An annual review of your marketing strategy is a key moment for a successful business. Without it, it is difficult to plan projects and personnel for the next year. To help you create such a plan, we offer a list of key elements and actions.
1. Conduct a situation analysis.
The first step is to conduct a SWOT analysis. It helps how to use the rcs database for direct marketing me identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that the business faces. To conduct an accurate SWOT analysis, it is necessary to conduct market research and competitive analysis. When analyzing competitors, it is necessary to study their positioning, market share, offerings and pricing to determine your advantages.
"I also need a good picture of the current market. How do I compare to my competitors? Competitor analysis can help with that.
In doing so, I can identify gaps (and opportunities) in my competitors' approach. What are they missing? What can I offer that will give me a competitive advantage?"
Answering questions like these should help you understand what your customer wants.
2. Define your target audience (TA).
If your business already has customers/clients, this step may simply mean you need to refine your current target audience profile.
But if you don't have a current target audience, you should create one. To do this, you may need to conduct market research.
Your target audience profile should include general information such as age, gender, location, and income. It should also include psychographic information such as pain points and goals. What drives your audience? What problems do they have that your product or service can solve?
Once you write this information down, it will help you define your goals.
3. Write SMART goals.
SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. For example, your goal might be to increase the number of subscribers to your VKontakte group by 15% in three months.
Before you begin implementing any task, you must formulate your goals. Then you can begin to analyze what tasks will help you achieve this goal.
4. Make a task plan.
You have written down your goals based on your target audience and current situation. Now you need to figure out what tasks and actions will help you achieve your goals. Also, what channels should you focus on?
Once you know your goals, coming up with a few tasks to achieve them is easy. However, you may not be able to complete every task on your list - which brings us to step number five.
5. Determine your budget.
Before you begin implementing the ideas you came up with in the steps above, you need to know your budget.
For example, your plan may include social media advertising. However, if you don't have the budget for it, you may not be able to achieve your goals.
Once you’ve done your analysis, research, and goals, it’s time to set deadlines for tasks. Everything from new blog posts and content initiatives to product launches needs a deadline. Consider all the holidays and events that happen throughout the year.
A marketing plan schedule allows your team to see all projects, campaigns, events, and other related tasks in one place - along with their deadlines. This way, everyone on your team knows what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, and what's next. Typically, these plans cover marketing activities for the entire year, but some companies may work on a quarterly basis.
While setting deadlines for the entire year may seem like a daunting task, start by estimating how long you think each task will take and set the deadline accordingly. Keep track of the time it takes you to complete similar projects. Once you’ve completed several of them, you’ll have a better idea of how long each one takes and can set more accurate deadlines.
For each project, time must be allocated:
Brainstorming: This is the first stage where your idea is transformed into a project outline. Decide what you want to achieve and what stakeholders need to be involved to achieve the goal. Set a date for completion and schedule any necessary meetings.
Planning: This includes defining the scope of the project, figuring out how much budget will be allocated to it, finalizing the timeline and who will work on each task. Create a plan for all the campaigns needed for each project (social media, PR, promotions, landing pages, events, etc.).
Execution: The third phase is dedicated to launching the project. Set a launch date and monitor the project’s progress. Create a system for tracking metrics and KPIs.
Analysis: In this final step, you’ll analyze all of the performance data to see if your marketing efforts paid off. Did you achieve your goals? Did you complete your projects on time and within budget?
Your marketing plan should include the following key components:
Goals and KPIs: Define the end goal for each of the individual campaigns you will run and the metrics you will use to measure the campaign's results once it is complete. For example, conversion rate, sales, signups, etc.
Channels: Identify the different channels you will use to conduct your marketing campaign to reach your audience. You may run a social media campaign to raise brand awareness or a Yandex.Direct advertising campaign to tell your audience about your products/services.
Budget: Determine the budget you need to run your campaign and how you will allocate it, such as how much you will spend on creating content or placing ads in different areas. Having these numbers will also help you later when quantifying the success of your campaign, such as ROI.
Content: Determine the type of content you will create and distribute during the campaign - such as blog posts, video ads, email campaigns, etc.
Team: Identify the teams and people who will be involved in implementing your marketing plan from start to finish, such as those responsible for creating marketing assets, budgets, or analyzing metrics after campaigns are completed.
Therefore, a good marketing plan should gain the support of stakeholders and effectively guide marketing efforts. The plan can be detailed and depends on the nature of your business and digital presence online.