A marketing plan is a request for funds in return for a promised level of incremental revenues, unit sales, market share or profits. One can develop marketing plans for products, services, market segments or brands. The critical components of a marketing plan includes the following:
• Summary
• Objectives (attract new consumers, create new uses, increase share of requirements, incent trial, encourage repeat purchase, encourage add-on purchase, increase awareness, increase loyalty, change value perception, increase emotional bond, extend into new product and service categories, etc.)
• Situation Analysis
Normally this will include a market analysis, a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats), and a competitive analysis.
• Market analysis
The market analysis will include market forecast, segmentation, customer information, customer profile (segments, needs, attitudes, behaviors, insights, etc.), and market needs analysis.
• Competitive context
• Strategies and tactics
Marketing Strategy: This should include at least a mission statement, objectives, and focused strategy including market segment focus and product positioning.
.• Operations considerations (impact on plant capacity, need for new assets, etc.)
• Financial projections
- Sales Forecast: This would include enough detail to track sales month by month and follow up on plan-vs.-actual analysis. Normally a plan will also include specific sales by product, region, or market segment, by channels, manager responsibilities, and other elements. The forecast alone is a bare minimum.
- Expense Budget: This ought to include enough detail to track expenses month by month and follow up on plan-vs.-actual analysis. Normally a plan will also include specific sales tactics, programs by management responsibilities, promotion, and other elements. The expense budget is also a bare minimum.
• Including funds required to execute plan
• Supporting customer research (qualitative research, concept testing, volumetric modeling, market test results, etc.)
• Risks and contingency plans
FUNDAMENTALS
4 Strategy is Focus
Strategy is focus.
You have too much to do with too few resources. You therefore focus on specific target markets, on your most important products or services, and on your most productive sales and marketing activities.
(touching upon all key marketing components that will be used: product, packaging, pricing, distribution, advertising, publicity, sales promotion, selling, etc.). Be specific.
Developing Your Strategy
• Focus on selected target markets.
• Focus on selected target market needs and selected product or service offerings.
• Focus on your company’s strengths. Play toward your strengths and away from your weaknesses and take advantage of the opportunities ahead.
Keys to Success:
The more the priorities (beyond three or four), the less chance of implementation.
Your Competitive Edge:
How is your company different from all others? In what way does it stand out?
Is there sustainable value that you can maintain and develop over time?
A value proposition defines the benefit offered, the target market group, and the relative pricing
1- Understand the value proposition.
2- Communicate it.
3- Fulfill the promise.
5 Focus on Customer Benefits
Focus on Market Needs from the Beginning
Do it right from the beginning! The most successful planning process begins with a customer need. Your whole marketing strategy, from the product development stage on, is based on fulfilling that need better than any competitor.
1) Identify the market need.
2) Build the product to fill it.
3) Market the benefits.
Don’t get caught with a marketing process that begins with what you have to sell, then wonder who are you going to sell it to, and where to sell it. Start with the customer need and then design a solution to fill the need.
Good marketers understand features, but emphasize benefits. They use features to explain and develop benefits. There are exceptions to the general rule. Some markets and even some industries are feature-driven. For some buyers computers and personal electronics have this tendency. Sometimes the features and benefits merge together.
When communicating features and benefits, always emphasize benefits.
Generally the benefits sell your product (or service), not the features. Engineers and product development teams love features, as do gadget-oriented buyers, but benefits sell while features really just deliver benefits.
6 Business Forecasting
Business forecasting is not a pure science. It is more likely to be a matter of common sense, patience, research, and educated guessing than statistical analysis or higher mathematics.
More Art Than Science,Build on Past Data When You Can
7 Market Research
is the process of gaining information about your market
Most every organization will benefit from even the most elementary market research. If it does not provide new information, it will confirm what is known.
8 Target Marketing
Everybody talks about target markets and taking aim, but not everybody does it. Target marketing is the only effective way to optimize marketing resources.
SITUATION ANALYSIS
Ch 9: Market Analysis
An accurate assessment of your market, yourenvironment and your competitors will add reality and practicality to your marketing plan.
Every marketing plan should include a clear explanation of the market segmentation, target market focus, and a market forecast.Segment Description, Needs and Requirements, Competitive Forces, Communications, Keys to Success
Ch 10: SWOT Analysis
is simple and powerful way to analyze your company's present marketing situation.Ch 11: Competitive Analysis
Who competes with you for your customers’ time and money? Are they directly selling competitive products and services, substitutes, or possible substitutes? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How are they positioned in the market?
STRATEGY
Establishing your product position will allow you to take your strategy from concept to implementation.
Ch 12: Positioning
Product positioning is another important way to enforce strategic focus. Position your product properly in the market where it will stand strongest.
Product positioning involves creating a unique, consistent, and recognized customer perception about a firm’s offering and image.
Ch 13: Strategy Pyramid
The Strategy Pyramid places strategy at the top, supported by tactics (follow and set
the marketing message and the way it should be transmitted) in the middle, and programs ( provide the specifics of implementation ) at the base. Strategy means nothing without tactics and programs to make it real.
Ch 14: Mission & Objectives
Ch 15: Segmentation
TACTICS
Ch 16: Pricing
Ch 17: Advertising
Ch 18: Public Relations
Ch 19: Product Marketing
Ch 20: Direct Marketing
Ch 21: Channel Marketing
FORECASTING
The process of developing a sales forecast begins with gathering data, continues with making informed guesses, and then follows up by testing those guesses against reality.
Ch 22: Sales Forecast
Ch 23: Market Forecast
Ch 24: Expense Budget
MAKE IT HAPPEN
The value of your marketing plan will be realized when its successful implementation produces your stated results.
Ch 25: Print and Publish
Ch 26: Keep it Alive
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