The Twelve Days of Marketing 101
How To Create A Power Marketing Plan That Inspires Others To Buy What You’re Selling
photo credit: andyarthur
Starting tomorrow, and for the next twelve days, we’ll take a deep dive into the detail behind a marketing plan that drives business. There’s never been a better time than now to create a killer plan with a rock solid strategy.
Each day will follow a specific aspect of the classic marketing plan as outlined in Marketing 101. You’ll understand the method behind the marketing madness, cost cutting tactics and find additional resources to develop a power marketing plan that inspires others to buy what you’re selling. Best part is…if you tackle a section a day, you’ll have that killer plan in just twelve days!
Before we go to far, let’s take a look at what marketing really means. As you embrace the “Twelve Days of Marketing 101″ series you’ll quickly learn what it takes to create a powerful marketing plan.
theVisionaryAgency’s Definition of Marketing
“Everything you do that creates an emotional impact and causes someone to part with their money to purchase your product or service.”
Bottom line…marketing is about the buyer (that person who spends their hard earned money) and not about you! When you embrace that concept you harness a key element for success.
How Most Businesses Market
Because most business owners are focused on themselves and the bottom line, they cannot see the messages their marketing is sending to prospects. Often the messages are so uninspiring or assumptive that the buyer either doesn’t see the message or they’re turned off by it. Either way, they are unlikely to buy. When a business views the marketing process as a necessary evil to making money, their efforts reap little reward.
How Successful Businesses Market
A successful business knows that a powerful marketing campaign is about the target market. It begins with a thorough understanding of the buying persona. The person who might actually want your stuff – your target market (see below).
Does Your Product Fit Your Market?
Understanding your buyer helps you understand their vulnerabilities and how those play into their worst fears – what keeps them up at night. (The pain can be physical, emotional, situational, and environmental or any number of other influences.)
When you understand the pain and how it puts a burden on your buyer you can look at your product(s) to determine if it actually does solve the problem. If the answer is yes then you’re onto the next aspect of a good marketing campaign. If the answer is no, it’s time to identify a new target market or get a new product.
psst…we’ll talk more about this on day three of this series.
Does Your Marketing Reach Your Market?
Understanding the buyer provides vital information about how they shop for what you offer. The challenge is to learn everything you can. The more you learn the more empowered you are to create a sense of urgency for what you offer.
Take the time to do a complete market analysis. Does your market shop online or offline. Are they influenced by friends, their ego, the economy, etc. These key pieces of data will help you determine where to market so your buyer will find you. The more you learn the more you understand the words to use to compel others to buy what you’ve got.
psst…this is covered on day two of this series.
Another key element of a successful marketing campaign is to clearly understand how your product is different from the competition. Define how those differentiators solve a problem, enrich the buyer and underscore the motivations for someone to buy from you over the competition.
psst…day three for this bad boy.
When you take the time to create a powerful marketing plan you define your voice and revolutionize your business. You will also influence more consumers to buy what you’re selling.
The Twelve Days Of Marketing 101
So, let’s break it down into manageable pieces. Here are the key components of a successful marketing plan:
- Day 1: Budget
- Day 2: Market Analysis
- Day 3: Company Differentiators
- Day 4: SWOT Analysis
- Day 5: Target Market
- Day 6: Competitive Analysis
- Day 7: Marketing Goals & Objectives
- Day 8: Strategy
- Day 9: Tactics
- Day 10: Timeline
- Day 11: Critical Success Factors
- Day 12: Marketing Collateral
As you begin to develop your marketing plan, take a deep breath then consider everything about your business. How is it perceived by others? What are your values and vision? Who are your clients and prospects? The other peeps that affect your success…the competition, the online and offline communities, the press, your neighbors, everyone. The fact is, every person on the planet has the potential to affect a sale. That means that everyone is part of your marketing team.
Share your success stories below.
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