As we continue exploring the 6 top business goals for 2023, we turn to marketing today. The beginning of the year is always a good time to refresh your marketing and strategize how you can best reach customers in the year ahead. Today we’ll walk you through the steps to create a strategic marketing plan to boost your business this year! But first, let’s back up and answer the important question, ‘What is a marketing plan?’
What Is a Marketing Plan?
A marketing plan is a strategic document that outlines the actions a business will take to promote and sell its products or services. It serves as a roadmap for your marketing efforts and helps you prioritize your resources, allocate your budget, and measure your progress.
Creating a formal marketing plan may sound like more work (in your already-busy schedule), but it is well worth your time. Research from CoSchedule’s 2023 Marketing Trends report found that marketers who proactively plan their marketing are 331% more likely to report success!
What are the benefits of a marketing plan?
- It provides a clear direction for your marketing efforts.
- It helps you prioritize your resources and allocate your budget effectively.
- It enables you to measure your progress and track your goals.
- It helps you stay organized and focused on your marketing objectives.
- It improves your chances of achieving your marketing objectives and driving growth for your franchise.
- It helps you stay ahead of the competition and respond to market changes quickly.
- It enables you to continuously refine and improve your marketing strategy over time.
- It improves the overall success and impact of your marketing efforts.
With these benefits in mind, let’s discuss 10 steps to build or refresh your marketing plan for 2023.
10 Steps to Build a Strategic Marketing Plan
As a franchise business owner, it’s important to constantly assess and refresh your marketing plan and strategy to stay ahead of the competition and reach your business goals. In 2023, it’s crucial to have a well-thought-out and strategic marketing plan in place. Here are 10 steps to help you build a winning marketing plan for your franchise this year.
1. Define Your Target Audience
Understanding your target audience is key to effective marketing. You need to know who your customers are, what they’re looking for, and their needs and interests. Conduct market research, analyze customer data, and use customer feedback to develop a clear picture of your target audience. You can also use customer experience mapping to understand how they find and interact with your business. Once you know your target audience, you can tailor your marketing efforts to meet their specific needs.
Bonus Tip: Customer feedback can also help you discover the exact language customers use to talk about their challenges, pain points, and why they choose your brand. Gather this data to use in your marketing messages (step 7)!
2. Identify Your Unique Selling Proposition
Your unique selling proposition is what sets your franchise apart from your competitors. This can be your products or services, brand, customer service, or anything else that makes your franchise unique. Understanding your unique selling proposition is essential for developing effective marketing strategies. Use it to guide your marketing efforts and communicate it clearly to your target audience. For help, check out this article about finding your differentiator. It was written for auto dealerships, but the advice applies to all franchises regardless of industry.
3. Research Your Competition
Knowing your competition is just as important as knowing your target audience. Research your competition to find out what they’re doing right, what they’re doing wrong, and what they’re not doing. This information will help you identify opportunities and make informed decisions about your marketing strategies. It may even help you to reevaluate and refine your USP to be truly unique. You may consider conducting a competitive analysis to get a detailed understanding of your competition, or at the very least, ask yourself these questions to get a good picture of each competitor:
- Who are their target customers, and what are their needs and preferences?
- What products or services do they offer?
- How do they differentiate themselves from others in the market?
- What are their marketing channels and tactics, and how effective are they?
- How do they position themselves in the market, and what is their brand image?
- What is their pricing strategy, and how does it compare to yours?
- What are their strengths and weaknesses, and how can you leverage this information to gain a competitive advantage?
4. Set Measurable Goals
Setting measurable goals for your marketing allows you to track progress and make informed decisions. Consider what you want to achieve with your marketing efforts, and set specific, measurable goals that align with your overall business objectives. This could include increasing brand awareness, generating more leads, or increasing sales. Regularly track your progress and adjust your goals as needed.
For help in setting effective goals, revisit our article on goal-setting frameworks.
5. Develop a Budget
Determine how much you will spend on marketing efforts and allocate your budget accordingly. Consider what channels you’ll use, how much each channel will cost, and how much you’re willing to spend on each channel. Make sure your budget is realistic and aligns with your goals.
For a reference point, HubSpot found that the typical marketing budget in 2023 is roughly 13.6 percent of the company’s total budget.
6. Choose the Right Channels
With so many marketing channels available, choosing the ones that will work best for your franchise is important. This may include social media, email marketing, content marketing/website, or paid advertising. Consider what channels your target audience uses, your competition uses, and what channels will best meet your goals. Focus on a few channels and master them rather than spreading your efforts too thin across multiple channels.
Don’t forget traditional channels, either. Statistics from the USPS suggest direct mail is coming back. Also, with the latest technology, you can even turn your phone into a marketing machine! FranchisePhones® VoIP phone system allows you to create custom in-ring and on-hold messages that are perfect for marketing to prospects and customers who call in.
7. Create a Content Strategy
A strong content strategy is crucial for any marketing plan. Decide what type of content you want to create, how often you will publish it, and what channels you’ll use to distribute it. To narrow down your options, consider:
- What type of content is your target audience looking for?
- What kind of content is your competition creating?
- What content will work best for your selected marketing channels?
- What type of content aligns with your goals?
Use data and analytics to track the success of your content and make informed decisions about what’s working and what’s not.
8. Utilize Data and Analytics
Use data and analytics to track your website traffic, conversion rates, social media engagement, and other key metrics. This information will help you make informed decisions about what to keep, what to change, and what to try next.
For example, FranchisePhones® VoIP has call tracking that can help you increase the ROI of your phone-based marketing campaigns. Call tracking allows you to assign different phone numbers to your marketing efforts. For example, you may use one phone number on your website, another for your radio campaign, and a third for a direct mail piece. Call tracking reports will give you statistics on the effectiveness of each channel, so you know which ones are successful. To learn more, check out our call tracking and analytics features.
9. Engage with Your Audience
Interacting with your audience is a crucial part of any successful marketing plan. Respond to customer inquiries and feedback, engage with your followers on social media, and create opportunities for your customers to connect with your franchise. Building relationships with your customers can help you gain valuable insights into their needs and interests so that you can tailor your marketing strategy and message.
10. Continuously Assess and Refine Your Plan
Your marketing plan should be a living document that is constantly evolving. Regularly assess your progress, track your goals, and make necessary changes to your plan. Stay up to date on the latest marketing trends and technologies, and be willing to try new things. Continuously refining your plan will help you stay ahead of the competition and achieve your marketing goals in 2023 and beyond.
Build Your Strategic Marketing Plan Today!
In conclusion, building a successful marketing plan for your franchise in 2023 requires careful consideration and strategic planning. Following these 10 steps, you can create a plan tailored to your target audience, competition, and business goals. With a clear plan in place, you’ll be well on your way to achieving your marketing objectives and driving growth for your franchise.
You have a lot of work ahead of you, so we’ll leave you to it! As for us, we’ll be back next time to discuss our next 2023 business goal – improving customer service.
