Develop Your Annual Marketing Plan

January many businesses sit down to revisit their business plan, but pay no attention to their marketing plan. There is never a better time than the end of the year or beginning of a new year to sit down and reflect on what worked for you and what didn't. It's also a great time to develop a marketing calendar for the upcoming year.
An annual marketing plan will assist you in figuring out what it is that you need to do, how to do it, and when to do it. This marketing plan should go hand-in-hand with your business plan and development.
In this marketing course we will revisit your marketing goals and determine what it is that you hope to achieve in the upcoming year with your marketing efforts. Often companies avoid this process because they don't know where to begin the process. That is what I am here for. Over the next eight weeks I will walk you through the steps of creating a solid marketing plan. At the end of our course you will have completed the following:

• Preparation of your mission statement and vision for the upcoming year.
• Discover and define your niche markets.
• Describe and identify your services.
• Develop and plan your marketing strategy.
• Explore and identify your competition.
• Create quantifiable marketing goals.
• Create a marketing calendar that contains a month-by-month schedule of marketing activities and events for the upcoming year.
• Learn how to monitor the results of your marketing efforts.

When we have finished you will have a strong marketing plan in your hand. This will become an important tool that will help you work smarter not harder at achieving your marketing goals. Each year you will want to revisit this marketing course and revise your marketing plan. Your marketing plan should reflect changes and goals based on the previous year's marketing experience.