With Halloween approaching and all the video and podcast work we have been doing I realized that I needed to continue my series How To Start A Haunted House. In the previous How To Start A Haunted House Part 4 we covered products and services which builds up to the marketing section of your business plan because without proper marketing you will have no customers which means no sales so sit down and grab a drink because we cover all the intro stuff of a marketing plan for your business plan section. As before we are building on the template from Score except this will go far beyond that by developing a entire marketing plan within your business plan.
Marketing is a key aspect of any business but if you look at the haunt industry it is the bread and butter you could say. If you read interviews and do some research you will find out that many of the large successful haunts spend hundreds of thousands on marketing. Why would they do this well because it is what drives customers to your haunt. We all know that more customers means more profits so need I say more. Marketing consists of many pieces of information, startegies and tactics. Setting up a good marketing plan will take some work but you will reap the benefits from it. In the next couple sections of How To Start A Haunted House we will cover the following topics to help you create a winning marketing plan for your business and your business plan.
- What is a marketing plan
- Why prepare a marketing plan
- What will the plan do for you
- Characteristics of a successful marketing plan
- What to include in your marketing plan
- Strategic Intent
- Short Term Goals
- Long Term Goals
- Market Review
- Market Audit
- Target Customer
- Buyer Persona
- Testing the market
- Market segmentation and targeting
- The 5 P’s
- SWOT
- Competitor Profiles
- Market Assumptions
- Final words
We will begin here with some of the basics and cover what a marketing plan is. Why prepare a marketing plan? What will the plan do for you? Characteristics of a successful marketing plan. So grab your notepad and pen or pencil because were off to the knowledge library. I will be sharing a wealth of knowledge here and highly recommend you either take some notes on all the material covered or just print these posts out as the are released.
What is a marketing plan?
A marketing plan in is simply a roadmap for your marketing efforts. It lays out all the relevant information and activities. This gives you a reference for what you need to do to achieve certain goals with your marketing.
Why prepare a marketing plan?
A marketing plan is a fundamental aspect to the success of your business. This plan will be the key to getting things done related to your marketing and ensuring you make them happen. When you put something down on paper it always works to your benefit, you remember it better, you know it better, and you always have a reference. Once complete this provides you a marketing tool that will help you manage your business and to work toward a successful business.
What will the plan do for me?
The plan will help you to focus your efforts and marketing budget at what will get you the most from your efforts in regards to your profits. Not only this but it allows you to make a realistic appraisal of your true competencies, exposures and potential in the haunt market. It also acts as a map for your marketing allowing management to spot the best mix of activities and to progress these specific activities in a measured and effective way.
Characteristics of a good marketing plan
- Is lead by your business plan
- Will be presented clearly and be easily accessible allowing it to be used to update key personnel within and outside your business
- Based around adequate analysis
- Based on the 5 P’s of your business
- Created around accurate segmentation and targeting
- Is actionable so every item in it can be accomplished efficiently
- Is measurable so all objectives and targets can be measured and the impact and return analyzed
- Dynamic in that it is regularly reviewed and updated as to allow it to keep up with market trends and new opportunities
This is covers the concepts of the marketing plan. You now know what it is, why you need it and how to use it. We have also covered key aspects of a great marketing plan. Make sure you include everything listed and try to implement all the characteristics. If you become familiar with this material and implement these concepts into the creation of your plan you will have the foundation to do great things with your marketing. We will continue this in the next part of How To Start A Haunted House Business Part 6 where we will cover the strategic intent of your marketing plan so check back for more and let us know your thoughts by leaving us a comment.
