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Marketing Plan 2013

Submitted by Mitch Seigel on Wed, 12/26/2012

Failing to plan is planning to fail. We’ve all heard this so many times, yet the majority of us continue to not set plans on how to achieve our objectives.

Your marketing plan should be developed each year, and it should also be analyzed continuously throughout the year to make sure you are on track or to make adjustments. If you do not have a marketing department, then someone needs to be in charge of this task. If you have a small business, that person may be you.

The annual marketing plan should be part of the business planning process for the company. It should be developed based on overall goals for the company, up to and including additional product purchases, competition in the market, new services being made available to your customers and all other revenue generating streams your company develops.

I’m writing this blog now, only as a reminder to those who have done this exercise yet. It really should be done around mid-year, when overall planning starts for the following year. If you are stuck on where to begin, your local SBA or SCORE offices have templates available both in their offices and online. Research will need to be done and then you can follow directions to get it in motion.

While there are some companies who make it by the stroke of luck, most do not plan to fail. Don’t procrastinate, get started today.

What are your challenges when it comes to developing your marketing plan? I look forward to hearing your comments. Until next time…