This last year has hit small businesses with ALL. THE. THINGS. As small business owners, we are swimming in change and chaos, and it hurts our brains. Thinking about putting together a 12-month marketing plan is just too much.
In the midst of trying to keep the train on the tracks for our businesses, it’s tough to wrap our heads around what our marketing should now look like. We know we need a strong marketing plan, but the 12-month marketing plan we are used to is just too daunting. First, they are too complicated. Second, they are too fixed. Finally, they are too boring.
In a pre-COVID world, we were creating 12-month marketing plans that take all of our products and services and map out how we will sell them. That is simply no longer possible. We don’t know what is going to happen next month, let alone 12 months from now. Plus, in many cases, we no longer have internal teams that can manage these complicated and comprehensive plans.
In the midst of a crazy year of dramatic shifts in consumer needs, politics, and economy, we need to get away from the 12-month marketing plan and move to something that is more nimble and focused.
The new marketing plan for small businesses looks at the next 90 days and answers the following questions:
1. Which product or service offers our highest net ROI in the next 90-days?
2. Do we have access to the right audiences for this product or service?
3. Simply stated, what problem does this product or service solve for our target audience?
4. What tactics and timeline are needed to effectively and efficiently increase sales for this product or service?
5. Who is going to do the work?
With this new, more focused marketing campaign, it allows your team to work toward one thing at a time, shift quickly if something changes, and track the results more easily.
