The final section of your marketing plan describes the marketing tools you'll use to achieve the objectives stated in your plan, and your Marketing Strategy in particular. Include a list of promotional channels you identified in the previous section, as well as a timeline for when you plan to roll out each of those tactics.
The best way to ensure you’ll reach your target market when they’re ready to buy is by employing a multichannel approach that’s designed to reach customers in a variety of places. Be sure to draw up specific timelines and costs for each tactic. The tactics in your approach may include:
- Advertising. Print, online, radio, and cable TV
- Grass-roots efforts. These include speaking at the chamber of commerce or industry association meetings and events
- Trade shows. Exhibiting or just attending
- Website optimization. Update your website’s content, look and feel; look into search marketing, including organic search, paid search and search engine optimization (SEO), all of which can increase traffic to your website
- Email and social marketing. A low-cost way to reach customers and prospects, as well as to build buzz about your business
Your tactical mix is not a set-it-and-forget-it proposition. Be sure to measure your results each month and make adjustments based on the results of each tactic.
