Free Contractor Marketing Plan and Strategy for Your Business

Free Contractor Marketing Plan and Strategy for Your Business

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) there are approximately 11 million independent contractors in the United States and that doesn?t count mid to large contractor companies! That?s a lot of competition for any contractor, big or small so in order to succeed, you must have a great contractor marketing plan and strategy.

A Marketing Plan Is Not?

Many contractors think a marketing plan is creating and printing brochures, having business cards made, building a website and participating in social media. These items, however, are not the elements in a contractor marketing plan?or any business marketing plan for that matter.

Marketing plans mean planning, forecasting and strategizing. Once the plan is developed the above items are used as marketing tools but they in and of themselves do not create a marketing plan.

Strategic Planning

Essentially there are three elements to your marketing plan:

Narrative ? This part of your plan describes your contracting business and includes elements such as your vision and mission statements, the owners and managers of the business, if the company is incorporated and where along with writing up a description of what your company provides as far as services and products.

Target Market ? Here, you?ll identify your target market?who are your customers by age and demographics? In? your contractor marketing plan? you must also identify your competitors and their target market along with your total market share.

Forecasting ? With forecasting you need to determine annual revenues from the current year, predict the upcoming year (or years) via a cash flow template that shows how much revenues you?re taking in and expenses you?re paying out to get to the bottom line cash flow you have each month.

Before you throw in the towel here, SCORE, a division of the Small Business Administration offers a great contractor marketing plan template with instructions. And, if you need help, SCORE also offers free mentoring services across the United States to help you complete your plan.

To download a full business plan that includes a contractor marketing plan, visit SCORE?and?click on ?Templates & Tools.? Next, click on ?Business Plans & Financial Statement Templates? and click on the MS Word version of a ?Business Plan for an Established Business.? The marketing plan template starts on page 7 and offers tons of helpful tips and instructions.

Be sure to also scroll down the Business Plans & Financial Statement Templates web page and download the MS Excel 3 or 12 month ?Cash Flow Statement.? It?s easy to use and a great way to outline where your money is really going.

Advertising for Contractors

Just like any other business, contractors need to advertise and forecast these expenses in the forecasting part of their marketing plan.

The easiest way to determine this is by using the following method (fill in the blanks using real and predicted data):

A)???? Gross Revenue for 2012:_______________

B)????? Total Leads Received from Advertising for 2012:_______________

C)????? The Average Revenue Per Lead (this is A divided by B):_______________

D)???? Total Advertising Dollars You Spent in 2012:_______________

E) ? ? ?Average Cost Per Lead for Year 2012 (this is D divided by B):_______________

To forecast for? year 2013, you need to determine a realistic growth in sales revenues. Say you want to increase sales revenues by 25 percent in year 2013. You can easily determine your advertising and marketing budget by some simple math:

F)????? What is Your 2013 Projected Growth Goal? (say 25%):_______________

G) ? ? What Will be the Projected 2013 Revenues? (this is A times F):_______________

H)???? How Many Leads Do You Need to Reach the Goal?: (this is B times F):_______________

I) ? ? ?Determine Your Advertising & Marketing Budget (this is D times F):_______________

Now that you know how many dollars you can allocate to advertising for year 2013, you need to spend them wisely and on advertising venues that gain results and offer a good return on investment.

Contractor Vehicle Graphics & Wraps

Almost every business is inundated with emails and in-person visits by sales reps from the Yellow Pages, TV, radio and newspapers?all offering the moon and the stars as far as sales leads. Before you jump on all of these bandwagons for your contractor advertising, take a look at the screenshot below:

You can easily see how much it will cost you to advertise using all of these traditional advertising mediums. Sure, you may need to employ some of them, but why not consider the ad methods that haven?t worked for you in the past and consider an advertising tool that works 24/7 and never sleeps?contractor vehicle graphics and wraps.

You?ve determined above what the advertising and marketing budget will be for the year 2013, so you need to take the time to find ways to advertise to get the best bang for? your buck and contractor vehicle wraps do just that.

Here are some contractor vehicle wraps statistics we like to throw out here at Sunrise Signs:

• A company would have to spend $130,000 in advertising dollars to achieve the same effect as one $3,500 wrapped vehicle.
• 95 Percent of people surveyed said they noticed graphics on vehicle wraps.
• Vehicle wraps last up to five years and are 100 percent removable meaning when it?s time to sell your contractor truck or van, you?ll gain a higher resale value.
• One contractor work truck or van can garner up to 70,000 visual impressions per day?can any other ad method do that?

Plan and Succeed

Our goal at Sunrise Signs is to not only help contractors by designing, creating and installing affordable vehicle wraps, we also like to help contractors grow their business with innovative ideas along with the tools they need to succeed.

Take advantage of the contractor marketing plan above and determine your advertising budget for the upcoming year. Next (because by now we know you also understand just how affordable and noticeable vehicle graphics and wraps really are), contact us for a free consultation on contractor vehicle wraps.

We also invite you to download our free Vehicle Wrap ROI Calculator so you can see for yourself just how much you?ll save in advertising dollars by installing contractor vehicle wraps and turn your vehicle(s) into 24/7 moving billboard advertisements that keep advertising, and advertising, and advertising!

Image Credit: Kromkrathog/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

?

?

About the author: Sunrise Signs - Custom Wraps and Graphics is a national provider of high quality, creative vehicle wraps, signs and fleet graphics. Located in Gloucester City New Jersey, and part of Greater Philadelphia, Sunrise can design, print, and install your graphics from points coast to coast wherever the sun may rise. Contact us today at 888-704-5941 for all of your fleet vehicle graphics and signage needs.

Source: http://www.sunrisesigns.com/our-blog/bid/55911/Free-Contractor-Marketing-Plan-and-Strategy-for-Your-Business

bby zimmerman website miami marlins marlins marlins facebook buys instagram kevin systrom