Bringing ideas to life

The Summer might not have brought the sunshine we were hoping for but the London Olympics certainly brightened things up in glorious, golden style! And just like everyone else, we enjoyed the Olympic Games and cheering on Team GB.

The Olympics effect has given the whole country a massive boost and has reminded us what a wonderful country we live in and what we can achieve. And as we reflect, late summer and autumn is the perfect time to look at your marketing and communications and evaluate not only what you are going to do in the next season but also what are your plans for 2013. Central to this is a comprehensive Marketing Plan and in this newsletter we look at what makes a good marketing plan and the vital stages you need to consider so that your plan is built upon strong, solid foundations.

We hope you enjoy the rest of the summer and that it is indeed a late summer with plenty of BRIGHT sunshine.

Yours Fiona, Janice and Fiona.

So what makes a good Marketing Plan ?

There are many ingredients that go in to a good Marketing Plan.

But ultimately the test of a good marketing plan is does it work? Your objective might be to successfully launch a new product, sell more to existing customers, reach new markets, reposition your business in the marketplace or all of the above! And the ultimate test is not that it looks good on paper but that it actually works in reality for you when you implement it. At Bright Light Marketing we create Marketing Plans that don’t just prove in theory that the objectives can be achieved but far more importantly, the client achieves their objectives in the real world.

For us this is the ultimate test. But in order for this to be achieved lots of hard work has to be put in. The first stage of our Marketing Plan is that we hold a marketing workshop with the client and brainstorm as much information as we can so that we can learn as much about the company, its products and its customers as possible. But equally it allows the client to be an integral part of the process and to spend some valuable time away from their business to focus on the current situation and where they want to be in the future.

The next stage of the process is to carry out the research and Competitor Audit. This is crucial to a successful Marketing Plan. This stage needs to have time spent on it. It depends on the needs of the client but at this stage we might carry out customer research using online or paper questionnaires. We will look at background research and any relevant research that we can source. We will also carry out a competitor audit looking at key things we want to compare our client with, which can be anything from competitors promotional materials to how they price themselves in the marketplace.

This research stage allows us to then start the Appendixes and create well-known marketing tables such as a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) and a PEST looking at external forces such as (Political, Economic, Social and Technological). Plus the Competitor Audit and summaries of background research which usually includes an audit of the client’s database. It is often easy to not read Appendixes in a report but actually they are the foundation of a good Marketing Plan and where the real creative thinking happens. Without it you could get a plan with lots of words but it would be like the house made of sand, useless as there are no solid foundations.

When we write a plan we like to immerse ourselves in it fully and debate it endlessly so that we find ourselves thinking about the client, their industry and the marketing plan pretty much 24/7. We find this thinking time essential as it needs time to reflect on all the information and form our views on how the client can successfully take themselves forward.

The next stage is the actual writing of the body section which then forms the basis of the plan. This is the important part but can only be done if the other stages have been done and thought through. We then take a final and critical look at all sections before presenting it to the client.

But it doesn’t end there a comprehensive Marketing Plan is a lot to take in and we let the client have time to digest and think about the information and then have a further meeting to discuss the plan in detail.

Then it’s our favourite stage, implementation of the plan and bringing those ideas to life. As we said at the beginning if it’s just confined to paper its only words and it has to be actions to work. Bright Light Marketing love seeing businesses benefit from not only the Marketing Plans that we produce but also the other promotional work that we do. It’s what any good marketing should achieve – work for your business.

So quite simply what makes a good Marketing Plan? Well one that covers all the above stages but most importantly one that has strong foundations and works in the real world for the client and brings them business.

To find out how we can help you to produce a brilliant Marketing Plan for your business or to discuss any other marketing activity requirements that you might have then please contact Fiona Drane on 01750 505053 or email fiona.drane@brightlightmarketing.co.uk

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