Most people, in my experience, write a business plan and then put it on file. These are the ones I’m talking about here that probably won’t be able to “market their way out of a paper bag”. They spend time properly researching the market and their competitors, but they don’t have a specific plan on how to use this information effectively to their advantage. What a waste of time! It may have helped you achieve your goal of obtaining financing, but a business plan is much more than that. It must also be a ACTION PLAN. The action part should include marketing, social media and sales strategies.

Note that I have included social media here. This is because today it must be included as an integral part of any marketing strategy. Along with any strategy, there should be a detailed action schedule with deadlines to help you stay on track as you manage the project, implementing business development through your strategy.

The reason for having a detailed strategy and action plan is to ensure that all your efforts to promote your business and get sales are focused and directed to the areas that will give you the most potential. However, one caveat:

Marketing is the prelude to selling. A sales strategy is also required even if your business is entirely online (online stores are noticeably more difficult to get off the ground and win sales than retail stores)

So what should you include in this marketing action plan?

• Development and design of brand image and logo – just an image and logo or confuse your brand image. Use color or design to differentiate different parts of the business if necessary.
• The design and production of marketing material. – business cards, brochures, etc.
• The design and development of your website – with potential for interaction and sales / reservations whenever possible and applicable.
• An event action plan. – launch party, etc., to promote the business (if necessary).
• An advertising action plan – press releases and a list of media contacts you have made to ensure a better chance of getting free publicity.
• A content schedule and an action plan for each of your social media platforms. – This should include a plan for how and how often you post, share and comment, as well as how you will use analytics to assess the effectiveness of your strategy and make changes to improve it.
• A sales strategy for both online and offline sales – without this, all marketing actions are wasted.

In the same way that you check your business billing and finances against your cash flow projections, as a means of staying on track and making any necessary adjustments, a month-by-month analysis of marketing, social media and sales actions helps reduce risk and improve business. increase.