A Marketing Plan is a written strategy for selling the products/services
of a new business. It is a reflection of how serious a company is in meeting
the competition head on, with strategies and plans to increase market share and
attract customers.
An effective Marketing Plan is backed by carefully collected
market, consumer and competitor information, sometimes citing professional
advice.
Why Prepare a
Marketing Plan?
A
good Marketing Plan will help you to improve your odds against more experienced
competitors and newly emerging ones. The Plan enables you to recognize and take
action on any trends and consumer preferences that other companies have
overlooked, and to develop and expand your own select group of loyal customers
now and into the future.
The Plan also shows to others that you have carefully considered
how to produce a product that is innovative, unique and marketable- improving
your chances of stable sales and profits - reasons for investors to financially
back you.
CONTENTS OF A
MARKETING PLAN
Title Page
·
Include the name of the company,
period of time that the contents of the marketing plan covers, and completion
date.
·
Use a clean and professional
format with examples of the company logo and product designs and packaging
types.
Table of Contents
·
List all the contents of the
marketing plan in the order they appear, citing relevant page numbers.
·
List tables, graphs and diagrams
on a separate page so that the reader can locate these presentation tools
quickly. List the appendices that will be included at the end of your document.
Cover
Letter
·
This letter should form a
personalized overview of the document. Highlight areas of the plan that are
particularly crucial to the reader, providing an indication of how this plan
will help your business attain overall success in the future.
Historical
Background
·
Give the reader an indication of
where your business idea originated, citing the date you began researching into
the idea, the existence of any mentors or advisors, the scope of your business
(the specific of what the business "does"), and opportunities for
expansion. Indicate how the future success of the business can be attributed to
the strategies found in the Marketing Plan.
Marketing
Goals and Objectives
To
introduce this section, include the "mission statement" of the
business; an idea of what its goals are for customers, clients, employees and
the consumer, then proceed with:
Sales
Objectives
·
Compare your prospects for future
sales with either past performance, or a general industry performance report.
By analyzing the industry average as well as your own performance you will
demonstrate to the reader that you can look "beyond your borders" to
the competition to give yourself an idea of how well you are performing, or
what general difficulties the whole industry may be facing.
·
Identify industry wide problems
and create strategies to challenge them. This will also demonstrate that you
have the necessary foresight to allow you to recognize problems in the future.
·
Set "benchmarks" for
your sales objectives by using quarterly reports as a way of evaluating the
success of your overall marketing approach. Indicate how much "market
share" you intend to collect over the next 5 years, to show that you
expect to advance your position against your competitors using your
"individual" approach.
Profit
Objectives
·
Include your predictions for
after tax profit for each of the next five years. Relate this profit assumption
based on the contents of your operating budget's costs figures found in your
Business Plan.
·
Indicate how you will reinvest
your profit margin in specific areas of the Marketing Plans future activities,
as well as countering operating and start up costs you already have. Don't
neglect the future of the Marketing Plan because you have to defer the costs
you already have. A sound Marketing Plan should do more than "pay for
itself" and its activities.
Pricing
Objectives
·
Focus on the weaknesses of your
competitors by offering better quality at a competitive price. Remember what
your own attitudes are towards products you consume on a day to day basis.
Remember how you react to high prices for poor or marginal quality or service.
·
Justifying your prices for your
product or service while thinking like a customer will give you an advantage.
Survey a sampling of your potential customer group and ask them directly how
they feel about competitors products, services, industry prices and any areas
for improvement.
Product
Objectives
·
Much like what you would be doing
for your prices, focus on the wants, needs and perceptions of your consumers
and the general public. Identify any problems for your industry/product.
·
Show how you will attract more
customers while keeping the ones you have. Determine the determining factors of
customer preference towards a product, like price, or social considerations
such as environmental impact, product quality or convenience.
·
Indicate the goals you have for
quality of service, level of service (speed and accuracy), customer
satisfaction, and your own flexibility to support consumer demands and
requests.
