Still no 2020 Marketing Plan? Eeek, what can I do?

Still no 2020 Marketing Plan? Eeek, what can I do?

2020 is just around the corner. For savvy business owners, that means one thing — it’s time to make a business growth and marketing plan.

 

Despite the cool retro gaming imagery we have used in this post, it’s NOT a game. After all, defining the success of your business for the next year is pretty important to you, right?

 

Without a defined, realistic and consistent strategy, your marketing efforts aren’t going to accomplish much. So, the process of creating a strategic marketing plan is vital for business success 🏆

 

Before you Start

 

What does your business structure look like as a whole? Before starting your marketing plan, we suggest that you review each element of your business and decide how marketing or technology/ automation can improve each area. For example, we like to make this simpler by adding items into these 8 Pillars.

 

  1. Finance/ Accounts/ Legal
  2. Marketing Channels, Campaigns & Promotion
  3. Your Team
  4. Your Product or Service
  5. Your Processes
  6. Your Customer Relationships
  7. Your Partners & Suppliers
  8. Your Revenue Streams

 

It’s always good to take stock of the powerful machine that is your business on an annual basis (if not more often). Not only does it remind you of the bigger picture and where you are currently, but it may inspire ideas for your marketing plan and where you want to go.

 

 

(Feel free to ask us for a practical demonstration of how to do this part, we love it and would happily show you how it works. Once you do it we promise you will be glad you did!)

 

So, here are some suggestions for your marketing plan:

 

Get your SWOT and PESTLE face on!

These are great combined with an up to date and in-depth competitor analysis. If you don’t know what these are, Google them and thank us later.

 

Refine your audiences & positioning

Have their needs changed? Are we still positioning correctly? What intelligence can you take from last year’s data and trends in your industry? Can you update target audience customer profiles?

 

Is your brand in the right places at the moment?

Review all of the places that you are currently being seen by customers. Then consider if these are correct and where else could be useful. Don’t forget, this could be both online and offline depending on your business.

 

What are your objectives for 2020?

What are your objectives and goals? You will need these first before you can identify how to get there! A gut feeling of wanting to earn more is not enough in this day and age.

 

KPIs

What measurable targets need to be set for 2020? Have you met the previous KPIs that you set out to achieve? If not, why not? Were they unrealistic? Or maybe you smashed them? It’s important to learn what made you smash them and how will this impact on on the 2020 KPIs.

 

Brand Review

Review your brand and current marketing collateral – Is it working as well as it could do for you? Does it need updating? And remember – it isn’t just about how YOU feel your design represents your business, so get out and ask your customers!

 

Website

Review your website, does it need to be updated? Is it generating results? ( Google Analytics is an amazing way to analyse this!)

 

What marketing came before?

Review all marketing activity and campaigns for 2019, what worked, what didn’t?

 

Review marketing channels

Assess the value gained from the marketing channels that you are currently using eg. Social Media, PR, SEO, PPC, Blogging, Email Marketing, Advertising, Business Development, Resellers, Sales Activity etc. Which ones will you continue, pause or adapt for 2020.

 

Budget

What does my Marketing Budget look like for 2020? Will it change from last year? Is it affordable? Are you realistically investing enough to get the return that I require? Perhaps budgets can be lowered as marketing is working effectively, this will depend each individual business and their unique circumstances.

 

Schedule

Once you know where you want to go and which tools you want to use, get it on paper in a quarterly plan to keep somewhere that you can regularly revisit.

 

DID YOU LIKE THIS? IF YOU DID GOOD LUCK WITH PLANNING!

 

IF THIS SOUNDS LIKE HEADACHE AND HARD WORK… DON’T WORRY, WE HAVE ANOTHER OPTION…

 

Let us help you to blow your competitors out of the water in 2020 and work through the nitty-gritty details that you do not have the time for. After all, this is why we trained in marketing instead of your industry!

Daniella
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