Many small business owners spend more time planning a vacation than they do planning their killer marketing strategy for the next 6 months or a year. But, just like planning a vacation, having a written marketing strategy is critical to its success. If you don’t have a vacation plan, you might end up on stand-by, in a tacky hotel, or worse. If you don’t have a marketing plan, you can never be sure that you’re getting the best value for your marketing dollar, and getting the best results possible.
The Destination: Where Do You Want to Go?
Just like planning a vacation, the first thing you need to know is where you want to go, otherwise known as your marketing goals. Do you want to increase sales by 5-10%? Do you want a higher customer retention rate? Do you want to increase referrals? Whether your business goals are big or small, they are your “destination” and marketing can help you get there.
The Travel Budget: How Much Can You Spend?
You generally know how much money you’re willing to spend on a vacation. You need to also set a budget for your marketing plan. A good rule of thumb for allocating marketing expenses is to set aside about 7% or more of your annual gross income. And, just like deciding on how much you’ll pay for vacation lodging, transportation, meals and sightseeing, you need to divide your marketing budget into various initiatives, such as advertising, social media, public relations, direct marketing, collateral materials, trade shows, website design, search engine optimization and more.
The Transportation: How Do You Plan to Get There?
Once you have your destination and budget spelled out, you can start to think about the best ways to get there. This will largely depend on your type of business, what has worked well for you in the past and what has not worked. Typically, you will want to put the lion’s share of your budget into what has worked well, but you should also allot some funds for testing other initiatives. Be sure to be able to track and analyze the results from all of your efforts, so that you can see your expenses versus orders, and know each cost per order.
The Details: Should You Use an Agency?
Lots of people rely on travel agents to plan their vacation, especially if it’s a big trip with many details that need to be worked out. Having someone else who is more knowledgeable and has more resources at their fingertips frees you up to pack your bags and enjoy the trip. For the same reason, small business owners can use a marketing agency to help them plan their strategy as well as execute its components. Agencies can put your marketing plan in writing, devise all of the materials and sub-plans needed for each initiative, track results and more. This allows you up to focus on your product or service and the daily operations of your business. Bon voyage and best wishes for success!
