Marketing Strategy and Template for Independent Professionals
By Catherine Franz
Posted Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Having a marketing strategy and marketing approach is very important. Thus, instead of recreating the wheel, here is a short, sweet, easy-to-understand marketing strategy template to help you place your ducks are in a row in designing your marketing strategy.
MARKETING STRATEGY FOR INDEPENDENT PROFESSIONALS ...coaches, consultants, accountants, lawyers...
GENERAL OVERVIEW
Business Strengths
Our extensive knowledge of the adventure travel industry is our greatest strength, in addition to our positioning in the region.
Business Weaknesses
The greatest weakness our business faces is our ability to handle new competition. Currently, we are the only providers of our services in the area, and any competitor that moves in will pose a threat to our stability.
BUSINESS GOALS
Profit
Our current profit goals are: Year Two: $__________ post-tax profit Year Three: $________ post-tax profit We have not established any other long-range profit goals at this time
Sales
Our long-term sales goals are to operate at or close to cash flow break-even by Year Two and to be profitable from Year One onward. We would like our profit margin to be 7 percent by Year Three.
Marketing
Our long-term marketing goals are to develop an extensive Web site, to increase our public relations activities, and to create an informative store window to draw in customers.
POSITION IN THE MARKETPLACE
Description of Our Customers
Our customers are ___ to ___-year-old professionals, married or unmarried, without children, who are ___________.
Our Customers’ Needs
Our target customers are looking for customized planning services that will provide them with all the information necessary to take an adventure vacation in Europe. Often, they do not have the time or the resources to do the research themselves, so they turn to us for hassle-free planning services.
Why Our Customers Choose Us
Our well-informed, up-to-date staff, combined with our extensive knowledge of the ______________, allows us to surpass the services provided by other agencies.
What Sets Us Apart From the Competition
What sets our company apart from our competitors is the fact that we sell custom-designed packages for people. We ask them questions, find out exactly what they want and need, and direct them to the appropriate destinations.
MARKETING CAMPAIGN SPECIFICS
STRATEGY
Goals of the Campaign
We would like to increase our visibility, attract new customers, and display special offers that are currently available.
Campaign Focus: Specific Products or General Promotion?
Our primary focus is to expand our customer base. We would also like to keep our current customers aware of special promotions we are offering and secure their future business with us.
Products to be Advertised
We will be advertising our complete range of European adventure travel services, special discounts on travel packages, and sales on seasonal clothing and gear.
Measurements of Success
We will measure this ad campaign’s success by the number of inquiries received after its launch. This includes phone inquiries as well as inquiries made in person at the store.
Evaluation of Effectiveness
We will be reviewing the campaign’s effectiveness one month after its launch. We will evaluate its effectiveness based on the number of inquires we receive and any corresponding increase in revenue.
MESSAGE
Our Marketing Message:
No one knows more about [what] than [Your name]. TIME FRAME
Campaign Start Date
We will launch this marketing campaign in ________.
Length of Campaign
This campaign will run through __________, for a total of ________ months.
BUDGET
Annual Marketing Budget $40,000
Budget For This Campaign
$81,025. This includes $41,325 for Web site and database design, implementation, and hardware purchases, which will be useful for more than one year and will therefore be capitalized and depreciated accordingly.
Cost-Saving Measures
We plan to keep advertising costs down by targeting the most appropriate advertising methods for our business, which include online advertising, newspaper ads, and classified ads.
About the Author
Catherine Franz, a Certified Professional Marketing & Writing Coach, specializes in product development, Internet writing and marketing, nonfiction, training. Newsletters and articles available at: (http://www.abundancecenter.com) blog: (http://abundance.blogs.com)
