Eight reasons why you need a marketing plan

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Eight reasons why you need a marketing plan

Marketing Measurement, Marketing Planning and Control, Marketing StrategyBy Annette Harpham

“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there”

So sang George Harrison. But it’s just as true for marketing. Your marketing plan is an essential document to make your marketing happen. Here’s why you need one.

Planning is key to success for any mission – and marketing is no exception. Failing to plan means planning to fail – you risk wasting your budget, drifting from one random opportunity to another in the hope that something will bring you sales. Chances are, it won’t. The time and money you spend putting a plan together is a drop in the ocean compared to what you could waste, and the opportunities you could lose, doing the wrong thing.
Marketing planning turns your aims into actions; real steps that can lead to success. Vision is great – but planning starts to make it real, and gets ruthless about things like who, when, and how much.
A marketing plan keeps you focused and on track. It’s a thought-out, systematic way to approach your marketing that makes sure the things you do work together sensibly. It can stop you going off on a tangent, which can damage your brand and waste time and money.
A marketing plan gives you a road-map. It doesn’t guarantee everything will run like clockwork, and all plans have to be flexible… but if circumstances change, a marketing plan will help you understand what that means for your business and marketing, and help you adapt more quickly.
Planning gets your thinking down on paper. It’s an issue of business continuity. Your staff may change, but your plan should remain constant.
Marketing planning helps you decide the resources you need – to minimise nasty surprises along the way.
Planning helps you communicate what you’re doing to others in the organisation, market partners, new staff, and potential investors – so they can have confidence, get enthusiastic and contribute.
Planning helps to check when things are working – and when they’re not. For example, if you’re getting good results, you’ll be able to know why. But if you’re overspending your budget, or falling behind on projects, it can help you identify what might be going wrong, and what you need to do.

Don’t let your marketing go astray. Get a marketing plan. We’re here to help.

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