From 0 to 1, how to write a marketing plan with "soul"?

"Every marketing plan with soul must not be a collection and listing of plan outlines, but a solution that truly helps customers solve key problems based on customer needs."

I saw the following sentence on my WeChat Moments yesterday. As a professional "PPT" practitioner, I felt both angry and amused.

What makes me angry is such a one-sided evaluation, which seems to be mocking that all our work is worthless, which is obviously unfair; but what makes me laugh is that this sentence seems to have hit our pain points to some extent. We have indeed made a lot of plans and written a lot of PPTs, but how many of them have truly impressed the customers?

Of course, not all solutions are presented in PPT format, but PPT is indeed the expression method that customers are more willing to accept at present; therefore, the solution scenarios described in this article mostly use PPT as examples.

If you think about it carefully, you will find that most of the "normal" marketing plans on the market are planned outlines, which simply list some channel resources , marketing strategies, and delivery plans. They are often dozens of pages in size, which is really "amazing".

However, there is no mention of what the key issues that customers are concerned about are and how to solve them, so such solutions are almost impossible to implement, and cannot effectively guide anyone's specific work.

For example:

The marketing plan for a maternity and baby brand's " Double Eleven Big Promotion"

• Online communication: Produce short videos , H5 interactive pages, public account articles, etc., KOL (opinion leaders, celebrities, etc.), promote Alibaba 's internal resources, spread through WeChat , Weibo, Douyin and other media, and form a tens of millions of communication;
• Offline communication: comprehensive coverage of subways, buses, buildings, etc., with a target coverage of 1 million people;
• Media Public Relations: XXXX and other media, comprehensive coverage;
• …

At first glance, there's nothing wrong with it, it has everything it should have.

But in reality, customers still have questions: How do I implement this solution?

When a client asks, "Help me make a marketing plan," he is actually saying, "I have a series of problems (and a budget). Can you help me figure out how to use internal and external resources to solve these problems (spend money wisely)?"

Don't be too confident and think that the client knows nothing and then list all the resources and ways of playing. In fact, it is just the opposite. Customers know more, do more, and have stepped into more pitfalls than you think. They don’t care what you can do, but what you can do to help me?

What if he doesn't tell you his needs and problems?

This is the only way to solve the problem.

Therefore, you must first understand the client's budget situation, brand characteristics, overall assessment goals, historical delivery results, etc. Perhaps if you start from "what is the problem", then "why do we need to solve it", and "what problem can I help you solve" and "how to solve it", you can basically complete the framework and logic of the solution.

You may ask: This method is indeed better, but I may need one month to do the research, but the client only gives me one day, what should I do?

Let me teach you a little trick: use at least 1 to 2 pages to explain the customer's current problem, and add the customer's logo, product pictures, etc. to the proposal. Then spend an extra hour on a phone call with the customer, or search the customer's information online to find clues, and summarize and conclude 1 to 2 important points.

In summary:

A soulful marketing plan must be one that can solve key problems that matter to customers.

After grasping the essence of the marketing plan, there are also some tips to refer to.

First of all, don’t think that the client will really “read” your proposal carefully (clients are really busy). Unless your proposal contains “astonishing” creativity that can change the client’s fate, otherwise you’d better listen to my advice.

A typical marketing plan would be treated like this:

1. Most solutions are “scanned”, and the dwell time on each page is basically no more than 7 seconds;
2. Even for a proposal, each page will probably take no more than 3 minutes (after all, you only have 30 minutes in total, but you have at least 50 pages to introduce);
3. Basically, your competitors will also participate in the competition, and they will also provide similar solutions to customers. Are you confident that you can do better than them?

Therefore, your proposal must be highly refined and summarized.

1. Don’t use words if you can use pictures or flowcharts

No one wants to spend time reading text, even if your text can win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Please refer to the following comparison:

Where should my little eyes look?

Is this better?

Please also do not just pile up pictures and charts without any description.

Please add some picture captions!

Is this better?

2. Don’t use sentences when you can use short phrases to explain things.

Be good at extracting ideas from the text.

For example: "Through big data mining methods, starting from different algorithm models, introducing AI artificial intelligence technology, we can gain a comprehensive understanding of user behavior , achieve user stratification and personalized precision marketing..."

In fact, it can be summarized as a subheading : "User stratification model to achieve precision marketing", which is concise and clear at a glance. If it is further elaborated in the main text, it will be complete.

3. Don’t mention things that can be highly summarized in the headline in the main text

Normal people's reading habits generally prioritize reading headlines. Imagine that the headline is "Media Strategy Combination". If it is changed to "Precision Marketing Strategy Combination Based on the Characteristics of Maternal and Infant Populations", would it be able to better reflect the key points?

4. Don’t put two pages on a question that can be explained in one page

When turning pages quickly, no one will care about the logical relationship between the previous and next pages. I just want to get all the information on the page I am seeing and then quickly move on to the next page. Please don't make me waste my brainpower anymore!

5. If you have a case study, you must package it well.

After all, no one is willing to spend money and time on your ideas and concepts that have not yet been implemented. A good case will add icing on the cake for your overall plan. If there is no particularly suitable case, then please "think of a way", mobilize internal and external resources of the company, activate your circle of friends, learn and understand, and speak with examples!

6. Please take time to beautify your proposal, even if it is just to unify the fonts

First impressions matter.

When browsing the proposal, if the fonts are not uniform, the format is messy, and there are many typos, the first impression will be greatly reduced. How can there be future cooperation?

Just grasp one simple principle: unify the format, font, size, color, and indentation of the title and text respectively, and your plan will be much more beautiful! Try it!

The above are just some of my personal experiences, and the actual situation may be more complicated.

When you are making a plan, you will encounter various problems and challenges, such as time-consuming and labor-intensive internal resource coordination, uneven supplier levels, tight time and heavy tasks...so the most important thing is to have a strong "heart".

How to develop a “strong heart”?

Practice, learn, and adapt to make yourself more professional!

Source: Xu Ji