Creating a Marketing Plan for ‘09

Welcome to 2009! Now that you’ve hopefully had time to recuperate from the holiday rush, restocked the shelves and taken a nice, deep breath (dare I say, maybe even a day or two off), now’s the perfect time to look ahead and plan out your marketing efforts for the new year.

I understand many of you are the picker, packer, phone answerer, bill payer, errand runner (you name it, you do it) for your business, so the thought of taking time to sit down and strategize a marketing plan for the entire year sounds like a laughing matter – but seriously, it can save you time, money and stress later down the road.

Think back (without having nightmares) to the craze you were in from Thanksgiving through New Years. Now, remember that in the midst of all that chaos, your marketers, like me, were asking you what promotions you were looking to offer, what images you wanted to use, let’s update your mailing list, etc.

All that nuisance work can be avoided by setting up a plan now.

I highly recommend at the very least breaking down your marketing efforts into quarters. This way you know what to expect for every three month stretch of the year.

I know, many of you are saying, but I don’t even know what new products I’ll have three months down the line. No, but you know there will be something, so plan accordingly.

Or, are you a candy store? If so you know your busy seasons – Valentine’s Day, Easter, etc. – you know your business best. Design those campaigns first and fill in the rest of the year with incentives to keep your store in the mind of the consumer so you aren’t forgotten on that next appropriate holiday.

How can this save you money? Making these decisions on the fly, while knee deep in boxes and paperwork, isn’t the right time to make financial decisions about your company. If you are too overwhelmed you might pass up on an opportunity to make more money. Or, much to my chagrin, you’ll wait until sales are slow to have a sale. E-mail marketing is not about giving your site a sales boost. It’s about building a life-time relationship with your customers. Cause, as I like to say, gaining a new customer is more expensive then retaining an old one.

So, my challenge to you before February 1st, sit down for a few hours with a cup of coffee and look ahead to what your busy seasons are, what value can you give to your clients to keep them coming back during the slow periods and map out the ever-important holiday promotions. You’ll thank me come New Years 2010, I promise!