Where to start
In order to ensure that your marketing is as effective as possible, it’s important to plan your activities. Whether this is an overall plan for all activities over the year, or a more specific event, planning early on will save you time and money in the long run.
We speak about drafting plans in a little more detail on The plan page. But in order to start planning you need to lay the ground work. This not only involves identifying your audiences (see the Your audiences page for techniques) but also your current position in relation to these audiences and the rest of the marketplace.
Marketers use a technique called ‘the four Ps’ to establish this. The four Ps are:
- Product
- Pricing
- Place
- Promotion
By establishing your current position against each of these, you can build a picture of your current offering and where this could be developed or improved.
More explanation of these simple tools can be found on the right hand side of this page. This information sheet also includes the ‘additional Ps’ which have crept into use over recent years and which are particularly helpful when marketing museums and visitor attractions. It also contains a few tips on brainstorming before you go any further.
Once you’ve established your audience and your current position, you’re ready to start drafting your plan. However, it is worth remembering that it may take you a full season to collect enough information about your activities, visitors and potential visitors before you can move forward. Don’t see it as a race. It’s essential you have all the information you need before embarking on a marketing plan. See The plan page for more information on how to draft your plan when you are ready.