A marketing plan plays a vital role in a company’s strategy. Whether you hire a firm or do it yourself, taking time to establish your goals and the steps you’ll take to get there are important for success.

Every marketing plan will look a little bit different as they have different objectives in mind. Here are 5 easy steps to create your plan:

  • Determine your marketing plan’s length of time. Is this a six-month, one-year, three-year or five-year plan? We generally create six-month plans for clients, and re-evaluate as we approach the end, although a one-year plan might be more appropriate for your business.
  • Create a list of goals. Figure out what you want accomplished by the end of the plan. Do you want to make it easier for people to find you online or increase your name recognition? Write it down. Keep in mind that as you create these goals, you need to have a way to track them, too.
  • Create a list of activities. These are the activities you’re going to take to achieve your goals. For example, if one of your goals is to increase your online presence, a few of your activities could be adding a blog to your site and become active on Twitter.
  • Create a schedule. Decide which activities you plan to focus on each month. For example, if you’re adding a blog and becoming active on Twitter, month 1 should include creating a blog template, brainstorming blog ideas and setting up a Twitter account. Then, month 2 could include 1-2 blog posts per week and 1-2 Twitter updates per day.  Remember to spread the activities out over the six months, year, two years, etc. so you can stay on track.
  • Stick to your plan. Once you have your plan in place, stick to it – even if you don’t feel like it. Remember that marketing takes time, and working on it a little bit every day will get you further than spending one full day a month focusing on it.

Repeat: As you approach the end of your plan, look over the past six months, year or however long your plan has been in effect. What worked? What didn’t? Think about what you want to keep for the next plan and what new activities you want to try and then repeat the process.

What other suggestions do you have for do-it-yourself marketers creating their first marketing plan?

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