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A marketing plan is an essential marketing tool for every business. Careful planning is integral to marketing success. Most entrepreneurs thrive on action before beginning. Careful planning is precisely the goal you should have in mind when crafting a marketing plan for your company’s products or services. A marketing plan is good for focusing your energy towards the right actions that will deliver on what you want to accomplish. Your marketing plan should describe how you will segment your target market, position your products or services compared to your competition, pricing strategy and how you will effectively reach and influence your customers. When deciding about market positioning, pricing, promotions, and sales, your customers should be paramount in your mind. Your marketing plan details how you intend to meet your customers’ needs and communicate the benefits. For businesses, it’s best to think of a marketing plan as a way to tell a succinct story that covers all the key points of your strategy going forward. Here are Four Key Components of Your Plan: 1. Your Target Market Your target market is a group of customers that have similar needs for a product or service, money to purchase the product or service, and willingness to buy. 2. Your Market Positioning Positioning is the image of your product or service that you create in the mind of your target market. Your goal is to create an image that’s unique, differentiated, and definable in the mind of your customers. 3. Your Pricing Strategy Price is a very important factor in your marketing plan 4. Your Promotion Strategy Promotion is the activity of informing, persuading, and influencing your customers’ purchase decisions. Below are structured questions and steps that will guide you through your plan: Marketing Strategy: How will your marketing plan support your business goals? Mission Statement / Objectives: What are you trying to accomplish, and why? Target Market: Who are you trying to reach with your marketing activities? Promotional Plan: How will you reach your target market? Pricing Strategy: What will you charge, and why? Competitive Analysis: Who are you up against, and where do you rank? Unique Selling Proposition: What makes your business unique? Marketing Budget: How much money will you spend, and on what? Action List: What tasks do you need to complete to reach your marketing goals? Metrics: How are you implementing, and where can you improve? Once you have completed each step, you will have a marketing plan that you are ready to use as a blueprint for your marketing activities in your business. So keep it brief. Once you have these items in hand, you’re ready to put your plan together. When it comes to putting together a marketing strategy, it’s critical to establish ahead of time how much (budget) you have to spend, as that can have a major impact on the strategies you decide to implement.