In This Episode
One of the more daunting and frustrating things for business owners is putting together a practical marketing plan…and finding someone to help you do it. In the small business world there are a lot of people who are selling themselves as marketers or marketing professionals but we have found very few can actually deliver results.
Keep in mind that the purpose of marketing is to drive sales. Marketing does this by generating leads for your business which can mean folks walking in the door, the phone ringing, or the email box filling up. Once the leads come in the business’s job is to move those leads to either a yes or no in terms of buying from your business. The most confusing thing is getting folks to understand exactly what marketing is and how to pull together a meaningful plan.
We have engaged several marketing professionals and firms over the year to assist MVP with this process. We’ve typically gotten good nuggets from each but haven’t found sustained success. We look at three key components to marketing: i) Targets: who are good customers for you; ii) Message: why do customers buy from you; and iii) Channels: how do you communicate your Message to your Targets?
Sounds simple right? But it’s not easy and can take years to continue to evolve and improve your marketing plan to where you are getting the sustained results you’re looking for that will continually drive qualified leads your way.
People, Companies and Resources We Mentioned in the Show
- Marketing Professionals
- “When the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor” (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_House)
- I Dream of Jeannie (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Dream_of_Jeannie)
The post How Do I Craft A Marketing Plan? appeared first on Dirty Secrets of Small Business.
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