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Businesses come in all shapes and sizes. Their marketing plans are similarly diverse and the sophistication of plan often has no relation to the size of the company or the markets they serve. There are certain marketing fundamentals that apply no matter what your business or your target markets and prospects. While we need to paint a vision for our prospects, maybe they do want to sail into the sunset, we also need to focus on those fundamentals that will let us communicate our vision.

Plan. A plan let’s you maximize the efforts that you do put in. It also focuses the entire team on where you want to go. I prefer to do at least one off site planning meeting a quarter. A quarter is long enough to make significant progress, yet short enough that you can still course correct during the year.

Segment. That should really be segment, segment, and segment some more. Your customers and prospects are not alike. What characteristics do they have in common? What ones are different? How will you identify and communicate appropriately to each segment? A marketing plan needs clarity on exactly who you are trying to communicate with.

Communication. I create a week by week communication plan. I find ways to reach out to both customers and prospects. Whatever the channel: email, webinars, phone calls, trade press, trade shows, or social media, the communication plan identifies who (the segment), how (the channel), and when (how often).

Google. How do people find you? One of the best answers I heard was “We Google the snot out of it until we find the answers we need”. Google is the defacto first point of entry for prospects looking for information. Through either natural Google search engine optimization or with Google AdWords, do those prospects find you?

Measure. As you work on the plan develop key measures. Is it one email campaign a week? One Twitter a day? Ten trade shows a year? Once you have picked the measure, make sure that you agree on goals and measure to those goals over the course of the quarter.

By starting on these tips, you will make progress in your marketing. What is holding you back from getting started today?