3 Reasons Your Small Business Needs a Marketing Plan

3 Reasons Your Small Business Needs a

Marketing Plan

“Marketing strategy will impact every piece of your business and it should be tied to every piece of your business.”

~Brandonn Andersen

A marketing plan can best be described as a detailed outline identifying a business’ target market, marketing objectives, and strategies for achieving those objectives. The unfortunate truth is that many small businesses operate without a detailed plan and usually employ basic short-term marketing efforts like business cards, social media posting, a few top online directories, and even a cute website. While you may bring in some business and gain some followers, you are missing out on an opportunity to take your business to a higher level.

FOCUSED EFFORTS WILL MAKE YOU MORE MONEY

Without a focused strategic plan, actions do not render the results needed for small businesses to thrive. An article in Convince and Convert, highlights statistics that show “Documenting your marketing strategy gives you a 538% greater chance of being successful.” In developing a marketing plan, businesses are able to research and understand who their target audience is and how to best reach them. Proper research allows for their to be heavy consideration in all its marketing efforts, making its tactics focused, organized, and typically more effective, thereby making your more money and wasting less time and resources.

YOU CAN PLAN AROUND YOUR BUDGET

One of the main reasons small businesses owners tend to bypass a formal detailed marketing plan is because they think they can’t afford extensive marketing efforts. The reality is there are so many affordable or free marketing efforts that can be identified through research and strategy. Planning also allows owners to properly plan for efforts that do require some spending such as printing costs, social media ads, and participating in conventions. By identifying a reasonable budget small businesses can maximize the money they spend on the most necessary vital marketing components until they reach the next phase of their plan.

BUILD INVESTOR CONFIDENCE

Small businesses often try to acquire funds and resources from investors, even if its just family members. How do you convince people to give you money? Convince them that you will make them alot of money or that it will benefit them or their business. The best way to do this is to present a detailed plan on how you intend to attract new customers and leverage existing customers. It shows them the goals and growth you are hoping to achieve and a detailed description on how you will accomplish those goals. An article in Convince and Convert, highlights statistics that show “Documenting your marketing strategy gives you a 538% greater chance of being successful.” Building investor confidence is just as important as building consumer confidence. The overarching idea is by taking the time to develop a strategic plan for marketing execution both buyers and investors will be more likely to take a chance on your business.