Many people want to know precisely what is a marketing plan and why they should have one at all. There are various definitions out there, but simply put, it’s how you get people or prospective clients intrigued in your business, your product or your service. How to position your brand, create messaging and establish your organization’s promotional goals all contribution to supporting your endeavor to interest people. How you participate with or pursue your audience is what defines your business marketing strategy. A marketing program is the foundation for which you are able to judge whether your plan is successful. You can from that plan determine if you’re meeting the objectives set out and defined in the strategy.

Developing an Effective Marketing Strategy

The advertising or promotional program is actually the cornerstone of every marketing effort and acts like a springboard for all future efforts. Some company owners sometimes get so hung up in the finite details of creating, developing and testing a product, they don’t spend the requisite time to figure out who the audience is, what the item should say and why people will be interested. Without paying attention to a marketing plan a product launch could be hurried and not be as successful as a promoted by a marketing plan to guide it in the market.

There are two primary choices in business—expand or contract. This truth has always existed, however it may be of greater significance right now than at any other time in our lifetime.

There’s no doubt about it…

Make Everything Go Your Way.

Things continue to be tough for many businesses right now, and with the current world economic conditions deteriorating, it’s a good bet that things will be getting even tougher.

But that’s EXACTLY why today, more than ever, you need focus on expanding while your competition hunkers down and goes into contraction mode. You will be able to expand your business because everyone else is shrinking.

Warren Buffett is considered the wealthiest stock investor worldwide. Forbes refers to Warren as a man that made his wealth from the stock market. But, that’s not really true. His success actually came from dealing in companies.

Warren didn’t come to be great by dealing in stocks yet came to be a billionaire by dealing in businesses. In fact, Warren is not interested in the price of stocks but in the worth of businesses. It takes resolution and business knowledge to trade businesses; that’s why I refer to Warren as a business owner as much as an investor.

For too many business people, increasing business profitability is a primary objective. So, a common question for them is to ask someone how to increase business profit. As we talk about this subject over the next several minutes we will also explore if that is actually a good question or issue to be concerned with at all.

In its simplest form there are only three parts to a business income statement.

Those three parts are revenue, expenses and profits. The calculation most commonly used is revenues minus expenses equals profits. Looking at business in this way, increasing profits is a simple thing to do.

Either increase revenues or decrease expenses.

It really doesn’t matter how big your company is right now. Small organizations up to extremely large corporations are now very focused on devising new strategies to grow or even sustain the business. Market conditions demand doing so.

Many organizations are trying to create brand-new strategies and tactics to cope. Many of them are trying to figure out how to put these newly created ideas into action.

You don’t have to do anything new.

It is always tempting to pick up the next shiny penny; to try something new; to break out of the rut, etc. As exciting as each of these new techniques, methods, and tricks may be, it is not the right approach to take.

Maximize what you are already doing before trying something new.

I know, you were hoping to drop everything you are doing and to put an entirely new strategy in place.

While it may be true that not everything you are doing is a screaming success, I say focus on what you are now doing, get the fat out of all the processes and maximize productivity.