solutions

By Hannah Ramsey

The spring season is here . Your business and marketing plans are in place , and everything is organized and running smoothly , right ? Maybe you are one of the few who has it all together , but if you ’ re not quite there yet , let me help you get caught up and start the year with a solid strategic plan to grow your business .

I ’ ve identified three key questions you should answer to develop your new marketing plan .

What Are Your Goals and Objectives ? This seems obvious , but it ’ s essential to document clear goals and objectives . The first item to address is what you hope to accomplish this season . You ’ ve likely heard the adage , “ if you don ’ t know where you ’ re going , you ’ ll never know when you get there .” Establish a clear measuring stick and expectations so you know whether your plan succeeded ( more about that later ).

Start by identifying big-picture goals , such as generating awareness for a new product line , increasing revenue , obtaining new customers , etc . Then , go into more detail with SMART objectives ; make them Specific , Measurable , Achievable , Relevant , and Time-based . Use actual numbers and dates in these SMART objectives , i . e ., “ Increase annual sales of X product by 15 % as compared to 2022 by December 31 , 2023 .”

Setting these goals and objectives can motivate you and your employees and keep you strategically aligned . Make sure to measure against these throughout the year – identify milestones you want to hit and schedule routine checkins to discuss progress and next steps .

Whom Are You Trying to Reach ? Your marketing plan should be about your target audience , not about you . Start by defining that audience and their behaviors , like where do they live and work , what are their hobbies , etc . You can ’ t know all this for sure , but you need to do some research to avoid wasting valuable time , energy , and resources on messaging that might not work .

Identify who would benefit from your product or service and who is qualified to purchase it . Develop a list of demographics and characteristics such as age , gender , education level , location , lifestyle , key interests , hobbies , engagement in social media , sources of information they use , as much as you can learn . Getting to know your customer will help you know where they spend their time and where your message needs to be to get in front of them .

It ’ s essential to monitor and analyze this throughout the year . Observe where your leads are coming from , social media insights , new customer data , and more to see if adjustments are needed to the way you ’ re reaching your audience or your audience itself .

How Is Your Team Going to Succeed ? Finally , it ’ s time to lay the groundwork for how you will reach your clientele and meet the goals and objectives you set . Brainstorm campaigns ( special offers , events , display ideas ) for the year . If monthly plans don ’ t work for your business , try to have at least one special focus per quarter .

Consider what performed well ( and what didn ’ t ) over the last year to help inform what to include for the upcoming year .

Lay out the strategies and tactics your team will employ to market your products and services . Strategies are broad , while tactics are the specific steps to take to realize each strategy . To avoid confusion or missed steps , assign responsibilities for specific elements . Also , explain how you will measure performance for that specific effort , keeping in mind that everything should be tied to your overall goals and objectives .

For an example , one campaign you might run is a season opener promotion to drum up customer visits to see the latest zero-turn radius mowers . Your team can use any combination of organic and paid social media , email marketing , a webpage , video , paid search ads , and print advertising for the campaign . The campaign performance will primarily be measured by how many store visitors you get to look at new mowers in a specific time period , contributing to the overall goals of increasing the company ’ s number of new customers and annual revenue .

To recap , start your marketing plan journey by establishing goals and objectives . Then , identify your target audience . Lastly , develop campaigns with measurable strategies and tactics your team can employ to lead your business to success . OPEB

Hannah Ramsey is the Client Relations Specialist with Pushing the Envelope , Inc ., a strategic marketing communication firm based in Fort Myers , Florida , servicing clients regionally and nationally .

16 OPE Business March 2023 www . OPEBusiness . com