Marketing is a huge expense in any business. You invest all the money you can in it and expect to get something back, no matter how small the return! TRUE? You are welcome!

Unfortunately, most business owners understand that marketing is paid for by ads, which are expensive and have a dubious success rate. However, this is not really what marketing is all about.

To create a successful marketing plan for your business, you need to follow five very simple steps. Yes, that’s right five… not fifteen!

In fact, it’s so simple that you can create a successful marketing plan for your business while enjoying a single cup of coffee. Follow these five easy steps the next time you sit down for a cup of coffee, and you’re sure to start 2009 with much more focus and a clear plan of action:

1) Determine your business objective – Stop and think for a moment about what you really want marketing to do for your business. You can’t create a successful marketing plan for your business until you understand what you want your business to achieve in the next 12 months. Maybe you want to increase sales; improve profitability; change perspectives in the marketplace or increase people’s understanding of what makes you different. It’s the vital first step in creating a successful marketing plan…understanding your business objectives from the start.

2) Define what makes a good customer: Next, you must carefully clarify your target market. Who do you want to communicate with? You must first identify them before you can attract or retain them as regular customers. It is important to be as specific as possible here so that you understand what motivates them, how their buying process works, and also what is important to them during/after the sale is made.

3) Clarify your core message: Next you need to be very clear about what you want to communicate to them. And you can’t do that if you don’t understand who they are and what’s important to them! To create a successful marketing plan, you need to be able to concisely document what makes you different and why people should support your business. Once you’ve done this, you need to go back to your target market and verify that what makes you different is relevant and important to your target market, otherwise they won’t hear your message!

4) Choose the right marketing tool: What tools will you use to communicate your core message to your target market to achieve your desired business goals? Marketing tools are a valuable last step as they drive the action and implementation side of the marketing plan. Whether you choose to use market research, public relations, advertising, sponsorship, direct marketing, sales promotion, personal selling, displays, corporate promotional items, or the Internet to communicate your message to your target market, select the one where you control the message. . in its entirety and where the cost per person achieved is the best option available.

5) Determine your marketing budget: The last thing left to do is determine how much it will cost you to implement your marketing plan. Once you’ve gone through this process, you’ll be in a better position to “massage” the figures and actions to match your pocket. You will know which are the must-haves and which are the good-to-haves.

Regardless of whether you are in a product or service related industry, failing to create a successful marketing plan for your business is planning to fail in marketing your business. Don’t be one of those who cry 12 months from now. Do the planning today that others will not, so that tomorrow you will have the results that your competitor will not.