Remember when you used to be able to write a marketing plan for the coming year and pretty accurately predict what was coming? Well those days are gone, my friend. That’s not to say you shouldn’t be planning anymore. It just means that your plan needs to be more of a fluid document than it used to be.
The basics of marketing are still the same. In my 1995 book Shoestring Marketing, I used this definition of marketing: Marketing is the process by which sellers find buyers and goods and services move from producer to consumer. My two programs on Monday at The Car Wash Show will focus on basics to help you find more buyers and move more goods and services to them (and more cash from them to you!).
There is much more to marketing than just promotion. In fact, that’s the last of what I call the Five Building Blocks. Don’t make the mistake of going head-long into promotion until you’ve done some planning first.
Market research and product development are the two foundation blocks. Market research is about knowing who your business is built to serve, and where they are in your market. Everything about your business should be built around a specific target customer.
Product development is about creating services and packages of services that they want. Something that sounds like a great idea to you isn’t going to make money if it doesn’t sound like a great idea to your target customer (which is why market research came first).
Distribution and pricing are the next level in your plan. Distribution is how people will do business with you. It includes selecting a location that is convenient, both in terms of finding it and getting in and out easily, plus making it easy to buy. If your target customer wants to pay with their smartphone, you’d better make it happen. If they want you to provide mobile service and come to them, you’d better make it happen. (It’s still all about the target customer.)
Pricing is about delivering a fair value for the amount you charge. It must be palatable and affordable to your target customer, and it must be profitable for you. When and what kind of special offers you promote is a delicate balance. There are times when you want to bring in a rush of business, but you don’t want to train your target customer to wait for specials to come in.
Start working on promotion only after you have clearly thought out the other four building blocks. Too many businesses dive into social media, direct mail, advertising and all manner of media promotion without having a clear idea of what they want to accomplish in the big picture.
Offer a low price in a few promotions, and your market may get the message that you’re usually overpriced the rest of the year. Put a lot of energy into a social media promotion, and you may attract a lot of one-time-only customers. Refuse to accept certain forms of payment, and the people you most want to work with will go where they feel more welcome. Products and packages that don’t make sense to your target customer will squander your precious marketing resources.
The pieces all have to fit together or your marketing becomes disjointed and ineffective. Yes, your marketing plan has to be fluid in times of change, but you do need a plan if you want to market effectively.