How To Create A Marketing Plan That Actually Works!
Do you tend to wing your marketing and content? Making it up as you go is a sure-fire way for you to fall off the bandwagon of marketing your business. But if you create an effective marketing plan, it can be a business game-changer!
The problem is that if you go into planning unprepared, you're likely to end up overwhelmed. Or you might set yourself such massive and unobtainable goals that you set yourself up for failure!
That's why I want to share the exact steps I take to create practical and achievable marketing plans for myself and my clients.
How To Create A Marketing Plan That Actually Works
Start with some achievable goals
Any planning method that you use will typically start with setting some goals for the month or the quarter. I'm 100% on board for setting goals, because they keep you focused on the end game.
But one problem with a lot of the planning methods you see around for business owners?
They emphasise goals that aren't 100% within our control. So when you look at what you achieved in a month, quarter or year, you beat yourself up for failing at something that wasn't avoidable.
After all, we can't control:
The exact number of people who work with us in a given timeframe
The percentage of people who rebook after the first appointment
How many people sign up for a new freebie
The exact dollar amount we make in a month
But what we can control are the factors that greatly increase the likelihood of us achieving the above goals! For example, we can choose to:
Send out an email to our mailing list and make an offer
Offer to rebook initial clients at the time of payment
Post a freebie across all of the social media channels
Do at least 3 income-generating activities every workday
That way, when you review your plan further down the line, you won't have to beat yourself up for the unexpected factors that popped up! Instead, you can look at what stopped you from doing what you set yourself, and address it for future plans.
This also gives you an idea of the types of promotions you might like to focus on.
Add in your promotions and events for the month/quarter
The point of planning your marketing is to support your promotions. So it makes sense to start there!
When we say 'promotions', this can mean different products and services, OR it can simply be a promotional theme. For example, you might do a Winter Wellness promotion over the next few weeks.
If you're only promoting one thing for the month or quarter, it's pretty simple. But if you have more than one, pop a note under each week around what you're promoting.
This is also when you want to include events - in your business and your life. There is nothing worse than planning an elaborate launch, only for it to fall over the time that you're helping your sister move house (not that I have ANY idea what that is like...)
Once you have your big important events and promotions locked in, you can move onto the next step.
Brainstorm content ideas to support those goals
Now that you know what you're going to be marketing, you want to create content to support that.
Let's run with the example of a Winter Wellness promotion. Say that you were going to run that promotion for the next 4 weeks. You might create a blog or video on the following topics:
Why gut health is key for healthy immunity
5 foods that will keep your immune system primed
3 ways that you're sabotaging your immune system
Quick ways to feel better when you're sick
As you can see, all of them revolve around winter wellness. But it's also easy for them to lead into a call to action to book a Winter Wellness appointment with you!
Get to scheduling!
Now that you've got some ideas for your content and marketing, get to it!
Pull up your calendar and slot the topics in for each week. For bonus points, batch some of the topics in advance, so you're covered when s**t happens!
If you tend to be a rebel with schedules, you can still use the topics - just choose one each week and create some content as you go.
Making a marketing plan is one thing. Actioning it is a different ball game!
Need some guidance to put together a plan that works for your business?
I’m here to help. Click here to book a 1:1 appointment.