Business Ownership Students - Create A Marketing Plan (Promotional Campaign) - Part 4

The following steps will help you write your marketing plan/promotional campaign for your business plan.

Developing A Promotional Campaign

Before you begin this task, read the following articles (linked on the blogspot) and take notes (for a future notebook check).
Making An Effective Marketing Plan
Making An Effective Marketing Plan – Part 2

Step 1: Establish Your Promotional Objectives
What are you trying to accomplish with your marketing efforts? These should relate to what are called SMART targets - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time related. This ensures that there is a focus to the campaign and that all involved know exactly what they are supposed to be doing and where they are going.
Refer to the following information about "Marketing Strategies" or your notes on this topic, taken from a previous notebook check.

Step 2: Determine Your Customer Profile
Who is the campaign aimed at? This will involve identifying who the target market is going to be and this, in turn, may be related to the market segment/s that the business is focusing on. A market segment is a group of people with similar characteristics that may influence spending on the business's products. A market segment might be related to gender, age grouping, occupation, leisure pursuit, lifestyle, house type and so on. This will help to ensure that the campaign gets to the people who are most likely to benefit from it and buy the product/service concerned. Be sure to outline your customer profile in terms of demographic, geographic and psychographic characteristics.

Step 3: Create Your Marketing Concept
What is the message? A promotional campaign is designed to try to make customers more aware of a product, brand or service. Getting the right message across is therefore important and as such making sure the message is clear and unambiguous is vital. The message may determine the type of promotional media used - TV, radio, internet and so on. It will be the central theme of your campaign, to which all promotional efforts will be tied.

Step 4: Determine Your Promotional Mix
How will you get the message to your target audience? There are five basic categories in the promotional mix (personal selling, advertising, direct marketing, sales promotion, and public relations) and each plays a vital role in promoting businesses and their products. Most businesses use more than one type of promotion to achieve their promotional goals. All promotional elements must be coordinated.

Media planning is the process of selecting the advertising media and deciding the time or space in which ads should appear to accomplish a marketing objective. To establish a media plan and select the right medium to use, advertisers address three basic questions:
1) Can the medium present the product and the appropriate business image?
2) Can the desired customers be targeted with the medium?
3) Will the medium get the desired response?

Step 5: Establish A Promotional Timeline
What is the time frame? When the campaign is scheduled to run, for how long and the long term plans need to be considered. In some cases, a campaign might initially run for four weeks and then be 'rested' to return after a few months - possibly in a different format. The time of year might be relevant. The opening of a new venue might be a time of fevered activity and then subsequent campaigns might be needed as specific events take place. A lot will depend on the nature of your company and the objectives your team has established.

Step 6: Establish A Promotional Budget
You will need to determine the actual cost of the promotional decisions made in steps 4 & 5. You may use this Microsoft Word Advertising Budget Template, if you find it helpful. Be sure to read this article before you begin - Creating Your Advertising Budget. Title & number this assignment and retain for a future notebook check.

Step 7: Create Marketing Materials
(Note: These materials will be graded as stand-alone items and will not be part of the marketing plan section of your business plan. They can, however, be included in the appendix to provide samples of your marketing ideas.)

Marketing materials are the tools used to promote your business/product. Careful consideration must be given as these valuable pieces are created. Remember, all of your marketing materials must be in line with your promotional objectives, be suitable for your target audience and be coordinated with the entire promotional campaign.

Here is your chance for your team to get really creative! Based on the promotional mix (selected in Step 4), create (minimally) 2 samples of your marketing efforts. These might include (but are not limited to): brochures, print ads, web page, commercial, flyer, direct mail, coupon etc.

Remember, all marketing materials should be coordinated and tied to the concept created in Step 3.

Before you begin creating your marketing materials, read these articles (linked on fhsdeca.blogspot.com) & take notes (for a future notebook check).
Creating Sales Tools That Build Brand
What Not To Do When Designing Marketing Pieces