The Marketing Plan

If you have been working as a financial adviser for a big firm, it is possible that marketing has not been your responsibility and you won’t have had any experience of creating a marketing plan. While it is generally agreed that a business plan is a necessity when starting your own business, the benefits of having your marketing objectives and strategy planned out should not be overlooked. After all, your marketing will be your key strategy for finding and keeping clients. So, as well as a business plan, you need a marketing plan!

Like your business plan, your marketing plan will follow a standard layout which ensures that you consider the strategic, financial, creative and administrative implications for marketing your new business. Spending time on each is a valuable process and will allow you to formulate clear objectives to help get your business off to a strong start.

Objectives

Have achievable goals, for example 10 new clients in the first six months. Set goals for the first year and also consider where you would like to be in three and five years. It’s worth bearing in mind that people tend to overestimate what they can achieve in a year and underestimate what they can achieve in five!

Target market

Which segment of the market will you be targeting with your new business? It is important to keep focussed on this segment and not to try and appeal to anyone and everyone.

USP

What is special about you and your offering? Think about what will make clients choose you above others offering the same or similar service.

Branding

What do you want your company name and logo to say about you? Your brand identity will be key to attracting the clients you have identified as your target market.

Revenue

Understand how and when you will be paid. Work out when you can expect to receive fees and how you can manage cash flow. Remember to closely monitor the amount you are spending on your marketing activity – costs can quickly mount up.

Marketing channels

Think about where you need to focus your marketing to reach your target audience. This is likely to be online as well as through networking so it is important to develop a coherent digital marketing strategy within the document.

Strategy

Your strategy should consider how you are going to achieve your objectives. For example, will a social media campaign drive potential clients to your website?  What will you offer them once they are there? You also need to think about what is often referred to as the ‘client journey’, what they will experience at every stage.

Measure and review

Here you will look at the success of your strategy and check to see if you have met your objectives. It could be the number of new clients, the number of attendees to a networking event, the number of professional connections or the clicks through to your website. You will look at your conversion rate and may revisit your sales techniques. Like your business plan, the marketing plan is a live document and will be under constant review and you must adapt and amend it as your business matures.

There are so many things to consider that it can make your head spin, however, with our business in a box solutions, we have a template marketing strategy for you to adapt, rather than having to start your own from scratch. We are available to help you with the early stages of your business set-up with fundamentals such as your business name and logo.

Importantly we can help you make yourself heard online with a pre-built website and search engine optimisation (SEO) advice and ready-made social media posts. But before you get to that stage we will be working with you, listening to all of your ideas and helping to shape them into a coherent document which helps you make well-informed decisions with clear goals.

So, if you’d like to know more, email info@tenetbiab.co.uk to set up a confidential conversation with one of our business start-up team. You’ll find us approachable, helpful and happy to provide all the information you need to start your own company.