Marketing Planning - It All Begins with Analysis and Preparation
It should go without saying that analysis and preparation are crucial to your marketing planning success. Yet everyday people don't stop to think and actually analyze their business and prepare before they just launch into marketing.
Lack of marketing planning equals poor business results. Most small business marketing materials and activities are a complete waste of time. They are poorly designed and poorly thought out. They don't entice people to take action they don't make much of a case for buying. And the primary reason for this is lack of adequate analysis and preparation in the marketing planning.
Yes, this will take some time initially. But, the rewards can be amazing if you take the time to analyze and prepare all the important elements that are necessary to achieve great marketing success. Like building with blocks, you have to take your marketing planning step-by-step, piece-by-piece.
Analysis and Preparation Will Make Marketing Easier and More Fun.
That's exactly what I've discovered for my own business and have had success in showing others who will follow the advice.
Marketing Planning is the work it takes to get there. The time you spend...
...developing your key marketing message, ...defining your niche, ...articulating your uniqueness, ...crafting an attention getting message, ...packaging your services, ...compiling your evidence of success, and ...creating better tools and materials
will pay off for your business ten times beyond rushing off to that next networking meeting or hastily putting together that next direct mail piece.
You do have to dedicate the time to put things in place. But if you can allocate a few hours each day or each week, then I assure you that you'll begin to see a difference in a few short weeks or less. If on the other hand you're not prepared to put the work in, then don't expect any marketing scheme out there to produce great results.
Begin with a Clear Purpose and Focus.
If you don't have a purpose, vision and clear goals then you're wandering aimlessly. Have you ever heard that saying, "If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there"?
Most small business owners are very sharp people. They have an idea of what they want to do but usually it's vague and continually changes. They don't have a focus that keeps moving them straight forward. They go in too many directions and get easily distracted.
It's imperative for marketing planning success to be clear on where you're going with your business and what you want to accomplish. With a direction and focus you can be passionate about, key marketing activities can begin to line up and all point you in the same direction.
Obtaining Clarity and Focus.
I was struggling with these issues for my own business. That's right, a guy who started his own marketing consultancy wasn't clear on where he was going with the business. I had figured out how to get clients. But, the more I got, the more overwhelmed I felt about how to organize and prioritize my efforts.
What turned it around for me was realizing I didn't have to go it alone. So I hired a coach. Well, actually an entire coaching community.
The resources and coaches at the
More Business Accelerator
program have helped me breakthrough some of the barriers that were holding me back. They've helped me gain a focus and begin shaping the business so I can truly live the life I love.
Christian Mickelsen is the driving force behind this powerful coaching community. He also offers a free online community called
SmallBizU
. There's tons of planning, marketing, sales, and business management resources available. Definitely worth signing up for the FREE membership!
Position Your Business for Success Others Can't Generate.
One of the most powerful marketing planning principles available to small business owners is positioning. Positioning is about your ability to clarify and articulate what you market and sell and to whom. It defines your positioning in the marketplace, but also defines how you stand out from the crowd.
I know that sounds simple, but it's actually one of the most common marketing planning mistakes. Small business owners simply don't take the time to differentiate themselve from competitive market altermatives. If your positioning does not differentiate you from everyone else, why should anyone be interested in what you're offering?
Virtually every small business owner is trying to stand out in a crowded marketplace. But, few actually spend the time to articulate what they do that's unique and makes a difference for their clients. So how do you do it?
Look at your business first. Don't be surprised when I tell you that the positioning you need to define might be as simple as looking at your own business. You just need to articulate it in a way that makes a difference for your clients and makes them take notice.
Key Positioning Elements:
Create a profile of a well defined niche market. Focus and dedication to a specific target market will allow you to achieve much deeper levels of connection with that market. You'll be the expert for them!
Define the key problems you want to help clients solve. Then outline the major results you want to produce for them. When you focus on a particular problem, issue or challenge your clients are dealing with, you can position yourself as the solution provider of choice.
Outline and package your unique approach. Right or wrong, most of your potential clients likely assume you do things pretty much the same way as everyone else. A unique approach that promises better, faster, cheaper, or more reliable results can make prospects stand up and take notice.
Create and utilize your evidences of success. There are two things that I'm not sure any small business can have too many of - case studies and testimonials. These two little tools are so powerful because they speak of actual results. Make them as specific as possible to show how you served a niche market, solved a certain problem, produced a certain outcome, or utilized a unique approach in serving a client.
Define and put in place a risk reversal or guarantee. This scares the heck out of a lot of small business owners because they assume buyers will take advantage of them. But let me ask you this question, "Are you good at what you do?" If the answer is yes, then why wouldn't you be willing to lower or get rid of the risk that keeps prospects from buying in the first place?
These are just some of the key elements of positioning for your marketing planning. Spend some serious time on each one and you'll begin generating success others simply can't generate.
Want to know how to really leverage these important positioning elements? Use a combination of several of them when communicating about your business.
Marketing Planning - It Must Begin With Analysis & Preparation
Launching into marketing and sales without doing your analysis & preparation is asking for trouble. But, it doesn't have to be a daunting task. The good news is that there are resources that can provide you detailed, step-by-step guidance.
My two favorite resources are Steve Hackney's
Power Marketing Super System
and Robert Middleton's
InfoGuru Manual
. These two resources, more than any other, are what inspired me to start my own marketing consultancy and ultimately create this web site for you.
Don't be afraid of marketing planning. The time you spend on this analysis and preparation will make all of your marketing efforts more enjoyable and rewarding.
Your marketing will be more genuine and authentic. And it will be much more effective!
