Since my background is not in marketing and marketing is important to any small business owner, I try to read as much as possible on the topic. I have no problem learning for others, both good and bad.
One outlet has always been Terry O’Reilly’s CBC broadcasts. The current version is in its eight season as “Under the Influence” and before that it was “Age of Persuasion”. A link to his podcasts are as follows:
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcasts/arts-culture/under-the-influence/
I get a lot out of theses broadcasts/podcasts. But for the structure of a marketing plan, that was found elsewhere. Most are common sense, but again I have never written down my process, so it was constantly in flux. Then seeing it in writing it triggered other ideas.
What I found is roughly defined as follows through my spectrum.
Start with the broad goals
Research
- Competitive Analysis – what do you do best? Worst?
- SWOT Analysis
- Customer defined
- Business selling cycle if applicable
Strategy
- Mission statement
- Value statement
- Branding
- Logo
- Website
- Social media
- Content
- SEO
KPI and other measurable be specific
Tactical plan
- Who
- What
- When
- how
Once drafted remember this should be a living breathing document. It should be reviewed often and modified as necessary.
When I meet with clients and ask them any of these questions for the first time they look at me strangely. Then as we discuss them they like that I will hold them accountable if they wish. Just to make sure things move forward.