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Does Your Marketing Plan need a little "Seasoning"?
The time of year can play a big roll on how you market your
products and services - and while it's important to plan
your campaigns on a calendar - there are other elements to a
great marketing plan. Follow these guidelines when making
your marketing plan and you'll ensure a successful year!
1. Use the
Calendar.
When you make your marketing plan base your advertising and
budget on your calendar. Are there seasons when your
products or services are in high demand? Highlight these
times and make sure your advertising builds up to them.
Are there certain holidays or annual events that spike sales
in your industry? make sure you budget for and plan your
advertising and promotional campaigns around them.
2. Know Your
Target.
You can probably spot your typical customer everywhere you
go. You know who uses your products and services and
you need to use that knowledge to build your campaigns.
Think of your customer first when writing your ads - not
your product/service. Think of your customer when
buying advertising - whether it be online or in trade
journals or a local paper. Think of your customer -
and your calendar - when deciding when to advertise, and
make sure your message is projected most heavily when you
customer is just starting to consider a purchase. Just like
you can't change your spouse - you can't change how you
customer shops and buys. Analyze your customers, how
they shop and what they buy for a few months in a year, you
might be surprised what you learn.
3. What to Say.
When planning your advertising, one of the hardest decisions
is what to promote, new products and services or a
"favorite" product will create the most interest. That
being said - you get a new style of snow boots in
June, don't waste your money with a big full page ad and
radio campaign promoting them when no one is thinking about
buying winter boots.
Advertising to create a "brand" is important and should be
part of your overall plan - but really the purpose of
advertising for most businesses is to generate sales, not
give someone a warm fuzzy about your company. If you don't
have a new product or service to promote, feature a current
product/service in a new way - focus on the benefits to the
consumer and you're sure to make sales.
4. Put it Where?
Where you advertise has a lot to do with who your target is.
It doesn't make sense to advertise your senior center on one
of those bathroom door advertisements in the local bar.
Just as it probably won't help you to advertise a chainsaw
in Cosmo (though I swear my husband reads it when I'm not
around!)
So where should you advertise? Think of your product,
customer and the sales process before deciding where to buy
your advertising. Does your customer only trust the ol'
newspaper or are they web savvy. How does someone buy your
product over the phone, online or do they have to come to
your store? Where are your competitors advertising?
The answers to these questions and others will help you to
determine your ad placement - and you may come up with
different answers for different products or services.
Planning your
businesses marketing can be a cumbersome task. But
thinking of your calendar, customer, products/services and
where you want to advertise separately can help you build a
better "big picture".
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