Marketing success grows out of a good marketing plan. This is a formal, written document that describes your company's brand marketing and promotional strategies. It should outline who you are, what you do, who your customers are, and how you plan to market to them. Your plan should cover a 12-month period.
While a large company’s marketing plans can be hundreds of pages long, small companies can generally get by with fewer than 10. But those pages contain critical information, so be sure to allow yourself plenty of time to draft your plan – at least a couple of months – because it is the road map that will drive all your marketing efforts over the next year.
A marketing plan is not a one-person initiative. It requires input, insights and feedback from multiple sources: core company personnel from all departments, as well as key customers.
Your marketing plan should include several components: situation, objectives, value proposition, marketing strategy and tactics to achieve your marketing goals.
