Planning your yearly marketing out ahead of time helps your business save time and money- it’s that simple. By taking time in October or November to plan out the next year’s marketing activities and budget, you will be creating a guide for not only the marketing activities you’ll be doing, but also what you’ll be spending. A marketing plan also provides focus and goals to work towards for the coming year.
Without a guide to work off of, you’ll find yourself doing more marketing by “shooting from the hip.” This means more uncontrollable costs, more time spent on projects, and a much harder time meeting deadlines.
But what if something comes up?
The only thing that is certain is that things will definitely change; yet the “unknown” is one of the biggest excuses for NOT wanting to create a yearly marketing plan ahead of time. No one could have predicted the impact that the Coronavirus / Covid-19 would have on business in the Fall of 2019, not to mention normal changes in business like industry trends and innovation, new technology and social media platforms, or the expansion or contraction of your business.
Luckily marketing plans aren’t written in stone and can be changed and modified if needed. Also, a good marketing plan has built in “slush funds” to budget for any unknown or unforeseen changes. Slush funds also provide some added flexibility and allow you to try out different types of marketing you may not currently be taking advantage of.
Putting together a yearly marketing plan shouldn’t be difficult. Contact Cognicom Media today for help putting together your business’ marketing plan.
And remember, “those who fail to plan, plan to fail.”
