How to Create an Effective Marketing Plan

How to Create an Effective Marketing Plan

An Essential Job Search Tool

A Step by Step Guide for Creating an Effective Marketing Plan for People in Career Transition

Presented By Mark Troncone, MBA, PMP®, ITIL v3®, CSM®

Agenda What is a Marketing Plan

What it is and Why do you need one

How does it differ from a resume

What is it used for

Marketing Plan Pre-requisites

How do you create a Marketing Plan Six steps to success

How do you use a Marketing Plan Using your Marketing Plan effectively

Maintaining your Marketing Plan

Making your Marketing Plan stand out

About Me – Mark Troncone PMP® Certified – Project Management Institute ITIL v3 Foundations Certified CRM Certified SCRUM Master® – SCRUM Alliance Certified IT Business Analyst – State of Connecticut MT Associates - Active career Transition Mentor MBA – Management, BS – Marketing, AS - Accounting Work experience:

Save the Children (Currently) TransAct Technologies Starwood Hotels Affinion Group Hewitt Associates Wachovia Bank Bayer Pharmaceuticals Reader’s Digest James River Corporation

How I Learned this Life Skill

I do not have a PHD, HR experience, have not written articles, or own a career coaching firm I attended various presentations on this subject

I spoke to people at various networking groups

I asked questions during one on one networking meetings

I formulated my own Marketing Plan (many times)

I continued the process of refining my Marketing Plan after receiving feedback and evaluating what worked vs. what did not work

I determined what was and what was not effective and created a successful approach that anyone can use

7 Steps to Gaining Employment

EMPLOYMENT

Self Evaluation-10 Questions you must ask yourself

SearchOrganization Plan- Organization spreadsheet-Accountability Plan- Weekly Outline

Employment Tools of the Trade- Resumes - Elevator Speech- Cover Letter - Marketing Brochure - Business Cards - Value Proposition- Marketing Plan - Thank You Letter

Networking Skills- Over the Telephone- Open Networking Groups- One on One- Develop Target Company “Godfathers / Godmothers”

Interviewing Skills- Preparation- Telephone / Video- Recruiters- Face to Face- Follow-Up

Employment Offer- Receive an Offer- Negotiate Salary- Accept Offer- On-Boarding Plan

Employment Search Info- Research Target Co’s- Employment Web-Sites- Recruiters- Networking Groups- Informational Web-Sites- Libraries- Linked In

1.

2.

3.

4.

7.

6.

5.

The Shift Trend in Employment Searching

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

5 % Jobsfound throughOn-Line Ads

15% Jobsfound throughRecruiters

80% Jobsfound throughNetworking

Employment Facts of Life Where should you focus?

Focus your efforts where there is the greatest potential for success

– Networking!

80% of jobs are found through networking.Your Marketing Plan is an effective tool.

Why Do We Need a Marketing Plan?

Because the job search process has changed

Networking has become the viable skill in

the career search process

60-80% of people in transition have found

their next job through networking

A Marketing Plan is used as a valuable

tool to use in order to successfully network

It is your Transition Plan

You can Brand yourself and be specific

You can set yourself apart

You can receive referrals to your Target Companies

What is a Marketing Plan?

Think of yourself as a product. When businesses have a product they wish to promote and sell…

They create a plan and strategy to market this product The plan might contain:

A high level overview of the product’s functionality, it’s unique value, and it’s benefits/features

It’s competitive advantage (how it differs)

Where they want to sell and market it

Target customers to whom they would like to market, sell and distribute it to

Your Marketing Plan describes and sells you

What is a Marketing Plan ? What a Marketing Plan is:

A document designed as your Transition Plan

Focuses to sell you as the viable “product”

Visually shows what you want to do next:

Professional Summary and “Key” Marketable Skills

Career Search Objective

and most importantly…. Target Companies

What a Marketing Plan is not: A resume A historic account of your past employment Never to be given to a recruiter or employer

A Resume vs. a Marketing Plan A Resume focuses on the past:

A chronological account of past employment

Lists past job experiences (PARS) and skills summary

Lists education, technical skills, awards etc.

Main function is to review during a job interview

Employment application – O/L or Mail

Review with a job recruiter face to face

A Marketing Plan focuses on the future:

Your future employment desires and career objectives

Shows the value and results you can bring to a company

The types of industries where you want to work next

Based upon your experience and skills, lists the target companies that you feel you can fit into now!

What is a Marketing Plan used for

A visual document to share and review during networking meetings with:

Other networkers in transition (One on One) Contacts you meet who are in the workforce Contacts introduced to you by other net-workers In a networking meeting or group open forum

It is a valuable tool that will show anyone: The next career position you want to achieve Your “Key Skills” that make you stand out What type of company you excel working at

The “target” companies you have identified

Creating A Marketing Plan - Prerequisites

Before creating your Marketing Plan you must

complete the following pre-work:

Know the “key” skills that make you “Unique”

Think about what you want to do next in your career

Know your personality “Type” (Myers-Briggs)

Think about the “type” of company where you can be successful working for - environment, culture, management

Where you wish to work - geographically

Investigate companies that could use your skills, experiences and offer the environment, growth, and opportunities that you can be successful within or wish to investigate further

Why the Prerequisites are Important

This pre-work is essential to creating a Marketing Plan because:

It identifies and markets your personal “Brand”

It allows you to develop your ”Elevator Speech” which is part of your Professional Summary

Helps you to evaluate your skills and accomplishments

It allows you to complete a self-analysis of skills and identifies the:

Type of company that you will fit best within

Type of company culture you will like

The type of manager/team you interact best with

Note: See my presentation “The top ten questions to ask before you start your job search” on LinkedIn Slide Share.

The Six Steps to Creating a Marketing Plan

A Marketing Plan consists of 6 sections:

1. Contact Area

2. Professional Summary

3. Key Professional Skills

4. Career Search Objective

5. Professional Experience

6. Targeted Companies

Note: It is important to note that Marketing Plans are like snowflakes - each one will look different, but all contain the six parts above in order to be most effective for you

The Six Steps to Creating a Marketing Plan – con’t.

1. The Contact Area contains the following:

Your Picture – (professional head shot) located on left side

Your Name (larger font in bold) plus any certification titles

Your “Hook” – used to elicit “tell me more”

Your address (City, State, Zip – street is an option)

Your Phone Number(s) – Cell and/or Home

Your Email Address

Your LinkedIn Address – don’t forget this

When completed add a bold line under the above to separate


Mark Troncone MBA, PMP®, ITILv3®, CSM®

“I remove the Fluff in order to ensure a successful system implementation”

H (203) 999 - 9999 1 Main Street [email protected] C (203) 999 - 8888 Anytown, CT. 11111 www.Linkedin.com/in/marktroncone

_____________________________________________

1. The Contact Area - Example:


What is a Hook used for? A Hook is a once sentence marketing tool used to create a

condition/response - gain and hold another persons attention Use it to say something about yourself/title/skill that will serve the

purpose of the person hearing it to ask – “tell me more”

It also serves to “Brand” yourself and make it easier for the people that you network with to remember you

True Examples are:“I feed the starving masses” – a bread sales executive“There are two things certain in life, death and taxes, I can’t help you

avoid the first, but I can help you avoid the second” – state tax planner“I Fix broken Projects” – PMP Project Manager


What is a Hook used for - con’t.

More True Examples:

“I Relate like Cratchit, and Negotiate like Scrooge” – ESO Program Manager

“I build businesses to achieve success” - Senior HR executive

“I accelerate projects that impact the bottom line” – IT project manager

“I am a strategic communicator that drives business results” – Communications Exec

“I am a strategic leader that gets the people thing” – IT CIO Executive

“Your first step to ensuring a successful system implementation” IT Project Manager/Business Analyst hope you like this last one It’s mine


2. The Professional Summary:

Is probably the second most important section of a Marketing Plan other than your Target Companies.

It is where you “Brand” yourself to the audience who you share this document with

To create this, fill out the following formula:

WIA + WID + STDM X TVIB = RFTC


Formula => WIA + WID + STDM x TVIB = RFTC

The formula deciphered:

WIA: Who I am + WID: What I do +STDM: 2-3 “Key” Skills that define me X TVIB: The value I bring (to any company) =RFTC: The results for the company

Let’s see if you can spot the formula in the Professional Summary on the next page:


I am a certified PMP® IT Project Manager, ITILv3® Foundations, CSM® SCRUM Master and a Certified IT Business Analyst. I use my key skills in process improvement, communication, leadership, and offering alternative solutions in order to deliver the project initiative from A to Z.

The value I bring to any organization is my ability to effectively gather and create Business Requirements documentation in order to ensure that only relative functionality is implemented, because 60% of all new software provided is NEVER utilized by the end users. Accomplishing this, I can then lead the project to completion efficiently.

The result for the organization is a quality system delivered within budget and deadline goals with minimal defects and low maintenance costs and releases development resources earlier in the process. This, in turn, enables key executives to use the information the application provides to make strategic business decisions to gain a competitive edge in the marketplace, thus having a positive effect on ROI.


2. The Professional Summary – con’t:

Do not fill with “Fluff” words Results Driven, Passionate, Experienced, Successful, Motivated,

Great Communicator, Dedicated, People Person etc. they take up space and are non-essential and will lose your readers – be specific!

You may continue to refine it over time as needed Show it to other people and ask for their feedback

If they cannot say they know who you are, what you do, what makes you unique and the value/results you bring – go back to the old drawing board and refine it until they do

This summary, together with your search objective and 3 target companies, in part, then becomes your “Elevator Speech” and creates your personal “Brand”


3. Key Professional Skills:

These are 3-4 columns of one to three word additional skills that define you and make you unique for your job title

They should be in bulleted form for ease of readability

Do not list the 2-3 “key” skills mentioned in your Professional Summary section

Each column should have 3-4 rows Hint – use a table without showing the grid-lines

Use this area to drive home skills that you bring to the table and Brand yourself


3. Key Professional Skills – con’t.:

Example:

Leading Global Teams Business/IT Liaison MS Office Asset Recovery

Excel Marcos Process Improvement JD Edwards Debt Restructuring

SDLC Life Cycle Project Management SAP Media Relations

Consultative Selling Presentations Six Sigma Process Design


4. Career Search Objective

This should be easy after you have self-evaluated and did some investigating – it narrows down where you want to be

Simply state:

What you want your next job title to be

What size company (large, medium, small – can be multi

What industry (CPG, Health, Pharma, Financial, Manufacturing etc.)

Where geographically (area)

Kind of culture or company structure


4. Career Search Objective – con’t.

Example:

I want to be a product manager for a medium sized consumer product company in the toy or video gaming industry located in the New York metro area. I would value a start-up company with a creative “team” oriented culture


5. Professional Experience Do not get to crazy with this section,

remember this is not a resume List on one row each in date order:

The name of the company

Your title

Years employed

One major result for each one – NOT a PAR (Problem Action Result used on resumes). This result is another form of a “Hook” to elicit from someone who reads it – “Tell me how you did that?”

You can also use a table with shown or hidden gridlines for this


5. Professional Experience – con’t.

Use a table as you did in listing your Key Professional skills and hide the grid-lines

Example:

XYZ Corp VP Supply Chain 2005 – 2010 Initiated global distribution strategies to sell 30MM

123 Company Director Product Distribution

2001 – 2005 Led project that created O/L ordering system

LMO Ltd. Product Manager 1992 – 2001 Drove XXX product to number 1 in the industry

PP&H Corp Advertising Manager

1989 – 2001 Introduced “Fluffy Soap” media campaign


6. Targeted Companies

List the target companies that you wish to acquire a contact for or learn more about

Put in target companies that you have researched to be a good fit for you

Add companies that presently have a position that you wish to apply for

Hint: Put them in alphabetic order or by industry type in alphabetic

order to make it easier to read As you get a contact for a company on your list, take that

company off and slot in another – you don’t need it there any longer and it is taking up valuable space

Bad Marketing Plans

Fail to have a complete Contact Section Including Picture Professional Summary Section Lacks Substance/Brand and

is not Focused – Number 1 Mistake Does not Define your Key Skills Does not adequately tell the reader what your Career Search

Objective is for your desired next position Uses too much space listing previous work experience and

company information – Number 3 Mistake Does not have enough or uses too little space for Target

Companies – Number 2 Mistake Lack Creativity, Color, Layout, Spacing or are not “Pleasing”

to the eye – Must draw the readers eye to key sections

Effective use of a Marketing Plan

Marketing Plans should be used: At employment networking groups At networking events for industry groups One on One networking meetings with

a fellow networker in transition One on One with a contact that you were

introduced to who is working at one of your Target Companies – Develop a “Godfather”

It can be given to anyone – remember you are looking for a job – but the Marketing Plan allows people to help you by offering advise, suggestions, information, help and contacts

The more efficiently and effectively written, the more a person you share it with can offer a contact at one of your target companies

Maintaining your Marketing Plan

Update your Marketing Plan as needed Be Specific – the more you are – the better contacts can help Update as your Summary, Key Skills, Search Objective and

most importantly – Target Companies change Do not be afraid to use other peoples target companies

Investigate them from the Marketing Plans they share with you If you feel that you would fit into these companies – add them to your

Marketing Plan.

Do not be afraid to use another persons Marketing Plan format(s) for your own – do not re-invent the wheel As a courtesy, ask the person if you can use their format

Making your Marketing PlanStand Out

Add color to your Marketing Plan – it will stick out

Make it pleasant to the eye Do not overcrowd words Make it easy to read for the viewer Keep spacing between lines

Keep it a Marketing Document Be Inventive, Be different, Be Creative Remember your selling yourself – make

people remember you

Marketing Plan Results

Now is the time to take action, create your Marketing Plan and start meeting contacts at your target companies !!!!!!

QUESTIONSTell me what you think ???Tell me what you think ???

[email protected]@yahoo.com

How to Create an Effective Marketing Plan

Documents

Transcript of How to Create an Effective Marketing Plan