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VistaPlan™

A Framework for Developing a Simple Marketing Plan

Small business failures are a common occurrence and one of the main reasons for this trend is a failure to understand marketing. The VistaPlan™ Framework serves as a visual guide to simplify the process of developing your marketing plan by removing the guesswork and eliminating the stress usually associated with this exercise.

To create a successful marketing plan, you must first build a strong foundation.

  • Market analysis - understand the environment around you, your competition and your company.
  • Target market - understand what motivates them, what causes them pain, and why they would be interested in considering your products or services.
  • Marketing goals - set the direction you want to take with your marketing activities. Do you want to create visibility for your company? Are you trying to generate demand for your services? Do you want to establish yourself as the expert in your field? Your goals need to be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-based.
  • Positioning, differentiation, messages - How do you want to position yourself to your target? Can you highlight why you are different so that it makes people want to do business with you? Your marketing messages will flow from this information, effectively communicating your value to your target.
  • Marketing strategy - Identifies the ideal mix of marketing activities that generate quality leads and build awareness of your products and services in your target market. These activities will fall within the 8 types of marketing programs listed at the top of the diagram. The types of marketing you choose within your strategy will depend on your unique requirements.
  • Brand - Develop a brand that gets noticed while ensuring it fits your business personality and is used consistently across all of your marketing efforts.
  • Sales tools - Determine based on what you need to execute your marketing strategy. These tools can include business cards, brochures, a web site or blog, white papers, testimonials, or promotional items.
  • Budget - Determine your cash flow by mapping the budget needed for your sales tools and each area identified within your marketing strategy based on the tactics you decide to use.

For more information on these and other Vista marketing services, visit the Vista Marketing Services area of this site. There is also a wealth of information to help you market your business more effectively in our Marketing Information area or posted in the Vista Viewpoint Marketing blog. Sign up for our newsletter and you will get access to our marketing plan outline and budget spreadsheet template to help you develop your winning marketing plan.

Contact us today to find out if our marketing services can help you define a creative marketing plan that attracts your ideal prospects and achieves broad awareness of your service or product.