By now, you should understand the importance of creating a quality marketing plan and sticking to it. But that may be easier said than done!
One giant road block for most professionals is that they aren’t sure how to create a quality plan, which lands them stuck in a spin cycle of repetitive task creation simply to fill time, look productive, and keep their client happy.
Discover Why Sticking To A Marketing Plan Is Essential In This Video
The problem with this tactic is while it may appease your client for the time being, they will ultimately end up being disappointed or frustrated with the progress that has been made toward their business goals. And while they are frustrated, you’ll find yourself exhausted from running in the hamster wheel of unimportant tasks.
So hop out of that hamster wheel, get yourself some Gatorade (a nap might help as well), and roll up your sleeves and put together a QUALITY marketing plan for your clients that will keep them happy, help them reach their goals, and, best of all, keep you from dying an early death.
Here are 7 steps that should be taken to create a quality marketing plan:
The first and most important step to creating a quality plan is to establish a business goal. This is something that needs to be done alongside your client. Although you should help your client establish these goals, this isn’t something that can be done for them. Input and approval from both parties are critical.
Each business goal requires its own strategy. You can try and clump the goal of “spreading brand awareness” and the goal of “customer retention” into a single plan, but I can tell you right now — it’s not going to be very effective.
It’s critical these business goals are SMART goals. SMART business goals are:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Realistic/Relevant
- Timely
How long do you expect this plan to last? Marketing plans can last anywhere from three months to three years; it depends on how big the goal is you’re trying to achieve and how robust your plan is.
This outline should include all of the individual marketing actions that fit within the plan.
For example, your plan may include an email series, several paid promotions on social media, a video, and three blog posts. Outline these actions so everyone involved is aware of the efforts being put forth to execute this plan. It will also give you a starting point to establish when each action item should be completed.
Who is responsible for creating each piece of this plan and when do they need to be completed?
One missed task can cause a ripple effect, delaying the progress of the entire plan. That’s why it’s essential to set clear division of responsibilities and set realistic due dates for each deliverable.
This step will help your client understand why every action item can’t be put into place overnight. It will also give you leverage to make sure you are given approval in a timely manner.
Here is where the rubber meets the road!
You’ve established your goals, created a plan, and assigned responsibilities and due dates. Good for you! Now’s your chance to prove to your client that your team doesn’t need to be babysat by following through with each task.
Make sure all materials are completed 100%, are quality pieces of work, and completed on time. Once each material is completed, it’s time to push them out to the public and watch them get you one step closer to your achieving your goals. Make sure you are keeping your client in the loop throughout the entire process of what action items your team is working on. They should never feel like they are having to check up on your team to ensure tasks and deadlines are being met.
Oftentimes your client (or even your team) will start to veer from the plan after it has been set in place. Make sure everyone is sticking to the plan and following it through to the end.
One way you can do this is by revisiting the business goals established during each meeting. Making sure everyone is remaining focused on the same goals will keep each person moving in the same direction.
When stray tasks and out-of-the-blue requests make their appearance (and they will) make sure to ask yourself and your client if completing this request will help in achieving the business goals that were established.
If they will, you should consider adding them to your plan. If they won’t, then have that conversation with your client and explain why this is something that should not be added to the plan.
Measuring your effectiveness is something that should be done throughout the entire process. You should be performing regular health checkups on your plan and with your client to see how much progress has been made toward achieving their goals.
Based on your findings during these health checkups, you may decide to tweak your plan. This is perfectly normal! Just make sure all changes that are made to your plan are made for a reason and are ultimately helping you achieve your goals.
I’m not going to lie to you, establishing quality marketing plans is more work up front. But take my word for it, your life will be so much easier in the long run!
Oh, and your clients are going to love you for this, even if they give you pushback at first.
So good luck, and happy marketing!
