A content marketing strategy cannot succeed without a clear marketing plan. So, let’s figure out how you can come up with one.
Essential Components of a Marketing Plan
Objective: What is your goal? What do you want out of the marketing plan? Is it more social media followers? Do you want to increase your revenues? Is it brand loyalty? The goal must be SMART.
Channel: How will you market your goods or services? You must choose an advertising channel which can be earned, paid, or owned. How will you use the selected channel, and at what stage of the customer funnel will you target the campaign? This channel must be in line with your target audience’s content consumption. For example, you cannot use TV ads to market to an audience that barely watches TV.
Time: How long will your marketing campaign run? You must understand when you will start the campaign, when the posts or ads go up, the sequence you will use, etc. For example, you could decide to use Instagram default ads for a month starting the 1st of August till the 30th of September, scheduling one post a day.
Budget: How much will you pay for the ads? Paid advertising channels cost money. So, how much can you afford to carve out for the ads? You might want to run ads for a month only to realize that your money can only cover two weeks. In that case, you would need to adjust your ad frequency, timeline, or budget.
Understand the Customer Funnel you are Focusing on
How many ads do you flip through without ever looking at what they have to offer? In this digital age, the answer to that is MANY. There are so many ads that consumers barely pay attention to what’s on their screens. And this dwindling attention to ads could be the undoing of your marketing plans. How do you beat it? – by understanding what your customers need before even thinking of how you can market it to them.
And here’s what you need to know:
What your customers need: Is there a problem you can solve in the market? For example, if there’s a trend towards healthier food choices and not enough supply of these healthy meals, that’s a gap. Can you find one in your target market?
What product in your portfolio meets the needs of your customers? Customers fall into different categories – passive, average, and extreme. Can you understand what each group needs? And can you find a product that meets this need?
How can you prove that you can meet your target market’s needs? – this is where you employ blogs, tools, courses, videos, etc., to showcase just how you can meet their needs. And in so doing, you can elicit satisfaction from your target audience, paving the way for brand loyalty. Example: An ad that takes customers through the healthy food options in your portfolio.
Can you answer all these questions? They are critical to implementing a marketing campaign that yields optimal results; remember that your 4Ps must work together in a feedback loop to achieve your goals.
Download your marketing plan worksheet and build a marketing campaign suited to your target market.