By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
A well-constructed personal marketing plan is crucial for prioritizing activities to help you achieve your career goals. Like any successful project, a good plan helps you organize your efforts, keep your productivity high, and stay focused on your objectives. Your plan defines your career direction and the steps needed to get there, including the types of organizations you aim to pursue. The quicker you create and implement your marketing plan, the faster you’ll land your desired job.
A personal marketing plan includes four essential components:
1. Defining Your Objective
To kickstart your marketing plan, start with a clear objective: What is your professional goal?
Your objective should be a concise statement that describes the kind of work you are seeking. It should reflect your values, skills, interests, and overall experience in a way that is easily understood by people both inside and outside of your profession.
2. Identifying Preferred Functions
After defining your objective, list the roles or areas of work that match your experience and interests. Typically, this involves one or two words and should include three to five targeted functions. These functions should be listed under your professional objective and may include typical job titles within these functions.
Examples:
- Marketing Management
- Senior Banker
- Senior Electrical Design Engineer
- Human Resources Generalist
Functions to consider:
- Strategy development
- Market research
- Product development
- Commercial banking
- Compliance
- Asset management
- Organization development
- Staffing
3. Crafting Your Positioning Statement
Your positioning statement is your answer to, “Tell me about yourself.” It’s used in various interactions throughout your job search, including networking meetings, emails, phone calls, and interviews.
Your positioning statement should include four elements:
- Profession: State your current professional identity (e.g., “I am a marketing executive”).
- Expertise: Highlight the competencies and skills that qualify you for this work.
- Types of Organizations: Summarize the types of environments or organizations where you have worked.
- Unique Strengths: Describe the qualities that set you apart from others in your field.
Example: “I am an information systems specialist focused on applying technology to business functions in marketing, sales, manufacturing, logistics, and accounting. I’ve worked with a Fortune 500 firm and a small entrepreneurial business and am currently an adjunct professor at Centennial College. My strengths include data administration, strategic planning, data warehousing, and relational database design, development, and implementation.”
Practice this statement aloud so you can deliver it confidently in any situation.
4. Defining Your Target Market
Your target market outlines the types of organizations you plan to pursue including:
- Geographic Location: Decide whether you’ll pursue companies nationwide or limit yourself to a specific area based on personal preferences and market demand.
- Industry or Type of Organization: Choose industries based on your experience and professional objectives. Consider your transferable skills if you’re interested in switching industries.
- Size of Organization: Determine whether you prefer large, established organizations or smaller startups. Keep in mind the size should align with the positions available.
- Organizational Culture (optional): Factor in company culture if it significantly impacts your job satisfaction.
Determining the Size of Your Target Market:
- Geographic Location: Define it precisely, like a sales territory.
- Industry/Type of Organization: Use Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) or North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes.
- Size of Organization: State in terms of annual revenue, number of employees, or other relevant measures.
- Organizational Culture: Define concretely (e.g., companies with a diverse workforce or those that use cross-functional teams).
Building and Evaluating Your Target List
Identify your top 25 to 50 target organizations using your criteria. Conduct thorough research, stay informed, and continuously refine your list. Evaluate the size of your target market by estimating the number of available openings. If you have fewer than 10 firms, expand your target market. You are in the right zone with between 10 and 50. If it is over 50, prune it back to start smaller.
Now that you understand the four parts of a marketing plan, use the Marketing Plan Template to create your own.
A well-constructed marketing plan is key to ensuring you avoid wasting time and energy on unproductive search activities. Take the time to develop and implement your plan, and you’ll be well on your way to landing your next great job.
Ⓒ The Big Game Hunter, Inc., Asheville, NC 2024
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ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
People hire Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter to provide No BS job search coaching and career advice globally because he makes job search and succeeding in your career easier.
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You will find great info and job search coaching to help with your job search at JobSearch.Community
Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/TheBigGameHunter
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