Annual Marketing Plans – Now’s the time!
An annual marketing plan is a road map of your businesses annual marketing strategy. It should contain goals and priorities that your business wants to attain in the upcoming year, as well as outlining offers, promotions, media schedules, public relations, budgeting, etc. Annual planning can be the key to a successful, more organized year because you can use it as a blueprint for your teams to follow.
An annual plan can be as simple as a Google sheet. Sheets can easily be shared with others and different tabs can be set for advertising, social media, budget, etc.
There are plenty of templates online to help get you started. The biggest hurdle is many times, just getting it started, then reviewed and approved by decision makers and then shared with key stakeholders.
Going more in depth with your marketing plan can involve considering and memorializing some key elements:
Product: How can you make your products or services better
Price: How can or should we change our pricing model
Place: Are there new distribution channels for customers to experience our product or services? This can be apps, ecommerce, etc.
Promotions: Mapping weekly, monthly or quarterly promotions will go a long way to helping you stay on track and on budget.
People: Who are our people, what are their skill gaps and how can we fill them
Process: Are there internal processes or barriers to delivering the best customer value
Market Research: The foundation of your marketing plan is how well you understand your market. Start with learning the market first.
Assess Your Market Situation
Who are your competitors, and how does your brand stand within the market.
Set Your Marketing Goals
Be clear about what your marketing goals are. Evaluate your goals against the latest marketplace realities and try to come up with what can be done next. Be concise and specific.
Establish Your KPIs
Establish KPI’s which is aligned with the business and marketing goals you have set and track results of everything you do.
