Writing a Standard Operating Procedure for Marketing

Humans are creatures of habit and good habits require carefully designed systems. SOPs are those carefully designed systems that will inculcate good habits into your people and help in streamlining your processes.

Marketing SOPs are designed specifically for executing various marketing activities effectively. Let’s have a brief look

1.     Identification of Marketing Processes

Marketing activities encompass activities such as promotion and business development, CRM process management, customer service, reporting and control, and market research and analytics. Like any business function Marketing activities also need to be synchronized with departments such as finance, HR, production and logistics.

2.     Identification of Operations

Marketing function can be further subdivided into various operations. For eg:- we can divide the customer service process into store support, telephonic support, online support, and doorstep service.

3.     Identification of Operational Activities

Executing each operation in a marketing process consists of following a sequence of interconnected activities or procedures. These procedures vary from one company to the other. 

For example, in a store support operation, the key sequence of the activities involved shall be:-

• Reception and waiting arrangements (especially for senior citizens)

• handling product queries

• providing product demonstration and sharing product information

• execution of promotional offers and discounts

• sales and billing activities

• taking customer feedback

• after-sales grievance redressal and reporting 

4.     SOP Format Selection

SOP formats must be selected according to the operation. While a sop designed as a flowchart and checklist is good for back-office applications, for customer-facing interactions training the staff is the best option.

5. Identification of the People Involved

Once the workflow is established it is necessary to assign responsibility to the people involved so as to reduce confusion amongst employees.

6. Training and Communication

Employees should be trained so that sops become their habits.

Marketing sops can help in improving the efficiency of the marketing operation.

Article Source: https://www.yourretailcoach.in/blog/how-to-write-standard-operating-procedure-for-marketing/