Marketing Planning

How do you succeed in today’s competitive marketplace? 

Our marketing planning services for business owners are essential if you want to succeed in today’s competitive marketplace. If you’re looking for marketing planning services for your business, then you’ve come to the right place.

We offer a wide range of marketing planning services, including strategic planning, creative planning, content creation, social media management, email marketing, web design, SEO, PPC, and much more.

Our goal is to provide you with the tools you need to create an effective marketing plan that will work for you and your business.

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Marketing Planning

What is Marketing Planning?

Once you have your Marketing Strategy, you will need at least one marketing plan to support it and bring that strategy to life. A marketing plan will help you determine your target market, identify potential customers, develop sales objectives, create promotional campaigns, and measure results. It’s also important for companies that want to grow their business or expand into new markets. The following are some key elements in developing a successful market-plan:

Identify Your Target Audience

The first step in any marketing campaign is identifying who it’s aimed at. This includes understanding your audience’s needs and how they use products and services like yours. You can do this by researching current trends, demographics, lifestyles, purchasing habits, etc., through surveys, focus groups, interviews, and other methods. Once you have identified your target customer base, you’ll be able to understand better what motivates them to buy from you instead of someone else.

Define Your Goals

Once you know whom you’re targeting, you need to define precisely why those people should choose you over another company. What makes your product or service different from others out there? How does it benefit your clients/customers? Why would they prefer working with you rather than an alternative provider? These questions will guide you toward defining specific goals for each aspect of your marketing program. For example, if one goal is to increase brand awareness among consumers, then you might consider creating advertisements that highlight your company name and logo. On the other hand, if your primary objective is to sell more widgets, you may offer special discounts during certain times of the year.

Develop Marketing Tactics – The Marketing Mix

Once you’ve defined your goals, you must come up with ways to achieve them. An excellent way to start thinking about tactics is to ask yourself these three basic questions: Who am I trying to reach? Where do my prospects spend time online? And what messages best fit my message? By answering these questions, you can begin to think about which channels work best for reaching your targeted audiences. In addition, you can brainstorm ideas for content such as brochures, flyers, emails, social media posts, videos, websites, etc.

Marketing tactics aren’t just limited to traditional forms of communication; many marketers today leverage technology to promote their brands. One popular method involves using digital platforms to distribute information about your business. Examples include email newsletters, blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, YouTube videos, Google AdWords ads, etc. Another common approach is to provide free samples of your goods or services so prospective buyers can try them before they buy.
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Our Approach

What are the traditional 4Ps of marketing?

STEP 1

Product

This is the tangible item produced by a manufacturer or seller. It has physical characteristics, uses, benefits, features, functions, ingredients, quality, performance, price, packaging, warranties, and value. But, of course, this can also be a service.

STEP 2

Pricing

Price refers to a firm’s selling price per unit of output. It also determines whether customers perceive value when making purchases. When setting prices, firms typically aim to maximise profits. Therefore, firms usually set prices based on supply and demand conditions. They determine the quantity demanded by calculating the marginal cost of producing additional units. Marginal costs refer to the incremental costs associated with increasing production levels. This includes both fixed costs like rent, wages, utilities, insurance, taxes, interest payments, etc., and variable costs like materials, fuel, transportation, packaging, shipping, inventory management, employee training, etc.

STEP 3

Place

Placing products in markets helps companies generate sales. Marketplaces range from physical stores to virtual ones. For example, Amazon sells books through its website, but it also operates bookstores where consumers can purchase items directly. Similarly, Apple has retail outlets where people can purchase iPhones, iPads, iPods, Mac computers, and other devices. In addition, online marketplaces allow sellers to list their products for sale at competitive prices. These sites have become increasingly important because they help connect buyers and sellers who might otherwise never meet each other.

STEP 4

Promotions

Promotion refers to any activity designed to increase awareness of a product among potential customers. There are two types of promotions: direct promotion, and indirect promotion. Direct promotion occurs when someone tells others about an item they like. Indirect promotion happens when a company advertises a new product via television commercials, print advertisements, radio spots, billboards, etc.

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Marketing Planning

Things to think about

Timeline

A timeline of when tasks within your plan will be completed is essential for both you and any team members involved in your marketing activities. A timeline will help your business stay on track and meet its objectives, so setting realistic deadlines is important.

Resources Required

Your marketing plan should include a detailed breakdown of all expenses required for executing the strategies within it. This includes research, equipment/software, staff members, advertising, marketing materials, transportation, training, etc.

Timeline

After determining your overall goals, you must now allocate funds accordingly. A good rule of thumb is to allot 10% of your total annual revenue towards advertising expenses. However, keep in mind that not all businesses require such large budgets. For example, some small businesses only need enough money to pay for basic website maintenance while larger organisations often rely on third party agencies to handle most aspects of their online presence. Regardless of which option works best for you, make sure you stick within your allotted spending limit.

Measure Results

Finally, once you’ve developed all aspects of your marketing plan, you need to track its effectiveness. To do so, you’ll likely need to conduct regular audits of your website traffic, email open rates, clickthroughs, conversions, and much more. Tracking data helps you see whether your efforts were effective and allows you to make adjustments accordingly. In order to measure results, you’ll need to have set your KPI’s.

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Marketing Planning

Peek’s Top Marketing Planning Tips

The planning process can be daunting. Here are a few tips to make it go more smoothly.

Start with a review of how the world has changed

Take a look at how the world has changed since your previous planning process. This will help you put current changes in perspective and get your team ready to consider new ideas. What marketing approach has your competition taken, and what new rivals, if any, have emerged? Has your sales or income gone up? Have you added new services? etc.

Focus on the value you can bring

Don’t talk about the services you provide. Instead, focus on what your customers value and how you can help them, not on yourself and what you have to offer. Remember, prospects won’t be interested in anything until they see the value you can provide. That means focusing on their problems and how you might solve them.

Always lead with research

Always start with research. Knowledge is a powerful weapon. The more you understand your market, clients, prospects, and competitors, the better prepared you will be in developing your marketing strategy. It lowers the risk of making an incorrect decision. You won’t be sorry if you invest in it. However, keep in mind that B2B professional research is entirely different to consumer research.

Make sure your experts are visible and heard

Expertise is most effectively demonstrated by exposure and the ability to make difficult subjects simple. The more your organisation’s specialists are seen and heard, and the more prospects turn to them for a clear understanding of complex issues that affect them, the more new business you’ll get.

Make sure your marketing plan is properly implemented

If marketing is not implemented well, it generally does not succeed. Even the most well-intentioned strategies can go wrong if under-resourced, under-funded, and inadequately carried out. Make sure you have a plan that will work and the resources and people necessary to execute it.

Focus on the quality of your efforts rather than delivering quantity

Select fewer activities but fully support the ones you do pick. Instead of focusing on quantity, focus on the quality of your efforts. Choose which old approach you’re going to stop (or pause) if you want to test a new approach. It’s far more effective to concentrate on a few highly targeted tactics than attempting to implement numerous half-hearted ones.

Track every stage of the marketing pipeline

Track the entire marketing pipeline. Don’t just focus on short-term outcomes. Instead, your marketing strategy should be consistent with your company’s long-term business development plan. Marketing plans that include defined objectives and a timeline for reaching them have been shown to produce effective results.

Marketing Planning

An engagement increase of... 

6x
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Remember that your service names are an important part of your overall brand identity, so we take the time to come up with names that accurately reflect your services and help your business stand out and succeed.
"Marketing planning is the roadmap that paves the way to achieving your brand's vision. It requires a delicate balance of analysis and creativity, strategy and execution. Start by setting clear, measurable goals that align with your overall business objectives. 

Dive deep into market research to understand your audience, their needs, and the competitive landscape. Develop a comprehensive plan that outlines your target segments, positioning, messaging, and the most effective channels to reach and engage your customers. But remember, a plan is not set in stone.

 Be agile, embrace feedback, and iterate as you navigate the dynamic marketing landscape. With a well-crafted plan, adaptable execution, and a relentless pursuit of excellence, you'll chart a course towards success, guided by data, driven by creativity, and fueled by the passion to make your brand shine."
Sarah-Jane White, Strategic Director, Peek Creative

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