Regardless of how good your product or service is, you need to know how to offer it to your customers properly. That is why before launching any business it is necessary to draw up a competent marketing plan.

It allows you to plan ahead successfully for your business and not stay without money. Receiving a marketing writing assignment as a term paper writing task or a college project, you have to imagine the company you need to promote as a real company on which your own profit depends. Your writing should be realistic, so we will give you not academic but real-world tips and examples to use when drafting a custom marketing plan.

Of course, there are examples of successful companies that have reached heights without a clearly defined strategy. For example, Toni’s Own Homemade Italian Cookies bakery. It was created entirely spontaneously by one American family who liked to bake fragrant cookies for relatives and friends.

After some time, this hobby became a profitable business: many people liked homemade baking, and they were willing to pay a good amount for it. Although the baker’s family did not have an official marketing plan, business became one of the most lucrative in North-East America.

Most of the companies are not famous for the same success. You can often hear a story about how people spent the entire planned budget on the purchase of equipment and consumables without allocating a sufficient amount of advertising. In order to prevent this, you need to follow a pre-set marketing plan as a part of a broader business plan.

Identify the Market and Target Audience

Start your business plan addressing the problem that can be solved with a product or service in question. Now, look at the market. How many people are buying what you sell and how much money they spend on it?

According to statistics and various researches of experts, it is better to turn to search engines on the Internet. Yes, you can get a detailed overview of your business and find answers to many questions.

Then make portraits of the most likely customers. Remember that it is better to refrain from generalizations and to describe the buyer in detail, to understand how to offer him a product or service.

Focus on the following features:

  • gender and age;
  • residence;
  • average income;
  • marital status;
  • interests, hobbies
  • and other.

For B2B-selling essential parameters can be:

  • sphere of activity of the organization;
  • annual sales;
  • number of employees;
  • size and frequency of orders.

It is also worth thinking about how to promote products on the market effectively. Maybe there are big companies that can distribute their product in exchange for advertising their brand? This kind of cooperation today is especially popular because it is convenient and beneficial to both parties.

Know Your Competitors and Analyze What They Do

To win customers, you need to stand out among other companies. For this, of course, you need to know everything about competitor’s brands: who they are, who they are oriented to, how they evaluate themselves and what methods have succeeded.

Also, focus on their assortment, ads and promotions, sites and pages on social networks, stores and small points of sales. This will allow you to determine what is unique about your product and what is missing in order to advance your business successfully.

In the end, be sure to summarize the research: write down what you’ve learnt about brands and all the information about them, including the advantages and disadvantages.

Develop Your Own Strategy

First, think about the key goals of your business. They should be consistent with the objectives of the marketing strategy. Assign a priority to each goal in order to determine the required budget for its achievement. The planned amount of money may vary depending on factors such as the growth rate of the company and the number of consumers.

Secondly, identify the best ways to interact with potential customers and promote branded products. Among the most effective marketing tools: postal and email, leaflets, flyers, posters, stands and banners, internal and external websites, social networks for information placement, exhibitions and conferences, promotions and sales.

To make sure that all selected tools are 100%, you need to specify specific parameters for them. To do this, answer a few questions:

  • Which online resources and print media are used by ideal customers?
  • Where can they hear about such businesses as yours?
  • How much time do you need to communicate with a person and in what form, so that he becomes a regular customer?
  • What tactics can you use to make a brand name known to most competitors?
  • How to make a high-quality promotional promotion at low cost?
  • Who in the company will solve marketing tasks?

Remember that a business plan is a tool that needs to be periodically tuned. It will always consist of three main aspects that we mentioned above, but their internal features may change over time.

Therefore, regularly review your own business strategy, update outdated information and budget. And do not be afraid to replace old methods of promotion with more modern ones that are right for you! If you follow all the tips above your well-written business plan will impress your professor or potential investors greatly.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here