A month before we go on a trip, surely we will make travel plans such as, which destinations we are going to, how much budget we have, what souvenirs we will buy there, what activities we will do during the holidays, and so forth. The same thing happens with business, when we build a business to promote products and services to customers, then we also need an extraordinary product marketing plan so that the sale of products or services can be done efficiently.
Everyone is too concerned about business plans, but unfortunately many business people or entrepreneurs forget to think about marketing plans. In fact, both business plans and marketing plans are very important things in the business world.
The difference between a business plan and marketing lies in its focus. The marketing plan is more focused on winning the hearts of potential customers and retaining existing customers. Well, one of the characteristics of a good marketing plan is to detail all the strategies, tools and preparations that we will apply to achieve predetermined sales targets.
A small example of a marketing plan is determining what products we will sell, who our target customers are, what strategies are needed, and so on. For more details, fellow readers can read this article to the end in order to get important information related to “5 steps to make an extraordinary marketing plan”.
Step 1: Think about the Company’s Situation in Detailed Descriptions.
First of all, we need to define our company in detail. This is important, because if we don’t know our company well, how can we set sales targets going forward?
Try to define our company, starting from what products or services will be sold, what makes our products and services different from those offered by competitors. These points are referred to as “situation analysis”.
In other words, we can read and analyze the situation of our own company. Target customers also need to be as detailed as possible so that we have a “specific market” picture of our products and services.
However, we not only need to think about the points above. The other most important thing is to learn the products and services yourself. How the product can work, what features are its advantages, what are the advantages of the product that has not been owned (another language from conveying product shortcomings). Of course this becomes very important, because before we market a product and say it is “a product that is different from the others”, we need to know the product in depth. Do not let us ourselves even do not know how to use it like what.
We need to make this situation analysis a brief and detailed description of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to our products and services. All the advantages and disadvantages of business come from within the company, while all threats and opportunities come from outside the company.
So, when we want to think about the weaknesses and strengths of our products and services, don’t forget to compare our products and services with those of competitors. Approximately what advantages we have, and what they do not have. Are the prices of our products much more affordable but the quality is on par with competitors? Is our customer service far more friendly and responsive?
Oops! Don’t forget to include external threats in the company’s “strengths” to get market share, so that our marketing plans are more detailed and can overcome any external threats.
In short, the position of our product can be analyzed in two ways. First, we need to analyze the features of products and services to decide how we can differentiate products and services sold from competitors. Second, determine your target buyers by determining “what category of buyers are most interested in buying our products?”.
Think about what we offer customers, what do we sell? Is that the convenience of the customer? Product quality? An affordable price? Or we can offer everything? By knowing what the customer wants, it will be easier for us to decide on the advantages that will be offered to them. So, now your fellow readers are increasingly convinced right why are marketing plans so important for all of our businesses?
Step 2: Determine the Target Buyer.
For this second step, we can explain it through a number of demographic points such as, in what age range are our target buyers? In addition, also consider the gender, income, geographical location, educational background, and lifestyle of our target buyers.
Try asking ourselves more in detail, are our target customers conservative people? Or innovative? Are they young leaders, entrepreneurs and other executives? And so forth.
If the products and services offered by fellow readers are specific to business-to-business? If “yes”, then fellow readers can determine target customers based on their business type, position, business size, geographical location, and other characteristics as your business prospects going forward.
Whoever is the target buyer of our products and services, we need to plan as detailed as possible because it will affect the marketing costs that we will spend through advertising in the media or promotion through public relations.
Step 3: Plan a List of Marketing Objectives.
This third step aims to open our minds about “what is our marketing plan?” Example answers, increase 30% product sales per quarter. In planning marketing objectives, we need to set realistic goals so that success can be measured . Here are some points that Career Career colleagues can use in planning marketing goals.
– Specific.
When we have a specific marketing goal, then our chances of achieving it will be even greater. For example, making a profit of up to 10 billion in late 2019.
– optimism.
Marketing plans also need to be formed with positive feelings. For example, “I’m sure I’ll make a 2x profit on the product I sell, and I’m sure I’ll get it!”
– realism.
Even though we must create a marketing goal with a positive and confident aura, we still need to be realistic. Don’t let us feel like we have failed to reach our goals just because our goals don’t make sense. For example, we target the sales of our products to reach 1 billion rupiah per month, even though we only sell pens and the price is not too expensive. Therefore, try to make goals more realistic.
Step 4: Rethink the Previous Marketing Strategy .
If you have already had a marketing plan beforehand, then this is a good time to reconsider all the planning again. Is it still relevant to sales targets , product excellence and other matters relating to our products and services now?
If some of the points are still relevant and some of them are not, then we can revise some of the other points to be in line with the marketing objectives that we have now.
Step 5: Set a Marketing Budget.
This fifth step relates to the money or budget needed for the marketing plan that has been made. We must think, “Is the capital used obtained from the results of our savings, main income, loans from banks, or loans from investors?”.
We need to remember that marketing products and services is very important in business. So, we need to consider the budget spent on our marketing plan as well as possible.
