A marketing plan is a strategy for getting more business. It’s a way to get the best bang for your buck because you are being smart about what you mail and when. A good marketing plan fits the needs of your business and keeps your income steady and rising. And since you’re taking a longer look, it will help keep you from getting discouraged if a single mailing doesn’t knock your door down with new business.

Marketing plans can cover years, but should at least address the next three to six months. They are best when written down, so that you don’t forget them and can easily refer back later. And best of all, in spite of what you may think, you can create one in just 60 minutes.

So close your office door, grab a pen and paper and let’s turn your next hour into an income-increasing planning session! Here we go:

Step #1 KNOW YOUR MARKET

Whether you are planning to win a football game or planning to win customers, you must know what you’re up against. Your first step is to survey what you know about what you face. Unless you are very new in business or live in a cave, you probably know your market pretty well already. Take a few minutes and look over what you know. Is your market highly competitive? Is there a lot of demand for your product right now? What do you know about your competition? How does your pricing and positioning compare to theirs? What do your customers and prospects seem to want or respond to? Pull out a calendar. Are there any seasonal factors or other opportunities that you could take advantage of?

Write these items down for reference, particularly any key challenges you face or any key opportunities you could take advantage of.

Estimated time: 5 minutes

Step #2 CHOOSE WHAT PRODUCT TO PROMOTE

Don’t make the mistake of trying to sell everything at once (and end up selling nothing). Look over your various products and services, including their past sales history. Get actual numbers if possible so you’re not just estimating.

Then look over which products people buy first and which products they buy after that. Consider the opportunities and challenges above in the next few months and decide which product you want to promote in order to get the best return on your marketing dollars.

Take a look at your past postcards or other promotions that were successful. Dig up any response tracking records you might have to evaluate what has worked the best. Usually your best bet is to promote more of what has done well before instead of something new and untried. However, if your market conditions have changed, you may need to adapt in order to stay ahead. Write your chosen product down nice and big on your notepad.

Estimated Time: 5 minutes

Step #3 SELECT YOUR SPECIFIC TARGET MARKETS

You now must ask yourself who has demonstrated they buy this product and who else might buy it. And it’s important to get specific. Really breaking down those that are most likely to buy is the key to great return on investment.

Remember that your potential buyers divide into two basic target markets: a) existing or past customers and b) new prospects. Marketing to customers will pay big dividends as they are already familiar with your company and (at least some of) your products. Prospects on the other hand take much more time and persistence. They must learn who you are and to trust you, plus how they benefit from doing business with you. These different groups need to be targeted differently.

But go deeper. Start with your past customers. Who has bought your chosen product before? Can you sell them more? What customers haven’t bought it but should? Is there a type of person who seems most likely to purchase it? Which customer type benefits from it most? Which have been most profitable for you in past history? Get specific as to income level or past order history or other demographics. Pick your target markets and write down them down on your pad.

For new prospects, ask yourself if this product is something you sell directly to new people at all. If so, you can use much of the information above. Your best customers are precisely the type of person that you want to target for mailings to new prospects. Later you can get a list of people similar.

Estimated Time: 10 minutes

Step #4: PICK YOUR SALES TEAM’S BRAINS

Now it’s time to practice your mind reading and get into your customer’s heads. Understanding the reasons customers purchase is vital to designing a good postcard. While the best way to operate is to get professional market research done or to conduct your own survey, a quick and dirty way to get the straight scoop is to speak directly with your sales people or your customer service staff. Perhaps you are even this person in your organization. Salespeople are right there at ground level and have a lot of insight about their customers. Take a few minutes to pick their brains. Find out what is important to the customers, what are their concerns, their objections, their reasons for going ahead. Write down these factors in your notes.

This factor, along with selecting the right market, is what will give you truly stellar results. Do it well and it will show in your results.

A word of caution: Don’t get stuck on this step forever. Unless you actually go survey them very thoroughly, you’re never going to know for certain what every customer will respond to, so get to what you think is best based upon your resources and then move forward to the next step. You can always improve later with more experience.

Estimated Time: 20 minutes.

Step #5: PUT TOGETHER YOUR CAMPAIGN

So now you should have a nice list of information on your pad and fresh in your mind: your competitive landscape, upcoming opportunities or difficulties, the product you want to promote, the people you want to target and the things they are likely to respond to.

Now it’s time to put it all together. Get out your calendar and plan your next several months of promotions for this product. Decide which promotions you will send and to which target markets. Consider sales or valued added offers and when or to whom they should be done. If you plan an event, consider several postcards leading up to it. Look at tying promotions to special events or holidays. And don’t forget that promotion is all about persistence, consistency and repetition. You have to hit your targets frequently and repetitively.

Remember that your customers are your most valuable source of business and often you can develop special offers, packages or discounts that make them happy and want to keep purchasing from you. Special customer only programs make your current customers feel wanted and cared for. Promotions to new customers need to be more sustained, straightforward and more intense as you are targeting people that may never have heard of you.

Write out your plans so you can refer to it and won’t forget what you have put together.

Estimated Time: 15 minutes

Step #6: EXECUTE YOUR PLAN

Congratulations. The hard work has been done, now it is simply a matter of execution. Get your customer list pulled together or get a new list of prospects according to your plan. Call your direct mail company to get things started. If you don’t have one, there are many companies that can help you with design, writing, printing and mailing of your promotional materials. The good ones will advise you on how best to implement the plan you’ve put together and will give you feedback on how to implement it within your budget.

Once you’ve done the work above, it’s fast and easy to simply get it rolling.

Estimated Time: 5 minutes.

Summary

Though creating a marketing plan might seem long and complex, as you can see it’s actually very simple when you break it down. With this outline, you can put together an effective and useful marketing plan to take your business to the next level. Happy Planning!

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