Make Sure That Your Marketing Plan Is Evaluated Before Its Implementation
Selling is an important part of the “marketing” function, so make sure you assess your success at closing the sale, rather than just focus on generating new leads.
Business owners often find it difficult to know whether their marketing tactics are working. This can be especially tricky when you use a combination of marketing activities simultaneously, or if using personal-contact tactics such as networking.
No matter what business you’re in, your marketing should be accountable. So here’s a few ways to evaluate how well you’re doing.
Most businesses never ask this question and miss out on gleaning valuable insights into how clients select a service provider.
Use a strong headline that asks a pertinent question, or gives a solution-oriented statement.
Give prospects a choice of how to contact you, phone email or website etc
To measure your networking activities make sure you track the source of incoming enquiries. You’ll get specific feedback each week from these groups.
Evaluate Your Marketing Plan[/i][/b][/i][/b]
Target Market[/i][/b][/i][/b]
Who is buying your product or service?[/i][/i]
Are they the customers you targeted?[/i][/i]
Are they the clientele you want associated with your products or services?[/i][/i]
Product and Services[/i][/b][/i][/b]
What specific product and services are you selling?[/i][/i]
Has it been altered in any way since its introduction?[/i][/i]
Should you look into changing your product or services in any way?[/i][/i]
Budget[/i][/b][/i]
What was your yearly and monthly marketing budget?[/i][/i]
Did the expenditure help you achieve your sales goals?[/i][/i]
Should you spend more?[/i][/i]
Should you spend less?[/i][/i]
Sales Goals[/i][/b][/i][/b]
What were your yearly and monthly sales goals?[/i][/i]
Were they achieved?[/i][/i]
What helped or hindered your sales?[/i][/i]
Profit Goals[/i][/b][/i][/b]
What were your yearly and monthly profit goals? Did you reach them?[/i][/i]
Strategies to Reach Goals[/i][/b][/i][/b]
How did you go about meeting your goals?[/i][/i]
Did you meet your overall goals?[/i][/i]
How can you keep your cost of goods sold down?[/i][/i]
In what areas can you save money or spend money to help increase your profits?[/i][/i]
Marketing Tools[/i][/b][/i][/b]
Which tools did you use to portray your advertising message?[/i][/i]
Were they effective?[/i][/i]
How many potential customers received your information and acted on it by purchasing your products or using your services?[/i][/i]
Marketing Tools[/i][/b][/i][/b]
Logo[/i][/i]
Thank you notes and gifts[/i][/i]
Business Cards[/i][/i]
Web Site[/i][/i]
Yellow page listing[/i][/i]
Brochures / Flyers[/i][/i]
Stationary[/i][/i]
Press releases[/i][/i]
Signs[/i][/i]
Key Benefits[/i][/b][/i][/b]
What problems did you solve for your customers?[/i][/i]
Are there other problems that might arise for them that you could capitalize on?[/i][/i]
Were they satisfied with you and your products/services?[/i][/i]
How did you measure their levels of satisfaction?[/i][/i]
What Do You Want Your Customers to Know About Your Business?[/i][/b][/i][/b]
How did you communicate your message?[/i][/i]
How many potential customers were reached by your message?[/i][/i]
Is there a better message or better way to communicate that message now that you are starting to be established?[/i][/i]
Competition[/i][/b][/i]
Who are your direct and indirect competitors now? Have you gained market share from those competitors or did you create your own market?[/i][/i]
What are their strengths and weaknesses?[/i][/i]
What are your strengths?[/i][/i]
Where did you see your opportunities? Did you capitalize on those opportunities?[/i][/i]
What are your weaknesses? How can you address them and improve?[/i][/i]
Are you competitive with these direct and indirect competitors?[/i][/i]
Tracking Advertising Results[/i][/b][/i][/b]
How did you determine what is working?[/i][/i]
What tracking tool did you use?[/i][/i]
Do you think something else might work better?[/i][/i]
How can you use what you know already and your anticipations to forecast the future?[/i][/i]
[/i]
[/i]
The marketing tactics that helped increase the sales should be kept, and possibly adjusted to provide improved results. You will also need to consider adding some new marketing tactics to your marketing plan to replace the ones that you got rid of or to help market an improved version of your product or service. Evaluating your marketing plan can help you make needed changes to your marketing. There is no such thing as a static market. Using your plan as a starting point for any needed changes to your marketing strategy will help keep you from making costly mistakes in your marketing. Your marketing plan represents an outlay of time and money. Your marketing plan is as valuable a resource as the machinery or personnel that create or service your product.
Selling is an important part of the “marketing” function, so make sure you assess your success at closing the sale, rather than just focus on generating new leads.
Business owners often find it difficult to know whether their marketing tactics are working. This can be especially tricky when you use a combination of marketing activities simultaneously, or if using personal-contact tactics such as networking.
No matter what business you’re in, your marketing should be accountable. So here’s a few ways to evaluate how well you’re doing.
Most businesses never ask this question and miss out on gleaning valuable insights into how clients select a service provider.
Use a strong headline that asks a pertinent question, or gives a solution-oriented statement.
Give prospects a choice of how to contact you, phone email or website etc
To measure your networking activities make sure you track the source of incoming enquiries. You’ll get specific feedback each week from these groups.
Evaluate Your Marketing Plan[/i][/b][/i][/b]
Target Market[/i][/b][/i][/b]
Who is buying your product or service?[/i][/i]
Are they the customers you targeted?[/i][/i]
Are they the clientele you want associated with your products or services?[/i][/i]
Product and Services[/i][/b][/i][/b]
What specific product and services are you selling?[/i][/i]
Has it been altered in any way since its introduction?[/i][/i]
Should you look into changing your product or services in any way?[/i][/i]
Budget[/i][/b][/i]
What was your yearly and monthly marketing budget?[/i][/i]
Did the expenditure help you achieve your sales goals?[/i][/i]
Should you spend more?[/i][/i]
Should you spend less?[/i][/i]
Sales Goals[/i][/b][/i][/b]
What were your yearly and monthly sales goals?[/i][/i]
Were they achieved?[/i][/i]
What helped or hindered your sales?[/i][/i]
Profit Goals[/i][/b][/i][/b]
What were your yearly and monthly profit goals? Did you reach them?[/i][/i]
Strategies to Reach Goals[/i][/b][/i][/b]
How did you go about meeting your goals?[/i][/i]
Did you meet your overall goals?[/i][/i]
How can you keep your cost of goods sold down?[/i][/i]
In what areas can you save money or spend money to help increase your profits?[/i][/i]
Marketing Tools[/i][/b][/i][/b]
Which tools did you use to portray your advertising message?[/i][/i]
Were they effective?[/i][/i]
How many potential customers received your information and acted on it by purchasing your products or using your services?[/i][/i]
Marketing Tools[/i][/b][/i][/b]
Logo[/i][/i]
Thank you notes and gifts[/i][/i]
Business Cards[/i][/i]
Web Site[/i][/i]
Yellow page listing[/i][/i]
Brochures / Flyers[/i][/i]
Stationary[/i][/i]
Press releases[/i][/i]
Signs[/i][/i]
Key Benefits[/i][/b][/i][/b]
What problems did you solve for your customers?[/i][/i]
Are there other problems that might arise for them that you could capitalize on?[/i][/i]
Were they satisfied with you and your products/services?[/i][/i]
How did you measure their levels of satisfaction?[/i][/i]
What Do You Want Your Customers to Know About Your Business?[/i][/b][/i][/b]
How did you communicate your message?[/i][/i]
How many potential customers were reached by your message?[/i][/i]
Is there a better message or better way to communicate that message now that you are starting to be established?[/i][/i]
Competition[/i][/b][/i]
Who are your direct and indirect competitors now? Have you gained market share from those competitors or did you create your own market?[/i][/i]
What are their strengths and weaknesses?[/i][/i]
What are your strengths?[/i][/i]
Where did you see your opportunities? Did you capitalize on those opportunities?[/i][/i]
What are your weaknesses? How can you address them and improve?[/i][/i]
Are you competitive with these direct and indirect competitors?[/i][/i]
Tracking Advertising Results[/i][/b][/i][/b]
How did you determine what is working?[/i][/i]
What tracking tool did you use?[/i][/i]
Do you think something else might work better?[/i][/i]
How can you use what you know already and your anticipations to forecast the future?[/i][/i]
[/i]
[/i]
The marketing tactics that helped increase the sales should be kept, and possibly adjusted to provide improved results. You will also need to consider adding some new marketing tactics to your marketing plan to replace the ones that you got rid of or to help market an improved version of your product or service. Evaluating your marketing plan can help you make needed changes to your marketing. There is no such thing as a static market. Using your plan as a starting point for any needed changes to your marketing strategy will help keep you from making costly mistakes in your marketing. Your marketing plan represents an outlay of time and money. Your marketing plan is as valuable a resource as the machinery or personnel that create or service your product.