In short. As long as it has to be.
What to put in it? In short, a step by step instructional on how you will expose your services to the consumer.
A business plan and marketing plan are intended to be documents of reference during complex times. When you are losing your focus, gonig through self doubt - you go to these documents.
Don't spend too much time on them though. If you have an online business focus on digital marketing steps, if not then make sure to cover the position you will take in the market such as price competitiveness, value proposition, write down examples of why customers might buy in general.
As long as it needs to be.
Is marketing your expertise?
I'd recommend outsourcing to a consultant or third party if you have a budget.
When it comes to growing your business and brand this is NOT where you want to corners.
I DO NOT state this as some sleezy sales tactic. I'm serious when it comes to planning you want someone who has track record to execute.
A general plan such as social media, video, ad spend, whatever is fine. Know that marketing and sales are numbers games with finite execution patterns and plans.
Happy to help and show data on what I mean if you need help. Feel free to call me OR LinkedIn connect. I ❤️❤️❤️ helping people with their strategy to grow. So much fun!
A marketing plan should include the 4Ps: Product, Price, Placement and Promotion. Length will be determined by how much detail you cover under each topic.*
If you're creating the plan for funding purposes, versus campaign execution, you'll also want to cover investor questions/concerns, namely return on investment (list under Price).
*Use this checklist: http://bit.ly/EPiCTools to 1. review the 7 Facets of Business and 2. to access a list, which covers the various aspects of marketing.
My area of expertise includes more than 20 years of combined experience in marketing communications, business education and business management. If you need further "clarity,"😉 give me a call!
1 PAGE.
I have 10+ years experience in Marketing, both in Corporate and Startups and I believe every document should be 1 page max, with some appendix if needed, but the key messages always should hold on 1 page. It will force the right discipline of making choices and define a clear priority setting.
Now, being concise is hard. I can help you with that :)
Looking forward talking to you,
Serena
Depending on the size of your business, I don't recommend using more than a few pages. Especially when you're starting out.
Keep it simple, to the point, and most importantly - make sure it's actionable!
It needs to cover what makes you different, how you're going to reach the market, and how you are going to manage the customer experience.
Everything else will flow from that!
