Marketing Plan Strategy To Get Your Business Real Results!

Horses, shoes, or lolipops - IF you own a business with the intent to make a profit - You will need a Marketing Plan Strategy.

If you are in business with the intention of making money you need to sell your product! In order to successful sell your product you need to effectively communicate with your potential customers, that communication is "marketing".

It's not just the "what" but also the "how to" that needs addressed. Having a marketing plan strategy is crucial in turning any profit as well as continual profits. Honestly most marketing efforts do not generate a significant if any return for most small businesses and most can not afford to higher a professional marketing department.

Most businesses fail to develop a marketing plan outline before they shell out money to a "unsound" marketing endeavor that yeilds NO returns.

You don't have to have an extensive marketing budget to get results with your marketing plan strategy, you just need to understand some basics, get some honest information and the resources that will get your business results.

There is not one business that is identical to another, so tailoring a marketing plan strategy for your unique business is critical!

You will not make any money just standing in front of your barn with a “Horse for Sale” sign.

In traditional horse businesses with a "standard" marketing plan strategy, all of your profits would lie outside of your house, barn and ranch. Applying some Smart - Horse Business Sense you can generate multiple streams of income that will fuel your business in achieving your overall goal, from inside the barn or ranch house.

Marketing Plan Strategy "A strategy is a 'pattern' or 'plan' that 'integrates' an organization's 'major' goals, policies and action sequences into a 'cohesive' whole” – James Quinn

-who is the target market

-what do they want

-how can you motivate them to act now


Rounding up a marketing plan outline...

Marketing Plan Strategy from the ground up...

What is it that sets your product or service apart from everyone else’s....That! is your Unique Selling Proposition – the message you want your customers to know about what you offer – that is the heart of your marketing plan strategy.

Just like No Feet No horse – No USP No Business.

Know in detail for yourself, WHY your customers should trust you and buy from you rather than your competition down the street.

Components of a "Sound" Marketing Plan Strategy

Pricing

Distribution

Budget

Advertising and Promotion

Marketing Materials

Incentives

Publicity

Vision

Goal

Customer Relations

Tracking

Product/Service What is it exactly that you are selling? What are the features of your product or service? What are the physical attributes, what it does, how your product or service differs from competitors? How will your product or service benefit the customer? Benefits are intangible as well as tangible. In the horse industry, potential is what sells horses and "Look Good and Feel Good are an absolute rule" - Don Blazer.

Let’s talk Pricing – determining what you will charge is a key element of your marketing. Your pricing has to be competitive but still allow you to make a profit. Your price often communicates loudly on the value of your product/service; people perceive a product’s value based on its price in most situations. Consider what a viable amount would be your customers would pay; your niche will have a direct affect on your profit margins, the higher end the market - the higher the profits. The standard of measuring value in the horse industry is set by what one is willing to pay. Money is made in the horse industry based on – potential!

“…Potential is the only thing which makes a horse valuable”
– Don Blazer, Make Money with Horses.

Distribution – how your product or service is going to get to the customer. Will this be attending shows and competitions, using a website, direct mail, referrals. Just like with pricing, the places where your product/service is available say a lot about both the "quality" and "status" of what you offer. Your channels of distribution must match the image goals of your business. Applying multiple methods will allow you to build a strong customer base. As mentioned before if you are not in the middle of the market for your niche then you must find that market and go to it - if you want a successful horse business. Using Smart – Horse Business Sense leaves the gate wide open for profit making opportunities.

Marketing Budgets are usually non-existent for most small businesses (lack of finances is the #1 reason businesses fail), however that doesn't mean you can not design and execute effective marketing plan strategy.

There are free and low cost methods that you can impliment. Choose ones that will yield the highest returns, find ways to make money off your own marketing efforts, turn an expense into a profit anytime you can so you can fuel your own marketing.

Reinvest back into your marketing budget - adding - more horse power, then apply some Smart - Horse Business Sense allows you to get more traction out of your own efforts.

Advertising and Promotion - how you're going to deliver your Unique Selling Proposition to your prospective customers. You should plan not only the message you want to use, but also the tools you'll use to spread it to the world. There are thousands of ways to go about this and I won’t attempt to go into them all here but will share with you what I have found to be the most effective and time saving ones with the greatest returns.

Your budget will have a direct effect on this area of your business, it is important to invest in methods that will yield a high return and not leave room for error or chance – your business success depends on it!

Website

Internet - viral

Referral – word of mouth

Television

Radio

Print: newspaper/Magazines/Direct Mail

Telephone books/directories

Billboard/Bench ads

Cooperative advertising

Location

Choose the venues that match your target market when developing your marketing plan strategy. Don't place an ad in a Hunting magazine for your western equitation class. Where are they spending time? What are they reading? What are they looking for? Where do they go when they want or need?

Offering Incentives like free offers, coupons, demonstrations, bonuses are a great opportunity for breeding additional sales, repeat sales and additional income streams, although not used by the majority of businesses. All efforts should appeal to your target market and help drive them to not only be aware of, but also to act on your offer. This would also include other things like client/customer newsletters, a company Web site, etc.

Marketing Materials – brochures, horse business cards, sale sheets/catalogs. Use these in the right context and appropriate settings to avoid excessive waist and loss with no return. When writing the advertising section of your marketing plan, keep your strategies clear and focused on what you are trying to achieve. For example, if you know you are introducing a new stud into your breeding program in six months, then some strategies could be to announce his arrival with a series of ads in different trade publications and/or in your weekly newsletter and/or sending customized color photo announcements to your preferred customer list. Keep in mind you must always tie in your display advertising strategies with your other media strategies to form a consistent chain of communication to your target audience.

Publicity – every business should use this venue. Product launches, special events, community events, writing articles, endorsements, referrals, testimonials are a great asset. -Always keeping a consistent visual theme in all your efforts-

Vision if you have strong vision of where your future lies, then there is a good chance that you will achieve a strong position in and attain a future in that market.

"Nothing drives progress like the imagination. The idea precedes the deed." -Theodore Levitt

Goals what is it exactly you are wanting to accomplish with a specific marketing effort, gather more riding students, acquire more referrals, sale more horses at your fall production sale... If you don't have a target to aim - at you will miss the mark!

Customer Relations- are a crucial area to spend some time as well; most times it is an afterthought, while it should be one of the first things you address. Customers pay the bills, any bad experience a customer or client has with your or your services will not only have an affect on future sales from that person but also from people that person tells about his experience. Customers are the horse power of your business, if you do not show appreciation , develop trust and rapport, your customers will - hit the trail! People do business with people they know and trust. In the horse business world the majority of all new business generated is by word of mouth referrals . Word of mouth is the most powerful form of advertising but it works both ways. Positively and you will have people coming to you, negatively and it is the kiss of death for any business, especially in the horse world.

Tracking - if you are not monitoring what your results are then you are riding blind! Every action must be track-able for ROI analysis. You can not make money if you’re loosing money, you can not plug a hole until you know where it is. If you are not tracking you wouldn’t know if you have a horse sized hole in your marketing plan strategy!
Rounding up a plan...

Adding Extra Kick - To Your Marketing Plan Strategy ...

Your Business Website – In today’s market place this is a must have. Many businesses are recognizing the power and future this holds for their businesses and venture here, but yet tens of millions of businesses large and small have yet to tap into this power. Many do not understand the basic concept of leveraging this effectively to generate revenues.

Caution – many people think it is just a matter of putting up some pages and think the money will just gallop in… It doesn’t work that way. Just because you build it does not mean they will come (customers = income) have a web site marketing plan .



...Bottom line you are limited only by your imagination when it comes to developing your marketing plan strategy. Teach a course, sponsor a community event, launch and email campaign.

Heads Up!

Stay on top of changes in the market place; adjust your marketing plan and strategy to keep pace. Once you write your plan, don’t put it on the shelf and forget about it, refer back to it regularly on a weekly and monthly basis. This will keep you on track to the success you desire. Consistency and repetition are two marketing devices that are key to success.

Establish the fundamental components of a "sound marketing plan strategy" and you will have the basis to generate powerful and effective marketing that produces sales, generates leads, and increases your bottom line.

Leave marketing plan strategy and return to home page