How to Design a Marketing Plan

Video Transcript

"A marketing plan is essential for keeping and spending your business on track. Hello, I'm Peggy Collins, and I am going to give you some tips to help you to design a marketing plan. If you have to secure financing from a bank or investors, you will be asked to include a prospective plan for marketing your product or service. In the process of developing your product, you've probably done considerably research to identify the customer shopping habits. The design of your marketing plan hinges not on those habits but on the media consumption habits of your customer. The options available are huge. But, unless your budget is also huge, you will be well advised to learn the advantages and disadvantages of every marketing vehicle. Weigh cost against the benefits each has to offer. If your target customers are a soccer mom, for example, sponsoring a little league team or soccer tournament might be a good investment. You are more likely to reach her with radio, because she is on the go, a moving target. You might choose cable advertising because networks such as ABC Family, Oxygen and We, allow you to concentrate your dollars on reaching the female consumers. The next step is to determine the media mix and marketing strategy best suited for your objectives. Once you determined those appropriate media, you'll need to allocate a percentage of your marketing budget to each. You will need to establish a time line for your marketing plan. You will need to develop measurable goals to demonstrate accountability and track your progress. Wishing you good luck and good business. I'm Peggy Collins."