Its finally 2010! Time to plan your marketing plan and hit your targets. However, sadly when I ask most companies for their marketing plans, they always look at me blankly and say ” What marketing plans?”

Well, I hope this post will provide some insights on how to organize your resources to promote your services to your target market. Remember it is more important to be found than to be the best in your industry!

Top 3 Tips For Organizing Your 2010 Marketing Plans

Niche Marketing

Every company is on the big wide web now. If you do not have an online presence, it actually affects your image as any profitable company should invest for an online presence since nearly everyone is online searching for your service.

With the influx of companies stepping into the online world, there is a need to niche down your industry and build rapport with your target audience.  Many companies build a website that introduces all their products, services, staff and events and in the end, never appeals to any because it is too general. No one is left impressed.

Compare this to the other hand, where you create an entire website to service a specific niche in your market, answering all their questions, concerns and providing case studies. If you want a real life example, think of browhaus, they chose to specialize in a niche that everyone uses and because they specialize, they are the leaders. By the way, they are always fully booked when you try to book on that day itself.

Tips:

• Identify your different profiles of your target market
• Recognize that they have different desires, challenges and objectives
• Build an online campaign around their concerns and questions. Be it creating additional pages on your website, your blog or facebook profile
• Choose to dominate in their minds when they search for your website because you recognize their needs

Building A Tribe

In the past, the advertising companies were satisfied and happy because they could create any campaign and label it a success according to the number of viewership.  Now, social media is making them toss and turn in their sleep as it is moving from disruptive advertising (one-way communication) to building a relationship.

Like in any relationship, it needs nurturing and listening to the needs of the other party. And even worse, there is a chance of being rejected! (gasp!). Hence, all the loud stylish branding needs to be toned down to listen to the consumers, how scary is it?

I know some big companies are avoiding social media because it is labeled as “cannot be controlled – DANGER”. On the other hand, as many companies are jumping into the social media circle and enjoying the benefits. For me personally, I think it is better to try it out now and improve on the way. Rather than avoiding it and than realizing that you are left behind, jump into the deep end without knowing how to swim.

Tips:

• Create a company blog NOW! The blog is one of the best ways to build your brand & personality, keep in touch with your customers and even optimize your website in the search engines. Use Google keywords to identify keywords searched by your target market and create an article to answer their concerns. Always aim to provide useful information to solve their issues. Also, add an element of being personal by showing the activities of the companies.
• Create a facebook profile page. Decide on your objectives of being on facebook. I recommend building a relationship and getting responses on product or services. Show useful information, special promotions and interact with your “fans” to ask them what they want or feedback about the products.
• Twitter away. Twitter is a good channel to build your database quickly as people are adding you when you add them. Select people according to your target market. As per Facebook, your objective is to build a relationship with them so that they are responsive to your “tweets” or “promotions”. Organize your tweets in this structure: 50% sharing useful information, 25% being personal to build your brand, 25% communicating with people who are following you

Regular Communication

Your database is your gold mine. How have you been using it? It is amazing how companies are sitting on a goldmine without tapping into it.

It is much easier to persuade a customer who bought from you to re-purchase than a new prospect. And a responsive database is like enjoying an automated ATM at freewill as they are looking forward to your communications and ready to purchase at the right moment. Do you know when your prospects are ready to purchase? No, of course. Hence, always be in their face so that they will select you when they take out their credit cards.

Tips:

• Launch your e-newsletter NOW! It is better to be regular and short, rather than irregular and long as people need repetition
• Include forward to your friend feature so that they can forward it easily
• Capture anyone that lands on your email, facebook and twitter into your goldmine database
• Content should be 25% personal, 50% useful content, 25% selling information
• Provide a call for action in all areas of your e-newsletter. e.g. at the end of every topic

I hope these tips were useful. I am going to incorporate them into my marketing strategy and I hope you will use them to leverage your online presence for a successful 2010!

Love & blessings!