Page 349 - Duct Tape Marketing

333Chapter 22: Ten Steps to a Great Marketing Plan

size), and psychographics (how your customers live including their attitudes,
behavioral patterns, beliefs, and values). See Chapter 2 for assistance. By
defining your market and knowing your customer profile, you can

ߜ Develop marketing tactics that appeal to your target market.
ߜ Create advertising messages that align with the unique interests and

emotions of existing and prospective customers.
ߜ Select effective communication vehicles.
ߜ Weigh media sales pitches based on the ability of proposed advertising

packages to reach those who match your customer profile — accepting
opportunities with confidence or rejecting them quickly if they don’t
provide a cost-effective way to reach your clearly defined target market.

Step 5: Advance Your Position,
Brand, and Creative Strategy

Your marketing plan should state your company’s position and brand state-
ments, along with the creative strategy you will follow to ensure that all mar-
keting efforts implemented over the marketing plan period will advance a
single, unified image for your company. Here are some definitions to help you
with this step:

ߜ Your brand is the set of characteristics, attributes, and implied promises
that people remember and trust to be true about your business.

ߜ Your position is the available and meaningful niche that your business —
and only your business — can fill in your target consumer’s mind.

ߜ Your creative strategy is the formula you will follow to uphold your brand
and position in all your marketing communications.

See Chapter 7 for information, examples, and step-by-step advice for creating
your brand, positioning, and creative strategy statements.

Step 6: Set Your Marketing Strategies

The next component in your marketing plan details the strategies you will
follow, including the strategies for each of the following:

ߜ Product strategies: How will you use your products to develop cus-
tomers and sales? Will you be introducing new products or revising
existing products over the marketing period? Will you shift emphasis
to a certain product or package of products?