Planning and Preparation covering: SWOT analysis & audit What is a marketing plan & how can it help you? Marketing plan types & getting started Elements of a digital marketing strategy SMART goals Breaking goals down Content marketing timeline Social Media Scheduling & CRM Pricing Clarity Pareto 80:20 Rule Pricing Offer

1. 1
TOPIC 4
PLANNING AND PREPARATION

2. • SWOT analysis & audit
• What is a marketing plan & how can it help you?
• Marketing plan types & getting started
• Elements of a digital marketing strategy
2
PART 1

3. PART 2
SMART goals
• Breaking goals down
3

4. PART 3
• Content marketing timeline
• Social Media Scheduling & CRM
4

5. PART 4
• Pricing Clarity
• Pareto 80:20 Rule
• Pricing Offer
5

6. 6
Part 1
Planning

7. 7
WHY YOU NEED A PLAN
Avatar
Your target market is a group of
customers that you plan to sell
your products or services to. Your
target audience are the customers
most likely to buy your products or
services.
Analyse & Audit
Who are your competitors?
By analysing your competition you
can find out what your competitors
are doing, how you compare and
what potential threat they present to
your business.
Strategies
Once you know what you want, start analysing
your short-term business objectives and try and
figure out what marketing activity, process or
price will help you achieve your objectives. When
choosing marketing activities, try and choose
activities that suit your business and your
customers.
Research
To gather and organise
information about your
target market, consumer
needs and understand
where your business fits
within the market.
SWOT
Developing a SWOT analysis can help you
analyse where your business and products
fit within the market and your unique selling
position. It can also help you discover how
your business can improve, what you excel
at and what practices other businesses are
using.
Set Goals
Once you're clear about your business and its
positioning, you can start thinking about what
you want to achieve. First, think long-term and
figure out your main business goals, whether
it's the size of your business, expansion plans
or profit figures.
1 2 3 4 5 6

8. 8
WHY YOU NEED TO PLAN AHEAD
Those who don’t plan, often fail or succeed through luck.
In business you don’t get much luck. Don’t chance it.
CONSISTENCY Consistency can boost levels of engagement and increase traffic. It will also
enable customers to know what to expect from you.
1
FOCUCED By having a content marketing calendar and post planning will allow you to keep
focused on other tasks.
2
OPPORTUNITIES
Having a foresight of scheduling will allow you to plan your activities weeks
in advance and not miss out anything.
3
MAP
You can map out the whole year for future events and big days, like important shopping
days, business events etc to strategies ahead.
4
WIDER STRATEGY
The ability to scan over a marketing schedule regularly will provide you
with the opportunity to step back and affirm a wider strategy plan.
5
AHEAD
Having a clear path you will allow you to analyse which strategies you will be using
months down the line will work and wont work and time to change it.
6

9. 1 2
Strengths
Provide a list of everything your
business does well at or what
is good about it – what do the
customers like about your
products or services. Any
skilled staff or assets? What’s
unique about your products /
services?
------------------------
List all the strengths and good
points about your
competitors.
Weaknesses
What aspects of your business
detract value from what you
offer or place you at a
competitive disadvantage. You
need to enhance these areas to
compete well.
------------------------
List all the poor areas your
competitors. Have (such as
high pricing)
Opportunities
Factors that represents the
reasons why your business is
likely to prosper. List any gaps
in the market you can exploit.
How much competition is
there? Look at opportunities for
expansion.
------------------------
List any opportunities your
competitors have over you.
Threats
External factors beyond your
control which pose a risks to
your business. Work out a
contingency plan for each of
these.
------------------------
External factors you can
combat. List threats your
competitors pose to you, such
as multiple ads, multiple social
media post presence. Emerging
competitors.
S O
W T
9

10. 10
PERFORM AN AUDIT
Social Media
What content will you write? what
content are your competitors writing?
Podcasts
Listen to your competitors and find
an angle that will make yours
different and stand out.
Website
Compile a list of your best competitor
sites. Clone what they are doing well
in.
Newletters etc
What content will you send out?
What are your competitors doing?
Guest Blogging
/ Podcasting
Compile a list of blogs and podcasts you
can link in with.

11. WHAT IS A MARKETING PLAN & HOW IT HELPS?
Provides insight into your business
model and competitors, to ensure
you’re providing effective services or
products to your customers.
Identifies who your customers are.
This is done through research and
SWOT analysis.
Provides a clear path for success,
knowing what to do and when, within a
budget (should save you money).
Goal setting (SMART): Specific
Measurable
Achievable (Assignable)
Relevant (Realistic)
Time-Based (Targets)
Outlines your marketing strategy and
objectives:
- When and where to market
(timeline): content marketing
strategy
- When and what services / products
to launch
- Retaining and satisfying customers
Awareness & Insight Organised & Structure Objectives & Strategy
11

12. 12
CASH FLOW
HACK #1
Cash Flow Planner
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MBuF2_gOLSznFOZkyT
KjQhNxUJoCPNzyY1GY-GAXbjs/edit?usp=sharing
Download and use at will – please do not edit the

13. Tactical
marketing /
timeline
Paid / Free
advertising
including PPC
Digital and social
media marketing
/ content
marketing
Email marketing
Event marketing
Relationship
Marketing
Visual identity /
branding
Print
advertisement
Website
optimisation /
website updates
Blogging,
Podcast and
Newsletter
marketing
You can create a plan for a variety of uses. These include the following…
MARKETING PLAN TYPES 13

14. Digital &
Social Media
Marketing
Email Marketing
Blogging &
Podcast
Marketing
GETTING STARTED
Choose the ones you want to work on…
14

15. 15
Example

16. Lorem
Ipsum
Blogging
Think about
topics and
titles, i.e.
“How To…”
Think about
style and
layout of blog
GETTING STARTED
Map it out…
Define your
target audience
Do guest
blogging for
leading blogs in
your industry
Choose a
free
platform,
like blogger
Decide on
timeline
Use
keywords
throughout
each post
Promote your own
products/services in
every 5th post.
16
Blog

17. Lorem
Ipsum
Lorem
Ipsum
How To
Guides
Include
pictures to
break up the
text
Use sub
headings to
break up the
text
GETTING STARTED
Develop it…
Consider
infographic
style guides
Consider the
length of
guides
Define what
questions to
ask readers
Think of
engaging titles,
i.e “How to
design cards the
easy way”
Statistics, facts and
clear strategies
increases shares
Research
what your
competitors
are doing &
look for gaps
17
blog topics

18. ELEMENTS OF A DIGITAL
MARKETING STRATEGY
01
02
06
05
04 03
Pay Per Click
A way to drive traffic to your
website by paying a publisher
every time your ad is clicked. One
of the most common types of PPC
is Google Adwords.
Social Media Marketing
A great way to promote you
brand and your content to
increase awareness, drive
traffic and generate leads.
Email Marketing
A way of promoting products /
services, showcasing discounts and
events, and directing people to a
website / links.
Engaging Website
For maximum impact, a website
should be responsive, up-to-date
and represent your company.
There should also be great info and
freebies (eg. Ebooks).
SEO
The process of optimising your
website to rank higher on search
engine results to help drive traffic to
your website.
Content Marketing
A way of using creative and original content
for the purpose of generating brand
awareness, traffic growth and leads.
18

19. 19
KEEP ON TOP
01
Rolling Plan
Make sure that you plan your
monthly activity on a rolling
programme of three to four
months
02
Keep It Fresh
Keep your tactical marketing plan
updated with the responses as
they come in.
03
Keep Records
As each element is
accomploshedm take note and
record the responses, so you can
compare and contrast between
each month/element.

20. 20
Part 2
Goals

21. Measurable
Provide a way to
evaluate: look at
industry stats
Use matrices or data
targets
Make sure your goal is
trackable
Specific
State what you will do,
be specific!
Use action words:
I will do
I will research
I will go out and
Study / Write
Create / Deliver
….by doing….
Relevant
Makes sense within
your business model
Improve the business
in some way
Achievable
Within your scope
Possible to accomplish,
attainable
Time-Bound
State when you will get
it done
Be specific on a date or
timeframe
S M A R T
21
SMART – OVERVIEW

22. Measurable
How will you know that
your goal has been
achieved? What
analytic tools will you
use to track your
progress?
Specific
Do you want to raise
awareness of your
brand? Increase sales?
Drive web traffic?
Improve customer
service? Strengthen
loyalty?
Relevant
Is your goal aligned
with your company’s
missions, vision and
values? Is it something
that you need to
achieve now - is it a
priority?
Achievable
Is your goal realistic?
When you are just
starting off, don’t aim
too big. Think about
what is going on within
the business and your
personal life.
Time-Bound
How soon do you want
to have achieved that
goal? To add a focus,
stick to one
overarching goal at a
time. Use a calendar to
map out your goals.
S M A R T
22
SMART – WHAT TO CONSIDER

23. 23
BREAKING GOALS DOWN
March
14
Stickies
Using a standard calendar
and sticking your goals or
tasks on each day helps plan
out what you will do from each
day to the other.
TASK NAME %
Complete
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
YOUR TASK
#1
70%
Sub-task #1 75%
Sub-task #2 15%
Sub-task #3 10%
Sub-task #4 10%
YOUR TASK
#2
25%
Sub-task #1 25%
Sub-task #2 10%
Sub-task #3 5%
Using a graph calendar can work in two way, both ways allow you to set out your goals and break
them down, however both work slightly differently. 1) The progress bar, like above, is used to monitor
when tasks are to be completed and/or when a task was completed. This is known as pre and post
analysis. 2) As we have done with sub-task 1, colour in each day you plan to complete that particular
task and how long you think it will take you to complete.

24. 24
EVERY DAY TASKS
MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30

25. 25
VISUALLY SEEING YOUR TASKS
KEEPS YOU FOCUSED
March
14
Stickies
Using stickies on a physical calendar
allows you to see exactly what you
need to achieve on a daily basis.
Always Visual
Take the sticky for that day, and place it in
front of you, by your computer. This will
then give you part of the motivation to
complete it and focus on that.

26. 26
EVERY DAY TASKS
What Who Priority Work (est. hours) Timeline Status
Low High
Task 1 John Smith 25:00 h Aug 2 – Aug 10 Completed
Task 2 Jane Doe 42:00 h Aug 15 – Aug Completed
Task 3 Steve Smith 12:00 h Sept 1 – Sept 5 Completed
Task 4 John Doe 20:00 h Sept 12 – Oct 1 Started – not completed
Task 5 Steve Smith 7:00 h
Sept 15 – Sept
19 Started – not completed
Task 6 Steve Smith 35:00 h Oct 4 – Dec 14 Not started
Task 7 Jane Doe 110:00 h Oct 6 – Dec 22 Not started

27. 27
BREAKING GOALS DOWN
Monday Tuesday Wed Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Task 1
Task 2
Task 3
Task 4
Task 5
Task 6
Task 1 Task 3 Task 5
Task 6
Task 4
Task 2

28. 28
BREAKING GOALS DOWN
M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S
WEEK # WEEK 1 WEEK 2 WEEK 3 WEEK 4
Task 1
Task 2
Task 3
Task 4
Task 5
Task 6
Task 1 Task 3 Task 5
Task 6
Task 4
Task 2

29. 29
Part 3
Content Marketing Strategy

30. 30
CONTENT MARKETING
STRATEGY
04
03
01
02
Driving Sales
Encouraging peopekl
to make a purchase,
either online or offline.
Growing Loyalty
Encouraging people to
share your brand,
product or service with
others after using it or
seeing it.
Awareness
So that people will be
able to find and
recognize your brand,
product or service.
Customer Growth
Rewarding your current
customers with a
referral scheme so you
can grow and reward at
the same time.
What’s Your
Goal?
As with any social
strategy, ask yourself
what business goals
you want to achieve
and how each
platform and tool will
help you reach your
customers the right
way.
Awareness
So that people will be
able to find and
recognize your brand,
product or service.

31. 31
BE CONSISTENT
Scheduling
Stick to a regular schedule
so your customers know
when to expect it.
Format
Use the same format
and style for your
content. Like a
recurring show or the
same video intro and
outro.
Tone & Voice
A consistent tone and
voice will breed trust and
familarity. The same
person delivering the
content should be
paramount.
Content
The type of content you
cover should follow on the
same path. Don’t stray too
far off, otherwise you will
start to loose loyal
customers.

32. 32
Preparation

33. CONTENT MARKETING TIMELINE
HACK #2
33
Detailed Marketing
Scheduler
Basic Action Plan
Scheduler
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MC4TWjmLFZ8zm8PJZN0C
p4FhpPuoY0TrV4NO0WZxxGY/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Sc_fKtI1bzOByNS7giTR
mPnlD0Fm8Ne5h7mgXILjp0I/edit?usp=sharing
Download and use at will – please do not edit the

34. BEST FREE SOCIAL MEDIA
SCHEDULING PLATFORMS
buffer.com tweetdeck.twitter.com
up to 3 social account
/ 10 scheduled posts
links in with buffer
34
When you need to control more social media
accounts, consider using PostPlanner or Kuku, which
are cheaper paid options, or Hootsuit which is similar
to Buffer but more expensive.

35. Poor Customer Service
No Task Setting / Goals,
Scheduling, Notes or
Tags
Good Integration
Functional free trial
edition available
BEST CRM PLATFORMS
Buffer
The most affordable for
the features you get
“4/5 PC Mag” “9.4/10 Finance
Online”
35

36. Good Customer Service
Task Setting / Goals,
Scheduling, Notes or
Tags
Highly customisable
Functional free trial
edition available
BEST CRM PLATFORMS
Postplanner
One of the most affordable for
the features you get
“3.5/5 PC Mag”
“9.5/10 Finance
Online”
36

37. Good Customer Service
Task Setting / Goals,
Scheduling, Notes or
Tags
Highly customisable
Functional free trial
edition available
BEST CRM PLATFORMS
Hootsuit
One of the most affordable for
the features you get
“3.5/5 PC Mag”
“9.5/10 Finance
Online”
37

38. CRM 38

39. Poor Customer Service
No Task Setting / Goals,
Scheduling, Notes or
Tags
Good Integration
Functional free trial
edition available
BEST CRM PLATFORMS
Zoho
The most affordable for
the features you get
“4/5 PC Mag” “9.4/10 Finance
Online”
39

40. Good Customer Service
Task Setting / Goals,
Scheduling, Notes or
Tags
Highly customisable
Functional free trial
edition available
BEST CRM PLATFORMS
Pipedrive
One of the most affordable for
the features you get
“3.5/5 PC Mag”
“9.5/10 Finance
Online”
40
BEST CRM PLATFORMS

41. 41
Part 4
Pricing

42. 42
01 02 03 04
No Surprises
Always agree the price in
advance – this prevents
subsequent relationsip
breakdowns caused by
misunderstandings,
Two Angles
Work out the price based on:
1. Traditional ‘cost plus’ (materials,
labour and possibly overheads,
profit). +
2. What is the market likely to pay
for your product / service, based
on competitor price?
Funnel Add-Ons
This works great for businesses such as holiday
and car companies, where you can offer additional
products / services at a click of a button when the
customer clicks through checkout and is a proven
sales technique.
PRICING CLARITY
One reason
products
catch on is
attractive
pricing.

43. 43
PARETO 80:20 RULE
02
Product Vs Sales
20% of your products generates 80% of your sales.
03
Customers Vs Profit
20% of your customers generates 80% of your profit.
01
Customers Vs Sales
20% of your customers generates 80% of your sales.
04
Customers Vs Hassle
20% of your customer generates 80% of your hassle.

44. 44
PRICING OFFER
Never offer more
than 3 options.
Most people
cannot process
more than 3 at a
time and will only
overwhelm the
customer.
49$
Pro
Everyone has a
different budget.
Offering various
pricing options will
target all your
customer profiles.
People like having a
straightforward
choice.
29$
Starter
Keep the pricing
structure simple.
People don’t have
time to maul over
too many options.
The main features
of each offer should
be visible at a
glance.
99$
Diamond
Bullet point
the features
and benefits
to make it
easy to
read.
Keep it
simpe and
to the
point.
What’s
better than
your
competitors
?
Your pricing
should be
competitive.

45. 45
Part 5
Terms and Conditions

46. 46
TERMS OF CONDITION
We won’t go int a deep dive here as each business service will be completely different. There are plenty of good free
guides and although you will find some generic information, its important you cover yourself legally by ensuring you
covering everything relevant for your business. Terms of condition are generally used for services, so its really important
your customers have this available to read.
03
02
Wiki How
https://www.wikihow
.com/Write-Terms-
and-Conditions
01
Privacy Policy
https://www.privacy
policies.com/blog/h
ow-to-write-terms-
conditions/
Useful Guide
https://www.jonatha
nlea.net/blog/how-
to-write-effective-
terms-and-
conditions/

47. 47
TERMS BASIC
EXAMPLE
Terms Example
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17kpMagGnfI4UzMLqeW1R-
_WvV-PhigixcyBiCOTOWfk/edit?usp=sharing
Download and use at will – please do not edit the