Crafting a marketing plan that works

Black Enterprise, Nov, 1994 by Joan Delaney

TURNING PLANS INTO ACTION

To ensure the success of your marketing plan, each of your goals should result in an action plan. For example, if your research shows that your prices are too high, you must have a strategy that lowers them. Otherwise the information is useless. Determine who is responsible for each action plan and what resources you'll need to implement it. "Share your marketing plan with your employees. If they don't understand your strategy, they can't implement it effectively," says Clark.

One way to monitor the success of your action plan is to conduct a survey before you implement a new program, then do a follow-up survey. For example, you might monitor the level of customer complaints and see if they decreased from last year.

The success of any marketing plan depends on the extent to which the goals and action plans become a daily part of the business. A working plan acts as a road map. If your business has landed in a ditch, you must be prepared to adjust your plan to get it out and back on track.