A marketing plan is an integral part of starting or building a business, and too many people start without out one… Or worse with a poor one.
If you start without a marketing plan, you still have a plan, it just so happens it’s not a very good one.
But there’s a reason people start without a marketing plan because they make it out to be something more complicated than it really is.
A marketing plan does not have to be complicated in fact, I’m going to give you five easy steps to create a marketing plan that works so you can attract new clients to your business quickly and easily.
I have one disclaimer, marketing is not an overnight process.
It requires consistency, patience, and constant tweaking until you find something that works well for you, and then you amplify your efforts times 10.
The goal of your marketing plan should be to find something that works, so you have an accurate metric to tell you what your return on investment will be for every dollar you spend. When you find something that brings in two dollars of profit for every dollar you spend you have hit a home run, and when it happens, your life and your business will be very different from the way it is today.
So let’s look at 5 things you can do to create a marketing plan that attracts clients.
- Who do you want to reach?
If you market to everyone, you will attract no one.
You may have a product or service that everyone can use, but unless you have a “Budweiser” budget, marketing to everyone is the easiest way to spend all of your money and not have anything to show for it.
Pick a niche and grow inside the niche.
For instance, let’s say you are a business coach who helps people get more speaking gigs.
There are millions of business coaches out there, and you can’t possibly help all of them, nor would you want to.
You might want to narrow your focus to business coaches who speak at charity events which would dramatically narrow your focus and allow you to laser target your clients.
The more targeted, the better your results will be because your marketing materials will be written for a specific audience.
When they read your message, watch your videos, or listen to your podcast, they will feel like you are talking specifically to them because you are.
Determine who you want to reach and market only to them.
As you grow, you can add additional niches.
- How do you intend to reach your target audience?
How you intend to reach your target audience will be a crucial aspect of your marketing.
There are many methods to reach them.
I highly recommend you use at least two methods to reach your target audience initially.
One of those methods needs to be email, and the second method will be determined by where you feel most comfortable.
You can use YouTube, Facebook, Google AdWords, your blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, and on and on. The list of methods is long, and as I said earlier, you will want to use at least two of these.
It is not important which method you choose but pick one and stick with it along with email.
Why is email so important?
Because email allows you to communicate with your clients on your schedule, not on theirs. With email, you can create a campaign in advance and reach every new prospect with the same prewritten messages at the same predetermined time after they enter your funnel.
So how do you pick which method you’re going to use besides email?
My recommendation would be to use something you’re comfortable with.
If you’re comfortable making videos, you can use YouTube and post those videos across other social media platforms.
The key is to be yourself.
You may not realize that YouTube is the second largest search engine, so creating videos and optimizing the description can propel you very quickly to the top of the search engines.
No matter which media or social media you use, the objective is to get the prospect off of that social media and onto your email list.
You do this effectively by offering them an ethical bribe which we will discuss shortly.
One thing to know about social media, algorithms change, and this is why you will want to get people on your email list.
If you become dependent on any one social media, it will come back to haunt you long-term so make sure you get people on your email list this should be part of your marketing plan.
- How will you make your products and services irresistible to the right clients?
How do you make your products and services irresistible to the right clients?
I’m going to give you a short description of how good copywriting works.
In order to make your products and services irresistible, you have to understand your prospects’ pain, then you want to amplify that pain, then assure them that there is a solution to that pain and make them believe that you are an expert at solving their problem. When you do this effectively, with a great offer, your ideal prospects will be eating out of your hand.
I have a new coaching program I’m launching called Baseball Copywriting, and it’s just about complete. I’d like to know if I left anything out so if you have any questions on how to make your marketing as compelling as possible, please go to DavidMulvaney.com/marketingquestions and let me know your biggest question or concern about marketing.
In Baseball Copywriting, I will show you how to create an irresistible offer that attracts your ideal clients.
Take the time to figure out your clients’ pain points and how your products and services relieve that pain.
Make an extensive list of your clients’ pain, their fears, the obstacles they face, and what their life would be like once you solve their problems or made their lives better.
Tell them about the transformation they will experience once you solve their problem.
When you do this well, your clients will think you know them intimately and will be compelled to buy from you because people purchase from those they like and trust, and nothing makes someone trust you more than when you reach them on an emotional level.
- What will you use to entice them to join your list?
The old days of asking someone to sign up for your newsletter are gone.
People need a good reason to give you their name and email address, and a newsletter is too vague.
You need a lead magnet that answers their wants and desires.
A lead magnet is sometimes referred to as an ethical bribe because it entices your prospect to give you their information in exchange for something they want in return.
The better your lead magnet, the more likely that the exchange will occur.
To create a good lead magnet, you can use video, audio, written content, a special report, a white paper, coupons and just about anything you can think of that your prospects will want. The more creative you can be, the more you will stand out from the crowd.
When it comes to marketing, you want to be the thumb, not the finger.
The thumb looks and acts differently than the fingers.
Whatever you choose to use for a lead magnet, you should really give your best.
If you know how to solve your prospect’s problem tell them how to do it.
I once had a generator that wouldn’t start.
I got online and found a website that told me everything I needed to know how to clean the carburetor, which is what I needed to do.
I did it successfully, and it runs to this day but had I needed any parts I would surely have purchased from the guy who showed me what I needed to do in the first place.
This is how you build trust with your prospect.
One last thing, the lead magnet is designed to get the prospect off social media and onto your email list.
Your list will become one of the most valuable resources for your business, so you need to spend the time and money necessary to attract your ideal prospects.
- What processes will you use to nurture leads?
Once a prospect opts into your list, they might not be anywhere close to making a purchase.
I use a phrase I call the 4 “R”s of marketing.
It’s a fact, the right message, in front of the right audience, at the right time, will produce the right result.
So you know who you want to market to.
You created the right message to attract them and provided a lead magnet to get them to trust you and with the ultimate goal of selling them something.
The only problem left is that you never know when they will be ready to purchase, so you need to communicate with them regularly.
Depending on your business model, that could mean as often as every day or as little as once a month.
Whatever frequency you choose, consistency is probably the most important because you want to remain fresh on your prospects mind so when they do become ready to have you solve their problem or make their life better you want them to turn to you.
This is why it is so essential for you to move your prospects off of social media and onto your email list.
100 prequalified, loyal fans on your email list is far more valuable than thousands of people connected with you on social media who like one of your posts on occasion.
If you spend the time to clarify each of these five areas of your marketing plan, you will have a plan to grow your business massively over the next 12 months and beyond.
I created a 5 Step Marketing Plan template, and you can get a free copy by clicking here.
If you would like to have a discussion about your marketing goals, click on this calendar link and pick a time that works for both of us. Click here.