Business owners and entrepreneurs know the importance of marketing. Finding the time to focus on building a successful plan can be challenging. In most cases, marketing tends to fall behind customer service, operations, and business development on an owners priority list. With this in mind, we have created a foolproof strategy to help you cut the carbs out of your marketing plan. A lean marketing plan that enables you to Get Noticed without breaking your budget is the goal.
The Obstacles that Prevent You from Succeeding: How to Cut the Carbs and Create a Lean Marketing Strategy
While we realize the importance of creating, implementing, and following a
well-written marketing plan, we also recognize the obstacles you face can be overwhelming. To build a lean marketing plan, you will need to remove the barriers that slow you down. From budget restraints and lack of time to an unmanageable number of "great ideas," your goal is to drill down and find the elements that are essential to your success. It's simple, do the work upfront to identify your target audience, choose the right medium, and create a timeline.
With the internet as a resource, companies with five or fewer employees are less likely to hire a marketing firm. Taking the DIY approach to marketing can be tricky. You must be disciplined, commit the time, do tons of research, stay on top of trends, and stay ahead of your competitor. Once the company begins to grow, they will ultimately find the need to bring in outside help. Very often, the owner remains the key contact and oversees the plan.
We highly recommend hiring a professional marketing firm who utilizes a Lean and Minimalistic Approach to creating a plan that will help you Get Business. Keep it simple and adopt the key elements necessary to cut the carbs along the way for a lean outcome.
Critical Elements of a Lean Marketing Plan:
Who Is Your Target Audience?
Clearly defining your target audience and the potential client is vital. Geography, age, buying habits, interests, family dynamic, income, and career determine your audience. These tags help you define where and when to advertise. We also find it valuable to look at your current clients/customers. When is the last time they purchased from you? What is their potential to refer you to friends? A round table discussion with your team and hard data collected will help drive this discussion and clearly define your target audience.
What are Your Broad Goals?
Goals can be tricky! We polled business owners across the country and when asked: "What are your goals for the upcoming year"? Their response was "increase sales." While this is an obvious goal, we prefer to drill down and create benchmarks or smaller, more defined targets to hit along the way. For example, break it down to what it takes to "increase sales."
- Website Traffic
- Social Media Interactions
- Increased Lead Funnel
- Incoming Phone Calls
- Increase in Returning Customers
- Number of New Customers
All of these will ultimately increase sales - but they are small bite-sized goals which are easier to track and create marketing initiatives around.
Balls in The Air?
A lean marketing plan is not one that chooses one element. Lean means cutting the excess (Cut the Carbs) and designing a smart strategy. At the same time, your brand needs to be represented on several different channels to be seen often by many people. The rule of 7 is still relevant. Prospects need to "hear" your message seven times before they will take action. Lucky for you, the available
digital marketing gives you a chance for your audience to see or hear your message more than seven times a day. Not all messages are created equal. Be consistent, ensure your message is appropriate for your audience, and include meaningful written and visual content.
Keep it fresh! This is where having a team of professional marketing firm will be valuable. The "Set it and Forget it" approach in marketing is the worst approach you can take. Stay on top of current trends and refresh your content often.
Elements of your plan may include:
- Social Media
- Print Media
- Phone Calls
- Events
- Networking
- In-Person Visits
- Branding
- Budget?
We found that most business owners embrace the importance of building a lean marketing plan, but fail to align the proper budget with their strategy. It's simple; Marketing is a crucial investment in your future. The lean marketing plan approach was designed specifically for the small business owner who needs to make a significant impact on a low budget. Do the work upfront and know before you go what you can spend on marketing. Then build a plan that falls into those parameters.
Let It Go!
Knowing when to let go is essential for your budget and the success of your plan. When an element of your project is not working - and you will know this from your analytics - move on! When you eliminate a strategy that is not working, you open up an opportunity to find one that does. Weekly meetings with your team or marketing firm to review the elements of your plan will keep your messaging on point and your budget inline.
Now, Get Going!
getGoing and find out more from our professional marketing team. Call us today: (678) 727-0678.