Ah, spontaneity. While it is always the way to go when it comes to a road trip, it will not serve you well when it comes to marketing. Ask anyone who has attempted to launch a brand on the fly, and they will tell you a marketing planning process is crucial. Understanding all steps of the strategic marketing planning process makes executing it that much easier. As you will see, these three
steps require time and dedication to result in the marketing mix success. Consider this: You want to spend at least as much time planning the launch as you spent bringing your big idea to life through the strategic marketing planning. Planning ahead ensures you fly high instead of flop. We’ll break down each necessary step in this article, providing you with the ultimate strategic marketing planning process to apply to any product or service. Let’s go! Step 1: Perform Data Collection and Analysis In Your Market ResearchBefore you can even attempt to create marketing campaigns and materials, you need to understand who you will be marketing to.
Data collection and analysis can sometimes be underrated. But trust me, it’s extremely important. You may think it is not always necessary to go through all the steps in the marketing planning process. However, data collection and analysis is THE the number one step that starts the whole process. The reason is, the information you gather here is the foundation for everything to come even who you target on social media. Data CollectionStart by performing your market research on other products or services. Review the marketing mix of efforts made by companies similar to yours. Consider using a spreadsheet to easily compare your findings. Look at things like: Market Audience
Marketing Messaging
Marketing Communication Frequency
PlacementsDetermine how others reach their audiences most effectively. Where are they spreading the marketing message? From here, the next step in a marketing planning process is to conduct focus groups through market research. Maybe your company is on the smaller side, so focus groups are more difficult to implement. Not a problem! You can hold informal sessions with friends, neighbors, and people around your community to glean crucial information for your market research. For companies ready to dive right in, the type and number of focus groups you will conduct will vary based on your product or service. Let’s use a private golf community as an example. To determine the brand for this new community, the following groups should be interviewed:
Each group would be given a tour of the new development, then asked the following questions:
Now that you have completed the market research data collection phase of your strategic marketing plan process, you are ready to move into the analysis phase. Your target audience determines every aspect of your marketing messaging and approach.Click To Tweet Data AnalysisThe information you gathered is essentially your GPS, pointing you in the direction of marketing planning success. To gain a thorough understanding of the competitive marketplace, identify the trends among the businesses you found in your market research. Where is there overlap? This step in your marketing planning process shines a light on the practices you want to emulate. Of course, no one likes a copycat. Once you’ve identified the most common successful marketing strategy, put your own spin on them. The focus groups will most certainly open your eyes to some new ideas. As someone with a vested interest in your product or service, you can often be “too close” to see the big picture and need to rely on a third party to identify the marketing opportunities. Whether you conducted two or ten, the focus groups should help you effectively accomplish the following:
Make an effort to determine three words that exemplify your brand. 1. ___________________ 2. ___________________ 3. ___________________ These will be words that came up time and time again in your market research focus groups. They should evoke a feeling and an ability to envision your product or service in use. For the private golf community, the three words might be “warmth, balance and camaraderie”. These words become the cornerstones of your brand. Once you have them, you have officially uncovered your Brand DNA. SEE ALSO: 5 Marketing Lessons Learned from the Red Starbucks Cup Controversy Step 2: Determine Strategic Marketing Planning Budget and AllocationMarketing BudgetNow that you completed the foundation for your brand, it is time to dig into the execution details. The budget and allocation step of the marketing planning process is a big one. Your market mix budget covers the costs for:
Even if you have no “real” marketing budget, the time you spend utilizing free marketing avenues still costs something. It is time you are taking away from enhancing your products or providing your services. The fact is, getting your message out there takes a budget. The saying, “You have to spend money to make money” is popular for a reason!
If that number feels high, consider this survey on strategic marketing spending from McKinsey, the American Marketing Association and Duke University that says the industry average is 8.3%. Marketing Budget AllocationOnce you have a budget on paper, the fun begins. There are seemingly endless ways to spend your time and money:
Figuring out where to put your money will hinge on your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). What are key performance indicators?
Some specific, common KPIs are:
It is crucial that your KPIs include measurable goals. I’ll tell you why. Simply saying “increase revenue” will not help you allocate a budget for your marketing planning process.
Distinct KPIs will help you determine the marketing avenues that make the most sense for your business. Examples of Key Performance IndicatorsLet’s say the private golf community had a budget of $100,000. Approximately half of the budget is spent on a full-time Marketing Manager. The manager’s KPIs are:
The community’s target market includes a variety of incomes and ages, meaning they could benefit from every form of marketing. (Note that in some cases, your target market might eliminate certain areas for you. If you’re selling items to people over age 75, your end customer may not be in the digital marketing/ social media arena but the families of those 75 year olds are using inbound channels to communicate. In this case, the messaging would be different on each platform you are marketing.) After extensive research, the community determined that competitors are earning the bulk of their business from realtor referrals, online searches, social media and in some cases, at events like Community Trade Shows. With this information, allocation of the budget for your strategic marketing planning process becomes easy! Here is an example of how this information can further clarify the KPIs:
Now you’re starting to see how a marketing planning process can help your brand succeed. Figuring out where to put your marketing budget will hinge on your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).Click To Tweet Investing the time up front ensures that nothing falls through the cracks. It also helps you from creating assets that might:
Speaking of that, let’s get to the final step of the strategic marketing planning process: creating the marketing assets. Step 3: Create the Strategic Marketing AssetsWhile some might consider creation something that happens after a plan, the marketing planning process includes everything prior to execution. What does this mean? It’s simple: you need to create your marketing materials so you are fully prepared to execute a campaign. Let’s walk through the assets you need for every major marketing mix avenue:
Television and RadioThe fact that TV ads no longer require companies to run them nationwide is huge. It opened up this medium for many small and medium sized companies. Like TV, radio has become increasingly more affordable over the years. TV and radio advertising options include:
Creating a great ad comes down to a few key things.
Quality is everything! Once your commercial(s) are edited and ready for the world, you’re ready to execute a marketing plan utilizing these assets. Print AdvertisingPrint ads can be found in a wide variety of publications. From the local newspaper to a nationally circulated magazine, the options are nearly endless. An eye-catching print ad requires a series of coordinating design elements:
Because the success of print is difficult to measure, creating strategic marketing assets that include clear CTAs and offers is the best way to go. This will allow you to easily count the number of redemptions and compare it against the cost to place the ad. Of course there are benefits to print advertising that cannot be measured by direct ROI, like consistent branding and awareness. This only further solidifies the need for strong print assets. Looking for some more inspiration? Check out these genius print ads. Once your designer completes the ad(s) in the right specs, you’re ready to execute a marketing campaign! Remember that aside from ads, there are lots of other printed marketing assets your company may need for marketing like:
Public RelationsA PR professional will rely on your business to provide them with a series of assets they can use to spread the word. These things include:
The assets your PR company needs to excel have likely already been created by the time you are ready to onboard their services. Be sure to have them provide you with a list of desired assets before hiring them so you can determine the added cost of creating any new assets they may need. Search Engine and Social Media MarketingDepending on the online platforms you intend to utilize, you will need to create a variety of digital assets before launching a campaign. For example, if you intend to launch a search engine marketing campaign, you will need the following:
As another example, if you plan to start a new Facebook Page for social media marketing, you need to prepare the following:
In addition, if you plan to advertise on Facebook, you’ll need to develop:
Local Outreach (Events)The assets you needs to advertise at local events will vary based on the event, but in general you can create certain items that will serve you in multiple scenarios:
Before partnering with any events, ask for the build-out requirements so you can determine the added cost of creating any new assets they may need. Inbound MarketingBuilding a loyal following of advocates that want to share and converse with your brand all starts with creating a story they can connect with.
Creating an effective inbound marketing strategy within your marketing planning process will attract target leads that have a common interest in your brand. Through effective content you are able to pull leads into your pipeline rather than constantly pushing a message out. SEE ALSO: The Ultimate Guide to Using Snapchat for Business in 2017 The marketing planning process is everything prior to execution, including producing creative assets.Click To Tweet ConclusionPutting together your strategic marketing planning process includes these steps:
And while most people would rather dive right into the exciting stuff, we guarantee investing time in this marketing process will help you confidently execute successful campaigns. You can use the guidelines from each of these steps to create a marketing planning process that works specifically for your business! What do you feel is one of the most important steps of the strategic marketing planning process?Share with us in the comments below! BONUS: Develop a roadmap with our guide to creating a solid marketing plan. Download it now! If you liked this article, please share it! What is the first step in the marketing planning process?The elements of a plan. Set your marketing goals. ... . Conduct a marketing audit. ... . Conduct market research. ... . Analyze the research. ... . Identify a target audience. ... . Determine a budget. ... . Develop marketing strategies. ... . Develop an implementation schedule.. What is the first stage of the research marketing process?Step 1: Defining the marketing research problem. Defining a problem is the first step in the research process. In many ways, research starts with a problem facing management.
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