Marketing Plans: The Basics

If you are contemplating starting your own small business, creating a marketing plan is essential. A marketing plan is not an inflexible document. The plan can change as your business evolves. Once you write your marketing plan, revisit it occasionally. This allows you to follow your initial goals, requires you to reflect on the direction your company is heading and also sees if certain strategies need to be reviewed and adjusted.

Writing a marketing plan is a process of answering questions about your business. These are the essential parts to a marketing plan:

Company Overview.

• Who are you?
• What is your product or service?
• What niche does your business fit in?

Competition.

• Who is your competition?
• How are you different from them?
• What other challenges do you face?

Targeted Customers.

• Who are your customers?
• How do they benefit from my business?
• What are their demographics?

Goals and Timelines.

• What are your marketing goals?
• What are you sales goals?
• When are these goals to be accomplished?

S.W.O.T.

• What are your strengths?
• What are your weaknesses?
• What opportunities can you take advantage of?
• What threats do you anticipate?

Strategies.

• What strategies do you have for advertising, maintaining inventory, retaining customers, hiring employees, etc?

Budget.

• What is your budget for advertising, inventory, employees, maintenance, overhead, etc?

A well-thought out marketing plan can save you time and work in the future. Use it as a compass on your journey to becoming a successful business owner.