Often when marketing dollars are allocated within companies, the temptation is to hurry and launch a marketing campaign because "we need the leads and we need them now!"

While it might induce some angst to wait for a well thought-out Marketing Plan (what we call A Marketing Roadmap), the consequences of not doing so could do serious damage to your marketing effectiveness AND budget. It doesn't have to take four months to develop a comprehensive plan. In fact, a focused team can accomplish it in three to six weeks; and the time invested upfront WILL pay off through the implementation and launch of future campaigns.

Though you may have heard it all before, it's always valuable to review the elements your team should consider in developing a Marketing Plan:

• Your Goals—First, determine (or collect from your business management team) your business, sales and marketing, and operational goals for the year. Be as specific as possible, but include only the critical goals (i.e. revenue goal, launch of X product, enter new market, improve customer service procedures, etc.). This is the heart of your plan and the measuring stick of its effectiveness.
  
  
• Your Market—Analyze the industry in which you compete and gather as much research information (both quantitative and qualitative) as possible on the market conditions, trends, and competition. Concentrate on the information that directly relates to your company and its products/services (both current and planned).
  
  
• Your Company Identity—Develop a clear and concise description of your company identity, including 25, 50, and 100 word positioning statements, your one key brand promise to customers, and your key personality traits. Consider what the company stands for and how you want customers to feel about the company and its products or services. What is your unique value proposition and what can prospects, customers, employees, or other stakeholders ALWAYS expect from your organization?
  
  
• Your Products/Services—Look at how your products and/or services are packaged and categorized, and provide an overview description and a detailed features and benefits statement of each product or service. Concentrate on the differentiating features and not the "me-too" elements of each product.
  
  
• Your Target Market—Define your target markets and rank them in relation to their ability to achieve your company goals. Answer questions such as, which markets have the highest profit potential? The least competition? Most need your expertise? Also define your target customer profile by specific characteristics (i.e. CEO, VP/sales, young professional) and what their perceived needs are. Document your buyer (the person highest up the decision chain who daily feels the pain you are solving) and your buyer's influencers (those above and below this person who have a stake in the buying decision). Finally, develop a market penetration strategy that addresses issues such as which market you'll target first with what product/service, and how you will leverage sales from market to market and from product to product.
  
  
• Your Competition—Using the information gathered earlier in your market research, describe each of your competitors, how their pricing structure compares with yours, their competitive strengths and weaknesses, and how you plan to compete with them.
  
  
• Your Company Sales Model—Outline how your company sells (i.e. field, inside, channel via partners or resellers, or some combination of these), how territories are structured, the sales process, and what specific tools will be needed to support sales objectives.
  
  
• Your Marketing Mix—Once you've documented, and have gained internal consensus around the above elements, develop a mix of marketing activities that will support your business goals and marketing strategy. Categorize the mix by sections (such as Brand, Marketing Communications, PR, and Promotion), give a brief description of each item or activity, and detail an implementation calendar for the next six to 12 months.
  
  
• Your Marketing Organization—Document the organizational structure, with brief descriptions of the responsibilities of the key positions required to implement your plan and what, if any, outsourcing you plan to do.
  
  
• Your Marketing Budget—Finally, use your Marketing Mix implementation calendar and your Marketing Organization decisions to develop an itemized, monthly budget. For tips on marketing budgeting, read Tackling the Marketing Budgeting Process.

Only after you've researched, developed, and digested this essential information are you ready to begin implementing a marketing campaign—that is if you're intent on acquiring good sales leads and building solid brand equity. Spending the all-important time upfront to put together a powerful plan will pay off in the long run—unlike the quick and dirty alternative.

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The Sales and Marketing Toolkits BUNDLED contains:

• Over 60 sales and marketing templates (DOC, XLS, PPT, and PDFs)
  
  
• Loads of "how-to" articles and examples
  
  
• 8 Training sessions (MP3 audio files) for your computer or iPod