Wouldn’t it be great if you could follow the Field of Dreams approach to business? What do I mean by that? I mean simply open the doors of your business, then sit back and wait for the people to come. Unfortunately, it’s not a very realistic approach to doing business for most entrepreneurs. What is realistic is putting together a detailed plan for promoting your business, and that approach takes the form of a marketing plan.
Many people cringe at the idea of creating a marketing plan because they have never done one before. Luckily, marketing is not rocket science. True, it is a skill, but it can be mastered over time. That’s good news for anyone who worries about putting together the right marketing plan for their business. Follow these easy steps and you can get started on creating a successful marketing plan in no time at all.
Research Your Market
This is an extremely important part of your marketing plan. Chances are you have already completed a lot of market research beforehand from when you created your initial business plan. Therefore, it should not take much to identify your market segments and what will make your products and/or services stand out from the competition.
Pulling It All Together
The research on your market is just one important piece you need. Other information that will prove helpful in writing your marketing plan includes:
• Latest financial reports (operating budget, profit and loss statements, etc.) for the current and past three years, if available.
• A list of all products and/or services you offer, along with the target market for each.
• Your understanding of the marketplace, i.e. competitors, types of customers you sell to, latest and most relevant demographic data and any information on trends in your markets.
• Input from sales staff as to what the most important points, in their opinion, that should be included in the plan.
Plan Draft – Define
• Market Situation - The market situation will contain your best description of the current state of the marketplace. There is no room for guessing here. You need to know how big your potential market is, who you are going to sell to, and just what your potential customer is (demographics, income level, etc.). A lot of this information is probably in your head, but you’ve never committed it to paper. Now is your chance.
• Threats & Opportunities – This is a continuation of the market situation, as it focuses on the good and bad aspects of the current market. List out what threats and opportunities you see facing your business in the next year. Ask yourself, what trends in the market are working for and against you? Are there competitive trends working in your favor or against you? Do the market demographics favor you or are they against you?
• Marketing Objectives – Here you begin to “paint a picture” of what you see for the future of your business. You want to define what marketing objectives you want to achieve over the coming year (marketing plans are generally one year in length). Each objective should include a narrative description of how you intend to accomplish it, along with concrete numbers. Remember to make your objectives simple, concrete, countable, ambitious, but definitely achievable.
• Implementation – Each objective defined above should have several goals and tactics for achieving each, i.e. the “what” and the “why” of the marketing tasks ahead. In this section, focus on the practical side of each objective: the who, where, when and how it’s going to happen. Create an activity matrix (timeline) so you can plot out when each action needs to be taken.
• Budget – Each planned activity needs to be assigned a dollar amount in a budget. If you are new to calculating a cost of something, give your best estimate and add 25% to be safe. Be sure to consider both internal costs, such as staffing, and external out of pocket expenses when creating your marketing budget.
Finally, regular review of your marketing plan is important. At a minimum, you should be reviewing quarterly, and more ideally, you should be reviewing monthly. Your marketing plan is a work-in-progress so expect it to be adjusted often depending on the results you achieve. To be truly successful, a marketing plan takes time to create and implement, but the effort and time will definitely be worth it.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Taking Advantage of Holiday Marketing
The holidays for many fitness professionals often presents a missed marketing opportunity. With attention focused on the New Year and the bump in revenues that come with health-related New Year resolutions, December generally becomes a “dead month” in terms of marketing. Unfortunately, failure to take advantage of the holiday season can do a disservice to growing your business, as you have many opportunities to connect with existing clients and potentially generate new business.
There are several ways to take advantage of the holidays to promote your services and products. The best place to start is by asking, “What would people need from me during the holidays?” The great news is there are several services you can provided to people ranging from tips to eating healthy during the holidays to gift certificates for stocking stuffers. With just a little thought, you can probably come up with a host of creative ways to connect with your customers. Here are just a few ideas to get you started:
• Gift Certificates. As mentioned, gift certificates make a great gift for anyone. It is also a wonderful way for you to come up with a creative way to bundle a few of your services, if you offer more than just one. For example, you might consider combining a workout plan with some type of nutritional support program. Additionally, you could approach another business in the community to see if they are receptive to collaborating on some type of package deal.
• Holiday Cards. Opinions are often mixed in regards to sending out holiday cards, but they remain a good way to keep in touch with existing clients, or maybe clients you’ve lost touch with over the last year or two. Holiday cards can keep your name in their minds and can also provide you with a great excuse to insert some type of small gift or coupon. Be sure to take the time to sign them personally, and if possible, include a brief personal message. This lets people know you truly remember them. If you are on a tight budget, consider sending out a holiday letter that simply updates them to what’s been happening and any new promotions or upcoming events you are working on in the year to come.
• Promotions. Get in on the holiday action. Come up with your own unique holiday promotion playing off the holidays. How about putting together a campaign using the 12 Days of Christmas for inspiration? You could do 12 days featuring a different product or service each day. Perhaps one day you offer a free consultation, and on another day 25% off a new friend referral.
• Holiday Giveaway. The holidays are a great time to offer clients and prospects a glimpse into the added value you can provide. What do I mean? Navigating the holidays are always challenging for people. All that stress and extra fattening foods takes its tolls. Therefore, wouldn’t it be great if you could show them how much you care by providing them with a holiday survival guide filled with nutritious healthy recipes or tips and suggestions for getting through the holidays without gaining any extra weight? You could also create a tip sheet of fast and easy exercises people could do anywhere. This would come in handy for people who can’t make it into the gym, or maybe who are traveling frequently.
• Holiday Party or Open House. This is a great time to not only connect with your clients, but to meet potential new clients. You don’t have to do anything elaborate or expensive. In fact, take this opportunity to display your facility, staff, and knowledge. Throwing in a small selection of low-fat foods and drink recipes to sample, and you have a festive event!
• Connect. January and February are generally busy months for the fitness industry. That’s why November and December are great months for tending to all the “other marketing” activities that often fall through the cracks, but that are just as important. For example, review and update your marketing materials and website, attend a few community-networking events, and even reconnect with colleagues.
There are several ways to take advantage of the holidays to promote your services and products. The best place to start is by asking, “What would people need from me during the holidays?” The great news is there are several services you can provided to people ranging from tips to eating healthy during the holidays to gift certificates for stocking stuffers. With just a little thought, you can probably come up with a host of creative ways to connect with your customers. Here are just a few ideas to get you started:
• Gift Certificates. As mentioned, gift certificates make a great gift for anyone. It is also a wonderful way for you to come up with a creative way to bundle a few of your services, if you offer more than just one. For example, you might consider combining a workout plan with some type of nutritional support program. Additionally, you could approach another business in the community to see if they are receptive to collaborating on some type of package deal.
• Holiday Cards. Opinions are often mixed in regards to sending out holiday cards, but they remain a good way to keep in touch with existing clients, or maybe clients you’ve lost touch with over the last year or two. Holiday cards can keep your name in their minds and can also provide you with a great excuse to insert some type of small gift or coupon. Be sure to take the time to sign them personally, and if possible, include a brief personal message. This lets people know you truly remember them. If you are on a tight budget, consider sending out a holiday letter that simply updates them to what’s been happening and any new promotions or upcoming events you are working on in the year to come.
• Promotions. Get in on the holiday action. Come up with your own unique holiday promotion playing off the holidays. How about putting together a campaign using the 12 Days of Christmas for inspiration? You could do 12 days featuring a different product or service each day. Perhaps one day you offer a free consultation, and on another day 25% off a new friend referral.
• Holiday Giveaway. The holidays are a great time to offer clients and prospects a glimpse into the added value you can provide. What do I mean? Navigating the holidays are always challenging for people. All that stress and extra fattening foods takes its tolls. Therefore, wouldn’t it be great if you could show them how much you care by providing them with a holiday survival guide filled with nutritious healthy recipes or tips and suggestions for getting through the holidays without gaining any extra weight? You could also create a tip sheet of fast and easy exercises people could do anywhere. This would come in handy for people who can’t make it into the gym, or maybe who are traveling frequently.
• Holiday Party or Open House. This is a great time to not only connect with your clients, but to meet potential new clients. You don’t have to do anything elaborate or expensive. In fact, take this opportunity to display your facility, staff, and knowledge. Throwing in a small selection of low-fat foods and drink recipes to sample, and you have a festive event!
• Connect. January and February are generally busy months for the fitness industry. That’s why November and December are great months for tending to all the “other marketing” activities that often fall through the cracks, but that are just as important. For example, review and update your marketing materials and website, attend a few community-networking events, and even reconnect with colleagues.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Standing Out in the Crowd
Standing out in a crowd may not be the goal of most individuals, but in the realm of business, it is the goal. The ability to make your business stand out amongst a sea of competitors can often prove frustrating. However, if you truly want your business to survive and thrive you need to be able to articulate what makes your business unique to potential customers. How do you do that?
There is a variety of ways to differentiate your business. Here are just a few suggestions to explore:
Start by looking at your products and services. Do you offer a unique product or service that your competitors do not? Differentiating yourself in the fitness industry can sometimes prove challenging, given the multitude of approaches and products out there, but it is definitely not impossible. Also, think in terms of the experience you bring, or any areas you may specialize in that others may not.
Carve Out a Niche. We can’t be all things to all people, and trying to, can often sink a business. If you are especially successful in working with one or two particular client segments, and have generated great results, then think about specializing in those areas with that client demographic. Often, you can create your own niche by looking for holes in the products and/or service offerings of your competition. Have they failed to address a specific problem? If they have, find the solution and then use your competition to point out the differences.
Make an offer they can’t refuse. Another great way to differentiate yourself is to put out an offer that may garner you a little notoriety. For example, offer a money-back guarantee or the first month of membership free. While making an offer customers can’t refuse is a great way to differentiate yourself, be sure that you deliver what you promise. If not, this unique approach will prove useless and could irreparably harm your good reputation.
Offer outstanding customer service. The fitness industry is a very customer-service oriented industry, but unfortunately, many businesses often overlook this important selling feature. Outstanding customer services – the kind where you go above and beyond for your clients – will generally provide the best word of mouth advertising you will ever encounter. If you can give your customers more than you promise, more than they expect, then you definitely have a unique way of standing out from your competitors.
Once you have pinpointed what makes you stand out from the crowd, you will need to communicate that difference to your customers. Be sure to that all of your advertising and promotion efforts clearly communicate this to your intended audience, and more importantly, be sure that you remain consistent and committed to that message. Keep in mind that you are building a brand, and it will take time. If you wonder off point or head in another direction, thinking the approach isn’t working, when all it needed was time, you may potentially harm your business.
There is a variety of ways to differentiate your business. Here are just a few suggestions to explore:
Start by looking at your products and services. Do you offer a unique product or service that your competitors do not? Differentiating yourself in the fitness industry can sometimes prove challenging, given the multitude of approaches and products out there, but it is definitely not impossible. Also, think in terms of the experience you bring, or any areas you may specialize in that others may not.
Carve Out a Niche. We can’t be all things to all people, and trying to, can often sink a business. If you are especially successful in working with one or two particular client segments, and have generated great results, then think about specializing in those areas with that client demographic. Often, you can create your own niche by looking for holes in the products and/or service offerings of your competition. Have they failed to address a specific problem? If they have, find the solution and then use your competition to point out the differences.
Make an offer they can’t refuse. Another great way to differentiate yourself is to put out an offer that may garner you a little notoriety. For example, offer a money-back guarantee or the first month of membership free. While making an offer customers can’t refuse is a great way to differentiate yourself, be sure that you deliver what you promise. If not, this unique approach will prove useless and could irreparably harm your good reputation.
Offer outstanding customer service. The fitness industry is a very customer-service oriented industry, but unfortunately, many businesses often overlook this important selling feature. Outstanding customer services – the kind where you go above and beyond for your clients – will generally provide the best word of mouth advertising you will ever encounter. If you can give your customers more than you promise, more than they expect, then you definitely have a unique way of standing out from your competitors.
Once you have pinpointed what makes you stand out from the crowd, you will need to communicate that difference to your customers. Be sure to that all of your advertising and promotion efforts clearly communicate this to your intended audience, and more importantly, be sure that you remain consistent and committed to that message. Keep in mind that you are building a brand, and it will take time. If you wonder off point or head in another direction, thinking the approach isn’t working, when all it needed was time, you may potentially harm your business.
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