Creating
Your Marketing Roadmap To Success
By Robbie Motter, Contacts
Unlimited
How can creating your business plan, your
"Roadmap to Success," help you in your marketing evaluation?
Your business marketing strategy
is essentially a map of your targeted destination. Ideally, it gets
you from your starting point to your goal; from your basic business
concept to a healthy successful business. It gives you a clear idea
of the obstacles that lie ahead and points out alternative routes.
The business planning process
is an opportunity. While creating your business strategies, you have
a chance to:
- Learn about your industry and market
- Gain control over your business
- Obtain a competitive edge
To clarify your company's
focus, as part of your business strategy process, you should redefine
your mission and goals annually.
Brand Image
What image are you trying
to portray? Remember that stationery, signs, business cards, etc.,
all contribute to the image of the company. Everything from the receptionist
to furnishings creates an impression.
Target Market
In defining your target market,
the following four strategies are important:
- Definable: It should
have specific characteristics to identify what the potential customers
have in common. Where do they live? What's their income level?
What Sex? Age?
- Meaningful: The characteristics
must meaningful relate to the decision to purchase.
- Sizeable: It must
be large enough to sustain your business.
- Reachable: Both the
definition and size must lead to affordable and effective ways
to market to potential customers.
Pricing
Is your pricing consistent
with what your customer's view as the service values? How did you
decide on these prices? Have you considered other pricing options?
Will you provide discounts or other incentives?
Market Phase
How mature is the overall
marketplace into which you are introducing products/services? Are
you the first? Are you one of a few? Many?
Quality Issues
How reliable is your product
or service? What level of quality are you trying to portray? Remember,
not all products are sold on the basis of top quality and reliability,
since price can then become prohibitive.
Marketing Plan
Have you taken the time to truly look at
your companies sales and marketing strategies? Do you have a marketing
plan in place? If yes, when was the last time you updated it?
A poll by a major CPA firm
showed that when the question was asked, "what needs improving in
your business" 1,300 executives (70% of them at small firms) indicated
marketing and sales capability.
It is important that you take
the time to know your products or services, your customers, prospects.
It is also important to understand what your competitors are up to.
Only then can you develop effective strategies to achieve your sales
and marketing goals.
Developing a Marketing Plan
To begin the process of developing
your marketing plan, take time to ask yourself some questions that
will help you define the answers needed for your outline preparation.
-
What business are you
in?
-
What do you sell?
-
Who are your target
markets?
-
What are your marketing
goals for next year? Your sales and profit goals?
-
Who might keep you from
achieving these goals?
-
What is your marketing
budget?
-
What are the benefits
of your products and services?
-
What is the unique selling
proposition of your products and services?
-
What product or service
is the best contributor to your overhead and profits? You're worst?
-
Who are your current
customers?
-
What are their buying
habits?
-
Why do they buy your
products/services?
-
Who are your best customers
and prospects? Why?
-
What is your market
share?
-
Is your market share
growing, shrinking, or stable?
-
Who are your competitors?
-
What do your competitors
do better than you?
-
What do you do better
than your competitors?
-
What is your competitive
position?
-
How do you establish
prices?
-
What are your sales
practices?
-
What are your business
strengths?
- What are your business weaknesses?
-
What is your advertising
and promotion budget?
-
What are your promotional
and advertising objectives?
-
How do you promote your
business?
Your Roadmap to Success
You are probably thinking
there are just too many areas for me to look at and I just don't have
the time to deal with it.
The key to creating your marketing
plan and achieving your roadmap to success is to take one area at
a time, think about the question and take time to review and answer
each one. Once you have answered it, go back over it again and have
others in your company also look at the question and give their input.
The next step is to implement
the plan, and set up periodic reviews to see if it is working. If
not, go back through the questions again and see if you overlooked
something or if there has been any changes that are impacting the
sales process.
Remember, your marketing plan
is not locked in concrete, it is a roadmap to guide you to your company's
success in achieving your sales and marketing objectives.
*********
 Robbie Motter specializes in Speaking, Coaching, Public Relations and Marketing. She is an expert in the Government marketplace. She serves as the Western and Mid-Atlantic Regional coordinator for the National Association of Female Executives (NAFE) and Volunteer Founding Sponsor and volunteer Advisor of the For You Network, the Ultimate Women's Network with Heart, which is a 501 c3 organization. She serves as the Senior Vice President for American Seminar Leaders in Pasadena, CA (ASLA), and as a Coach Trainer for Coaching Firm International in Pasadena. Because she believes one needs to be healthy she also is into nutrition with a top nutrition company, http://www.integrisdream.com/targetyourhealth. She has raised a family, been active in community projects, and volunteered her time and talents to help others. She serves as a volunteer on the advisory board on the Inland Empire Women's Business Center in San Bernardino, CA, and as a volunteer Advisor for the annual Women in Business Conference put on by the Inland Empire Business Journal each year. She writes columns for the Inland Empire Business Journal and other business magazines across the country. She also serves as volunteer Vice President for the Omni Youth Music Awards. She is Vice President of Communications for the Career Builders in Crystal Cathedral in Orange Ca. Her company, Contacts Unlimited, works with firms to get government contracts and expand their markets into this large arena as well as the private sector.
Robbie can be contacted at 1-888-244-4420 or rmotter@aol.com her website is http://www.rmotter.com
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Robbie Motter
Contacts Unlimited
Corporate office:
27701 Murrieta Rd. #30
Sun City, CA 92586
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