Our tips for a successful marketing action plan

Introduction :

Generate leads, optimize your conversion tunnel, boost your online sales... The best way to achieve your objectives is to build a solid operational marketing action plan. 

Faced with digital transformation, more and more companies are implementing a digital marketing action plan. This document is essential for building an effective online strategy. It enables companies to seize the revenue opportunities represented by digital. In this guide, we explain how to draw up a successful marketing action plan.

What is a marketing action plan?

This is an operational document specifying all the actions planned over a given period, with a view to achieving marketing objectives. In general, over the next 12 months. It extends the marketing strategy, by translating it into concrete, time-phased actions.

A marketing action plan structures the efforts of our teams. It guarantees the consistency of their actions. For each step or activity included in the marketing action plan, different information is provided: 

• The actions to be taken. For example, in the case of a new customer acquisition strategy, publish on social networks, prospect, optimize your website, create a community, etc. ;
• The person(s) in charge of their realization ;
• The deadline ;
• Estimated time to complete ;
• Budget. Taking our example again, we need to determine the customer acquisition cost (CAC). This is the amount spent by a company to win over a new customer;
• Available resources.

The operational marketing plan can take the form of an Excel spreadsheet, or be integrated into task management software.

Why is this important for a company?

Thanks to an operational marketing action plan :

• You're more focused: you know exactly what you need to do, every time.
• You forget fewer things: every employee knows which tasks he or she has to carry out.
• You gain clarity: the team focuses on clear, coherent actions.
• You optimize your human and financial resources.
• You'll benefit from greater visibility, as you'll be able to see how you're progressing in relation to your targets.
• As you have a clearer view of what's to come, you can better anticipate problems.
• You can reassure financial institutions that your company is doing everything in its power to succeed.

Good to know: how much time should you devote to writing a marketing action plan??

If you're drawing up an action plan for the first time, allow between four and eight weeks to finalize it. After that, it should be updated at least once a year. This can take two to three weeks. It is essential to ensure that the plan is consistent with the changing needs of the company and its customers.

The different stages in drawing up a marketing action plan

1. Get an overview of your market position

Start by studying your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT). This will enable you to identify the actions you need to take to develop your business, while strengthening your competitiveness. The essential tool for this is SWOT: 

• Strengths: your strong points and competitive advantages, enhancing your market position. These may be technical/technological skills, abilities or aptitudes that are difficult for competitors to copy. 
• Weaknesses: your weak points. They diminish your ability to achieve your goals. 
• Opportunities: opportunities that the company can take advantage of: trends, customs, laws, technologies, etc. These are the means on which it can capitalize to become more profitable. These are the means on which the company can capitalize to become more profitable. 
• Threats: dangers likely to affect the company's performance. For example, new political measures, aggressive competition or a health crisis. 

As part of a marketing action plan, the SWOT tool helps you identify priority projects. It helps you find the best strategic positioning. Combinations can be made between the different axes of the matrix: 

• S-O (opportunities-forces): you build on your strengths to better seize opportunities.
• S-T (threats-forces): you leverage your strengths to counter or reduce threats.
• W-O (opportunities-weaknesses): you measure the areas for improvement (your weaknesses) in order to seize these opportunities.
• W-T (threats-weaknesses): you correct your weak points, find solutions to anticipate hazards and adopt preventive measures.

Conduct a competitive analysis. Discover the steps to follow: 

1. Identify your direct, secondary/indirect competitors and substitute offers/products;
2. Evaluate your competitors based on the 4 Ps of the marketing mix;
3. Take into account their positioning, reputation, workforce and partnerships;
4. Analyze your competitors' strengths and weaknesses, comparing them to your own;
5. Determine your competitive advantage.

2. Define customer profile

You need to divide your customers into groups/segments according to criteria. For each of them, establish : 

• Current income percentage ;
• Buyer profile ;
• Decision-making criteria ;
• Percentage of income in 2 years.

3. Set precise objectives

Define SMART objectives for the coming years. Each of them should be :  

• Specific. It is clear, precise and easy to understand. A single measurement criterion should be used to validate its achievement. If it is too complex, it should be broken down into several smaller objectives. 
• Measurable (measurable). It specifies a level or a "threshold" value, which must be crossed in order to be able to conclude that it has actually been achieved.
• Achievable. It must be achievable with the resources available. Ideally, it should be ambitious enough to be a challenge. This will motivate your team all the more.
• Relevant (realistic). It is consistent with the company's overall strategy. 
• Time-bound. A deadline is set for completion: "by 2030", "by December 31st", etc.

Here's an example of a SMART objective. Currently, the number of new customers is 5,000 per year. For the next financial year, a target of 30% increase in acquired customers is set, to reach 6,500. 

4. Making strategic choices

To identify the best ways to meet customer needs, use the 4 P's:

• Product. Its characteristics are diverse: symbol, affiliation, conviction, dimension, performance, service, value, etc.
• Price. Because it has a direct impact on sales volume, price determines a company's profitability. Hence the importance of setting "the right price".
• Place. Here, it's all about choosing the right distribution channels. 
• Promotion. To reach its target customers, the company needs to select the right communication media, both online and offline.

Set your sights on the right marketing levers and channels. For example, forcustomer acquisition, you can focus on : 

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO);
• Word of mouth, online customer reviews ;
• Digital advertising (SEA);
• Email marketing;
• Social networks ;
• Influence marketing;
• SMS marketing;
• Co-sponsoring;
• Co-registration;
• Competitions or behavioral surveys.

Good to know Dataventure designs customized conquest operations to generate traffic, registrations, qualified leads and sales. customized conquest operations in line with your objectives. Our teams manage the acquisition levers, while proposing the most appropriate business model: CPL CPC , C2L, etc. They build an acquisition and conversion mechanism designed to maximize your return on investment (ROI). Want to find out more about our solutions? Contact us for more information.

5. Drawing up a budget

Evaluate the projected budget. This allows you to forecast the investment required to implement your actions. Graphic design, database rental, customer relationship management (CRM) tool, subscription to emailing software, support from a digital expert... Don't forget anything! 

Take stock of the resources to be mobilized:

• Human resources ;
• Budgetary ;
• Materials.

6. Plan marketing actions

Visualize priorities, deadlines. To make things easier, classify actions into three categories: 

• Short-term, 0 to 6 months ;
• Medium-term, 6 to 24 months ;
• Long-term, beyond 24 months.

Then place them in a calendar. 

7. Measuring performance 

This enables you to evaluate the results of your actions on a regular basis. You can adjust your marketing strategy on an ongoing basis. Taking customer acquisition as an example, you can track KPIs such as : 

• Number of qualified leads per lever ;
• Conversion rate ;
• The churn rate;
• Total number of contacts (active, inactive) ;
• Cost per click (CPC);
• Average cost per page view ;
• Cost per lead (CPL).

The marketing action plan is a roadmap for translating your strategy into operational actions. It prevents both management and teams from going forward blindly. When drawing up your action plan, be careful not to go into too much detail, or not to plan to measure results. This would reduce the effectiveness of the operational marketing action plan.