Fail to prepare – prepare to fail

That well-known phrase we may have all heard at some point in our lives – sound familiar? Here at The Food Marketing Experts, we’re big on planning (what’s life without a marketing plan hey?) and making sure that plan:

A, reflects our client’s objectives
B, is measurable
C, gives return on investment

Before developing a marketing plan

Before developing any marketing plan, it is imperative to know who your target market is. This will help you develop your product or service and ensure it meets (and more importantly, exceeds) your customer’s needs and wants. It will also help shape your brand objectives. For example, if you want to improve your brand awareness and your target consumer is the over 55 market then growing your Instagram following and advertising in Closer magazine probably won’t be the right approach.

Mistakes to avoid

The mistake some brands make is that they set too many objectives and end up spreading themselves too thinly – we find its much better to set a few concise objectives, with clear timescales. These must be communicated to everyone across the business so people at all levels are working towards the same goal and timeline.

Measure effectiveness

Once your objectives have been set, you can then work on a plan for achieving these – does it involve securing more retailer listings; getting increased trade or consumer PR coverage; the launch of a new social media platform to talk to your consumers? The main thing is they should have some quantitate measure. If your brand objectives are quantitatively described, then it can be easier for you to measure the effectiveness.

Know your return on investment

Now more than ever, brands are looking to get maximum return for every penny they spend, whether that be across social media, PR, advertising – whatever the specialism, marketing needs to work seriously hard. Looking at the return on investment can give you a financial view on how well a piece of activity has or hasn’t worked. Its good to get into a routine of doing this on monthly or quarterly basis, that way you can adapt your plans and ensure your focus remains in the area(s) giving the best return.