Smith, iTribe Social
Read more in Managing Expectations: The Secret to Happy Customers and Rapid Growth
6. Set specific goals
Setting expectations is a huge struggle when it comes to customers and it probably always will be. As human beings, we always want the best result for the least investment. To overcome this, we must try to set very precise numerical objectives that will satisfy both the agency and the client. – JC Hit, Hit Digital
7. Build your brand and your voice
Working with colleges and universities, the key to a successful marketing plan is rooted in the institution’s strategic plan. In most establishments, registration is essential. For the plan to be effective, marketers must develop a dual strategy and tactics that build the brand while creating a unique voice that attracts and enrolls students who are the best fit for the institution. – Edward Sirianno, Creative Communication Associates
8. Execute Consistently
There remains a misconception of a “quick fix” or “overnight success” in marketing. Now, we call that wanting to “go viral”. Marketing is really about execution, day after day after day. And yes, you will get tired of your posts and bored with your creation – but this is probably the exact moment when it finally gets noticed by potential buyers! So, create your plan, then work on that plan! – Patricia Rioux, ODEA Group
