Top Ten Reasons to Review Your Marketing Plan

Many business owners are so pleased when they get all the planning done, the business plan, the marketing plan, the strategic plan and the HR plan that they heave a sign of relief and put the "plans" on the shelf, never to be used again.

Your marketing plan is a living document, at least it should be. The plan needs to be implemented and then monitored and then corrected and the process starts again.


Reasons to Review your marketing plan:

1.  To learn if it is working
2.  To monitor the results of your marketing activities
3.  To implement any updates and changes, using social media for example
4.  To develop a consistent look and feel to your marketing efforts
5.  To develop a budget for your marketing activities
6.  To monitor repeat business
7.  To learn where your customers are hearing about you
8.  Get referrals
9.  Build sales results
10.  Develop marketing materials, brochures, business cards, other promotional material.

Ten Things to Include in Your Marketing Plan

Marketing is such a broad term, covers so many things. Marketing is knowing what you are selling, who you are selling to, identifying your delivery channels and telling your customers about your brand. The following points should be covered in a marketing plan for product sales:

1. What are you selling, give a clear description including whether the item is a necessity or a luxury.
2. Where is your products in price compared to your competition?
3. Where do you expect your potential customers to hear about your product?
4. Who is your primary customer? Your secondary customer?
5. Where will you be selling your product?
6. What are you doing (going to do) to promote your product?
7. What guarantee or warranty are you offering?
8. Do you have a plan for sales follow up?
9. How will you deal with complaints (of course you don't want any, but...)
10. Do you have a sales budget that you can used to measure how effective your marketing plan was? 

and 10.5  Do you have a marketing budget prepared that includes all marketing activities as well as all associated costs?