It’s spooky season, y’all. It’s the time of the year where little goblins and ghouls might grace your doorstep looking for treats. The little neighborhood kids are more cute than scary, but do you know what really frightens us? We’ve heard there are companies and organizations out there operating without a marketing plan! What?! Say it’s not so!
Now, as a marketing company, we know a thing or two about strategy and goals. So if you don’t have a plan, don’t let that deter you from getting in touch. We can help! Let’s start with the basics. A marketing plan is a comprehensive and strategic document that outlines a business’s marketing objectives, strategies and tactics over a specified period. It is the roadmap for the marketing team, guiding their efforts to promote products or services and achieve specific business goals. Marketing plans provide direction, goal alignment, resource allocation, target audiences, guidance for decision-making and provide resource and budget allocation. It plays a central role in aligning marketing efforts with business objectives. If you got in your car and needed to drive to a location you’d never been to before, you’d use a tool to help you get there, right? The same idea applies with a marketing plan. When it comes to business, where you’re going is a place you haven’t been yet; you need a plan.
A marketing strategy helps you determine your target market. Market segmentation is crucial to establish a relevant audience for your business and products precisely. After all, to satisfy your customers’ needs, you have to understand what they want. If you’re not asking them what they want, how will you know?
One of the main reasons that businesses should have a marketing strategy is to understand people’s pain points. Then you can have a clear view of them to identify what pieces of your plan you will need to strengthen even more. It’s similar to an infinity loop where all parts are connected and rely on the others to succeed, but a marketing strategy helps you achieve the following goals:
- Define the target demographics: the plan will help you manage your social media marketing plan, content marketing strategy, online and offline communication channels, and type of influencers to collaborate with for your digital marketing campaigns.
- Keep all your marketing experts on the same page: perhaps your social media specialists promote specific products’ features on Instagram Stories or use TikTok to attract a younger audience. Meanwhile, your customer support representatives say that clients want details about a whole different set of product details/specs that aren’t the ones being featured on social media. This duality can make it challenging to uphold your marketing strategy. A marketing plan’s importance is that it offers you the foundation for building the entire advertising and selling strategy. You have to have all of the pieces to complete the puzzle.
- Keep your marketing tasks timely: having a marketing plan without a rigorous timeline and a set of deliverables is like creating a business plan without setting up goals. Marketing calendars are your best tools to keep track of everything that is going on in the marketing and sales departments. Timeliness is crucial for every marketing task, from posting engaging Facebook posts for your audiences at suitable hours to defining buyer persona before launching a new service.
- Build brand authenticity: by now you know that brand authenticity and business storytelling are crucial components of your marketing plan. They are the secret ingredients of customer engagement and loyalty. On the other hand, a coherent marketing strategy is of utmost importance when communicating your brand’s story and unique selling proposition.
Last but not least, a marketing strategy adds more professionalism to your enterprise. Your customers will be able to tell if you are just winging your marketing activities or if you are there to answer their needs and develop a mutually beneficial relationship with them. Still don’t have a plan? Get in touch with us!
Our featured client this month is King’s Way Christian Schools. Starting in 1971, King’s Way’s goal is to create life-long learners who are passionate about Christ. The staff and administration partner with our families in providing experiences and an education that lead to life change in each of our students. King’s Way is more than just a school; they are a family and a community that focuses on positive change and transformative experiences. At King’s Way the students’ education goes beyond the core classes; each student has the opportunity to explore creative opportunities like band, choir, art, secondary language classes, and physical education.
King’s Way offers a unique experience in K-12 education and extracurricular activities. At King’s Way, the dedicated educators are passionate about teaching students the truth of God’s character, integrated into every subject and elective, so that they will trust and love their Creator, and through that relationship be drawn to love others. It is a blessing to represent this incredible institution.
Our featured staff member this month is Brittany! Brittany Wubbolt is the Social Media Manager at MadCap Marketing+Creative. Brittany is a transplant to Washington State, which is why we’ll overlook her passion for the Philadelphia Eagles (we like Hawks around here, Brittany!) Brittany earned a bachelor’s degree in Communications with an emphasis in Marketing and Public Relations from Widener University in Chester, PA. She has the gift of melding creativity and branding and her touch will help your business shine! We are so glad she moved across the country and found us. We love you, Brittany!