The following are my top line notes from her session.
Melissa started by asking people to think about their marketing plan in 12-month chunks.
Define your competition and value proposition. Find out what your competition is doing and tracking it on a spreadsheet can be very helpful as you create your plan.
I’ve said it before chambers, look to your left, look to your right, the next town chamber is your competition.
Your value proposition is the answer to what makes you unique and why your members join you instead of your competition. For a previous blog post on your value proposition go HERE.
She went on to discuss how business goals and marketing goals are two different things! Your marketing goals help achieve your business goals. Business goals are more revenue driven or number of new members secured.
She also talked about how you need to understand your members journey. This is the sales funnel that everyone talks about - awareness, interest, decision, sales.
She identified 10 elements to establish your marketing plan:
- Overview – what are your goals and objectives for the year.
- Key messaging – this is your elevator speech, the short answer to who you are and what you do.
- Goals – revenue, new members, completing something in your strategic plan. The goals should be clear and have metrics tied to it (numbers, timing).
- Target audiences and persons – understanding a potential members path to join. They are not all the same. Also, everyone is not a potential member. Someone could find you through your website or through some form of social media (this is their discovery, awareness, decision process of joining). And be mindful that these can change over time.
- Competitive analysis – what makes you different. I’ve talked about the Hedgehog Theory in the past (what do you do best, what do you have passion for and where do you make money). Where they intersect is the business you should be in. Go HERE for that blog post.
- Distribution channels – think direct mail, email, social media, advertising, video, events, etc. She suggests your website should be your “home” of your brand as well as it’s a valuable touchpoint!
- Budget – you need to be proactive and set an actual budget. She shared a chart that showed most small businesses budget 7% - 8% of their overall revenue on marketing. In addition, you need to decide how you will spend that money in the different marketing channels (i.e. advertising, video, website, print and design) you choose to reach your targeted audience.
- KPIs/ROI – you must track your success. What metrics are you going to use to track that measurement? Stay focused on the numbers. If you don’t measure your actions, you’ll have no idea if your efforts are successful. Create a dashboard!
- Timeline – don’t just plan. Do. Give assignments and keep your team focused on the results.
- Supporting documents – have a list of resources you can refer to when working through your plan throughout the year.
Melissa ended with a list of tools, templates and resources you can use to execute your plan.
- Tracking timelines – Asana, Trello, Basecamp
- Online listening tools – Hootsuite, SproutSocial
- Content calendars – (templates from Melissa)
- Email marketing, CRMs, inbound software – Constant Contact, Pipedrive, HubSpot, ConvertKit
- Graphics and copywriting – Canva, Fiverr
- Website and analytics – WordPress, SquareSpace, Google Analytics/AdWords
- Video Platforms – Vimeo, YouTube, Flipgrid
She finished with a tip for success – “listen harder, focus on digital.”
Good luck in creating your marketing plan of the future. For a copy of her slide deck go HERE.
