MARKETING PLAN HANDBOOK Dm

Transcription

1 MARKETING PLAN HANDBOOK Dm ROBERT W. BLY Entrepreneur. Press

2 CONTENTS PREFACE Ckapt&if HARNESS THE POWER OF VISION 1 Design Your Business to Deliver the Lifestyle You Seek 3 SIDEBAR Write Conversational Copy for the Best Marketing Results 9 Go Confidently in the Direction of Your Dreams 11 Begin With the End in Mind 12 Paint a Picture of the Possible 13 ACTION Write Your Vision Statement 15 SIDEBAR Crafting Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) 18 Let YourVision Protect You From Making Bad Decisions 21 XV DECIDE WHAT BUSINESS YOU'RE IN 23 SIDEBAR Crafting Your Elevator Pitch 26 Creating a Business to Fulfill Your Vision 27 What Is a Niche? : =.28 SIDEBAR Micro-Niche Your Way to Success 32 Why Is This a Good Niche for Us? 34 ACTION Describe Your Niche 40 SIDEBAR Are You Too Old to Start a Business? 41 GET TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER 43 Qualifying Prospects 44 Create a Customer Database 46 Know Your Customers"'Core Buying Complex" 50 What Do I Want to Know About My Ideal Client? 52 IX

3 MARKETING PLAN HANDBOOK SIDEBAR What The Apprentice Can Teach You About Knowing Your Customers 54 Don't Ignore Government Markets.'; 56 SIDEBAR 12 Government Market Facts at a Glance \ 58 Nonprofit Marketing 59 Know the Lifetime Value of Your Ideal Client 60 Know Why Your Client Buys 62 Know What Benefits Mean the Most to Your Client 62 SIDEBAR Marketing to GOM (Grumpy Old Men) 63 Know the Steps in Your Clients' Buying Process 64 SIDEBAR Five Steps to the Perfect Guarantee 65 Know Where Your Clients Go to Look for Information 67 Know What You Can Learn from Your Current Clients 68 Where Should I Look for Information? 70 ACTION Describe Your Ideal Client 72 Ckapteft4 WHO IS THE COMPETITION? 75 SIDEBAR What They Say About You Online 76 Who Is Your Top Competitor? 76 Look for the Gaps in Service to Your Niche 77 How Do I Learn More About My Competition? 80 SIDEBAR Trade Shows in Your Marketing Mix 80 ACTION Write Your Description of the Com petition 84 SIDEBAR Competition for the Information Marketer 86 STRATEGIZE: POSITION YOUR BUSINESS 89 Bull's-Eye: Position Your Business 89 How to Build a Stronger USP 91 Offer Proof for Your Positioning Statement and USP 97 SIDEBAR Testimonials:The Quickest and Most Powerful Way to Support Your USP 99 Describe What You Want to Accomplish This Year 101 Your Business at a Glance:The Capabilities Brochure 102 SIDEBAR Don't Forget the Yellow Pages 106 ACTION Write Your Goals for Your Business for the Next Year 108

4 ContentA, Ckapteh6 \ BUILD OUT YOUR PRODUCT LINE 113 Cost of Customer Acquisition vs. LCV 115 Creating New Products 117 Features and Benefits 118 Turn Product Flaws Into Selling Points 121 Buying Motivations:The FCB Grid 123 Pricing 124 Selling High-Priced Products 131 SIDEBAR Pricing Strategies for Selling Services 133 SIDEBAR Sell a Lifestyle, Not a Product 134 ASSESS YOUR TACTICS 137 Determine the Response You Want From Your Target ; 137 Decide What Message Will Stimulate This Behavior 138 Decide Which Marketing Tactics Will Best Support Your Strategy 141 Tactics That Reach Your Target Market 143 Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing Tactics 144 The Busy Doctor Syndrome 147 The Silver Rule Of Marketing 149 Choose the Best Three to Five Tactics to Begin 150 SIDEBAR Keyword Due Diligence 153 Marketing in Larger Companies 155 ACTION Identify the Tactics You'll Use 157 SIDEBAR Selling to the "Starving Crowd" 158 Ckapt&iS INTEGRATE ONLINE AND OFFLINE MARKETING 161 Marketing 161 SIDEBAR Five Ways to Get Your Website Ranked Higher on Google 164 Writing and Publishing a Free E-Newsletter 165 SEO Your Website 167 SIDEBAR Add a "Recommended Vendors" Page to Your Site 171 SIDEBAR How I Find Fresh E-Zine Content for 50 Cents per Article 177 Increase Address Capture 177

5 XII / MARKETING PLAN HANDBOOK Blogging i 180 Social Media 182 SIDEBAR Getting Started on the Right Foot at Twitter 184 C/bOflt&l9 PUT YOUR MEASUREMENTS IN PLACE 187 What Metrics Should You Measure? 188 Calculating Marketing RDI 190 Calculating and Measuring ROTI 192 SIDEBAR Doubling Hour and Doubling Day 194 Measuring Web Metrics 197 Marketing Performance Reporting, 204 Create the Tracking System 206 Determine How Often to Review the Data 206 ACTION Write What and How You'll Measure 207 SIDEBAR Predicting the Probable Successor Failure of a New Product or Marketing Idea 208 Ckaptett/O WRITE YOUR PLAN 211 Write It Down to Get It Done 211 SIDEBAR Use a Swipe File to Write Promotions Better and Faster 213 Create a One-Year Plan 215 Budget 217 Plot Major Campaigns First...' 220 Break It Down..:. 222 ACTION Write Your Plan 223 SIDEBAR 10 Ways to Stretch Your Marketing Budget 224 Ckctfljt&ill WORK IT! IMPLEMENTATION 229 What Stage Is Your Business In? 230 Copy:The Foundation of Implementation 232 Write the Way Prospects Talk 234 Writing Great Headlines More Copy Tips \ 240 Make Liberal Use of Free Offers 242

6 Contents XIII SIDEBAR Promote Yourself by Writing Articles Schedule Your Action Steps for the Next 30 Days 249 Follow These Keys to Success 249 Ckafitm!2 REVIEW AND TROUBLESHOOT YOUR PLAN 251 SIDEBAR How Good a Marketer Are You? 252 What You Should Review 254 A Sales Tactic for Overcoming Price Resistance 254 Good, Better, Best 256 SIDEBAR The Psychology of Pricing 257 Testing Your Marketing Campaigns 259 What Price Pulls Best? '. 262 HowToTroubleshoot Your Plan 264 What to Do When It's Not Working 265 Non-Marketing Causes of Marketing Plan Failures 266 Honor Your Refund Policy Pleasantly 269 SIDEBAR Don't Waste Your Customer's Time 274 AppjwdboeA, A GLOSSARY 277 B FORMS & WORKSHEETS 287 C MODEL MARKETING PLAN 305 D MARKETING CONSULTANTS 315 E SOURCES & RESOURCES 321 INDEX 325