Know your audience well and your marketing plan will be highly effective.
The consummate marketing plan -- one that's effortless yet dynamic and above all, highly effective -- is an admirable goal, but only you know the standard your company, business or industry sets for effectiveness. Like all savvy business professionals, you know it when you see it, so start from a position of confidence, believing that great marketing plans are well conceived, realistic and so beautifully spelled out, even a marketing novice recognizes their effectiveness.
Drum Up Corporate Buy-in
Obtain agreement from company principles on the goals of the marketing plan you're producing so everyone starts off on the same page. Conflicting goals dilute the effectiveness of a marketing plan -- even if it's brilliantly written and covers the standard formatting used by marketers for authoring plans. While you're getting buy-in on the goals, ask principles about complexity. A surprising number of corporate movers and shakers prefer a clear, concise marketing plan they can zip through rather than a master's degree thesis.
Identify Target Audience
When you hone in on your target audience(s), anyone reading your marketing plan should have a crystal-clear picture of your specific demographic. Whether your objective is to conquer the affection and pocketbooks of consumers or the end game revolves around marketing strategies you will use to launch a new enterprise, begin your journey by creating a general analysis of the typical person or company you must reach. Pretend you are a therapist and that your aim is to paint your typical patient with broad-brush strokes so you know what will motivate him to become your customer.
Write Marketing Plan
Start writing the marketing plan using a standard outline that's composed of this hierarchy: goals, strategies you'll use to reach each goal, the key messaging that appeals to your audience and supports each goal, and the actions (tactics) you'll use to grab the attention of your target market and replace former loyalties with your product or service. If it helps to commit this to paper, by all means revisit your business school practices and create a schematic that resembles a family tree, isolating each bundle of goals and supporting actions to maximize the effectiveness of your marketing plan.
Focus on Technology and Communications Tools
Use every technological advance on the planet to support your marketing plan and reach your audience where it lives. If effectiveness can be measured by your reach, broadcasting your messages around the world in a matter of minutes at relatively little expense doesn't get more effective. Take full advantage of YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other Internet resources.
Keep it Real
To be effective, your marketing plan must be relevant and reasonable and your marketing materials must coordinate with your messaging. Every tactic and strategy must make sense. Innovation frequently substitutes for a small budget, and if this is the case in your situation, it's important to monitor all aspects of your marketing plan after launch to measure its effectiveness. You'll live with this plan for at least a year. Make certain it's strong enough to endure and you'll have no problem measuring its effectiveness over time.
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