Developing a Strategic Marketing Plan
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The document outlines the process of developing a strategic marketing plan, emphasizing the importance of defining marketing philosophy, setting goals, identifying target markets, and analyzing competition. It details the roles of strategies and tactics in achieving revenue growth and highlights the need for a budget that reflects company growth ambitions. Additionally, it presents a SWOT analysis approach and stresses that marketing should be viewed as an investment rather than an expense.
Developing a Strategic Marketing Plan
- 1. Developing a Strategic Marketing Plan September 30, 2014
- 3. AGENDA • Marketing Philosophy • Marketing Plan Overview • Determining Goals & Objectives • Defining Your Target Markets • Core Competitive Advantages • Target Audience(s) • Competitor Analysis • SWOT • Marketing Tactics • Setting a Budget • Recap
- 4. MARKETING PHILOSOPHY What is Your Marketing Philosophy? Is it an expense? ACME Widget P&L Statement 9/1/14 - 9/30/14 REVENUES This Month Year-to-Date Sales $ 50,000.00 $ 425,000.00 Services $ 5,500.00 $ 50,000.00 Work in Progress (WIP) $ 2,500.00 $ 35,000.00 Net Revenues $ 58,000.00 $ 510,000.00 DIRECT EXPENSES This Month Year-to-Date Accounting $ 1,000.00 $ 9,000.00 Computer Expenses $ 500.00 $ 2,000.00 Insurance $ 2,500.00 $ 22,500.00 Marketing $ 3,000.00 $ 27,000.00 Materials $ 3,500.00 $ 31,500.00 Mileage & Travel Exp $ 250.00 $ 2,250.00 Rent $ 5,000.00 $ 45,000.00 Repairs & Maintenance $ 350.00 $ 4,000.00 Training/Continuing Education $ 150.00 $ 2,500.00 Utilities $ 750.00 $ 6,750.00 Wages & Benefits $ 11,000.00 $ 99,000.00 Total Direct Expenses $ 28,000.00 $ 251,500.00 NET INCOME $ 30,000.00 $ 258,500.00
- 5. MARKETING PHILOSOPHY What Do We Try To Do With Expenses? Reduce/Eliminate
- 6. THE MARKETING PARADOX How do you grow a business by doing less to promote it?
- 7. MARKETING PHILOSOPHY So, if it’s not an expense… Is it an investment?
- 8. SOLVING THE MARKETING PARADOX What Do We Do with Investments? MAXIMIZE THEM!
- 9. MARKETING PHILOSOPHY Determining Your Marketing Philosophy… • Influences how much time, money and effort you are willing to invest • Directly impacts the structure of your plan • Defines your commitment to business growth
- 10. MARKETING PLAN OVERVIEW What a Marketing Plan Does… •Sets sales and marketing objectives for a chosen segment(s) •Focuses on strategic target markets and their underlying needs •Defines strategies, tactics and programs •Sets sales and expense budgets •Assigns marketing functions, responsibilities and timelines
- 11. MARKETING PLAN OVERVIEW What a Marketing Plan Doesn’t Do… • Track leads • Make sales • Execute strategies • Design or develop tactics • Hold people accountable •You do!
- 12. DON’T PLAN ALONE
- 13. MARKETING PLAN OVERVIEW Marketing Plan: Four Areas of Focus
- 14. MARKETING PLAN OVERVIEW Every company has goals and objectives. They are simply a matter of deciding where you want to be and when you want to get there. Goal/Objectives: Increase revenue 12% from our existing line of services over the next six months.
- 15. MARKETING PLAN OVERVIEW Every company has goals and objectives. They are simply a matter of deciding where you want to be and when you want to get there. Goal/Objectives: Increase revenue 12% from our existing line of services over the next six months. They Must be Specific & Measurable!
- 16. MARKETING PLAN OVERVIEW Strategies are things you need to do in order to accomplish your goals. If your goal dictates where you want the company to be, the strategy is the route you need to take to get there. Strategies to Increase Revenue 12% • Increase brand awareness • Increase hourly rates or pricing • Increase overall sales volume • Sell more higher-priced services and/or products
- 17. MARKETING PLAN OVERVIEW Whereas strategies establish a broad outline of how you want to achieve your goal/objectives, tactics are specific actions. •Increasing the number of brand touches among potential customers to create name awareness is a strategy. •Advertising in a trade publication is a tactic for implementing that strategy.
- 18. MARKETING PLAN OVERVIEW Each tactic has a cost. Add up all that you plan to do and you know what your budget must be in order to achieve your goals. Keep in mind, budget is not just dollars. It also includes time and resources. Budget is not about the size of the company. It is about how fast you want to grow and how ready you are to move.
- 20. DETERMINING GOALS & OBJECTIVES “Sell More Widgets” is Not a Goal
- 21. DETERMINING GOALS & OBJECTIVES “Sell More Widgets” is Not a Goal • What are the short, mid & long-term goals? • What are the three most important goals for the company/business segments? • What does success look/feel like? • Geographically, what are the marketing priorities?
- 22. DETERMINING GOALS & OBJECTIVES What Do You Want to Achieve? • Create/increase brand awareness? • Increase qualified leads? • Unify messaging? • Better understand the market space? • Achieve X% market share within the next “X” number of months?
- 23. DEFINING THE MARKETS • What are the target markets? • Where/what are the most significant opportunities for growth? Which target market is the most lucrative? Which is the easiest to penetrate? Which is the most complicated sell? Which will take the most time? What is the priority order in terms of importance? Which will take the most resources (i.e., time, effort and expense)? How does this look broken down as a percentage?
- 25. WHAT SETS YOU APART? Core Competitive Advantages • One to Three = Core • Hard for competitors to copy or develop • Leverage key internal strengths • Capabilities valued by customers • Supported by quantifiable marketing statements
- 26. WHAT SETS YOU APART? Start with the Intangibles It’s not what you sell, but what makes people want to buy •Premiere client service •Unbelievable added value •Unmatched industry expertise So…what sets your company apart? R
- 27. WHAT SETS YOU APART? Convert the Intangibles to Tangibles What do you actually deliver to make your intangibles tangible. • Premiere client service: Employee training program Global client agendas Value added informational resources So…what makes your company’s intangibles tangible?
- 28. WHAT SETS YOU APART? From Tangibles to Marketing Statements How can you best express your tangibles to your clients? Employee Training Program •“Our employees receive 2x the required CPE training each year.” Global Client Agendas •We develop a custom client agenda for every client of the firm that speaks to every area of their business Value Added Informational Resources •Every client is signed up to receive a custom industry-specific report
- 29. What the Prospect May Be Thinking •You don’t know me •You don’t know my company •You don’t know my company’s business •You don’t know my needs and requirements •You don’t know where I buy •You don’t know my buying process •Now – what was it you wanted to sell me? TARGET AUDIENCE
- 30. TARGET AUDIENCE Defining Your Ideal Customers •Who is your ideal prospective target? • What level do they operate at (i.e., c-level, owner, HR, purchasing, engineering, etc.) • What are their hot buttons? • How do you want to be perceived by each? • How would you describe the biggest challenge facing your customers and prospects? •What is the difference between the customers you serve and the types of customer you want to serve?
- 31. TARGET AUDIENCE Learning How & Where Best To Reach Them • What is the current process for identifying and prospecting customers? How effective is it? • Where do customers go for information? • What is the most effective way to communicate with them? • What kind of information will be the most effective in creating a response? • What are the market trends we need to be aware of? • What will need to be done to retain, develop and nurture existing customers?
- 32. TARGET AUDIENCE Analyzing Their Needs •What does each target market have to hear to become interested? What is the value proposition? •What are the key decision factors that make them choose to engage you versus a competitor? Price? Service? Support? Availability, etc? •What are the anticipated road blocks? How do we overcome each one? •How have your customer’s expectations changed over the past five years? •How do you anticipate them changing going forward?
- 33. TARGET AUDIENCE Understanding “Why You”? •What would your customers say is the reason they chose to do business with you? •Why do they stay with you? •Why have some left? •When customers complain, what do they say?
- 34. COMPETITORS - Arie de Geus Head of Shell Oil Company’s Strategic Planning Group
- 35. COMPETITORS QUESTION: Who is Coca Cola’s main competitor? Answer: Water.
- 36. COMPETITORS • Who are the top three players in your space? • Where do you fit in? • How do you expect the pecking order to change over time? vs.
- 37. COMPETITORS • Who is best-in-class? • What are the characteristics and attributes of the best-in-class? • What distinguishes them? • What drives their leadership? • How do they go to market? vs.
- 38. COMPETITORS Competitive Theft Workout •What do your biggest/best competitor do well that really irritates or inspires you? •Why is it so effective? •Identify their optimal category attributes •Evaluate how you stack up •Rank them •How can you apply it and make it your own?
- 39. COMPETITORS Competition, Not Competitors •Who is the unseen enemy? •What are the possible sources of competition? •What outside forces threaten us Is it a trend? (i.e., Hybrids vs. SUVs)? Is it a new technology? Is it a new law/regulation
- 40. SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths • List as many strengths as you can think of • Which ones will help you achieve your objectives? • Which ones can be leveraged to grow your business? • Prioritize
- 41. SWOT ANALYSIS Weaknesses • What is your Kryptonite? • What can undo your business? • Prevent you from achieving your objectives? • List as many weaknesses as you can think of • Brainstorm how to correct/eliminate • Determine & assign who is responsible for turning them into opportunities?
- 42. SWOT ANALYSIS Threats • Any unfavorable situation that can harm profitability or be potentially damaging to your strategy • They may be out of our control • They may be external to the company or the industry • How can you turn into an opportunity?
- 43. SWOT ANALYSIS Is Opportunity Knocking? Microsoft Had plenty of chances to enter the web search business. But they didn’t identify search early enough to dominate the market. Apple Had many strengths, weaknesses & threats. But, it was their realization that the music business was in chaos that gave them the opportunity to create iTunes and the iPod. They then reinvented the music business. Winner = Google! What low hanging fruit is there to capitalize on?
- 45. DETERMINING TACTICS What Marketing Activities = Revenue? •Relationships/Referrals? •Leads (i.e., website, speaking engagements, reputation, etc.) •Meetings? •Proposals? •No Risk Evaluation or Demo? •Cross Sell? •Retention Efforts? •What else?
- 46. DETERMINING How Many… •Referral Interactions = Lead? •Leads = Meeting? •Meetings/Demos = Proposal? •Proposals = Client? •Services can you cross sell per client? •Dollars per years of retention per client? •How many customers = Your revenue goal? TACTICS
- 47. DETERMINING What Tools & Tactics Are Best to: •Build and maintain referrals/relationships? •Generate Leads? •Secure Meetings/Demos? •Draft Proposals/Issue quotes? •Cross Sell Services? •Retain Clients? TACTICS
- 48. DETERMINING TACTICS The Four Timeless Principals Success will be determined by your ability to be sensational and obsessive in following four timeless principals: 1.Listen 2.Communicate 3.Teach 4.Help
- 49. SETTING A BUDGET
- 50. SETTING A BUDGET Determining Budget •General rule of thumb for established companies looking for ongoing growth = 2% - 5% of revenue •Ideally determined by business goals and objectives Modest/low single digit growth = less investment Moderate/Aggressive double digit growth = higher investment •Budget is not about the size of the company •It is about how fast you want to grow and how ready you are to move
- 51. Don’t Forget to Budget for Time •2,000 hours per year, per person •How does it breakdown? SETTING A BUDGET Time Category Hours Billable/Customer Service 1350 Administrative (i.e., administrative, travel, coaching/mentoring, recruiting, performance evaluations, staff meetings, HR, etc.) 200 Continuing Education/Training 50 PTO (i.e., vacation, sick time, holidays, jury duty, etc.) 120 Marketing Activities (i.e., client entertainment, networking, speaking engagements, article writing, social media, etc.) 75 New Business Efforts (i.e., proposals, pitches, presentations) 75 Coaching/Mentoring 50 Charitable, Civic, or Political Time 25 Other 55 Total 2,000
- 52. Don’t Forget to Budget for Time •2,000 hours per year, per person •How does it breakdown? SETTING A BUDGET Time Category Hours Billable/Customer Service 1350 Administrative (i.e., administrative, travel, coaching/mentoring, recruiting, performance evaluations, staff meetings, HR, etc.) 200 Continuing Education/Training 50 PTO (i.e., vacation, sick time, holidays, jury duty, etc.) 120 Marketing Activities (i.e., client entertainment, networking, speaking engagements, article writing, social media, etc.) 75 New Business Efforts (i.e., proposals, pitches, presentations) 75 Coaching/Mentoring 50 Charitable, Civic, or Political Time 25 Other 55 Total 2,000
- 53. SETTING A Review Your Revenue Goals & Objectives BUDGET PPrroodduucctt oorr BBuussiinneessss SSeeggmmeenntt FFrroomm ((CCuurrrreenntt RReevveennuuee)) TToo ((EEOOYY 22001155 RReevveennuuee)) %% IInnccrreeaassee Overall Corporate $5.0M $6.0M 20% Product/Service Line 1 $1.0M $1.5M 50% Product/Service Line 2 $2.5M $2.75M 10% Product/Service Line 3 $1.5M $1.75M 16%
- 54. SETTING A BUDGET Review Your Revenue Goals & Objectives •How does this look broken down as percentage of your budget & time? PPrroodduucctt//BBuussiinneessss SSeeggmmeenntt ((LLiisstteedd iinn PPrriioorriittyy oorrddeerr)) EEssttiimmaatteedd BBuuddggeett %% EEssttiimmaatteedd BBuuddggeett ((AAssssuummeess $$6600,,000000)) EEssttiimmaatteedd HHoouurrllyy BBuuddggeett ((AAssssuummeess 115500 hhrrss//ppeerrssoonn aanndd tthhrreeee ppeeooppllee)) Corporate Brand 35% $21,000 157.5 Product/Service Line 1 30% $18,000 135 Product/Service Line 2 25% $15,000 112.5 Product/Service Line 3 10% $6,000 45 TOTAL 100% $60,000 450 Hours
- 55. SUMMING • Marketing is an investment not an expense • Don’t plan alone • Begin with the end in mind • Core competitive advantages = 3 or less • Target audience – Define, analyze & understand • Competitors – Evaluate and incorporate • SWOT – All about opportunities • Tactics – Which activities = Revenue? • Budget is determined not by size but by: How fast you want to grow How ready you are to move Goals & objectives Dollars, time & resources IT UP
- 57. CONTACT US Jonathan Ebenstein Partner - Strategic Marketing Services Phone - (440) 449-6800 x7231 Email - jebenstein@skodaminotti.com Website: www.skodaminottimarketing.com Cleveland | Akron | Tampa