What is a marketing plan: instruction, structure and example

Planning is a must for any business whose owner wants to succeed. But choosing the right type of plan to define your strategy and structuring it can be difficult. Moreover, in marketing and business there are so many different options, and they all have different coverage.

Before you start the process, you need to know what a marketing plan is. The definition says that marketing is that plan of action that aims to present or promote a particular product or product line for a target audience. It contains strategic information that directly affects the company's approach to these markets. Such a plan, which the company develops, is the basis of modern business, as it helps owners to gain a foothold and ensure the success of the company.

Marketing Planning Basics

The purpose of marketing is to direct the efforts and resources of the company towards achieving business goals, such as growth, survival, minimizing risks, maintaining the stable operation of the enterprise, maximizing profits, customer service, diversification, image building and so on.

What is a marketing plan (MP)? Usually this is a tool for implementing the concept of the company, connecting the company and the markets, the basis of corporate planning. Simply put - this is a document that is compiled by developers, approved by the head and contains a detailed description of the goals of the enterprise. In addition, it specifies how the governing bodies will use control tools for the implementation of their goals on product design, promotion channels and pricing. This is the main tool for directing and coordinating the efforts of the enterprise related to sales goals.

This marketing plan is used for almost all modern companies, it contains a resume. It also includes information on the current situation, analysis of areas of activity, a forecasted report on income and controls.

Marketing planning, which is an integral part of the overall planning of the company, determines the role and responsibilities of team members as to when and to what extent the achievement of the objectives of the marketing plan should be promoted. Such a managerial function, which determines the future course of action based on an analysis of past events, forms a program that facilitates executive actions, which is mainly associated with the distribution, development and future use of marketing resources.

Evaluation of company strategies

A marketing strategy is used by various companies to collaborate with their customers. It is also used to inform customers about the features, technical characteristics and advantages of the company's products and is aimed at encouraging the target population to buy specific products and services. Effective strategies help the team break ahead in the competition.

There are different types of marketing strategies. The firm must choose one according to the business requirement. Before choosing the right strategy, study the following areas:

1. Determining the target population is a basic and necessary step. This provides the proper demographics that help in choosing the most suitable MP for the business.
2. Checking user audience. Create a hypothetical buying process to test your potential buyers. As soon as the company begins to understand the behavior of its target audience, it will be able to choose a more suitable strategy.
3. Evaluation strategy. After the strategies are considered and suitable ones are found, they are applied and evaluated. This process is carried out for testing purposes, and the most appropriate and productive strategy should be chosen.

Business Technology Management

There are different types of strategies. Her choice depends on the results of the analysis of the needs of the business, the target audience and product specifications. Two basic marketing plans:

1. Business to business (B2B).
2. Business to Consumer (B2C).

The following are the different types of common strategies:

1. Paid advertising - includes traditional approaches, such as commercials and print media advertising. Also one of the most famous moves is Internet marketing, which includes various methods, such as PPC (pay per click) and paid advertising.
2. Causal marketing connects the company's products with social needs.
3. Relationship marketing - mainly focused on building relationships with customers, strengthening existing customer relationships and their loyalty.
4. Hidden marketing - this type of strategy focuses on product marketing.
5. The word-of-mouth type is completely dependent on what impression the company makes on people. This is traditionally the most needed type of marketing strategy. Being heard is important in the business world. When a company provides quality services to customers, it is likely that they will further promote it themselves.
6. Internet or cloud marketing. All materials are distributed on the Internet and promoted on existing platforms using various marketing plan examples.
7. Transactional marketing. Sales are a particularly difficult job. Even for the largest retailers, sales are always tight, especially when there are large volumes of goods. In transactional marketing, retailers encourage shoppers to make purchases with shopping coupons, discounts, and big events. This increases the chances of sales and motivates the target audience to buy promoted products.
8. Diverse marketing caters to a diverse audience by customizing and integrating the necessary marketing plan strategy. It covers various aspects, such as culture, beliefs, attitudes and other specific needs.

In addition, the following types of marketing are distinguished: direct, indirect, causal, mutual relations and niche.

Direct marketing is used by a company that wants to promote its products and services directly to the consumer. Delivery methods of this type include email, mobile messaging, interactive websites, personalized advertising materials, flyers, and public advertisements.

Indirect marketing is a passive or aggressive strategy in which less attention is paid to a product or service, and more to a firm. She participates in strategies, donating to charity and sponsoring such areas.

Causal marketing is an indirect form that connects a company with social problems or causes. A company that advertises its products as environmentally friendly uses this marketing production plan to attract customers who have the same environmental concerns.

Relationship marketing is a strategy in which the company focuses on customer satisfaction and its product evaluation. This type often involves giving discounts to current customers, sending them birthday wishes and offering low-cost updates for products they have already purchased.

A niche whose marketing plan is to reach a forgotten consumer audience or offer products to a limited group of customers.

Mandatory Planning Steps

A marketing plan for a business, as a rule, consists of a description of competitors for the company’s administration, has a level of demand for goods, strengths and weaknesses of competitors and provides sections of a marketing plan:

1. Product Description, including special features.
2. Marketing budget, including advertising plan.
3. A description of the location of the business, including the advantages and disadvantages of marketing.
4. Pricing strategy.
5. Market segmentation.
6. Medium and large organizations.
7. Executive Summary.
8. Situational analysis.
9. Features and problem analysis - SWOT analysis.
10. The goals of the marketing strategy.
11. Action program.
12. Financial management forecast.

An enterprise marketing plan usually consists of sections:

1. Title page.
2. Executive Summary.
3. The current situation is the macro environment.
4. The economic condition.
5. Legal basis.
6. Technological condition.
7. Ecological state.
8. Supply chain condition.
9. The current situation is market analysis.
10. Market definition.
11. Market size.
12. Market segmentation.
13. Industry structure and strategic groupings.
14. Market trends.
15. The current situation is consumer analysis.
16. Conclusion

Performance monitoring

Most organizations track the results of their sales or in non-profit organizations, for example, the number of customers. A more complex way to track them from the point of view of deviations in sales, which allows a more hidden picture of deviations to become apparent.

Microanalysis is a normal management process, studies problems in detail, explores individual elements that do not achieve goals. Only a few organizations track market share and study competitor marketing plan examples, although this is a very important indicator. Absolute sales may grow in an expanding market, the company's market share may decrease, which portends poor sales in the future, when the market begins to fall.

Where such market share is monitored, a number of controlled aspects are possible:

1. Total market share or segment share. The key ratio for observation in this area is usually the ratio of marketing and sales costs, although this can be broken down into other elements.
2. An analysis of expenses can be determined on the basis of a detailed report on all expenses that a business incurs. It is performed monthly, quarterly and annually. It can be divided into subsets of the structural business to determine how much money each unit brings to the company.
3. The ratio of marketing costs to sales plays an important role in cost analysis because it is used to bring marketing costs in line with industry standards.
4. The ratio of marketing costs to sales helps the company increase marketing efficiency.

Financial analysis of activities

The company’s bottom line is a marketing plan. Theoretically, it should have a net profit for all commercial enterprises, and for non-profit organizations a comparable emphasis can be placed on staying within the budgeted costs. There are a number of separate performance indicators and key ratios that need to be tracked and included in the structure of the marketing plan:

• gross indicators;
• net profit;
• return on investment;
• net contribution;
• sales profit.

Comparison of these indicators with data obtained by other organizations, especially in the same industry, can bring significant benefits. The above performance analysis focuses on quantitative indicators that are directly related to short-term prospects.

There are a number of indirect measures that essentially track the attitude of customers, which can also indicate the effectiveness of the organization in terms of its long-term marketing strengths and, accordingly, are more important indicators.

Some useful research:

1. Market research - including dashboards that are used to track changes over time.
2. Lost business - orders that were lost, for example, because the product was unavailable or the product did not meet the exact requirements of the client.
3. Customer complaints - how many customers are dissatisfied with the product, service or the company itself.

Development of an annual strategy

Marketers have a saying: "If you don’t know where you are going, any road will lead you there." Without planning and a well-thought-out strategy, the team cannot understand where to go and what needs to be done.

What is plan marketing? This is a specific algorithm of actions drawn up for a period (for example, one year):

1. Define business goals. A well-thought-out marketing strategy, consistent with the business goals and objectives of the highest level, helps to increase awareness of the company, its products and services, attract traffic to the website and potential customers, as well as create new sales opportunities that match the profile of the target audience of the company.
2. Implementation of marketing SWOT, setting goals and budgets. Ultimately, marketing is needed that provides a steady stream of high-quality customers to stimulate new sales opportunities and stimulate company growth. SWOT of the current marketing program - strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats in terms of competitive position, target markets, audience, current positioning and messaging, maturity of partners' offers. The practical rule of marketing spending is between 4 and 12 percent of gross income.
3. Identification of target customers. The company knows the profile of its most valuable customers and the sales process that it uses to transform experience into new opportunities. However, as the company grows, it will be difficult to know the unique situation of each potential customer, so you will need to set up your marketing approach, creating the person of the buyer. These are fictitious representations of ideal customers based on demographic data, online behavior, motivation and problems.
4. Creating an implementation plan.
5. The most effective way to turn a marketing strategy into an implementation plan is to use the company’s structure with the implementation of activities focused on a common topic or goal.
6. Define the roles of the marketing team, the time frame in which to achieve results, and document the expected return on investment.

MR drawing example

Begin the document by preparing a resume. It contains a summary or outline. This helps the team quickly identify key points. The table of contents should follow the summary so that participants in the process can easily find more detailed information about each item.

Then the section “Current Situation” is filled. It reveals the nature of the market, what the company is going to sell, and potential competitors in the market.

The next stage is a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats), an analysis of the marketing plan based on the information collected at the preparatory stage. It identifies the main strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats that the organization may face.

After conducting a SWOT analysis, they indicate the directions to focus the plan, therefore they fill out the section “Marketing goals and problems”, which should list the difficulties that MR will solve and formulate goals and strategies that help the company fulfill it.

Now you can outline a marketing strategy and fill out this section, setting out the logic that will be used to achieve these goals. This strategy outlines the target markets and identifies the characteristics of the combination: product, price, people, promotion, place and positioning, with which the company will work. Now, each marketing strategy can be broken down into specific action plans that the company plans to take to achieve goals.

Each action program should indicate: what will be done, when it will be done, who is responsible, how much it will cost, what will be the predicted result.

Next, they specify the necessary resources, that is, how much an effective MR will require human resources, money and technology within the budget.

The final section of the Monitoring Plan outlines the controls that will be used to monitor progress.

The final stage of the process

The end of marketing planning is the setting of goals or standards so that you can track the steps of the process. Accordingly, it is important to set quantitative and time frames. Marketers should be prepared to update and adapt plans at any time. The MP should determine how progress towards goals will be measured. Managers typically use budgets, schedules, and metrics to monitor and evaluate a marketing plan. They should compare the planned costs with the actual for a given period.

Charts allow management to see when tasks were to be completed and when they were actually completed.Forecasts must be timely updated in the event of changes in the business environment. Along with this, the relevant plans can also be changed.

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2. A good MR should to some extent take the company out of the comfort zone and call into question everything that it did before.
3. Reduces risk by adding new facts.
4. It makes you reconsider the market, competition, target audience and value proposition for potential customers.
5. MR provides responsibility, forces teams to set specific goals and evaluate their progress.
6. Management is responsible for providing sufficient resources so that the marketing plan has a real chance of success.
7. MR gives the company control in advance so that teams can maximize their impact on the result.
8. May be a competitive advantage.

Advice

What is plan marketing, professionals in this field clearly know. Most often, students who devote themselves to this kind of occupation study at economic faculties. At first, the planning process for them may seem intimidating. After training, specialists who have received a worthy education follow a certain procedure:

1. Begin by reviewing how the world has changed since the last planning process. This will make the necessary changes to the context and prepare the team to consider new ideas. For example, what kind of marketing strategy did the competitors implement, have sales and revenue changed. The new marketing plan will require adjustment for any changes in the marketing environment.
2. You should focus on the problems that the company solves, and on the value that it can bring, and not on the services provided.
3. Always conduct market research. They reduce risk, so you should always invest in research.
4. The study of consumer style is not used for professional B2B services.
5. Attract talented specialists to work in the company.
6. Perform an expertise that makes complex topics understandable. The more experts the company has, the more new they will bring to the company.
7. Use marketing methods that have proven effective.
8. Track every step of the process.
9. The success of a business depends on the marketing plan. It determines the strategy, and depending on the needs of the business, this plan will change over time.

If most of the marketing does not work, it is because it is not implemented correctly. Even the most elaborate plans may turn out to be erroneous if they do not have sufficient resources, are poorly funded and poorly implemented. If the company does not have the opportunity to implement its own brainchild in the form of a clearly defined plan, it is necessary to cooperate with an external resource that can successfully implement these tasks.