The Power of a Marketing Plan

I recently taught a Guerrilla Marketing Jumpstart Class in Duvall, WA.  The Duvall Chamber of Commerce is committed to the success of the businesses in Duvall and put the class together and brought me in to teach it.

The attendees of the class all left with a marketing plan and calendar.  The Guerrilla Marketing plan is less than one page.  The plan is one paragraph made up of seven sentences.  Each of the sentences answers the following questions. 

1.      What is the purpose of your marketing?

2.      What are the benefits of your products or services?

3.      Who is your target audience?

4.      What is your Niche?

5.      What weapons will you be using in your marketing attack?

6.      What do you want your identity to be?

7.      What is your marketing budget?

If you thinking this is too short and simple to be an effective marketing plan, think again. It never ceases to amaze me the impact producing this marketing plan can have on a business and its marketing efforts. The act of putting a plan in writing will bring clarity, purpose and direction to your business and marketing efforts.

One of the attendees in the class was Susan from the Northwest Art Center. The Northwest Art Center provides art classes and mentoring programs for preschoolers through adults.

After attending the class and writing her marketing plan and calendar Susan sent me the following note:

“The Guerilla Marketing class really helped me to focus on the benefits of our organization and to define our niche. That list of marketing weapons is awesome. We created our own document by refining some of the suggestions, adding our own and deleting the ones that don’t apply. Then we divided them up amongst our board and are still farming some out to volunteers. My assistant and I have blocked out an appointment a week, specifically to talk about marketing.”

As you can see the creating the marketing plan provided clarity and direction for the Northwest Art Center. It took the big endeavor called “ Marketing” and broke it down into specific smaller tasks that can be more easily executed or delegated. Taking the time and energy required to build a marketing plan for your business will make your marketing efforts more focused and effective – which ultimately makes your business more profitable.