If your marketing plan consists of giving a discount when inventory is high and letting customers know about the discount by hanging posters in your window, you may want to rethink your plan.

An effective marketing plan is not hard to create. There are plenty of reasons to employ a marketing plan: to identify your customers, to compare your company’s data against your industry and to track results so you know what works.

Here are five steps to creating an effective marketing plan.

1. Get Your Product Out There
Your marketing goal is to generate recognition or interest that leads to sales, which lead to profits. Profits are the name of the game. The first step to doing this is to position your product in the market to achieve that recognition and interest. By putting the right product at the right price in front of the right customer, your sales can go through the roof. Get your product out in the market so that when people see your great full color brochures or other marketing materials, they can go right out and buy one.

2. Brainstorm
Plan some brainstorming sessions with people you trust, such as family, friends, staff, or other professionals. At these sessions, try to answer the following questions:
• Who are your target customers?
• What do your target customers need or want?
• What makes your product, service or business different from your competitors?
• Which marketing tactics will work best to get your product noticed (catalog printing, brochure printing)?
• Where do you see the company in a year? Where do you want the company to be?

It’s a good idea to tape the sessions (either audio or video), to catch the best ideas and suggestions. Also take good notes during the sessions.

3. Get to Know Your Customers
Next, you need to get into your customers’ heads. What do they think of your marketing materials? How do they feel when they see your logo? You need to know how customers will react to your price, service, image, etc. – basically anything that could influence their buying decision.

You can do this by either a focus group or by conducting surveys. You can bring in current customers, or people in your target market that you would like to become your customers. You’ll probably need some kind of incentive to get people in there – money, a gift certificate to your store or a free item.

You can also mail or email surveys if you have a mailing list already. Ask customers what think of your brochure printing pieces or how well your catalog printing pieces represent your products.

Based on what your customers say, analyze your business by finding the SWOT:
• Strengths: What makes customers come to you? What are you best at?
• Weaknesses: What could you improve on? What makes customers go to your competitors?
• Opportunities: What segments can lead to growth? Where could you expand your business?
• Threats: Which competitors are getting your potential business?

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