Some seem to think a marketing plan is a point of view or a guessing game, when it fact it is (or rather, should be) a very detailed and researched document that can be opened for scrutiny by both internal and external audiences. A good marketing plan should help a business plan ahead and achieve the following three goals: 1) Identify an audience 2) Establish a message and 3) Spread that message.

The first step is to define your main mission. By mission we refer to decisions such as “Is our main goal brand awareness or generating concrete leads?” What your mission and purpose is will greatly affect how you structure your efforts. And it will help you start your plan with saying “This plan was created to…”, which will help bring your readers into context.

The second step is to look at who your audience is. Make sure your plan introduces your audience and carefully covers all its characteristics (spending patterns, demographics). And, of course - get it right. Which takes us to the third step: do your research and publish your findings in the report. These findings will clarify to any doubtful readers why you are targeting this particular group and make it easier to move on to step number four: define/sharpen your corporate message. Your message should bring your corporate identity forward, position your products as well as speak to both your customers and potential affiliates. Finally, summarize it all in one clear statement to be used across all of your strategies ahead.

Then, after your research is done and you know where you are heading - you need to move onto strategies and objectives. And of course then break these down into and practical tactics that will help you get there. These will include anything from public relations campaigns to search engine optimization. Make sure that after you have introduced your strategies, you also map out your projects on a timeline.

Finally, you need to make it very clear how you plan to budget for achieving your goals. And, of course, how you plan to analyze the performance of your strategies over time. After all, the whole idea of a marketing plan is to enhance your performance - so make sure you get it right from the start. Follow these steps, and you cannot go wrong.