Creating a marketing plan

A marketing plan is a simple document that specifically answers who you are, what you do and who needs it, when you plan to do it and how you plan to pay for it - in a way that everyone can clearly understand. Here business expert Angela Lunn offers her advice.Step 1: Budget You need to spend money to bring in customers, but you don't have money to spend until you get customers. Too often new business owners treat marketing as an optional expense. The truth is, if you don't dedicate an adequate budget of time and money to marketing, it's unlikely you'll attract enough customers to sustain and grow your business. Step 2: Public relations (PR) and positioning your business PR is a communication technique and its purpose is to communicate specific ideas to the public. PR starts the fire and marketing fans the flames. Figure out what it is that you do best and what your target market needs. Maybe it's a form of service or treatment, maybe it's your team. If you don't know what it is then call up three or four of your clients and ask them why they choose you. Step 3: Core messages Create several very compelling benefits of visiting your salon and find ways to work them into everything you say and do. Just remember it's not a benefit unless your client think it is. Your clients don't buy what you sell - they buy what they get from what you sell. Step 4: Marketing material Re-create all of your marketing materials, including your website, so that they speak only of your core messages and your target market. Step 5: Live by a calendar If you can begin to schedule one or two activities each month you will look up at the end of six months and find that you have a fully developed marketing system, new website and branded marketing material. What better time than right now to explore fresh marketing ideas for growing your business? Rather than moving forward with the same old marketing bag of tricks, you can get ahead of your competitors by embracing new tactics for increasing your client base and ultimately your turnover. Step 6: Track results Put tracking mechanisms in place to ensure your efforts are paying off and re-invest appropriately and be prepared to make changes if necessary. While there are plenty of ways to mess up a marketing campaign, business owners typically fall prey to: 1. Saying too much. When you jam too many messages into any one marketing vehicle, you risk losing your audience entirely. Focus on one or two key messages. 2. Being inconsistent. If each piece of your marketing material looks as if it's from a different company, you're not likely to be effective. 3. Cutting your marketing budget first. When cash flow dips, it's more important than ever to keep up your promotional efforts. Don't be tempted to make marketing your first cut when it's time to slash expenditures. 4. Big agency small budget. Like most businesses, advertising/PR/marketing agencies come in different sizes along with pricing structures. If you need to hire help on a shoestring, look for smaller to mid-size consultants where your available finance and your business will be treated with the respect it deserves. After you complete steps one to six, determine what you need to do to put them into action and then schedule them. The mistake most small business owners make is to get overwhelmed when they realise how much they really need to do. It's imperative that you set time aside now to develop/review and update your marketing plan. Overview: • Create a unique, memorable position for your company in the mind of your public • Get that message out on all fronts • Measure your results and survey your public as needed to correct and/or adjust your position over time. Angela Lunn has 15 years hairdressing industry experience along with a further six years working within the professional services sector - focusing on people management and business development and communications. Her aim is to provide salons with a pro-active marketing and business development service, identifying and creating sustainable competitive market advantages, enabling a business to achieve its agreed objectives.