Format for one page marketing plan

Business Goals

SMART goals relating to key milestones in terms of Revenue, First Customers, Product Development or Route to market etc. Key is to include numbers and dates so that you can be clear when goal to be achieved (for more see my blogpost ‘Setting Smarter Goals for 2013). For this one page plan which covers maybe 6 to 12 months, Three goals can be enough.

Reference Customers /Segments

Describe (name) ideal or strategic reference customers … it would be great if you could put a name on the market and put a value on it from your secondary market research e.g. value of Furniture market in Ireland is €600 million.

Customer Needs & Trends

These are specific to each business. For example, in restaurants over last 5 years there is greater emphasis on availability of gluten free menu items. Customer needs are not always cost driven …. Product and services solutions can offer either or both a gain in something positive or a reduction in something negative.

Product Solution

… only need a few bullets here or describe product in one sentence. Key is to communicate how the customer engages with or interacts with the product. [Marketing is all about benefits which are addressed in Customer Needs – this section is to clearly outline what you do and perhaps as importantly what you don’t do (yet!)]   If you are operating a service this category takes as given that Staff recruitment, training and support is a priority investment. The physical appearance of your premises and all your collateral are also included. Every small business will tell you that the best marketing is Word of Mouth. Providing a brilliant service is a requirement for success.

Pricing

… structure and payment terms etc. Keep it nice and simple.

Route to Market

… options are generally Online, Own Retail to include Markets, Direct Sales to Shops, or use Partners (distributors or value add resellers) – need to understand margins available to all parties.

Marketing Action & Budget

… You need to know what marketing budget is available. The first step is to find out the cost of promotion options such as classified advertising, PR, business cards, networking events to name a small few. The next step is to take a creative approach to these so that your business stands out. Marketing costs money. It can be very expensive. But it works if done properly. This means measuring the response and impact of your marketing and understanding the cost of acquiring customers. I generally find that small businesses engage in 3 to 5 marketing activities in a set period and build up their knowledge of what works over time. So you might organize signage, flyers and business cards first along with your website. When those are done you would spend time getting Social Media up and running in conjunction with the website and SEO. Then you might look at PR, Email campaigns, surveys, networking and maybe specific advertising that you know targets your customers. What you decide to do depends on the business – ask a mentor or experienced marketing people for advice!