All of us have made New Year’s resolutions at one point or another. And then, by the end of the third week of January, we break them—at least I do! So, I have stopped making resolutions. Or, let’s just say that I have “re-branded” my New Year’s resolutions. I now make my own annual personal plan. It is important for everyone in business to develop an annual marketing plan for their organization. You are reading this article in January, so hopefully you finalized your plan the end of last year. But if you haven’t yet, no worries, it is never too late to get started.
The marketing plan is a systematic, forward-looking exercise to identify target markets and set measurable goals. Marketing planning helps to achieve business objectives, identify new opportunities, adapt to change and focus resources while providing a marketing roadmap for the organization.