If you’re new to marketing, the first thing you should do is create a marketing plan Often times marketing plans evolve and become more complex as they develop and the business’ needs shift. However the fundamentals are simple and should act as a  guide to coach you through what is needed to achieve success.

Step 1: Analysis

In order to get an idea of what your focus should be, you will need to take some time and do an audit of your venue. Research and review your competition to understand what they are offering and in turn your position in the market. The best way to go about this review process is through a SWOT analysis (Identify your company’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats).

Step 2: Pinpoint Target Market

Developing a brief on who your prospective customers are is the next step in creating a marketing strategy. The aim here is to identify the demographic of your prospects. Are they adventurous? Are they frugal? Are they trendsetters? What their method of purchase? Do they purchase your offering frequently? Questions like this will help paint a clear picture of who you will be speaking to and will shape the way you build your plan.

Step 3: Identify Goals

Make a list of what you would like to achieve. Take into account the results on your analysis, as well as who your target market is.

• Is your aim to increase the size of your database?
• Do you want to increase repeat business?
• Are you wanting to drive new business?
• Is the goal to increase engagement?
• Would you like to expand sales on new product or service offerings to existing customers?
• While creating your list, make sure the goals you include are able to be measured. This will help you see how you’re travelling and if you are able to achieve your goals.

Step 4: Develop Plan of Attack

Once you have identified your core goals, you’re ready to dive into creating your strategy. This step is going to take the most time as you’ll be creating a communication roadmap for your contacts. This map should include cross channel marketing (across email, SMS, and social media) to ensure the best results are met. Additionally, you will want to identify campaigns that may require extra methods of marketing (print, advertising, media, PR, etc) and work out budget accordingly. Creating your marketing strategy should include both a Marketing Schedule as well as outline the Communication touchpoints for Contacts lifecycle.

Once you have built your plan, you’re ready to get started!