Small Business Marketing Plans —
Why So Many Suck!
Okay. So you spent all this time filling in a boiler plate Marketing Plan, and answering all their questions. But then you start to wonder, how come so many people who fill in these boiler plate marketing plans still end up with a business that struggles or worse, that fails?
Does your own Marketing Plan suck?
Over the years experts like me and major venture capitalists (I have helped several) have seen a steady flow of theoretical mumbo-jumbo-filled Marketing Plan programs delivered by academics and theoreticians who have little real-world experience.
These are the very people who gave Fred Smith a barely passing grade for his plan to launch FedEx (he ignored his teacher and went on to create one of the nation’s greatest success stories), while enabling others with unrealistic fundamentals.
But there’s a much easier and more reliable way to create a truly effective Marketing Plan for your business, regardless of its size and type, without spending a fortune on useless theory.
Marketing Plans for Small Business Marketing are essential for predictable and escalated growth.
The problem is…
Most small business marketing is put together in pieces, without a coordinated strategy. In this way the typical business owner gains a fraction of the customers and profits they could be getting from an effective marketing plan.
What Do Great Marketing Plans Provide?
If you have a product, service or business, spending time to develop a Small Business Marketing Plan will help you lay out all the strategies and tactics you’ll need for: getting your message in front of the right people,
- closing more sales, and
- bringing people back to buy more from you.
The Marketing Plan is your roadmap for success. It gets you thinking through all the opportunities and possible problems, before spending money on useless or harmful tactics.
For small and large businesses alike, marketing plans provide the outline you want for growing your business without losing your shirt on ineffective programs and media. And spending time creating that Marketing Plan gets you to address crucial questions you may not have otherwise considered, such as:
- Are you selling the right products?
- Is your pricing too high or too low?
- Are you reaching the right customers?
- Is too much money being left on the table when you make a sale? (i.e., Are you earning enough profit? Are you upselling or selling lucrative add-ons?)
- How could you expand your profits quickly with the least effort and cost?
These questions become a starting point for creating a cohesive strategy that will minimize your risks while making your life easier and your business more lucrative.
