Marketing Plan Overview The most important part of a business plan is the Marketing Plan. To keep one’s business on course this plan must be geared toward the business’s mission—its product and service lines, its markets, its financial situation and marketing/sales tactics. ♦ The business must be aware of its strengths and weaknesses through internal and external analysis and look for market opportunities. ♦ The business must analyze its products and services from the viewpoint of the customer—outside-in thinking. What are the customer looking for and what does the customer want (benefits)? The business must gain knowledge of the Marketplace from its customers. ♦ The business must analyze its target markets. What other additional markets can the business tap into and are there additional products or services the business can add? ♦ The business must know its competition, current and potential. By identifying the competitor’s strengths and weaknesses, the business can improve its position in the marketplace. ♦ The business must make decisions on how to apply its resources to the target market(s). ♦ The business must utilize the information it has gathered about itself, its customers, its markets, and its competition by developing a written Marketing Plan that provides measurable goals. The business must select marketing/sales tactics that will allow it to achieve or surpass its goals. ♦ The business must implement the plan (within an established budget) and then measure its success in terms of whether or not the goals were met (or the extent to which they were). The Marketing Plan is an ongoing tool designed to help the business compete in the market for customers. It should be re-visited, re-worked, and re-created often. Marketing Plan Instructions: Please use the Marketing Plan Template located in the Resources Section of your web portal. Complete all sections of the marketing plan in the template. You are required to utilize at least 5-10 credible sources for your research and support of your planning concepts, theories, and/or approaches. Credible resources include the course book, articles, lectures, and outside research. Wikipedia is not an acceptable credible source. All resources must then be included in your references accompanied by in-text citations for each, as per APA formatting requirements. Choose an industry of interest to you. 1. Create a fictional name 2. Pick a product/s or service/s 3. Pick a market of your choice 4. You have been in business since 2011. Your marketing plan covers the next 3-5 years, starting with year 2017. 5. 2016 Sales are $25,000,000. 6. 2016 Profits are $1,000,000. PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING Marketing Plan Outline Template for Final Project Week # 5 Student: Company Name: Date: MARKETING PLAN ELEMENTS A marketing plan’s elements may vary based on the organization and its industry, but readers still expect to see certain common elements. KEY POINTS • The executive summary gives an overview of the key elements of the marketing plan. • The situation analysis examines all the aspects that may affect sales of a specific company. • The goals state what the organization plans to achieve through the implementation of the marketing plan. • Additional elements of a marketing plan include the marketing strategy, tactical programs, implementation, budget, controls, and exhibits. _____________________________________________________________________________ Please use this Marketing Plan Template for your final project. Complete all sections of the marketing plan in the template. You are required to utilize at least 5-10 credible sources for your research and support of your planning concepts, theories, and/or approaches. Credible resources include the course book, articles, lectures, and outside research. Wikipedia is not an acceptable credible source. All resources must then be included in your references accompanied by in-text citations for each, as per APA formatting requirements. The major goal of this project is to sell me, the CEO to invest in your market plan and to show you incorporate and understand the concepts and strategies presented during the course. Financials: Choose an industry of interest to you. 1. Create a fictional name 2. Pick a product/s or service/s 3. Pick a market of your choice 4. You have been in business since 2010. Your marketing plan covers the next 3-5 years, starting with year 2017. 5. 2016 Sales are $25,000,000. 6. 2016 Profits are $1,000,000. Helpful resources: Instructor: Dr. Steve Clarke Page 1 PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING 1. A great help in this project is in our book for the course, Principles of Marketing, in Appendix 1. 2. How to Write a Marketing Plan. http://www.knowthis.com/how-to-write-a-marketing-plan 3. How to Write a Marketing Plan. http://www.inc.com/guides/writing-marketing-plan.html 4. How to Write a Marketing Plan: a Systematic Guide. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeBcCnMC958 5. Write and implement a marketing plan. https://www.business.qld.gov.au/business/running/marketing/write-implement-marketingplan 6. How to Write a Marketing Plan. http://www.marketing-madesimple.com/articles/marketing-plan.htm#.VP0CrvmUd8E 7. How to write a killer marketing plan. http://www.chicagotribune.com/bluesky/hub/chinerdwallet-how-to-write-a-marketing-plan-bsi-hub-story.html 8. How to Write a Market Analysis. http://articles.bplans.com/how-to-write-a-market-analysis/ Note: Please delete this MARKETING PLAN ELEMENTS box prior to submitting final assignment. Also, delete each explanation box in italics below, under each section heading. COMPANY NAME I. Executive Summary The Executive Summary gives an overview of the key elements of the marketing plan, with a specific focus on product, pricing, promotion, and placement. Other elements that may be discussed are: people (staff), process (of providing a service), physical evidence (which makes the service more tangible to potential customers), and philosophy (whereby the product reflects the philosophy of the organization). Many readers use the executive summary to determine whether the entire plan is worth reading. This is your time to impress. Do not overlook its importance. II. Situation Analysis The situation analysis examines all the aspects that may affect sales of a specific company. It looks at both the macro environmental factors that affect many firms within the environment and the micro-environmental factors that specifically affect the firm. The purpose of the situation analysis is to indicate the organizational and overall survival of the business within the environment. Companies must be able to provide a summary of opportunities and problems that may be encountered within the environment to gauge. III. Goals Instructor: Dr. Steve Clarke Page 2 PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING IV. This element of the marketing plan states what the organization plans to achieve through the implementation of the marketing plan. The goals may be stated in terms of profits or market share, for example. The goals will flow to the marketing department from upper management. Marketing Strategy It’s all good and well to know what needs to be done and the tools you have to accomplish them, but without a strategy explaining how you are going to use these resources to reach your goals, you may find yourself running around in circles and running out of resources before the goals are reached. V. Tactical Programs The marketing strategy provides the overall picture of how the stated goals are to be met. The tactical program gets down to specifics. It details the day-to-day activities in the major marketing areas that will be performed to fulfill the strategy and achieve the stated goals. VI. Implementation Implementation involves presenting an action plan, which lists the specific actions that need to be taken to reach the goal of the marketing plan. It also lists which department or person in the organization is responsible for carrying out the action. VII. Budget This element of the marketing plan specifies the total resource allocation available for the marketing plan and the potential return on this investment. VIII. Controls How will you know if your plan is a success without some way of measuring its impact? This section of the marketing plan explains how you are going to get that done. Controls also allow you to monitor your activities and make the appropriate adjustments when necessary. The actions of monitoring, evaluating, and measuring all fall under the heading of “controls”. IX. Exhibits Instructor: Dr. Steve Clarke Page 3 PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING Exhibits will appear at the end of your marketing plan and will provide the details that back up what you stated in the main part of your marketing plan. Instructor: Dr. Steve Clarke Page 4 PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING References Instructor: Dr. Steve Clarke Page 5
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