Part A: Identify key marketing metrics.

Overview: When using a variety of different media channels in your advertising, it is important to make sure that each is being used effectively and that your investments in each are appropriate to the returns they bring in. The marketing dashboard is a metaphor that can be used to explain the measurement of your marketing's effectiveness.

Consider the image below. There are four gauges that provide the driver with important information. Which is the most important? The speedometer is a good bet, given that it is the largest and in the center. Other important gauges show how hard the engine is working (tachometer) how much fuel you have and how hot the engine is. There are also a number of warning indicators, lights that turn on when something is not working correctly or optimally.What is the most important measure of your marketing plan? Is it your revenue? Is it the number of guests at your hotel? Is it the increase in guests over time? There are any number of things that could help you measure the efficiency of your marketing. There are also indicators that can warn if something is not working well.

Action Items: Write a one page brief in which you list 3-4 key performance indicators and 2-3 warning indicators. Describe them and explain why these measures, as opposed to others, would be the best for measuring your marketing strategy.

Part B: Assemble a marketing plan.

Action Items

This week you will assemble all of your previous marketing briefs into a single marketing plan.

This, as a part of a larger business plan, would be submitted to potential investors in order to convince them that your bed & breakfast or small hotel is a sound investment. However, a marketing plan consists of more than just the information in the briefs you've already written.

It must begin with an executive summary, a half page overview of the most important information contained in the rest of the plan. It is important to note that the executive summary is not only a descriptive piece of writing, but also a persuasive one. Remember that you are trying to convince a potential investor to back up your idea with their monetary resources. As such you may want to focus on the aspects of your business that will set it apart from others (e.g. information found in your Market Analysis, Value Proposition and Mapping, STP Strategy, and Retail Analysis Briefs).