Many organisations are aware that marketing activities must be planned strategically to stand any chance of real success. Without planning, audiences can be missed, sales lost, and money wasted. To get the best results from marketing, manufacturing businesses should invest time in writing a marketing plan, as part of a personalised marketing strategy. What do we mean by a marketing plan and how do you stand to benefit?
What is a marketing plan?
Organisations need to reach their target market and generate leads, and the roadmap for achieving this is known as a marketing plan. The marketing plan is an actionable document that includes details of how, when, and where promotional campaigns will be undertaken, and will explain which measurement tools will be used to test the effectiveness. As such, the ideal marketing plan translates marketing objectives into real-world action points and articulates the various promotional platforms that will be used. Your marketing plan is not the same as your marketing strategy. Your marketing strategy is a set of marketing objectives and goals, aligned to your business goals. The marketing plan explains how you will reach these objectives.
Can a business get by without a marketing plan?
They can try, and many marketing consultants simply help businesses construct a marketing strategy and then let them determine how to achieve it. However, without a plan of action, it is unlikely that you will reach the objectives codified in your marketing strategy. Yet comparatively few manufacturing businesses spend time creating a formal marketing plan. The result is a piecemeal and inconsistent approach to marketing that never reaches its full potential and fails to deliver the desired results. What successes are achieved are difficult to pinpoint and hard to analyse, as there is no systematic monitoring process in place
Benefits of a marketing plan
There are several benefits to writing a marketing plan, including:
- Ensures that everyone in your business is on the same page regarding your marketing activities, your goals, and your criteria for success. This is especially useful if you choose to work with an agency to help you implement your marketing strategy.
- Provides a framework through which data can be analysed and assessed. Through a continual process of feedback and review, you know whether your marketing efforts are successful or not, where your strengths lie, and where you can improve.
- You can ensure that your marketing spend remains aligned with your marketing objectives, allowing a better return on investment from marketing.
- You can realistically plan your marketing budget around your goals, determining the most cost-effective means to your end, and further enhancing the value of your marketing investment.
- You can identify weaknesses in your marketing strategy and use this insight to reassess your goals.
- Ensures that your marketing activities are coherent and function as a consistent plan and that there is a defined purpose for each activity and each pound spent.
Next steps
Your marketing plan is an intrinsic part of your marketing and sales strategy, enabling you to turn aspirations into reality. At JDR, we specialise in marketing for manufacturing companies. We can work with you to devise an actionable marketing plan that suits your timescale and budget, and that delivers the best value from your marketing investment.
To learn more, download our FREE guide 'How To Get More Customers In The Manufacturing Industry.'
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