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Ready, Set, Action!

No, this isn’t the stage of the most recent movie; it’s the start of your marketing action plan. Would you feel confident that you would arrive safely at your destination if you boarded a plane that had been put together without a plan? Would you buy a home that was built haphazardly? No, of course not! It seems so obvious, yet many businesses are doing just that with their marketing. You may be closing your eyes, throwing a dart, and hoping it hits the target. Now is the time to stop, sit down, and come up with an action plan.

 

First you want to start by looking back: What are your goals for your company? What was the original purpose in starting your business? Is that still the purpose? What types of marketing activities have you tried in the past? What worked, what didn’t? These are all things that need to be defined before you can come up with an action plan.

 

Define your market. Who are you trying to target? Is your product or service intended to go to moms, dads, students? Conduct some research and find out what demographics your target market falls into. These demographics may include: education, gender, household income, buying habits, religion, age, and geographical location. This will help you refine your marketing strategies to make sure you’re efforts are directed to the appropriate audience.

 

Once you’ve got an idea of your company’s history and who your target market is, it’s time to consider your strategies. How do you plan to market your product and reach your target audience? Are you going to purchase or trade advertising space, create a new website, do a direct mailing? I recommend a good brainstorming session at this stage. If there are others on your team, involve them. Start jotting down and discussing ideas of how to market your business. Of course you’re not going to be able to do everything at once, but this will help you to define what opportunities exist and narrow it down to what you can do now.

 

Once you’ve narrowed down what types of marketing you have time and money to do, set goals and put deadlines to these goals. This will help you stay on track when things get busy. As we all know, new opportunities spring up all the time. When they do, evaluate each opportunity and decide if it’s something you want to put on the list to do later or if it’s something you want to take advantage of now. Don’t spread yourself too thin or you’ll neglect your action plan and you’ll be back to blindly throwing darts.

 

For more information on putting a marketing action plan together, search the web or visit your public library for some great resources.

 

Laura Fox

Marketing Director

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC

lfox@thehomescoolmagazine.com

 

 

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