Creating a Business Plan Includes Creating a Marketing Plan

The Right Perspective

Creating a marketing plan first will develop the outline necessary for creating a business plan. That’s because the initial questions we ask and answer to establish the marketing plan give the business plan the direction it needs.

1.    Who are we trying to reach and how will we reach them?
2.    What is the initial and ongoing advertising expense in our budget?
3.    How are we going to track the results?

Keeping it Simple

Entrepreneurs have always been busy making life less arduous. From inventions designed to make work easier, to the systems that produce, expand and protect our assets, the intent is to modify everything for the purpose of simplification.

We can add new ways of reaching our target audience but must first define who they are. When we know them, we should strive to know them better. If we know who we intend to reach it is easier to discover the best places to meet them.

How Much Will it Cost?

If our objective is to hold a bake sale we can usually generate a small crowd with some flyers and word of mouth.

Serious long term objectives demand creating a business plan that will not only generate immediate, but ongoing attention. While this typically involves costly advertising campaigns, we can actually learn something from the old bake sale mentality.

Regardless of how we intend to get the word out, or what our budget limits are while creating a marketing plan, long term efforts need to be cumulative. As marketing momentum gains ground, the business plan can be defined and refined.

Performance Tracking

Professionals track everything. Savvy business owners don’t leave this responsibility to others. Even if the marketing is outsourced, the business owner needs to understand exactly how they’re monitoring the progress of each and every process.

If a specific marketing campaign is attracting tons of interest but generating little to no sales, it needs to be addressed. The marketing plan should feed the business plan.

There should be a balance between creating a marketing plan that costs more than the business produces, and creating a business plan that doesn’t feed enough revenue back into the marketing budget. Effectively tracking both plans will allow a business to maintain this balance.