Your marketing plan could very well be the “make or break” element of your entire business plan. After all is said and done, your business is established and products are available for sale, you’ll still be doing marketing, sales and promotions. So when you’re writing your small business marketing plan, keep these tips for success and longevity in mind.

Stay Focused on the Main Purpose

When you’re writing a marketing plan, it’s important that you stay focused on the main goal of why you’re writing it in the first place. The point is to create an actionable plan that will guide the decisions you make while marketing and promoting your products or services. Some people get too caught up in technicalities that distract them from this main purpose. Your marketing plan doesn’t have to be written to an exact standard to “sound good” — write your plan in plain language that you can understand and follow.

Work from an Outline

If the idea of writing a small business marketing plan seems like a major feat, make it easier by simply creating an outline. You’ll find that as you follow the outline you’ll add more and more details until you finally have a full plan of action. Here is a simple outline to follow:

–          Your Overall Marketing Vision

–          The Marketing Team (and Responsibilities)

–          Target Customer Profile(s)

–          Product Details

–          Promotional Plan

–          Pricing Plan

–          Distribution Plan

–          Marketing Budget

Study and Test Your Target Audience

Some new small business owners make ill-advised assumptions about who would want to buy their product or service, but later learn that they’re targeting the wrong people. If you stay too fixated on one target audience, you could be missing out on a lot of income. Conduct marketing research to test your theories about your target audience, such as surveys, polls, small focus groups and handing out product samples in exchange for a review. Keep your mind open to other target customers that might scramble to buy your product or service.

If you want your new company to succeed, it’s so important that you spend some time developing your small business marketing plan. Pin your plan on your computer for quick reference and add to it every day until it’s just right.

 Louise Gaillard is a social media manager, prolific writer and author.

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