New year, new goals and plans. Even in business. Are you ready ?

One of the plans should be a clear, functional, realistic marketing plan. A marketing plan is a document that outlines your marketing strategy and tactics. It often focuses on a certain period of time (for example, 12 months) and covers a range of details related to marketing, such as communications, sales promotion, outdoor campaigns.

Marketing plan is not a static document. It is constantly changing and evolving.

What is the purpose of a marketing plan?
Many business owners create a marketing plan and then put it aside. However, your marketing plan is the map that gives you direction to achieve your business goals. Marketing is just as important as the product or service you provide. Without marketing, consumers and clients cannot find out about you. If they don’t know about you, they can’t buy, so you won’t make money.

How to create a marketing plan?
A typical marketing plan includes many elements, including a description of competitors, the demand for the product or service you offer, and market strengths and weaknesses.
A marketing plan is a tool that you must use daily to achieve your goals. Some principles for its creation:

1. Details about the current situation of your company.
What is your product or service? What works and what problems do you currently have when generating new inquiries and finding customers? What issues might you encounter over the next year, such as new laws that might affect how you do business?
2. Kto je váš cieľový trh? Kto je najpravdepodobnejším kupcom toho, čo ponúkate? Odpoveď by nikdy nemala byť “všetci”. Na svojom cieľovom trhu môžete mať niekoľko cieľových skupín.
3.Who is your target market? Who is the most likely buyer of what you have to offer? The answer should never be “everyone”. You can have several target groups in your target market.
3.What are your goals for the time period of the plan? Be specific in your goals, such as growing your email list by x amount in the next year or finding x number of new clients. It is important to be able to measure the effectiveness of your marketing plan by having a quantifiable goal.
4.What marketing tactics will you use to reach your market and targets?
For example, if your target audience spends a lot of time on Facebook, you might consider a Facebook fan page or group, or invest in Facebook. If you are a business that provides services to other businesses, you may want to write an article for a newsletter or magazine that focuses on the same business sector.
5. How much will it cost? This is where you create a budget for your marketing plan.
6. Continuously evaluate individual plans and steps and change strategy according to circumstances.
7. Keep your marketing plan updated. Like a business plan, a marketing plan is a living document.