Summary:

In the arena of Non-Profit Organizations, a strategic marketing plan provides the foundation needed for the organization’s influence on it’s members and potential members. The goal is to have a compelling enough message for your audience to align themselves with and “buy into” with donations or memberships.

The six steps to follow in creating a marketing plan, as highlighted by Marla Cooper from Bloom Consulting, Inc. follows:

1. Form a Marketing Committee

2. Set the Goals of your Committee

3. Do your research

4. Establish your Mission and Vision

5. Develop your strategic marketing plan

6. Execute your strategic marketing plan

Article Quote:

“Why is it that I’m often met with those glazed stares when I’m brought in as a Strategic Marketing Consultant and I ask to see an organization’s “Communications Plan”. This should be as basic to any organization as an Operating Budget and yet it seldom exists as a comprehensive, integrated and well thought out document. Why is this so often neglected by organizations when it is clearly so key to success in today’s competitive and dynamic marketplace? Possibly because there are many misconceptions about what a Strategic Marketing Plan is and what is should do.”

Link: http://www.howsescandy.com/marketing-plan/taking-on-the-“battle”-of-strategic-marketing-6-steps-to-developing-a-strategic-marketing-plan-that-works

Although not necessarily in the right order, the steps and advice given in this article are relevant. Begin by knowing what your mission and vision statements are as these will provide a foundation to work from. Next, conduct market research, set your goals, and develop an action plan to achieve these goals.

Developing a strategic plan asks these questions: “Where do we want to be?”; “How are we going to get there?”; “What kind of environment do we expect to face along the way?”

After these questions are answered and a plan is in place, implementing the plan is the next step. Make sure the goals/initiatives are translatable into daily tasks. As long as they are integrated into daily operations, the plan will be “worked” and results can be measured.

For more on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/

Summary:

Developing a strategic plan is often a time consuming and unanticipated chore. Yet, without a strategic plan, businesses have no direction in which to point their company and they are left to react to changes instead of having a plan to manage changes as they occur.

After careful analysis of all trends from industry to economic, the organizational structure and the target market, then the mission statement is constructed. For some who do not have the resources of time, money and energy, the mission statement can simply be how much money do you want in your bank account by December 31 of the planning year?

Article Quote:

“Many business people have really bad attitudes about strategic planning even though they believe that strategy is probably a good thing. This is consistent in that most people do not plan their lives less alone their businesses. Plan is really a hidden dirty 4 letter word.”

Link:http://strategicplanning.doodig.com/2010/02/14/strategic-planning-coaching-tip-plan-is-not-a-dirty-four-letter-word/

While this article does a good job of giving a quick overview of strategic planning, I disagree with the validity of the mission statement above. A mission statement states what the purpose of the organization is while a vision statement outlines what/where the organization ultimately wants to be.

Simply stating how much money you would like to see in your account by a certain date is actually more of a goal than a mission statement. More appropriate would be something like this, “Here at XYZ company, we design, manufacture, and install high quality liturgical furniture for all church denominations that reflects the individuality of the communities in which they serve.”

For more on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/

Summary:

Not having a strategic plan is the equivalent to setting yourself up for failure, according to Debbie Seidel-Bittke, founder of Dental Practice Solutions. The new year is almost here and if you don’t have your annual strategic planning meeting on the calendar, now is the time to schedule it for you and the entire team. Seidel-Bittke uses the analogy of taking a journey to a new destination without a road map with beginning a new year of business without a strategic plan. She writes that

Get everyone involve in the planning so you have a diverse set of ideas for recognizing opportunities and threats.  Moving the plan outside of the office help in keeping the meeting fun. Addressing what has already been accomplished and what needs to be accomplished begins the path for planning objectives.

Article Quote:

“You can not start a business and proceed blindly and just expect that everything will work out and you will achieve great success. It rarely will happen that way. At the very beginning of each year you need to sit down outside the regular dental office atmosphere and make a plan.”

Link: http://www.dentalheroes.com/strategic-plan-dental-practice/

Before you develope a strategic plan, have a clear understanding of what your business’ vision and mission statements are. Keeping these directives at the forefront will keep the plan aligned with the purpose of the business. Implementing a strategic planning and execution software will keep the plan in the minds of every individual in the organization while allowing visibility on what tasks should be completed next, and by whom.

This cohesive approach keeps the plan active and lets management see if any corrective adjustments need to be made. No plan, strategic or otherwise should be set in stone. It needs to remain flexible so that changes can be made quickly.

For more on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/