5 Steps to starting your 2014 Marketing Plan

5 Steps to starting your 2014 Marketing Plan

“A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops a clock to save time.” – Henry Ford

Welcome to 2014!  There will never be a better time to focus on promoting your business than now!  The sooner you start marketing the faster you will see results.  According to Wikipedia, “Marketing is the process of communicating the value of a product or service to customers…”  It is the one activity that most directly affects the amount of recognition and sales that a company gets and this determines the level of profitability.  Are you interested in creating a visible professional image in the marketplace, more qualified leads, a higher conversion rate, increased sales, and stronger customer relationships?

So, where do you begin?

1. Take the first step and DECIDE if you want help – If your staff lacks experience, isn't qualified, or has no time, and you can’t afford to hire and train new staff, consider outsourcing.
2. RESEARCH your market – Even for the smallest marketing efforts, knowing your market is essential to making informed decisions.
3. CREATE your plan –Whether it is a full blown marketing plan or you’ve decided to take simpler steps, each campaign needs a plan.  Be creative and aggressive but make sure your plan is achievable. 
4. IMPLEMENT the campaigns – Start at the beginning and move forward with your ideas.  Most aspects of your business success depend on the execution of your marketing.  Marketing functions go beyond sales and advertising into areas that affect all aspects of a product's characteristics and how it gets to market. This is the most time consuming and difficult part of this process.  Consistent, regular, and reliable messages are essential to positive results. Whether you start small with a simple email marketing campaign or social media campaign, or you start with a comprehensive marketing plan, the importance of a marketing plan to the success of your business is immeasurable, or rather very measurable.
5. TRACK the results and REEVALUATE the plan – Even the best laid plans are inadequate without a tracking and measuring system.  Not every marketing campaign you launch will be successful.  You need a way to determine which marketing efforts are wasting your time and money.  Therefore, track marketing efforts so you can reinvest more of your budget into campaigns that generate positive ROI.  Don’t throw away your money on ineffective marketing. 

       Though it does take some smart ideas and thoughtful execution, marketing can be simple and incredibly cost-effective.  If you’d like to get off on the right foot this year, call Benchmark and let’s talk about your marketing needs.

Tina Peek

Marketing Coordinator

Benchmark Administrative Support Services