Need a big-picture thinker who will guide you in realizing your vision and developing a plan that will build brand awareness and help you find patients and strategic partners? A marketing plan is the road map to success. It should be the first step of your marketing program.
Marketing is more than promotions. It consists of the six P’s of the Marketing Mix: Preparedness, Product/Service, People, Place, Price, and Promotions. Analyzing and optimizing each of these components will help your organization build a more marketing-focused company; increase the number of initial customers, purchase of products/services and overall market share; and enhance public awareness about its brand and position in the marketplace.
Davidson Communications will consider each of the Marketing Mix components in developing the marketing plan. Traditionally, there are four steps to this process:
- Review of the current situation
- Defining the company brand, value propositions and key messages
- Creation of a marketing promotions plan
- Implementation and monitoring
Research/Preparation Phase
- Working with staff, analyze patient/customer demographics over the last year by gathering information on important patient/customer characteristics, referral sources, interests, communication styles, purchasing history and psychosocial trends
- Conduct a competitive analysis via interviews with key stakeholders, analysis of data, competitor Websites, activity on Facebook/Twitter/blogs, participation in relevant organizations
- Gauge market potential via demographic analysis of geographic area
- Telephone/Skype interviews with key stakeholders (10-12) in and outside the organization
- Analysis of customer service surveys
- Creation of customer and referral source surveys to be distributed to a large audience in order to gather the largest quantity of data/sample possible
- Exploration of current and former clients’ willingness to be interviewed by the media, etc.
- Analysis of referring sources
- Audit of existing marketing activities – what has worked and what hasn’t
- In-depth review of customer/client support/retention systems and programs
- Analysis of effectiveness of financing/pricing systems
Analysis of the Company/Organizational Brand
- Review of what sets organization apart in the marketplace
- Summarize research findings
- Work with principals and other key staff members to develop and articulate the company brand and message
- Look at ways to differentiate the organization
- Outline organization’s value propositions, key messages, positioning statement and tag line
- Define opportunities and challenges
- Explore market-driven program development: building a better mousetrap
- Incorporate value propositions and brand into all marketing materials and strategies and tactics
Marketing Promotions Plan
Develop traditional and innovative strategies and tactics to capture more patients, referral sources and market share:
- Look at all potential tactics such as social media, media relations, improved user satisfaction, direct sales, etc., to reach various target markets (direct to consumer/potential patients/consumers, referrals from current/former clients and referrals from referral sources and other professionals)
- Build an integrated marketing plan utilizing a variety of strategies and tactics
- Define goals and objectives: how will success be measured?
- Create division of responsibilities, timeline, pricing for proposed tactics and overall budget
Implementation
- Work with company to monitor and/or implement the marketing plan over a six to twelve-month period
