Marketing plans help you organize your company's promotional efforts.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the number of wage and salary jobs in grocery stores is expected to experience little or no growth between 2008 and 2018, compared to 11 percent growth projected for all other industries. However, home improvement and repair construction is expected to continue even as new home construction slows, which is a welcome sign for the hardware store business. Regardless of the state of the economy, writing a strategic marketing plan can help you better promote your products, which can set you apart from your competitors.
Executive Summary
The first part of any strategic marketing plan is the executive summary. This is where you communicate your company's mission statement and objectives. For a grocery and hardware store, an example of a marketing objective might be, "Increase online grocery sales by 5 percent next year" or "Use direct marketing to increase paint sales 10 percent."
SWOT Analysis
A SWOT analysis is the next part of your marketing plan. "SWOT" is an acronym for "strengths," "weaknesses," "opportunities" and "threats." To perform a SWOT analysis for your grocery and hardware store, first identify your strengths, such as, "Market share leader in the grocery sector in Troy, Michigan." Then, describe your weaknesses, such as, "Larger hardware and home improvement stores have bigger tool selections than us." Next, communicate any opportunities for your company in the coming year. For example, "Increasing our organic produce department by 50 percent next year." Finally, identify any threats in your market, such as, "Online tool sellers have a growing percentage of market share in the last three years."
Competitive Analysis
In the next section, you drill down and describe each of your competitors in depth. Describe all of your competitors in the grocery and hardware industries. List each company, communicate their market share, outline their strengths and weaknesses and describe the marketing tactics they use to promote their stores.
Marketing Strategies and Tactics
Your marketing strategy is based on insights you gathered from your SWOT analysis and competitive analysis. For example, if you identified "organic produce" as an opportunity for your company, your marketing strategy would likely be to target consumers who are young, eco-friendly and healthy. Then, develop marketing tactics to target this audience. Start a social media marketing campaign announcing your expanded organic produce campaign on Facebook; develop an email marketing newsletter in which you offer weekly coupons; and advertise in local trade publications or healthy food magazines like Eating Well and Natural Living.
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