Are you wondering how to grow your business and set up a marketing system that delivers consistent results? Then you need a marketing plan that works. A solid marketing plan will help you do the right thing, in the right place, for the right people. It will also help you earn sustainable and continuous growth and understand what parts of your marketing efforts work and why.
In this article, we will introduce you to a five-stage marketing plan that works. Each stage depends on the one before it, so if you cut corners, the plan won’t work. We call these stages the 5 Ms: Model, Market, Message, Media, and Machine.
#1: Model: What Are You Selling?
The first step in building a marketing plan is defining your business model. You need to ask yourself:
- What does your business do?
- How does your business provide value for customers?
- Why should those customers care?
This step is all about finding your unique selling proposition. You need to distil your model down to just one or two key revenue drivers. They could be hero products or your most valuable services. Once you know what to focus on, think about how to differentiate your business from its competitors.
Don’t worry about minor products or fringe benefits just yet. They don’t bring enough value to your strategy. It’s better to excel at one thing than to have a mediocre offer on five different things. If your business is large enough to have more than two revenue drivers, then congratulations! Your business is also large enough to have separate marketing strategies.
The strategy we’re building here will sell one offer to one segment of the market at a time. It’s all about focus and differentiation.
#2: Market: Whom Are You Selling To?
Once you have defined your business model, the next step is to define your market. You may think you already have a clear idea of your target market or audience. Maybe you have a document full of buyer personas. However, markets and individual people have changed a lot in the past few years. Are you sure you’re still selling to the right customers?
When you’re defining your market, you’ll need to consider three different aspects:
- Demographics: Who are your customers? What are their age, gender, education level, occupation, and income?
- Psychographics: What are your customers’ interests, values, attitudes, and lifestyles? What motivates them?
- Behaviours: What do your customers do? What are their buying habits? How do they consume media?
Understanding your market is essential for creating targeted messaging that resonates with your customers. It also helps you find the best channels to reach them.
#3: Message: How Are You Selling?
The third step in building a marketing plan is to craft your message. Your message is the heart of your marketing strategy. It’s how you communicate your value proposition to your target market.
Your message should be clear, concise, and focused on your unique selling proposition. It should address your customers’ pain points and show how your business solves them. It should also include a call to action, encouraging customers to take the next step in the buying process.
Remember, your message should be tailored to your market. You should use language and tone that resonates with your customers. Use the insights you gained in the previous step to craft messaging that speaks directly to your customers.
#4: Media: How Will Your Message Get Out There?
Now that you have your message, you need to choose the right media to get it in front of your target audience. You need to know where they are, what they’re doing, and what kind of content they’re engaging with. The key is to focus on the media channels where your target audience will most likely be found. Are they on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn? Do they consume podcasts or watch YouTube videos? Are they active on Twitter or TikTok?
Once you’ve identified the media channels, you need to determine the best formats for your content. Are they responding to blog posts, videos, infographics, or whitepapers? Knowing this information will help you tailor your content to the specific media channels where your audience is most likely to engage with it.
#5: Machine: How Will Your Marketing Plan Come Together?
The final step is to put all the pieces together and create your marketing machine. This is where you develop a comprehensive plan for how to execute your marketing strategy across all channels and media. Start by creating a content calendar that outlines the specific content you’ll be sharing on each platform, and when. Ensure to include the key messages and calls to action for each piece of content.
Next, you’ll need to establish a system for monitoring and measuring the success of your marketing efforts. Set up analytics tracking and establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure progress towards your marketing goals. Finally, you’ll want to continuously evaluate and adjust your marketing plan based on the data and results you’re seeing. This will help you optimize your marketing efforts and achieve even better results over time. Conclusion Building a successful social marketing strategy takes time, effort, and a clear understanding of your business, target audience, messaging, media channels, and execution plan.
By following the 5 Ms of marketing, you can develop a comprehensive and effective marketing plan that delivers consistent results over time. Remember, success is all about doing the right thing, in the right place, for the right people.
Carry on reading:
- Your Marketing Plan: Mission
- “How to Develop a Mission Statement for Your Brand” by Hubspot: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-develop-a-mission-statement-for-your-brand
- Your Marketing Plan: Message
- “5 Steps to Crafting an Effective Message for Social Media” by Hootsuite: https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-message/
- Your Marketing Plan: Media
- “The Top Social Media Sites That Matter to Marketers in 2022” by Sprout Social: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-sites/
- Your Marketing Plan: Machine
- “How to Build a Social Media Marketing Plan in 5 Steps” by Buffer: https://buffer.com/library/social-media-marketing-plan/
