The Art, Science, and Craft of Decision-Making
Marketing Plans
Content of the marketing plan
A marketing plan for a small business typically includes Small Business Administration Description of competitors, including the level of demand for the product or service and the strengths and weaknesses of competitors
- Description of the product or service, including special features
- Marketing budget, including the advertising and promotional plan
- Description of the business location, including advantages and disadvantages for marketing
- Pricing strategy
- Market Segmentation
Medium-sized and large organizations
The main contents of a marketing plan are:
- Executive Summary
- Situational Analysis
- Opportunities / Issue Analysis - SWOT Analysis
- Objectives
- Strategy
- Action Programme (the operational marketing plan itself for the period under review)
- Financial Forecast
- Controls
In detail, a complete marketing plan typically includes:
- Title page
- Executive Summary
- Current Situation - environmental scanning|Macroenvironment
- economy
- legal
- government
- technology
- ecological
- sociocultural
- supply chain
- Current Situation - industry or market research|Market Analysis
- market definition
- market size
- market segmentation
- industry structure and strategic groupings
- Porter 5 forces analysis
- competition and market share
- competitor analysis|competitors' strengths and weaknesses
- market trends
- Current Situation - Consumer Analysis
- nature of the buying decision
- participants
- demographics
- psychographics
- buyer motivation and expectations
- loyalty segments
- Current Situation - Internal
- company resources
- financial
- people
- time
- skills
- objectives
- mission statement and vision statement
- corporate objectives
- financial objective
- marketing objectives
- long term objectives
- description of the basic business philosophy
- corporate culture
- company resources
- Summary of Situation Analysis
- external threats
- external opportunities
- internal strengths
- internal weaknesses
- Critical success factors in the industry
- our sustainable competitive advantage
- Marketing research
- information requirements
- research methodology
- research results
- Marketing Strategy - Product management|Product
- product line|product mix
- product strengths and weaknesses
- perceptual mapping
- Product Life Cycle Management|product life cycle management and new product development
- brand|Brand name, brand image, and brand equity
- the product (business)|augmented product
- product Product portfolio|portfolio analysis
- B.C.G. Analysis
- contribution margin analysis
- G.E. Multi Factoral analysis
- Quality Function Deployment
- Marketing Strategy - Market segment|segmented marketing actions and market share objectives
- by product,
- by customer segment,
- by geographical market,
- by distribution channel.
- Marketing Strategy - Pricing|Price
- pricing objectives
- pricing method (e.g.: cost plus, demand based, or competitor indexing)
- pricing strategy (e.g.: skimming, or penetration)
- discounts and allowances
- price elasticity of demand|price elasticity and customer sensitivity
- geographical pricing|price zoning
- break even analysis at various prices
- Marketing Strategy - promotion (marketing)|promotion
- promotional goals
- Promotional_mix|promotional mix
- advertising reach, frequency, flights, theme, and media
- sales|sales force requirements, techniques, and management
- sales promotion
- publicity and public relations
- electronic promotion (e.g.: e-marketing|Web, or direct marketing|telephone)
- word of mouth marketing (buzz)
- viral marketing
- Marketing Strategy - Distribution (business)|Distribution
- geographical coverage
- distribution channels
- physical distribution and logistics
- electronic distribution
- Implementation
- personnel requirements
- assign responsibilities
- give incentives
- training on selling methods
- financial requirements
- management information systems requirements
- month-by-month agenda
- Program Evaluation and Review Technique|PERT or critical path analysis
- monitoring results and benchmarks
- adjustment mechanism
- contingencies (What if's)
- personnel requirements
- Financial Summary
- assumptions
- pro-forma monthly income statement
- contribution margin analysis
- breakeven analysis
- Monte Carlo methods in finance|Monte Carlo method
- ISI: Internet Strategic Intelligence
- Scenarios
- Prediction of Future Scenarios
- Plan of Action for each Scenario
- Appendix
- pictures and specifications of the new product
- results from research already completed