Is your Marketing Ready for 2014? Plan ahead!

Oh no! I forgot to budget for marketing this year!" 

It never ceases to amaze us how often we hear: "Oh no! I forgot to budget for marketing this year!" We totally get it- it’s easy to completely focus on running your current business and only when there’s a lull realize the necessity for marketing to bring in new business. 

As the end of the year draws near, it’s time to not only prepare your marketing budget calendar and for 2014, but to also take note of what worked for your company in 2013 and what didn’t. This “marketing audit” helps your company analyze and evaluate your past marketing strategies, activities, goals and results in order to be more effective in the future. While it takes time, the results can be enlightening and profitable. Here are a few basic steps that should be included in your 2013 Marketing Audit in order to lead the way to a more powerful marketing plan for the upcoming year:

Step 1: Check Your Brand and Presence
Do you have your brand and material in order? Basic material like:

• Your logo
• A brand sheet
• Website
• Business Cards
• Marketing brochure or flyer  

Are they consistent and look the same? Same colors, fonts and so forth? How is your website looking? When was the last time you updated it?

Step 2: Your Services / Product What is the purpose of your business? What is it that you specialize in? Take a look back at sales for 2013 and see if that is, in fact, what you are selling.

Step 3: Who are your Competitors  First of all, do you know who your competition is today? Not when you started your business- but as of today. When was the last time you took a look at their website or Facebook page?
Ask the questions: 

• "What makes us different and unique compared to others?"
• "Why would customers use our services or buy our goods versus others?”
• "What do I admire about these competitors?”

Step 4: Who are your current customers?  Write down a list of customers are that you worked with in 2013. Describe them in detail. Where are they located? Their size, budget, industry and so forth.  Now categorize them and highlight patterns that become apparent- what is the common denominator?

Step 5:  Who is your ideal customer? Are they your current customers? As you did before, describe them in detail. Who are your ideal (and most profitable) customers? Where are they located? What size? Industry? Pay specific attention to their behaviors and what draws them so you understand how to target them.

Step 6: What are your marketing goals? General goals may start off as simple concepts such as:

• Increase company visibility
• Increase audience size or Facebook Likes
• Differentiate from competition
• Increase or maintain market share
• Generate qualified sales leads
• Refresh and update the brand image

…then we need to take it a step further:

Be specific and create measurable goals. For example, rather than “Increase sales” it should look something more like: “Increase sales of a particular product line by at least 18% by the end of the fiscal year”.  In addition, create corresponding benchmarks and ways by which you plan on achieving these objectives.

Step 7: Analyze Your 2013 Marketing tactics If you did create any ads or direct mail? Did you keep record of how effective campaigns were including the database that was hit? Have you done an analysis of your website visitors or your social media?

Create a list that outlines each tactic and their effectiveness. Next to it note what helped you get more clients, calls, visits to your website etc. Remember, just because something works for one company, doesn’t mean it will work for yours- so be realistic about what is worth spending your time on in the upcoming year.

NEXT STEPS
Create a plan for 2014!  Sadly, while everyone knows to address and identify their target market, many people fail to address, in specifics, how they plan to reach out to that market. They fail to develop a comprehensive Marketing Plan as part of their Business Plan.

Having a carefully laid out plan will help you to make better informed decisions year round and when the time comes to make new decisions, you can always refer back to your plan and see how new opportunities fit in to your calendar and budget. A good marketing plan summarizes the: ‘who, what, where, when, and how much’ questions of company marketing and sales activities for the planning year. By following the above listed steps, you would have answered many of these questions in your marketing audit.

• Who are our target buyers?
• What sources of uniqueness or positioning in the market do we have?
• Where will we implement our marketing spending plans?
• When will marketing spending plans occur?
• How much sales, spending, and profits will we achieve? 

How Much to Spend? 
According to SteemFeed in a recent article by Randy Bowden the average small business spends between 2-20% of annual gross revenues on marketing efforts. The amount spent will depend upon the industry of the small business and whether or not it’s a new business or an existing more established business.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) recommends that an established company that earns less than $5 million per year allocates 7-8% of revenues for marketing purposes and that this percent should increase if it’s a new start-up business; particularly for industries such as retail and restaurants. Make sure that your budget includes a mix of tactics such as: 

• Digital Advertising
• Print Advertising
• Event and Trade Show Participation
• Networking Group Memberships
• Social-Media Management
• Professional Photography
• Web site Maintenance
• Graphic Design
• SEO and/or Copywriting Services
• Vehicle Graphics
• Printed Materials such as Flyers and Brochures
• Promotional Items and Branded Clothing

And of course, call us if you prefer that we do your audit and plan for 2014 for you. That's our specialty! hello@purplearrowmarketing.com