A guide to creating a marketing plan!

This article is dedicated to those who are struggling on the road of marketing planning .

For example, the company required the formulation of a marketing plan to increase the market share of HH Sofa. At the beginning, I chose to say something nice to affirm everyone's past efforts and achievements, which have enabled HH Sofa's revenue to remain stable at around 2.9 billion yuan in the past five years. This avoided the negative emotions of individual responsible persons for fear of being held accountable, which created confrontational positions in the proposal process and failed to achieve the purpose of exchanging opinions.

C stands for Complication. This part mainly describes some unfavorable factors hidden in the real background. It subverts everyone's cognition of the development of events and everyone should pay attention to it.

In the marketing plan to increase HH sofa market share, after I introduced the background, I changed the subject and said that while everyone was proud, they should also see that we still have a lot of room for improvement - HH's sales revenue in the domestic market is less than one-tenth of that of local brands. Everyone instantly shifted their attention from other things and wanted to continue reading with great interest.

Q stands for Question. This part mainly expresses everyone’s inner doubts. Facing the current situation, what should we do? It also lists all effective action strategies in accordance with the MECE principle.

In the marketing plan to increase HH sofa market share, when everyone realized that HH’s sales revenue in the domestic market was not ideal, they couldn’t help but wonder: We have worked so hard, why is the result still like this? What should we do next? I tried to find the cause from the 4Ps (product, price, channel, promotion), and through various forms of research (Note: I will talk about the research methods in detail when there is a chance), I confirmed that the fundamental problem lies in the "promotion" work. Finally, I proposed 10 common and effective promotion strategies (as follows).

(1) Repackaging: Changing the wording or expression of the advertisement to give consumers a very different feeling, such as being seen as an ideal personality, feeling satisfied because they got a bargain, etc.

(2) Appealing to emotions: Rather than simply delivering rational information, the approach involves appealing to or persuading consumers through the eight major human emotions (joy, sadness, trust, disgust, fear, anger, surprise, and anticipation) and continuing the persuasion process.

(3) Collectivism: Using people’s obedience, herd mentality, daily behavior, and mission to create an atmosphere or social order where “it looks like everyone is already doing it,” ultimately getting everyone to follow suit.

(4) Sense of participation: Invite consumers to participate in problem solving. During this process, consumers have autonomy and can decide what to do. The final result will inevitably be related to the consumers themselves.

(5) Gamification: Using the mechanics and structure of games to transform consumption situations into enjoyable play, such as playing with an object to expand physical abilities, switching roles to forget oneself, and interacting, competing, or cooperating with others.

(6) Practicality: It is no longer just about conveying the company's philosophy, but also about providing additional benefits and services to the product so that consumers can feel the real value in their daily lives.

(7) Model: Find someone who has strong professional ability, is popular, eye-catching, and has a high degree of fit with the brand to serve as a role model, and shape the consumer behavior we expect into something that is already happening, so that more people will follow suit.

(8) Skill empowerment: Leverage people’s inherent motivations of “pursuit of pleasure” and “desire to conquer” to demonstrate to consumers the skills required for action and provide them with the necessary resources to assist them and teach them the ability to do something.

(9) Foolproof approach: By observing consumers’ past behavior and inferring the difficulties they may encounter during their actions, we design processes in advance so that they can complete actions accurately without having to spend attention, experience, or expertise. For example, we set the options we want consumers to choose as default options.

(10) Small commitments: Break down the actions we want consumers to take into smaller pieces, making the behavioral goals smaller. Then gradually induce consumers to make small commitments. Starting with a small favor, the likelihood of the action being successful will increase significantly.

A stands for Answer. This part mainly compares and analyzes various optional action strategies, selects the best option, and finally introduces the specific content and action plan of the best option.

In the marketing plan to increase HH sofa market share,

First, we set the development goal for HH Sofa, with domestic revenue exceeding 1 billion yuan within five years. This goal is clear and measurable, has a set time frame, and is a result rather than a course of action.

Secondly, through macro analysis of the "three emotions and one party", we can lock in a consumer group that is most helpful in achieving the goal: gain insight into consumer demand and market size (customer sentiment), track competitors to find market unmet needs or opportunities (enemy sentiment), analyze the industry status and development trends to establish layout points (market conditions), check the company's strengths and weaknesses in all aspects, and maximize the input-output ratio by leveraging strengths and avoiding weaknesses (our side).

Secondly, measure the motivation and action difficulty of the target group and determine the optimal action strategy. Through user survey methods, we collected "three products and three dimensions" data of the target population, namely, portrait data, behavioral data and attitude data in the three aspects of company products, competing products, and category alternatives. After analysis, we found that the core population was insufficiently motivated and our control over the market environment was average. Ultimately, we recommended "repackaging" as the optimal action strategy.

Finally, develop creative paths that apply the best action strategy to form an AARRR user growth plan (Note: Due to limited space, this will be discussed in detail later).

(1) In the customer acquisition phase, use the SUCCESs sticky creative principle to tell a good story (adhesion factor law), then find the right time or platform (environmental power law) and select people to spread the message (individual character law) to attract more attention to HH Sofa.

(2) In the activation phase, the six major influence principles of reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social identity, liking, authority, and scarcity are used to make consumers willing to try or purchase HH products.

(3) In the retention phase, the seven obsession principles of innovation, passion, power, prestige, trust, mystery, and boundaries are used to make consumers willing to continue using HH or visit HH frequently.

(4) In the profit-making process, we use four gamification mechanisms: fully engaging in the present, providing real-time feedback, forming alliances with strangers, creating a stronger community, and making happiness a habit, to encourage consumers to repurchase frequently and buy more.

(5) In the fission stage, the six viral principles of social currency, incentives, practical value, publicity, emotions, and stories are used to encourage consumers to actively introduce HH products to more people.

For example, in the marketing plan to increase the market share of HH sofas, when I found that only improving the "promotion" work could change the sales status of the HH brand in China, I wanted to know what the promotion strategies were, so I opened "How to Make Him Buy: Ten Strategies to Change Consumer Behavior". After determining the promotion strategy, how should I make an action plan and what skills are required for each link: If I want to acquire customers, I must know how to "make creativity more sticky" and create the "tipping point" of the product; if I want to activate customers, I must know how to use "influence" to persuade customers to experience or pay; if I want to retain customers, I must know how to create lasting appeal for HH sofas and make customers "obsessed" with them; if I want to make more profits, I must know how to design an operating mechanism for "games that change the world" so that customers can't stop at all; if I want more people to share it, I must know how to check whether HH sofas have the "go-go" elements.