Marketing Plan Basics

Marketing plans can be written in any format that is acceptable to the guidelines of the strategic planning process of the organization. A multinational company must assess its marketing strategy among several countries and regional markets. Small and medium-sized businesses will write their marketing plans according to their intended target markets and respective environments. This text provides guidance on how to format a marketing plan.

The Market

The market section of the plan should describe your customers and competitors, any other organizations with which you will collaborate, and the state of the market. We suggest that you always start the section by describing the customers who will purchase the offering. Why? Because customers are central to all marketing plans. After that, discuss your competitors, the climate, and your company in the order you believe readers will find most persuasive. In other words, discuss the factor you believe is most convincing first, followed by the second-most convincing factor, and so on.