How do you know where you're going without a plan?  Is your operation running without direction?  How much better would your organization perform with an active promotional marketing plan?

"Fire, Ready, Aim!" is no way to run a business

Most businesses today fail to plan or even really know how they're doing in comparison to their competitors or relative to their industry as a whole.  They're essentially wandering around in a deep forest without a compass.  For established businesses this generally means that they've survived in spite of their planning rather than because of it.

The many benefits of planning

An active marketing plan allows the organization to focus on the things that are important...your target market and the activities around serving them.  It also provides an ongoing benchmark to measure how you're progressing.  You can highlight those things that are working and discard those that are not or adjust the overall strategy.

Business valuation experts will also tell you that effective marketing and business plans are also valuable assets when determining the value of a business.  This is essential for acquiring business loans or when considering selling the business.

Changing competitive landscape

Due to increasing competitive pressures it's imperative that you invest back into the business with a renewed vision and set of goals.  As Peter Drucker recently said, companies that fail to plan will eventually become history's counter-examples. 

In response to this need, Impact Marketing presents two programs designed to rescue your business from the "process rut" it may have fallen into and back into a purposeful, powerful vehicle.

1) Impact Marketing Audit

Need an objective evaluation of your business?  We offer the marketing audit program.  Oftentimes business owners get "stuck" in their own internal processes that they don't know how they're perceived out in the marketplace.

Our marketing audit offers you an objective glimpse of how your marketing processes are performing along with suggestions for improvement. The audit is a great way to identify the most critical marketing tactics for your business (bang with the most buck) along with a practical, objective opinion to get you back on track.

Without an objective perspective, it's difficult to know how you're really doing.  The marketing audit includes the company's-

                  - Positioning
                  - Image / Identity
                  - Sales activity tools
                  - Lead generation effectiveness
                  - Customer service
                  - Distribution
                  - Management tools
 

2) Impact Marketing Plan

Impact Marketing has partnered with the industry-leading marketing planning organizations today-


  - Marketing Plan Pro powered by Duct Tape Marketing™, and

  - First Research (a D&B company), the Industry
         Intelligence Experts

to bring you a comprehensive action marketing plan that will serve as the compass for your business for years!

We use the Marketing Plan Pro™ online platform tool as the plan outline and guide.  Marketing Plan Pro™ covers all areas of market planning including-

                   - Company goals and objectives
                   - Situational analysis
                   - SWOT analysis -
                         strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats
                   - Competitive Analysis
                   - Strategic pyramids
                   - Marketing mixes (5 "P"s of product, price, promotion,
                         place, people)
                   - Marketing tactical recommendations
                   - Financial and expense analysis
                   - Sales forecasting
                   - Marketing ROI
                   - plus many other features!

We add the detailed Industry Profile™ by First Research Corporation that provides another layer of valuable industry information including-

                  - Industry overview
                  - Quarterly industry update
                  - Trends and opportunities
                  - Industry forecast
                  - Business Challenges
                  - Financial benchmark information

We then fill in the blanks using our years of experience in helping businesses grow.  The result?  A tool you can use year after year.

Benefits of Hiring Impact Marketing as a Planning Partner

Research/planning/strategy - The "eyes and ears" of your business

Impact Marketing brings you practical research and planning experience.  We help position companies so that they can "get out of their own way" to succeed.  Often this positioning has to do with providing them with a richer perspective of the marketplace they operate in. 

Like any effective aspect of your business, market planning is an ongoing process. That's how we approach every client engagement. When you're armed with a sound action plan, you are free to innovate and create the messages and process that make you successful.

What will you receive with the two planning programs?

The Impact Marketing Audit -

       - One-on-one collaboration
       - One planning meeting (either face-to-face or call)
       - Word file with detailed audit and recommendations summary
       - Unlimited email support.  You may email as many questions as you like and receive our
         service promise of a return email or phone response in less than 24 hours of receiving email.

The Impact Marketing Plan -

       - One-on-one collaboration
       - One planning meeting (either face-to-face or call)
       - Access to personal online Marketing Plan Pro™ account
       - Completed marketing plan that includes detailed industry analysis
       - One copy of the Marketing Plan Pro™ software
       - Unlimited email support during term of project.  You may email as many questions as you like
         and receive our service promise of a return email or phone response in less than 48 hours of
         receiving email.

What is the price for the Impact Marketing Planning Options?

The Impact Marketing Audit - $650, includes the audit in addition to a recommendations summary.

The Impact Marketing Plan - our comprehensive marketing plan is $3900.  It includes the finished plan in digital format.  This price also includes a copy of the Marketing Plan Pro™ software.

How do I order the Impact Marketing Planning Program?

Easy as 1-2-3...

Step #1- order the planning option of your choice above.  We will then contact you to set up a planning meeting.  If you need to contact us beforehand, you can email to scott@impactyourcompany.com or call 678-615-2418 to discuss the best option.   Step #2- planning meeting.  We will call/meet with you to discuss your business in detail.  We will set up the online planning tool (Marketing Plan Pro™) so that we can both access and work on it.   Step #3- collaborate and build the online planning tool to completion.

We are Certified Partners with the award-winning Duct Tape Marketing organization. The Duct Tape Marketing System was chosen as a Forbes Favorite for small business and marketing.  AT&T, Hewlett Packard, Dell Computer and Intuit are just some of the companies that promote the Duct Tape Marketing process to their client base.  The Duct Tape blog was chosen as "Best Small Business Marketing Blog" in 2004, 2005, and 2006 by the readers of Marketing Sherpa. Harvard Business School features The Duct Tape Marketing system and teachings as part of business school education. The Duct Tape Marketing System has been featured in Wall Street Journal, Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine & CNN Money.

Unsure about our Planning Programs?  Take a Marketing Evaluation call where we discuss your business along with the benefits of the Duct Tape methodology.  Along with the call, you'll receive the 20-page report called "Twitter for Business" along with the monthly Impact Marketing enewsletter with practical marketing advice tips and techniques.  The Marketing Evaluation package includes a one-time $69 charge.  Click to sign up for the Marketing Evaluation Call-

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