No matter what products or services you offer, marketing is central to your business in both B2B and B2C. A successful marketing strategy will help you to strengthen your brand image, gain market share and grow your business in the long term. To do this, you need to start by developing an effective marketing plan. What is this document and what does it do? What are the practices to follow when putting your marketing plan in place? How do you choose the right partner to support you in this process? We tell you all about this essential element of your communication strategy.
The marketing plan is an operational document that describes the means to be used to achieve your marketing objectives. It provides concrete answers to the following questions:
Be careful not to confuse strategy with marketing plan! The marketing strategy sets a general direction for the long term: this is the theory. The marketing plan is the implementation of this overall strategy over a given period. It lists the different marketing activities to be carried out and their chronology.
Depending on your needs, you can draw up a monthly, quarterly or annual marketing plan. If you are starting a business, it can be integrated into the business plan. Thanks to this detailed roadmap, you and your marketing teams have a clear vision of the tasks to be accomplished and their deadlines. You have the necessary framework to work efficiently and calmly.
As the marketing plan is based on the marketing strategy, it is necessary to define the strategy before setting up the plan. To establish your marketing strategy, you need to identify the following elements
To be more effective, it is strongly recommended to set SMART objectives: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound. For example, the objective "to increase our awareness" is too imprecise. A SMART objective would be: "to increase the number of subscribers to our newsletter by 40% within 6 months".
Once you have established your marketing strategy, you need to identify the KPIs (key performance indicators) that will allow you to monitor and evaluate your marketing actions. Here are some examples of KPIs:
Here we see the importance of defining quantifiable objectives: the choice of indicator will be simplified. If we take the previous example, the key indicators will logically be the number of subscribers to the newsletter and the percentage increase compared to the current situation. By comparing these KPIs with the target, you can easily measure the effectiveness of your marketing plan and make any necessary adjustments.
Looking at the marketing strategies of other companies in your industry is a great source of inspiration. This is the best way to spot their weaknesses and avoid repeating the same mistakes. On the other hand, if your idea has already been used successfully, it is better to think outside the box to differentiate yourself from your competitors.
By combining the information gathered with market research and an internal analysis of your own company, you can develop your SWOT matrix (strengths - weaknesses - opportunities - threats). This will help you to identify your competitive advantages and define your marketing position.
To achieve the objectives set in step 1, you can use several marketing levers:
The choice of these different elements must be in line with the objectives of your marketing plan. Take a holistic approach to combine your efforts with each other. For example, you can post a corporate video on your social media or share the link to a blog post in an email. Of course, you need to make sure that each piece of content is aligned with your brand strategy. All of this will help you provide your customers with a consistent and integrated marketing experience.
An effective marketing plan is based on a strong creative strategy that conveys a clear brand image. In 2021, more than half of marketers consider visual content "very important" to their business (source: Venngage survey). This makes graphic design a central part of your communication strategy. Adapt to your target audience and the type of screens they use (computer, smartphone or tablet) when designing your visual elements:
Don't forget to include powerful calls to action (CTAs ) to encourage engagement: newsletter or webinar sign-ups, comments and shares on social networks, quote requests, etc.
After strategic marketing, it's time for operational marketing, i.e. the concrete application of your marketing plan. For greater efficiency, opt for a work management tool that will allow you to formalise your projects, specify their deadlines, monitor their progress and promote communication between collaborators. This will give you an overview of your marketing plan and the tasks to be carried out to achieve it.
The implementation of your marketing plan requires the choice oftechnological tools adapted to your needs. At Autour de l'Image, we use for example :
These tools must be associated with an efficient organisation, just like the one we deploy within the agency: collaborative work and project mode, transparency and task planning.
It is important to regularly monitor the key indicators defined in step 2 in order to measure the impact of your marketing efforts. You can analyse the performance of your website with the Google Analytics tool, which provides numerous indicators:
Compare this data to your original objectives to identify what works, identify areas for improvement and adjust your marketing plan based on the results. For example, if your online advertising is performing better than expected, you can increase the campaign budget. This analysis will also be useful in developing your future marketing plans.
You don't have the time or the skills in-house to implement your marketing plan? Choose a trusted partner to support you! Autour de l'Image is a 360° communication agency that can help you with all your marketing issues. Our assets :
A real "marketing concierge" at the service of your company and the development of your business!
Would you like us to develop and implement your marketing plan? Contact us to discuss your project!
