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Much like a map, or a book's table of contents, a small business marketing plan is a planned set of objectives and strategies mapping out the step-by-step procedures to accomplish a business' marketing objectives.
A small business marketing plan can be a page long, or a hundred pages long, depending on how detailed the strategies are, or what the duration of the marketing period is (one month or one year, etc.). The style of writing must be concise and simple - not eloquent big words which are difficult to fully comprehend. Really busy and successful business owners do not have the time to write elaborate descriptions, but may opt to use marketing plan software to make their lives easier.
So what are the components of a small business marketing plan?
Define your target market - This is the first component of a marketing plan, because all other parts are dependent on who your ideal customer is. There are various ways of dealing with each type of customer, and the other parts of the plan should itemize this. A marketing plan without a clear target is much like a letter without a heading - you don't know who you're writing to! Included in the definition of your market is a list of characteristics and possible preferences, area of residence, age group, social class, race, religion and traditions. Don't try selling beef hotdogs to a Hindu, unless you want your own carelessness to be the cause of your business' downfall.
Understand and define your competition - To ensure success, you must keep abreast of any developments in your niche. You must know who you're competing with, and what their marketing strategies are. Knowing what your business is up against provides you guidance when ensuring that you are a cut above the rest. You have to stand out in order to be noticed by your target market - and in order to be chosen instead of your competition.
Write down your specific marketing objectives - Specific marketing objectives provide direction, a time frame for marketing activities, and a mechanism for evaluation and measuring effectiveness and performance. Be specific when enumerating the objectives of your campaign. It is a known fact that the chances of goals being fulfilled are greater if and when these goals are clear and written on paper - it's like a physical checklist where you can pinpoint which things you still need to accomplish.
Define your marketing strategy - This is a detailed description of how you intend to accomplish your objectives. This would include pricing, packaging, as well as budget, forms of media to be used, promotions collaterals such as flyers, radio or tv commercials, print advertisements? or if you choose to go the social networking route to save money, websites, facebook business page, articles, and other online gimmicks. Remember to be realistic - don't set impossible to attain goals, because setting the bar too high makes the chances for failure or disappointment greater.
Set the timeline; measure effectiveness of the marketing plan. You must be specific with the amount of time you need in order to reach your goal. Why? Because when you have a clear timeline, you are able to measure the results after each chapter/period on your marketing plan. Any good strategy must be repeated, while all ineffective ones must be replaced in order to achieve maximum satisfaction.
A lot of small businesses make the terrible mistake of not preparing a business marketing plan. It may be because they see no value in it. But after seeing how much more guided a business owner can be even with a page-long business marketing plan, the benefits far exceed the efforts needed to come up with the plan. So go on - think, write, then move!
Michael Griffiths is the CEO and Founder of My Small Business Marketing Guru. Helping small business owners generate more leads, clients and increase profits with relationship based marketing strategies. We invite you to get your free black mask marketing resources to help you business grow today, when you visit http://www.mysmallbusinessmarketingguru.com.au 
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Source: http://articles.submityourarticle.com/Michael-Griffiths-8297/Small-business-marketing-251008.php
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