Marketing Plan Assignment by Seattle Photographer Natalie Fobes
Marketing Plan Assignment Due Feb. 19, 2010
By Natalie Fobes
In addition to the information in Chapter 43 of your book, I’ve adapted information from the SBA website http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/manage
A detailed marketing plan is critical to the success of your business. The research you do while creating one will help crystallize your ideas about your product and pricing, the differences between you and your competitors, what your target group is and what they want. It will help you form long-range goals for your business and act as a creative catalyst that will separate your business from all the rest. Marketing plans work… but only if you implement them. Your plan should include a clear articulation of your goals and a step-by-step action plan on how you are going to achieve those goals.
This assignment is to create a marketing plan for the promotional materials you will create in Robbie’s class and my next assignment.
The plan must follow the 7 sections outlined below. The VMS should be written out. But because this is an internal document for your office use only you may use outline form for sections 2-7. Be detailed and make your action steps achievable with your schedule.
I will have samples from last year’s students linked on my blog. Review Chapter 43.
Please print out hard copies and drop digital copies in my drop box.
1. Vision Marketing Statement
This is your vision of who you are as a photographer, your photography and what makes you unique from every other photographer out there. This is the foundation of everything you show to the public. It will help you develop your website and marketing materials. Before you send something out you should look at the photo and make sure it works with this statement.
2. Goals for one, two and five years
Your plan will be for one year but the two and five year goal sets help you plot a course for the future. Be specific in your goals, make them measurable (meaning you know you will achieve them if something happens to prove it worked) and make sure they are achievable within the time frame you’ve set up.
3. Market Analysis
Describe your general target categories. The example in the book is financial services companies and their advertising agencies. Last year one student targeted small breweries. List 5-10 specific companies complete with contact names, addresses, phones and emails.
Now look at your competition. List their names, address, phones and emails. Look at their websites and analyze what they do.
What do you do that is better than them? How can you capitalize on it? Analyze what you can emphasize to make you more attractive to potential clients.
4. Determine your overall annual marketing budget
Make it real based on your financial situation right now.
5. List potential marketing tools and their cost.
Determine what marketing tools would have the most bang for the buck.
And include sending out press releases and networking with other professionals in your overall plan. Both are cheap marketing tools.
The following questions can be useful in deciding what tools to use
1. If my marketing objective is ………..
2. Then the tools or tactics I can use might include…………
An example: The marketing objective is to create awareness of baby photo sessions among mothers of newborns.
Possible tools
Advertise in baby care or motherhood magazines. $$$$$
Distribute sample prints to obstetricians. $$
Offer free baby photo seminars to expectant mothers. $
6. Choose your tools and tactics that stay within your marketing budget.
Assign time guidelines
Once you have your marketing objectives defined then you are ready to create your promotion plan that describes the tools and tactics used to accomplish those objectives
7. Action plan: convert the timeline guidelines into specific dates
This is where you get real and get going. It is great to have goals but they can be overwhelming. Break those goals into tasks you can get your arms around. For each marketing tool you decide to use create a series of action plan items.
For example: you decide to send out direct mail pieces. You will need to research the people you want to receive it, determine the cost of printing and postage, decide on the message of the piece, determine the time needed to create the piece, schedule the time to create it, schedule the time to send it out, decide how to follow-up, schedule the follow-up, write the script for the follow-up phone call.
Be sure to plan your follow-up! Many plans fail because the photographer sends promotional materials but never follows up.