We believe that truly effective advertising can only sit on a foundation of research and knowledge about who you are, how you are perceived, how you differ from your competition, and who you are trying to reach. Marketing plans and marketing research work together on internal and external factors, customer profiles, competitive marketplaces, industry trends, and projected 12-month gross revenues. The purpose, therefore, of the marketing plan and subsequent advertising is to successfully reach 12-month financial objectives within budget.

The key component to a successful marketing plan is the Goals, Strategies & Tactics section of the plan.

Goals: A goal is a number against a target. A goal needs to be measurable. We believe that segmentation is the critical element in effectively defining a goal. The more you can segment your customers and potential customers, the more clearly you can address each segment’s needs. Also, full understanding of your customers can only make your efforts more human in character, because you have the knowledge to address your customers’ needs through the lens with which your customers view you and the world.

Strategies: A strategy is a way to achieve the goal – and may include incentives, sales force utilization, communications devices, and the components of Product, Place, Price and Promotion.

Tactics: A tactic is an activity that can be placed on a calendar. In this way, strategies can be directly tracked through the success of their tactics. The marketing plan becomes a daily activities guide to be measured and modified throughout the year.

A marketing plan also includes the media buys, calendar of events, budget, and creative marketing materials. Media is measured in part by media mix against a CPM analysis (cost per thousand reached).