Your business plan should include a marketing plan

Carol was a real estate agent, a partner in a new real estate agency. The other partner was a broker, so she took on that part of the responsibility while Carol kept the books and did the advertising.

They didn’t call their advertising marketing, and it really wasn’t.

His method was simple. Every time they had a closing, she would look at how much money had come into the account and figure out where she could spend it on advertising.

Can you see where this is going? He forgot about all those other mundane expenses like rent, electric bills, phone service, etc. So when those bills came, she panicked. And she sometimes paid late fees if the next closing didn’t come soon enough.

Carol had no idea how much she should spend on advertising, because she and her partner didn’t have a marketing plan.

They had both been real estate agents for several years, but they worked for other people and hadn’t paid much attention to where their clients came from. So they had no idea what media to use for advertising. They didn’t know if people responded to their ads in the newspaper, to their pages in a housing magazine, or simply to the signs posted on their properties for sale.

On top of that, Carol was easily led by salespeople who came up and offered the latest and greatest idea. She bought everything from exclusive ads supporting school sports to restaurant placemat ads and shopping cart ads. If there was enough money in the checking account, she would buy.

I should have started on a budget. Although no small business person can predict how many dollars will come into the business in any given month, he can make an estimate based on past history. After taking out all the fixed expenses like rent, they can see what percentage is left over for other things. A portion of that should go towards marketing.

But that full percentage shouldn’t automatically be spent each month. Instead, they should plan ahead for quarterly and annual promotions that take up the biggest chunk of marketing dollars, and set aside a portion of revenue each month to cover those recurring expenses. For example, if they send out a quarterly newsletter, they need to budget for printing and postage. And if they buy and send gift items to their customers during the holidays, that cost must be factored in.

If the business is real estate, annual expenses, such as replacing yard signs, should also be included in the plan.

The next step, once you see how many dollars you have to work on media marketing, is to carefully consider where those dollars should be spent for maximum effectiveness.

Most businesses will benefit from a web presence, which is a small expense once the website is up and running. But even a hosting fee of $10 or $20 per month adds up over a year, so it needs to be budgeted for.

All businesses need to know who their customers are so they can choose the right location to reach more of them. If it turns out that most of your clients are between the ages of 25 and 35, no amount of advertising in “Senior Times” will build your business!

Next, companies need to pay attention and keep track of where customers come from. In some businesses, like real estate or insurance, it’s easy to just ask. In others you don’t have that opportunity. But a coupon or special offer with a promo code will reveal the truth. If you put a valuable coupon in a post and it doesn’t get a lot of takers, you know that’s the wrong place to advertise it!

It is also important to test the size of the ad. Sometimes a smaller ad will draw just as well as a larger one. But sometimes not. If your budget is tight, it might be more effective to run a large ad every two to three weeks instead of a small one every week. Testing the results is the key.

The second part of creating a marketing plan is the marketing copy itself. Good writing takes time. Seasonal promotions must be planned in advance and printing arranged or merchandise ordered long before it is needed.

Small business owners are often afraid to write their ad copy. They’re not good at it, so put it off until the last minute. I’ve seen real estate agents trying to write copy to promote a house with only 15 minutes to go before the deadline.

I believe that no ad is better than a bad ad, because poor copy gives the impression of a sloppy, unprofessional business. It is a real waste of money.

With your marketing plan in front of you, you can allow yourself plenty of time to set aside some quiet time to write your copy yourself, or explain your needs and take your background materials to a copywriter who will do it for you.

Yes, copywriting is another expense that should be included in the marketing budget, but if you’re really not good at it and don’t want to take the time to develop the skill, professional copywriting services will pay for themselves with a raise. Went back.

Oh, you’re probably wondering what happened to Carol.

When his partner finally realized what he was doing and why they were broke, they got into a huge battle. Their exchange was not very pleasant and actually ended up in court.

A marketing plan, agreed upon by both partners, would have saved them a lot of complaints and a lot of money.

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