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Having a marketing plan is so important for every business. I don’t know about you, but I always work better from a list. A marketing plan is basically just a list, to keep you on track with your marketing goals for your business. Time goes by so fast, and if we don’t have a plan, it just keeps passing on by.
I wanted to share a few points to keep in mind as you consider the 2020 marketing plan for your business.
Have a Marketing Budget
No one likes to spend money on something as obscure as “marketing.” We work hard for the money (ha), and we don’t want to spend it on something we can’t touch. I started this business this year (2019), and the hardest thing I’ve spent money on was to publish my business announcement in the newspaper. It’s a legal requirement, and it cost $183.00. I hadn’t even made any money at all yet at that point, and I had to pay $183.00? After I paid the state a $50 registration fee? And all just because the state said so? Yep!
Marketing is like that, too. Just this last week, I spent $80 on 1,000 postcards from Vistaprint. There was a promo and that’s actually a steal. But it was $80! I could have bought a week’s worth of groceries with that. Then, to mail those 1,000 postcards I have to go buy stamps at the post office, which are 35 cents each x 1,000 = $350. I could pay for my cable, electricity AND gas bill with that.
But, you know what else? If I don’t spend that $430 on this postcard mailing, that’s 1,000 people that won’t know about my services. That’s 1,000 potential customers that have no idea how I could help them.
Instead, though, you need to look at marketing like this.
If I spend $430 on this postcard mailing to directly reach 1,000+ people, and I get just ONE client out of it, I more than paid for the mailing. If I spend $0 to directly reach 0+ people, then I get NO clients, because no one will know I exist.
“It costs money to make money,” as they say. I don’t know who “they” are, exactly, but another thing “they” say is that you have to “cast a wide net.” So, I’m just over here spending money and casting wide nets with my 1,000 postcards.
According to the US Small Business Development Center, small businesses (with revenue less than $5 million) should spend 7-8% of their revenue on marketing. It’s important to note that “marketing” is a bit of a broad category that includes things like printed brochures, design software, website fees, salaries of marketing services or staff members, vendor shows, advertising, etc. (Disclaimer: you should discuss any specific questions regarding fund allocation with your attorney.)
Be Consistent
With anything you do for your business, consistency is important. Think about something you do every year in your company – do you have a holiday party for your staff or a summer appreciation picnic for your customers? What would happen if one year you just didn’t have those events? Do you think anyone would notice? Of course, they would!
The same rules apply to social media. Maybe one day you decide to make a Facebook page. Great! You get excited about it and invite all your friends to like it and tell their friends about it. Fabulous! Then, you get busy and three months go by without you having time to post even one thing.
Do you know what happens? Facebook forgets you are there. Their algorithm is very smart, and it figures out what people are most interested in based upon their likes and other activity, and it continues to show them more of what they like. So, if you haven’t posted in three months and all of a sudden you do, Facebook doesn’t know that anyone wants to see it, because no one has had the opportunity to engage with you in those three months.
So, how often should you post?
Daily would be fabulous, but depending on your company and your workload, that may not work for you. Everyone seems to have slightly differing opinions on how often you should post, but I think 3 times per week is a good guideline to follow. You can also alternate days, so maybe one week you post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and the next week you do Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. Or, maybe two posts a week is all you have time for – that’s ok too. The most important thing is to post original, relevant things that your followers will like, and post it on a consistent basis. Twice a week, three times a week, every day … whatever you feel is best for your business … but you have to stick with it. Social media marketing is one of my specialties, so also keep in mind that I’m happy to help you!
Prioritization is Key
As a business owner, there are always so many things to do. If you are like me, every time you get something done it seems like two things get added to your list. One of the most helpful ways that I’ve been able to get myself organized is by using Trello. I also use Google Calendar, but Trello is a free online project management software that really lets you customize to your needs. You set up boards and tasks with due dates, checklists, and notes – in whatever way makes the most sense for you. It also integrates with Google Calendar if you want it to.
So, once you have your marketing plan all set, you can use Trello to help you keep it organized and set dates and keep track of information. If your business is a bit larger, there is a paid version with upgraded features. This includes adding team members, so it makes for a great central system for everyone to stay on the same page with your marketing (and other) projects.
It’s a Living Document
Once you have your marketing plan decided and scheduled out, it’s important to remember that it is a living document. While having a plan for the year is fabulous and important, it’s also nearly impossible to plan every single that far ahead, and no one can foresee all circumstances.
So, have a plan, but know that you and your team can move things around as needed. It isn’t the end of the world. For example, say in January you decided you should have a fun event with your clients in June. Then, in April, a key employee is unexpectedly unable to work for a few weeks. The planning meetings didn’t stay on schedule, and now it’s May and it’s too late to secure a location for the event. It’s ok! Just wiggle that ol’ event right over to July, and don’t sweat it.
Ask for Help When you Need It
Depending on the size of your company, you either have marketing staff to help you, or you don’t. If you don’t have a marketing staff but you have other employees, recruit their help as needed. There just might be someone in your company who loves posting on social media or someone who is a great writer, or the best salesperson disguised under their unsuspecting job title. Talk to your employees and see how they can help you.
If you don’t have employees that can help you with your marketing in some way, you can also seek service providers to help. Depending on your needs, I have some great preferred vendors listed on my Resources page!
Set Specific Goals
As you are creating your marketing plan for the year, it’s also important to set specific goals. “I want to make more money in 2020” isn’t a specific goal. How much income did you make in 2022, and how many expenses did you have? Will you have similar expenses in 2023? Is your existing client base secure? Are you actively recruiting more clients? Do you currently have enough staff to support additional client workload? If not, are you making enough additional income to support hiring a new staff person?
You see what I’m saying. You need to have specific goals, so you know how to tell when you reach them.
For my blog over at PreservingMySanity.com, I track my social media followers and email subscriptions each month in a spreadsheet. I can go back and tell you how many followers I had on Facebook last month or last year, versus how many I have now. I could actually make a chart showing how my followers increased each month, per platform if I wanted.
So, if one of my goals for 2023 was to “double my social media followers,” I could have easily tracked progress along the way to adjust what I was doing accordingly in order to reach my goal.
Everyone wants more money, more followers, more success. But making specific goals is what gives you the tools and motivation to adjust your plan to get there.
Track ROI
Another important aspect of your marketing plan is to consider what worked in the past and what didn’t. How much did each marketing venture cost, and how much income did each one generate? How will you track it so you can evaluate if the venture was worthwhile and should be repeated, or if it was a bust?
Think about it like this. If you have $100 cash in your pocket that you want to deposit at the bank, do you walk into the bank and hand it to the teller with a deposit slip, and get your receipt showing that $100 went into your account? Or, do you stand outside the door of the bank on a windy day, tossing bills towards the door in the hope that they find their way inside to your bank account?
Don’t throw money into the air.
If you run a campaign and do not track it in any way, you might as well stand outside the bank and throw money into the air. How do you know if it worked? If it did not generate any income for you, then you don’t want to do it again. The only way to know that is if you can track it somehow.
So, maybe over the next three months, I don’t get any emails or phone calls from anyone that tells me they received my postcard in the mail and want to talk to me about how I can help them. If this is the case, then I know that a postcard mailing isn’t the most effective way to reach my audience. If I get 0 clients out of my $480 postcard mailing, do you think I will do it again next December? It would be kind of silly if I did.
