Strategic Marketing Plans

Harness the Power of Strategic Marketing

We believe marketing is strategic. It all starts with a plan.

 

A strategic marketing plan gives you a roadmap that will drive more leads to your business, create new customers, and increase revenue. Marketing a business, product or service, requires a comprehensive approach that offers creative and cost-effective solutions while increasing visibility and value. Advantage Marketing Solutions will help target your markets, and enhance awareness of your products and services through cross-media marketing strategies tailored to your specific needs. We apply conventional and digital marketing principles and personalized service. Our talented team, and quality products and services, ensure your desired results are achieved. Advantage Marketing Solutions understands marketing challenges inherent in business and product development. These include staffing issues, poor past results and working within a budget. We will help to maximize your impact and avoid costly mistakes.

Strategic Marketing Plans

12 Key Steps to Create A Strategic & Practical Marketing Plan

Our Strategic Marketing Process

You may need all, or just a portion of our 12 step process. We will develop a custom plan just for you.

1. Positioning Your Product / Service

The Four P's of Marketing

The Four P's of Marketing

  • Product: Having the right product or service for your market.
  • Price: Selling your product or service for an amount that makes your target customer feel it is a good deal for what they purchase.
  • Promotion: Creating appropriate perceptions across multiple marketing channels.
  • Place: Distributing your product to locations where your target customers can readily find it; getting the right product or service at the right price in front of the right customer.

2. Evaluate Your Business

The Four P's of Marketing

Draft a SWOT Analysis

  • Strengths: What makes your business thrive?
  • Weaknesses: What are your vulnerabilities?
  • Opportunities: What market conditions or segments can lead to growth?
  • Threats: How are competitors snapping at your heels?

3. Target. Saturate. Capture.

The Four P's of Marketing

Create a Strategy

  • High sales volume is not always the key. The goal should be profit.
  • The goal of marketing is to generate the interest or recognition that will lead to increased sales and boost profits.
  • Where do you want your company to be in a year?

4. Research, Research, Research

The Four P's of Marketing

Define Your Target

  • Identify your target by industry, annual sales, age, gender, number of employee’s, location, etc.
  • What do those customers need?

5. Presence. Reputation. Value.

The Four P's of Marketing

Create Persuasive Messages

  • We will help you identify the right message, taglines, and opening and closing statements. Some people call this the promise, and others call it the main point. They are short concise statements—just a line or two—that tells your target why you’re different and better.
  • When we craft a persuasive message, it’s not just your advertising message we’re talking about. It’s your whole marketing program.
  • We think about your words and pictures! From the billboards crowding our highways to the graphics competing for attention on the web . . . we are very visual!

Learn more about our creative services.

6. Digital, Event, Conventional

The Four P's of Marketing

Select Your Marketing Channels

Before you can actually start in the selection process to identify the best marketing channels, you must first learn and familiarize yourself with the various channels that are available that may fit your needs and budget. Below is a short list of the many options.

7. Branding, Message, Presence

The Four P's of Marketing

Create Consistent Marketing Collateral

Consistency: It’s one of the fundamentals of marketing. Consistency of your message strengthens what you are communicating about you, your company, and its products and services. Your message should be harmonized across your organization within all marketing campaigns and channels, as well as amongst your employees and anyone else that represents your company.

8. Goals, Timeline, Budget

The Four P's of Marketing

Draft The Plan

Now that you have an overview of goals, customers and market conditions, you can start to execute your plan. The plan should be simple to follow and use, and should consist of a written outline to share with staff or outside consultants for future reference. The plan should cover:

  • A summary of your market position and goals.
  • A definition of what you expect to accomplish in a specific time period (e.g: “We will sell 150 widgets by the fourth quarter.”)
  • A list of target markets, including segmentation and niche areas.
  • An appropriate strategy for each segment or market.
  • Expenses and resources, and how they will be allocated.

9. Schedule, Recurring, Consistency

The Four P's of Marketing

Create A Marketing Calendar

Creating a simple calendar or list that maps out the dates and timelines when marketing tasks will be performed. These tasks should first be outlined on a yearly basis, and then added as daily, weekly, monthly or seasonal events.

10. Test, Track, Modify

The Four P's of Marketing

Track Results

Test, track and modify efforts with web analytics, call tracking and client management systems.
Include benchmarks to review whether your marketing efforts are on track and meeting your expectations.
Calculate (by each channel) the cost of marketing communications and compare with pre-determined specific sales forecasts.

11. Automate, Review, Implement Changes

The Four P's of Marketing

Create Reports

For various campaigns, check progress with tracking methods (such as a spreadsheet in Excel) that includes specific sales and customer data.

12. Test, Analyze, Improve

The Four P's of Marketing

Review The Plan Every Six Months

  • A regular review of marketing plans and activities is crucial to long-term success.
  • We recommend a formal review every six months (or twelve months minimum) to determine necessary changes, progress, and results.

Our Process Helps:

  • Generate Leads to Your Business
  • Set Up Key Tracking Systems
  • Improve Your Bottom Line
  • Gain New Customers
  • Identify which current and new customers are your best prospects
  • Evaluate your company data against your industry or market
  • Set a baseline of simple but key tracking systems to learn what works

It’s not just about attracting customers…it’s about attracting and retaining life-long customer relationships.