Category Archives: Marketing Plans

Do I need Social Media Marketing?

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We don't have a choice on whether we do social media the question is how well we do it.Social media isn’t just for high school kids. It’s not just a time waster. Nor is it just about posting photos of the toasted ravioli you had for lunch. Social media has become a daily source of communication, information and entertainment. Are your customers on social media? Absolutely, and you should be too.

Facebook alone has 59% of all internet users in North America as active users!

All around the world there are people on social media reading and posting updates. They’re looking at pictures their cousin took when he was on vacation in Clearwater Beach, Florida. They’re congratulating a friend on finishing the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon. They’re telling all their friends and family about how much they love Kaldi’s Coffee. Continue reading

Creating a Marketing Plan – Step 3 – Using Appropriate Tactics

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Marketing StrategyOur quick and simple marketing plan is almost complete.  We have determined our company’s current competitive position, outlined our marketing objectives and determined ​our primary and secondary target audiences.  Now it is time to choose the appropriate marketing tactics to motivate our target audiences.

Just to clarify, tactics and strategy are not interchangeable words.  A very brief explanation of the difference is, a tactic is a single part of your overall strategy.  Tactics are tools you use to help implement your overall strategy.

Goal: Win the War
Strategy: Divide & Conquer
Tactics: Gather intelligence, knock out enemy communication, secure enemy air bases, etc.​ Continue reading

Creating a Marketing Plan – Step 2 – Defining Target Audiences

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GoPro BabyLast week we began creating our marketing plan.  First, we created a SWOT Analysis to determine our company’s current competitive position.  Then we began to outline our marketing objective using specific details instead of general statements.

The next step in a marketing plan is to choose the appropriate target audience (also known as target market or target public).  A target audience is a group of people who share common traits or interests that you / your company will be marketing your product or service to.  This group of people may be of the same gender, age, geographic area, income levels, or stage in the family-life cycle.  The possibilities for what makes up a target audience are endless, as long as there are commonalities among the group. Continue reading

Creating a Marketing Plan – Step 1 – Outlining Objectives

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Marketing ObjectivesThe first step in creating a marketing plan is to outline your marketing objective.  When outlining objectives, it is important to know your company’s current competitive position.  The use of a SWOT Analysis is an effective way to identity your company’s current competitive position.  SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.  Keep in mind; strengths and weakness are internal forces while opportunities and threats are external forces.

For example…

Western Automotive – a made up company for this post – is a small car dealership in the Midwest.  They have been in business ten years, have a good location, and a well known service department.  Western Automotive sells mostly trucks and larger SUVs.  However, they have just begun selling a smaller SUV.  The smaller SUV is very safe, stylish – but not flashy, affordable and received a fairly good mile per gallon (MPG) rating. Continue reading