There’s a wealth of content out here on the internet, and it’s an amount that’s steadily increasing every day. Studies have shown that hundreds of new websites are created every minute.
With so much out there for the average web browser to look at, it can be hard for your business to stand out. It can be a challenge getting a browser to even hear of your company, much less visit your site.
That’s why the marketing plan for your business is so essential. You need to properly use the resources at your disposal to stand out from the crowd and draw people in. A pay per click marketing plan, properly executed, can do exactly that.
Read on, and we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about how to create a marketing plan.
Developing a Marketing Plan
You’re serious and determined about getting your business to stand out in a crowded marketplace. You’ve committed some time and money to this goal. Great. Now what?
Most business owners don’t know how to start the process of developing a marketing plan. Planning paralysis tends to take over. But the reason is that you don’t have the information to feel excited and educated about putting your plan together.
That’s why you need to take the time to do some research and evaluate. Take an honest look at your business and your goals. Where are you currently at in terms of your reach, and where do you want to be?
Set aside a marketing budget that seems in line with the ambition of your goal. Take time to analyze current industry trends, your competitors, and your audience.
How are competing companies positioning themselves in the market? What strategies or tools are they using? What does your intended audience seem to respond to best online?
Many business owners get antsy when developing a plan, but this research can be essential to your success later on.
When calculating your marketing budget, consider a return-on-investment based approach that bases future growth estimates on past historical data. If your budget is higher than your internal capabilities, it’s a great time to consider outsourcing such work to a third party.
What’s in a Marketing Plan?
Before you embark on spending your budget, you’ll want to create an organized marketing plan that you can present to your team, investors, or other relevant parties.
Having an organized marketing plan can keep your company on the same page moving forward into the execution phase.
Your marketing plan should include a business summary, which outlines all basic information about your business. This includes your headquarters location, your mission statement, and any and all general info.
It also can and should include a SWOT analysis that breaks down the strengths and weaknesses your company currently exhibits.
Then breakdown your business initiatives and target market. When organizing company goals, steer away from the big picture goals you have for your company. Make sure that all initiatives that you’re listing pertain to marketing and audience.
The key here is to set a quantifiable expectation of how these goals will be measured. Without this essential step, it’ll be impossible to keep track if you’re marketing plan is a success or failure.
Breakdown a hypothetical persona of your ideal target customer. Focus on demographic traits like age, location, job title, and interests. This will help you better understand how to go about getting such a person’s attention.
Then turn the microscope back on yourself. What is your company offering that would interest such a person? Why would it interest them? Being able to properly articulate the opening your company sees in the market will be key to developing effective marketing materials.
Last but not least, discuss the marketing channels that your company sees most fit to use. Where does your target customer spend time online? This info will be essential in developing a PPC strategy.
Marketing Building Blocks: SEO & PPC
When it comes to building a proper marketing plan for the web, the two main tenants of your work will revolve around two acronyms: SEO and PPC.
If you know even a little about web-based advertising, you’re probably already familiar with both concepts. SEO involves strategically using keywords to help increase your search engine ranking. PPC also involves using keywords but involves advertisements on other websites that when clicked lead back to yours.
Both practices bring new viewers to your site and both rely on strategically used keywords. SEO involves work that you’re directly doing to your site, while PPC works through various companies such as Google, Facebook, or Twitter.
The work you’ve done in developing your market plan will go hand-in-hand with these tools. Terms relevant to your audience and your product will be turned into attention-grabbing keywords.
You can narrow your focus based off of your research and place ads strategically where your target audience will be sure to see them.
It can take a lot of time and work to properly develop and execute a PPC marketing plan. But when done well, the results can be truly extraordinary for your business.
How to Create a Marketing Plan
Many small business owners struggle with how to even begin developing a proper marketing strategy. The above tips on how to create a marketing plan can help you avoid that fate and set your company up on the path to success.
Need help developing the perfect PPC plan for your business? Contact us for more personalized assistance.