Marketing Planning, Positioning and Implementation for smaller businesses

With over 30 years experience in strategic marketing, I can work with you in assessing your business needs and formulating, where required, a practical Marketing Plan. As a former Marketing Manager for large organisations, I have the formal background to assist smaller businesses plan and market themselves more effectively.

• Discussing, writing and presenting a strategic Marketing Plan.
• Identifying objectives and drawing out a marketing programme to achieve them.
• Planning and implementing specific marketing projects and campaigns.
• Market research and surveys to identify opportunities and customer response.

No two companies are the same. Even if your product, structure and size bear similarities to another company, your objectives and operation will vary - and so should your marketing approach. Marketing is about identifying where you are now and where you want to get to in the future.

To achieve your goals, we need to communicate the features and benefits you can offer your customers and what makes you stand out from the crowd. A tailored marketing approach will add value and enable your business to grow and prosper.

The Strategic Marketing Plan

A professional, practical Marketing Plan is the ideal starting point. If your company has never had a Marketing Plan, this is something you should seriously consider. If you have already taken this important step, but have not updated it recently, then this is something I can help with also. We usually begin a strategic Marketing Plan by establishing your short and long term business goals, which may include:

• To generate more sales, revenue and profit
• To achieve a greater competitive advantage
• To raise company profile and market awareness
• To increase customer acquisition and retention

This is important to establish how you wish your company to be viewed by customers, suppliers and competitors - your market positioning. After this the Marketing Plan may typically consider and review the following:

• Background and review of the company's past and present performance
• A detailed sector breakdown of clients and prospects
• SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats)
• Initial research into the industry and target markets
• Development and written proposal of a practical marketing strategy
• Scheduling and costing of the marketing programme / implementation

The end result should be a realistic, flexible programme to take the company forward and measure its ongoing performance. It should be constantly reviewed, amended and referred to over future months and years.

So if you are a SME and looking for a marketing consultant in the Leeds, Bradford or West Yorkshire area to look after your marketing strategy, planning and implementation, please contact Project Marketing now.