Have you ever taken a cruise? While on that cruise, can you remember when the boat backed away from its dock and how it felt? If the mood was right, and you were in Cozumel, lol, than you can remember feeling a little dizzy and off balance as the ship backed up and turned towards its direction.
However, you can probably also remember what it felt like when the ship finally locked in on its direction, and then how it felt to sail off smoothly. Now take that experience and apply it to setting the direction of your marketing plan. After backing up and analyzing the situation; turning around by understanding your targets and markets, as well as your purpose, you should be ready to sail off smoothly, as you now have the keys to set the direction of your marketing plan.
Setting the direction of your marketing plan can at first seem daunting and overwhelming. However, with good background research and work, you will quickly find that you are setting a direction that aligns and supports your marketing goals and long-term company objectives is easier than it seems..
The first question(s) you want to ask when setting your plan’s direction are: Where do we want to be in the future? How will we get there? After understanding your target customers and markets, these two questions should be easy to answer and for the most part involve an overall expectation of growth. That’s right, I said all of that to say-you want your marketing plan to be set in growth direction. Yeah buddy, growth is when the ink turns from red to black, and we all want that! When it comes to growth, there are 4 strategies that you can use to achieve it, and selecting the right one will determine whether or not you get there.
Growth Strategies:
*Market Penetration- Same product infused into the same market.
*Market Development- Same product infused into a new market.
*Product Development-New or enhanced products that are introduced to the same market.
*Diversification- Completely new product in an entirely new market. .
Of course there are non-growth strategies as well. They normally involve keeping with the same products in the same markets. In some cases, it works because its a matter of seeking the best profit from a existing market while maintaining or “holding on” to it.
Your selected growth strategy will help define your future marketing efforts. After choosing the strategy that best suits your company’s objectives, focus next on setting marketing objectives that will serve as benchmarks toward your long term organizational goals.
Thank you for reading, see you next post!
PlansForSuccess 