French Press - Create a marketing plan

Are you having trouble marketing your small business? myMarketing Cafe can help.

Our Marketing Plan section walks you through the steps needed to brew a successful integrated small business marketing plan.

3 Easy Steps to Power Up Your Marketing Efforts:

1. Begin by watching our free training tutorial Small Business Marketing: How to Build a Powerful Marketing Machine. Scroll below to take a closer look at the planning process.
2. Download the Small Business Marketing Planner, which includes a free marketing plan template.
3. Then build your marketing plan using The Ultimate Guide: Free Small Business Marketing, which connects you to 97 free tools and resources for small business marketing. Use them to create content that engages and sells.

A closer look at creating a marketing plan:

Here’s what we cover in our tutorial using a real-life example.

Research

Research is one of the most important aspects of building a successful marketing plan. The more you know about your industry, competition, and current marketing environment, the more proactive you can be with your marketing strategies. While researching, consider your company from both an internal perspective and external influences.

I. Research – Conduct research to effectively build your plan
(Before reading, download the Research Worksheet)

Marketing Problem

Plan Development

Now that you have completed Step 1: Research, to include a SWOT analysis, an other research, and have completed Step 2: Define your problem, it’s now time to gather your team and begin developing your plan. Plan components include an overall goal, objectives to help you meet the goal, strategies that will help you reach your objectives, and all the tactics you will use to implement your strategies. It may seem overwhelming but every step is necessary.

III. The Plan – Build a marketing plan that works for your business

Implementation

Evaluation

Evaluation answers the questions… What worked? What didn’t work? What was the return on our investment?

While you may be evaluating different tactics along the way, at the close of your plan, you will review the plan as a whole and determine the outcomes. Evaluation will include reviewing the performance of each individual tactic and strategy and whether or not you reached your various objectives. When you are determining your tactics, consider ways you can measure and track the success of your tactics.

V. Evaluation – Assess the plan performance

Budgeting

Drafting a budget is key to turning your business dream into a reality. Your marketing plan serves as a roadmap to support your budget goals. A budget is also a roadmap, your financial roadmap. A budget shows you exactly where you are financially at any given point in time and provides you with a valuable tool to understanding where your business is going.

VI. Budgeting – Secure financial and other resources

3 Easy Steps to Power Up Your Marketing Efforts:

A closer look at creating a marketing plan:

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