16 – Marketing Plan
Creating a Marketing Plan
The Executive Summary
A high-level summary of the marketing plan as a whole, and a paradox on paper: this is the last section that you should write, but the first section that should be in the finished report. It’s best to keep the Executive Summary as short and sweet as possible — just a couple of sentences to sum everything up. While writing it, imagine that you’re going to present this summary “elevator pitch” style. Once you’ve finished it, read it out loud. If it takes you longer than ten seconds to read it all, it probably needs to be simplified even further.
The Challenge
This section should contain a brief description of the product(s) and/or product line(s) that your company offers. With each description, include goals that you want to set for each product and product line (sales figures, strategic and company-wide goals, etc.). Keep the number and complexity of your goals at a maximum of three per product/product line, and remember that they need to be concise, measurable, and moderately easy to achieve.
Situation Analysis
This section contains a snapshot of your company, your customer base, and your market at large. It should be divided into six subsections:
Company Analysis:
- Long and Short-Term Company-wide goals.
- The focus of your company.
- Analysis of the culture of your company.
- Strengths of your company.
- Weaknesses of your company.
- Your company’s estimated market share.
Customer Analysis:
- Estimate size of your customer base.
- Key Demographics of your customer base.
- Value drivers.
Competitor Analysis
- Market Position.
- Strengths.
- Weaknesses
- Market shares.
Collaborators:
- People and companies that are key to continuing what you do.
- Subsidiaries, joint ventures, distributors, suppliers, etc.
Climate: “Pest” Analysis
Political and legal environment.
- Economic environment.
- Social and cultural environment.
- Technological environment.
SWOT Analysis:
- Your company’s internal strengths.
- Your company’s internal weaknesses.
- External opportunities for your company.
- External threats to your company.
Market Segmentation
- Each market has its own different segments. Understanding the relevant segments for your product(s) in your market is important, for they allow you to adjust your “marketing mix” to better adapt to the different needs of each segment.
- Segments should be measurable, accessible, different from other segments in response to a marketing mix, durable, substantially large enough to produce a profit, and homogeneous.
- Inside your marketing plan, listing your segments should follow a clear and predictable form, like the one listed below:
Name of the Segment:
- Description.
- Percent of your overall sales this segment accounts for.
- What, exactly, this segment wants and needs.
- How this segment uses your product.
- What sort of support this segment needs.
- The best ways to advertise to and communicate with this segment.
- The price sensitivity of this segment.
- Repeat this until you feel that you have identified all of your major segments.
Alternative Marketing Strategies
Write down details about any alternatives that you and your team considered before arriving at your current strategy. These may include eliminating a particular product or line, changing the price point of a product or line, etc.
Selected Marketing Strategy
Explain the strategy that you and your team have developed and agreed upon. Why did you choose this strategy? Why do you feel that it’s the best possible strategy for the near future? Once that’s on paper, put your “Four P’s” down for each product. Each product should have its own “Four P’s” – you can follow the format below:
Product
- Branding/Brand Name.
- Intended quality of the product.
- Scope of the product line.
- Warranty.
- Packaging.
Price
- List price.
- Discounts.
- Bundling.
- Payment terms.
- Leasing options.
Place
- Distribution channels.
- Channel Motivations.
- Criteria for evaluating your distributors.
- Locations.
- Logistics and Supply Chain.
Promotion
- Advertising.
- Public Relations.
- Promotional programs.
- Budget, including your break-even point.
- Projected results of this promotional program.
Short and Long-Term Projections
This section should include forecasts of revenues and expenses, your break-even analysis, and any changes or adjustments that you predict you’ll need to make in the future.
The Conclusion
This is an expanded version of your Executive Summary. You should include all specific numbers (projected costs, revenues, profits, etc.).
Getting Out There
A message by itself isn’t enough; people have to encounter your message in order to know your business. So, how do you get your message out there?
While there is no “right” answer – and in fact, we encourage you to dream up your own ideas – several strategies should be considered.
- Create a Following
- Word of Mouth
- Email List
- Online
- Social Media
- Search Engine Optimization
- Pay Per Click
- Giveaways
- Traditional Advertising
While this list is far from exhaustive, it should be clear that there are many ways to get the word out. You don’t have to stick with just one. Using multiple marketing strategies will increase the number of people who know about your business.
Stay Focused on Your Customer
In getting your message out there, it’s natural to want to focus on your business instead of your customer. However, your customer is the reason your business exists and the marketing strategies you choose need to make sense for your particular customer.
Come back to this lesson to complete the assignment after you have read all of the topics.