Marketing Plan 2018: Internal Audit – Facebook Live Series #1

Posted by Cucumber Helen |

Define Your Strengths and Your Audience.

This November, we are planning ahead and working on our Marketing Plan 2018 in advance. And maybe November is not much of an “ahead” for you, but for us and I can suspect many marketing managers out there, December is the month when we FINALLY have the time to sit down (or are forced to finally sit down) and write that marketing plan for the year.

Needless to say, the way we plan marketing these days changed drastically from, say 9 years ago (when Cucumber was first founded). Marketing, these days, is fluid, fast-paced, reactive – a few adjectives that come to my mind right now.

Without further ado – let’s define our strengths and the audience.

Start by looking inwards.

Know thyself. This is true for humans and for businesses. This is the first step to know which direction to go with your marketing – to REALLY know your strengths and your weaknesses. But this time around, let’s go beyond the usual SWOT analysis – let’s make it practical.

Watch our recorded Facebook Live:


Notes to consider: 

Step 1. Overview 

What worked really well last year in your marketing and what didn’t? Did we implement any changes? How did we stick to last year’s plan? Was it successful? What learnings do we have to carry with us to 2018? What will we stop, start or keep doing?

Step 2. Services and Priorities 

Most importantly where did our revenue come from last year? How did we get visibility of those services? Was it from our existing clients (retention/loyalty), new clients (acquisition) or referrals (owned/reputation/loyalty). How’s our team working out? Are we all connected? Especially if there are multiple departments – what is the process from sales to new client on-boarding and how does your marketing processes support you along the way? Are there ANY branding blind spots you are not happy about?  

Homework: 

Complete the following sections (see the Marketing Plan template form below).

  • Overview
  • Money + Services
  • Priorities

Download the Marketing Plan template by filling out the form below:

Happy Marketing!