As we enter the final months of the year, it is time to start planning for next year! Of course, no plan is ever carried out perfectly, but that’s not the point. I love a plan because it gives you something to start from when circumstances change.

Over the next several weeks, I’m going to be taking you step-by-step through building a marketing plan. I’m splitting it up so that it is more manageable, as each step will require some thinking and you might want to revisit some steps later. I’ll also be including links to current resources that will help you build out your plan, as well as templates I’ve developed for you to use.

If you look up "marketing plan" online there is a dizzying array of approaches and templates out there. I'm going to aim to keep this jargon-free and straightforward for small business owners. Marketing isn't rocket science, a lot of the time it's just common sense, but it does require some thought and work to get right.

If you want, treat this like a class assignment, it might be fun. However, if you’re a homeschooling parent, this might be a little close to the bone, so maybe don’t.

The assignment: A whole marketing plan for a year

For this assignment you will need:

• Thinking time and space

• Pens and paper for brainstorming

• A computer with internet

• A friend to bounce ideas off (optional)

The steps:

1. Remind yourself why – Remind yourself why you’re in this game and what you're trying to do – this is at the heart of everything

2. Who are you talking to? – Creating your audience personas/customer avatars is part of the foundational work of any business plan, but as your customers change over time, they need to be revisited and updated regularly to make sure that they’re still relevant.

3. Set your business goals – Marketing is pointless if it doesn’t help you move your business forward so we need to establish what you want to achieve

4. Aligning your marketing goals and overall strategy – How to set up solid marketing goals and strategies

5. Reviewing your context - How to look at the trends going on around you so that you don't approach marketing in a tone-deaf way

6. Channel strategies – Now we get into the fun bit of working out which marketing channels are best for you

7. Creating content - You now know who you're talking to and how you're going to reach them, but what are you going to say to them?

8. Managing through measurement – How do you know it’s working if you’re not measuring? We’ll look at how to set helpful metrics that help keep you on track, without bogging you down in admin
   

If you have any burning questions about marketing strategies, drop me an email (georgina@crabapplecomms.com)!