5 Critical Components to a Successful Marketing Plan

Businesses that are successful usually have a marketing plan and most would tell you that while executing the plan has its challenges, developing the plan and deciding what to do and how to do it was the longest part of the process. Your marketing plan should be a clear, concise, and a well thought out document that guides you through your marketing activities starting with your overall objective and how you intend to accomplish that objective. Whether your company provides products or services, is off line or on line, your marketing plan is essential to your success but must focus on five critical components to be a success.

I. Position your product

In the BLAST marketing system, positioning is the most critical element to consider when putting together your marketing plan. It involves creating the image and identity in the minds of your customers each time they experience your product and building the infrastructure around it to support it. In product positioning, there are two basic focuses: Offering what the customer wants with the most profitable market opportunity and taken actions to differentiate product from that of their competition in such a way that customers will develop a preference for your product over the competition. When you put the right product at the right price and in front of the right customer, you have mastered positioning. The goal of any marketing plan is to create a strategy that will boost your profits including a persuasive message targeted towards your customer and a promise that your product actually delivers – this statement will become your brand promise.

For example:

Fed Ex, “When it simply has to get there overnight”

Domino’s Pizza “Pizza in 30 minutes or less”

II. Tap into your mastermind group

Information is one of the most powerful assets a person can posses and having the ability to leverage other people’s information is exponentially better. To help define your marketing plan, tap into your brain trust for ideas, market and competitive perspectives. In a mastermind group, each group member will come with different experiences, perspectives and ideas that will most likely be your next big money making idea. Having the ability to brainstorm and be creative with a group of people all focused on helping you solve a problem is one of the biggest benefits you will experience from a mastermind group. The powerful result of a mastermind group is that there is a synergy of energy, excitement and idea sharing that partipants bring to the group therefore raising the bar by challenging and encouraging other members to create and implement their goals.


III. Listen to your customers

The best way to find out what is in your customer’s head is to simply ask them. Whether you new business or an established one, understanding your target market is an important element to your marketing plan. It is important to get your customer’s perspective to your product, its price, quality and anything else that influences their purchasing decision. Try handing out samples, conducting surveys or test marketing your product. The information that you get back will be invaluable and well worth the investment of offering a few free samples. The feedback that you will get from your customers or potential customers will help you evaluate the integrity of your product, its ability to support your brand promise, the pricing model and its quality. Even if you are new, test your product in your target market by conducting what is called market test to see how your product will be received. This is a great way to introduce you, get valuable feedback and testimonials for your product launch.

IV. Create a simple plan

Now that you have given some thought to what you want your product to represent, identify your target market and tested your product to see what works and what doesn’t, it is now to sit down and draft your marketing plan. So many business owners get stuck at this point either thinking they don’t need a plan or are intimidated about creating one. Every business, both small and large, will benefit greatly from a well thought out planning process and a key component to every success business is a good marketing plan that answers the basic questions: who, what, why, where, when an how much. Creating a marketing plan is critical component to on-going success and is not something that should be ignored. This plan does not have to be comprehensive.

It can be a simple plan that addresses the following:
· Your overall market
· Your specific niche
· Your target audience within your niche
· Your brand promise
· Your competition
· Your benefits and competitive differences
· Your pricing model
· Your marketing budget
· Your marketing activities
· Your marketing calendar of events
· Your success measures


V. Track results

A successful marketing plan is tracked and measured. In order to measure your performance and determine if your plan is successful, you must identify how you will be measuring the success of your plan. Some examples: Return on investment (how much did I spend vs. how much I got back; Returned coupons, web hits, open clicks, Increased calls? How will you define a successful marketing activity? What is the result you are looking for?

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the BLAST system and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Find out the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at www.kelliedandrea.com.

Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, Oh My!

Twitter, Facebook and Linked In, Oh My”, “Twitter, Facebook and Linked In, Oh My”.
These days, I imagine if Dorothy was lost in the internet jungle that is what she would be saying
as she skipped down the yellow brick road trying to figure out social networking sites.

Similar to a cocktail party or event, social networking is the act of meeting and engaging with people with one slight difference, it is in a virtual environment. Websites such as Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, Friend Finder, You Tube and much, much more, exist to create an environment for individuals who share a common interest to meet and discuss those interests. It also provides an environment to share information, photos and news as it is happening. From a business perspective, it provides a new media to engage customers, monitor customer feedback and provide a centralized online meeting area to engage and market too all at once. Social media and networking sites are not a fad and will eventually be a integral part of business, customer service, marketing and sales and if you are not involved in it now, you need to get started right away! Here are some tips to getting started with social networking.

1. Get Started: The best way to get started is to simply sign up and follow along.

a. If you are joining Twitter – select a few people to follow and watch what is being said, who is following who and when you are comfortable, join in the conversation. To help you get started, follow me www.twitter.com/keldandrea.

b. For Facebook, sign up and look for “friends”. Chances are there are tons of people you know and Facebook will help you find them and begin making connections on your behalf. The great thing is, you get the option to accept a friend invitation or you can just ignore it and nobody will know. To help get you started on Facebook, send me a friend request www.facebook.com/kellie.dandrea.

c. For Linked In, sign up and “connect” with business associates, family and friends by sending an invitation to connect. Since this is a professional networking site, you will keep your tone and your messages professional. Search for business associates and send them an invitation to connect. Connect with me www.linkedin.com/in/kdandrea.


2. Write a great profile and include a picture: Social networking is about connecting and networking. Make sure you include you picture and write a powerful profile. Each social networking site has its own requirement for how much you can write, so write as much as you can and make it interesting. Include items that people can relate to and so that people can engage with you in conversation, but be cautious. Same rules apply when meeting strangers, don’t disclose too much personal information and always use your common sense.

3. Get involved. If you sit in the corner at a party and do not speak to anyone, you’re not networking. Most of these sites center around one theme “What are you doing now” and depending upon the site, you have limited number of characters to include in a text message to answer that question. Comment on other people’s thoughts, messages and ideas. Ask a question and see what answers you get back. Look at the photos, the web links and the blog posts that people are pointing too and provide your feedback. Join groups and participate in Q & A forums.

4. Make the Time Commitment. Networking and relationships are built over time, so you will need to make a commitment to invest in growing your network. This is not something you can do seldom and requires a level of commitment to truly maximize the results, but beware, social media is addictive and can take all your time if you let it. Schedule a few hours a day in intervals to participate.

5. Post Often and Frequently. How often should I post? This is a question that I get asked often and my answer is, all depends. On Twitter, it is expected that you send short messages about what you are doing a few times a day, but that is not the same expectation for Facebook and LinkedIn. I usually post a few times a week on Facebook and on Linked In. I post to Question & Answer forums frequently and I always supply comments and feedback to people I am connected with on all sites.


©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the BLAST system and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Find out the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at www.kelliedandrea.com.

Add More of You to Your Content

By now you are probably familiar with email marketing and may even be familiar with an
ezine (pronounced e –zeen from the root electronic or e – magazine), and may even be
using these marketing techniques in your business already. Some marketers may tell you that ezines are dead, a thing of the past. I would tell you that ezines are one of the most cost effective and strategic marketing techniques out on the market today.

So why aren’t more entrepreneurs grabbing onto to this wonderful idea and running with. Most likely, because of the fear that they need technical expertise or will need to hire a graphic designer not to mention a lawyer to understand SPAM laws. With all that, online marketing and ezine publishing may appear that it is going to cost you a lot of money so why bother?

Because you do not need technical expertise, a graphic designer or a lawyer specifically to manage SPAM not to mention the most important reason why – your competitors? Right now, many of your competitors are setting up an online marketing system or are thinking about it. Here is your opportunity to beat them to the punch, own your market and reach far more customers than you could through traditional methods. Online marketing is not something you should ignore, it is something you should embrace and has the potential to boost your business and profits very easily and without technical or graphical expertise.

The single most important item in successful ezine publishing is your ability to produce useful, informative and entertaining content for your readers on a consistent and frequent basis. From the words of Shoeless Joe Jackson in the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams”, “If you build it, they will come”, or in our case “If you write it, they will come”. People have a natural tendency to seek out information and a need to learn about new things. By offering valuable content, you are filling this need and developing a relationship with each of your readers and you will eventually develop a following.

Here are some tips to help you successfully connect with your readers.

1) Write your articles with your readers in mind. When you write, you should write from the customers’ perspective and be able to answer the question, what will my reader get from this article and how will it benefit them.

2) Try reaching your readers through personality – yours and theirs. To create emotional ties, you need to appeal to your readers on an emotional level, something they can relate to. Add a piece of yourself to your ezine and make it real. You want your readers to feel a sense of kinship to you and to feel they are just like you. In order to that, show a bit of your personality, humbleness and humor.

3) Be Real and Authentic. It is okay to share something about yourself and to share your opinions. No matter what your beliefs, politics or views are, it is okay to share a little bit with your readers so they can get a sense of who you are. Just make sure not to use caution when discussing strong topics such as religion and politics and be sensitive that not all may share your views. Let your readers know that it is okay for some readers to be different and still connect with you.

4) Show you care. Ask your readers for their opinions, ideas and views. Share the results of a survey in your next ezine issue and write an interested article based upon the results. Not only does this fuel ideas for new content, it helps you keep a pulse on what your readers are looking for.


©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the BLAST system and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Find out the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at www.kelliedandrea.com.