Is your marketing plan leading you to success?

Do you have a marketing plan that is leading to your success? Or should I ask: Do you have a plan AT ALL that helps you producing the results in your business? If you’re not sure or the answer is a big NO, read on. In this article I’ll walk you through a cool mini Marketing Audit, to find out whether it’s time to create or revise your marketing plan. So you’ll set yourself up for success in the next quarters of this year.

Every business needs a marketing plan

I said it before and I’ll say it again and again: To grow your business, you need a marketing plan. We ALL do. Without one, our client attraction activities could feel like randomly throwing spaghetti on the wall and then hoping something will stick. VERY exhausting and stressful, I can tell you.

A marketing plan gives direction and a sense of control. And you know what? With the right skills, attitude and mindset we can design a marketing plan that is exciting, but also FLEXIBLE enough to be adapted when needed.

Not the typical CORPORATE marketing plan

Here’s a mistake I see a lot of small business owners make when they think ‘Marketing Plan’. They start googling and then they dig up these typical corporate marketing plan templates that start with a Management Summary section and then, 50 pages later, end with a chart of the financial projections. That is NOT what I would recommend for the self-employed professionals, the solo entrepreneurs and very small business owners amongst us .

A lean marketing game plan!

What I do recommend is having a sharp and lean marketing game plan that is strategic enough to help you reach your goals – preferably with the least amount of effort, in the quickest way possible, with the smartest strategies and the best resources you can afford.

Include the tactics based on your talents

For life to be fun – at least the business part of it, make sure you create a marketing plan that includes the tactics that LEVERAGE your specific talents, skills and interests! Only then you’ll have a good chance that you’ll actually USE your marketing plan, that it will produce results and be easy and lucrative for you to work it.

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Mini Marketing Audit

Now let’s dive into the audit to find out if your marketing plan is leading you to success or that it needs a thorough revision. If you don’t have a marketing plan yet, these questions will help you to get a pretty good idea what ideally would be covered in your marketing plan.

Done properly, your marketing plan will be the roadmap you follow to get a nice flow of quality leads and prospects that can be turned into lovely 5-star dream clients. 

THE 9Q’s MARKETING AUDIT QUESTIONAIRE

 

1. Do you find yourself acting most of the time, instead of reacting?

🔲 YES       🔲 NO

Many self-employed professionals and solo entrepreneurs  are rather reacting to outside influences (e.g. invitations to speak at a summit or writing a guest blog post, or a proposal to sponsor other people’s event etc.) rather than proactively choosing what to do and focusing on that.

For any marketing plan to work, you must make decisions on what your best strategies and tactics are that will take you to your goal. Stick to it. Don’t just chase every opportunity or shiny bright object that comes along when it doesn’t fit perfectly into your chosen strategy.

2. Do you know exactly what to work on and when?

🔲 YES       🔲 NO

When you sit down to work on your marketing, are you day in and day out working on the same stuff (e.g. updating your website or scrolling on social media) and not knowing exactly what else to do? What about when you have finished a particular marketing project: Do you know what your exact next step should be?

A lot of people find themselves spending more time thinking about what to do, what to market and how to market and when than to actually doing it.

For the most part they rely on low-value micro improvements activities rather than on ‘Cash generating activities’ or ‘Accelerated growth marketing activities’. These are 2 segments that need to be present in any marketing plan that is aimed to set you up for success.

3. Do you spend EVERY day a couple of hours on marketing?

🔲 YES       🔲 NO

With no carefully designed plan with a smart performance tracking system you are more likely to neglect marketing and/or do it haphazardly.

You know, after you did your yoga class, attending a free training, google some vacation resorts for the summer holidays and watching new YouTube video’s or spending some hours on online shopping. Or after the 3 days of client work. And only IF you have time left and the motivation to work on marketing….

Noooo! When it comes to marketing, getting results is a matter of working on your business each and every day, step-by-step. Just like when you’re training for the Olympics. Even the rest days are by design.  

4. Do you feel excited about your marketing?

🔲 YES       🔲 NO

When your marketing is aligned with what I call your Soul Vision, you get EXCITED all the time when you get the opportunity to share your message with the world.

You automatically raise the necessity. The “I don’t feel like doing marketing” days will be gone. Inspiring your tribe will more than ever feel like fulfilling your purpose. That’s how we want marketing and our business to FEEL. Very important.

5. Are you using the most effective approaches to get clients?

🔲 YES       🔲 NO

Is your marketing specifically designed for you and your business or are you trying to fit in someone else’s strategies and tactics just because it seems to work for them? The most effective approach for you might differ from that of someone else. 

Besides that, keep in mind that service-based businesses and self-employed professionals are best marketed by 2 things: building personal connections and establishing expertise. Promotional “spam” posts on social media or salesy email blasts to Eventbrite tickets – to name a few, don’t accomplish this. You need a tailored approach for your business that gets you results.

6. Do you know in detail who your ideal clients are and how you best can reach them?

🔲 YES       🔲 NO

Are you still aiming at every person that has a heartbeat? Or are you really trying to filter out your ideal clients and focus your strategies and resources on them? You need a detailed marketing plan on how to reach them and compel them. Yes, our motto is: “We compell, rather than sell.” Spending time researching your ideal clients is crucial. The more focused your marketing is, the bigger the effect will be. 

7. Is it crystal clear to you what to offer first, what next and next-next?

🔲 YES       🔲 NO

A helpful marketing plan has a strategy laid out for you how you turn cold leads into clients. And the tactics how to accomplish that. Remember: Even referrals are often stone cold. Also, on average 80% of your email list might be considered to be cold. Just check your open rates and see for yourself.

So you need a marketing plan that is aimed at turning them from cold to hot prospects. What offers and in what sequences will take them through the essential Know, Like, Trust process?

8. Are you getting in touch every month with at least 3 times as many prospects than the clients you need?

🔲 YES       🔲 NO

Highly underrated, but yet so crucial! Here’s why: Not everybody you have a sales conversation with will hire you immediately. So you’ll need more people to talk to in order to get all the yes’s you want.

It’s perfectly legit to spend LOTS of time building a high quality email list, to design effective follow-up and long term nurture strategies, to have sale strategies designed that have that quality filter built in etc. Yes, you’ll need patience and persistence. That’s why it’s called building a business, not ‘making a business appear’.

If you’re thinking: How the heck do I find so many people?! Chances are your pipeline isn’t full enough with prospects and leads. Probably because your marketing plan doesn’t include enough of the activities that connect you each month with these numbers of people. That’s a good indication that your set of marketing activities in your marketing plan might better be revised!

9. Are you actively measuring your daily progress?

🔲 YES       🔲 NO

The saying goes: “What gets measured, gets improved.” That applies to your marketing as well. Your marketing plan needs to include 3 types of goals: Outcome goals, Performance goals and Task goals. By tracking your performance on these 3 levels on a daily basis you’ll catch your drift, build momentum and get results. Massive inspired action is what flips the switches!

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How did you score?

If you didn’t answer YES to a 100% of these questions, it’s about time that you have a marketing plan that serves you and actually produces results.

OK, ok you might get away with 80%… but below that I bet you somewhere feel that something is not quite working for you. And that, my friend, is a very good indication that there’s room for revision of the marketing plan!

The ONE question that’s not included…

Notice that “Do you have all the clients you want?” is NOT a qualifying question in this marketing plan audit. Here’s why:

“All the clients you want” is a combined result of:

1. your action set
2. your skill set
3. your mindset

Your action set might be covered by your marketing plan, but your skill set (i.e. how you implement and professionally execute on your strategies and tactics) and mindset for that matter, are NOT something you can catch in a plan.

Working with a marketing mentor

If you have a marketing plan, and you scored a 80-100% on the yesses, but still you haven’t got the results to show for, you might want to consider working with a marketing mentor to coach you on upleveling your marketing by leveraging all 3 area’s, at the same time!

Your marketing plan is your road map to success. Your marketing mentor is your guide to get there. Make no mistake, when in business we need both of them.

👉 At COACHELLE Global we mentor and coach heart-centered women business owners who are on a mission to change the world and who would like to get real results from their marketing, FAST. Interested?  let’s talk. Go HERE.

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SUMMARY

To grow your business, you need a marketing plan. A marketing plan gives direction and a sense of control. Not the average dusty, 50 pages corporate marketing plan but a lean marketing game plan.  

It needs to be strategic and flexible enough to help you reach your goals – preferably with the least amount of effort, in the quickest way possible, with the smartest strategies and the best resources you can afford. And with the tactics that compliment your specific talents, skills and interest. Only then you’ll have a good chance that you’ll actually USE your marketing plan.

Run this quick “9Q Mini Marketing Plan Audit” and you’ll find out if your marketing plan is leading you to success or that it needs a thorough revision. 

Are you ready to uplevel your marketing? Let’s talk. GO HERE.

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Helpful? Insights? Questions? Leave a comment below, and if you like it, give me a thumbs up or share!

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WHENEVER YOU’RE READY… HERE ARE 3 WAYS I CAN HELP YOU GROW YOUR BUSINESS:

1. Join the Business Breakthrough LAB on Facebook
It’s our international community where heart-centered women entrepreneurs like you check in daily to get a 100% positive focus on their Marketing to go to the next level.

– CLICK HERE

2. Check out my free resources 
I regularly upload new free Marketing resources that help you to implement and increase the results of your Marketing.

– CLICK HERE

3. Work with me privately
If you’d like to work directly with me to uplevel your marketing and take your business to the next level, go HERE now.