It is an old adage that ‘failing to plan’ is synonymous with ‘planning to fail’ and nowhere is this truer than in marketing. You have a business idea, you may have a new service or product, you have identified your USP and you may have produced a cash flow analysis to impress your bank manager. You have the green light, so off you go floundering in random directions as you attempt to sell your goods and services. Enthusiasm has been allowed too much control as one key item is missing: your marketing plan.

A marketing plan is an essential element in formalising your business strategy and tactics. It is a dynamic creation that should evolve over time to the ebbs and flows of your business. It does not need to be complicated; as long as it covers the essential elements, in a clear and concise format.

An ideal marketing plan will drill down from overview to detailed activities. It is the best way to flesh out what you wish to achieve and how you are going to achieve it. It serves multiple purposes; one, the importance of which should not be underestimated, lies in the creation of the document itself. By going through the formal process of creating a marketing plan you will go through a mental process that will focus your mind on the both the intended destination and your journey.

The plan will provide a way of communicating your intentions with business partners and funding organisations; it will serve as a reminder to yourself regarding your overall view of where you are heading and will help you avoid the all too familiar pitfall of concentrating too hard on the future and neglecting the what needs to be done in the present.

At the centre of a well developed marketing plan lies the heart and soul of the business. A major part of the plan will encompass your brand identity and developing this is the single most important activity of the whole exercise. It is your business identity, and how it interacts with your customer base, that will determine whether or not your business will succeed.

Over the next few months we will guide you through the creation of a simple market plan. We will describe the formal process in easy to follow steps; we will look at issues ranging from formal analysis of your markets through to branding; we will show how important it is to create a business identity that holds your marketing together and your customers will remember.

Getting your marketing motivation and plan right from the outset is the most important step you can take in order to ensure your business succeeds.