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pDeveloping, writing and implementing a successful Marketing Plan starts with solid Industry and Market Analysis and concludes with an implementable Marketing Strategy and Marketing Programs.nbsp; A Marketing Plan is not developed and implemented independently; rather, it should be developed in tight coordination with your a href=http://www.businessconsultingabc.com/Writing_An_Effective_Business_Plan.html target=_blankBusiness Plan/a Products and Services Section and at last implemented through your Companyrsquo;s Strategic and Sales Plans.nbsp; This article gives you an overview of what an effective Marketing Plan contains. For more information and a step by step guide on developing a Marketing Plan, see my a href=http://www.businessconsultingabc.com/Business_Planning_Guide.htmlBusiness Plan Book/a./p
pThere is a certain approach and building-block process to developing a Marketing Plan.nbsp; The place to start is analyzing your strongIndustry/strong:nbsp; its current state; who the major participants are; changes in the industry; opportunities, economic modeling forecasts; and examining who else may take part the industry.nbsp; With that completed, move on toward determining how distribution works in your industry and how technology affects its distribution systems./p
pAfter your analysis on the Industry tier is complete, it is time to narrow down your focus to analyzing and defining your strongMarket Segments/strong.nbsp; Determinants of Market Segments are Demographics, Geographicrsquo;s, Customer Needs, Buying Patterns, Psychographics and so forth.nbsp; Once your Market Segments are defined and analyzed, then for each of the Market Segments, explain how the Market Needs lead these identified groups to buy your products and services.nbsp; A good strongTip/strong when analyzing and explaining Market Needs:nbsp; Define your Products and Servicesrsquo; Offerings in terms of Target Market Needs; focus not on what you have to sell but more significantly, on the buyer needs you satisfy.nbsp; observe why customers buy from you and organise that strategy behind your Market Segmentation./p
p Having determined your market segmentation strategy, it much easier to derive your strongTarget Markets/strong. It is important to determine what market groups are the most vital and important to your enterprise, including what Market Niches to target. It is vitally important to narrow done and finely define your target customers characteristics and needs. Determine what target market groups are more advantageous and potentially profitable than others.nbsp;/p
pThe next step in the a href=http://www.businessconsultingabc.com/Developing_and_Writing_A_Winning_Marketing_Plan.htmlMarketing Plan/a Process is to analyze strongMarket Trends/strong from a Strategic stand.nbsp; Look at Market Trends as a way to get ahead of the market direction, knowing with a probability of certainty where it is going before hand.nbsp; Having nominateed the nature and direction of Market Trends, you can now adeptly and realistically visualise your strongMarket Growth /strongand specific Growth Rates.nbsp; Your Growth Rate Projections should identify in detail the relationship between your potential customers, sales, revenues and ultimately, profits.nbsp; Now you will be able to establish a realistic projection of Return on Equity and Return on Investment, as well as, identify the funds needed to finance and sustain this growth from an internally generated source (i.e. Cash Flow) and an externally generated source(s) (i.e. Lenders, Venture Capital, Investors, etc)./p
pWith Market Trends and Growth rates determined, it is time to explain the Nature of your strongCompetition/strong, why customers choose one provider over the other and why customers will buy from your company instead of these competitors.nbsp; Provide a detailed competitive summary of your Products and Servicesrsquo; Variables, ranking them in comparability to your Competition (example variables: Pricing, Sales, Trends, Positioning Clarity, Quality, Value, Reputation, Packaging, Advertising, Customer Service, Target Market Focus, Innovation, Brand Awareness and so forth).With this Competitive Analysis on a Product and Service Variable level completed, determine your Top Five Competitive Strengths and Weaknesses, as well as, identifying your top Competitive Gap Threats./p
pHaving established your Competitive Gap Threats, you can now develop a detailed Analysis of your Competitors.nbsp; You must show how you can bridge over your strongCompetitive Gaps/strong, clearly showing you can effectively compete, and what areas your business is better than the Competition.nbsp; It is important at this juncture to illustrate how Competitively Positioned your Company will be in the Market.nbsp; Specifically, what is your Positioning Strategy and what your areas of specialization and customization?nbsp; With your Companyrsquo;s Competitive Positioning Strategy clearly defined and established, you can clearly explain your Companyrsquo;s Competitive Edge.nbsp; Competitive Edge is sustainable value which can be maintained and developed over time.nbsp; As importantly, what Barriers to Entry can your Company create to sustain superior growth and keep this Competitive Edge?nbsp; Things like Cost Structure, Distribution, Trade Secrets, Product Differential, Customer Integration, etc. should be analyzed to determine how you can effectively establish strong Barriers to Entry, thereby, protecting your Competitive Edge and Future Growth.nbsp;/p
pLetrsquo;s pause and see what has been accomplished so far in this Marketing Plan Development Process:/p
pol
liIndustry and Market Analysis/li
liMarket Segmentation/li
liTarget Markets/li
liStrategic Market Trends/li
liMarket amp; Company Growth Rates/li
liCompetitive Analysis amp; Gaps/li
liCompetitive Positioning amp; Edge/li
/ol/p
p Two parts remain in the Marketing Plan: the strongMarketing Programs and Marketing Strategy/strong. These two vital parts are very closely linked together as the marketing program is the implementation platform of the marketing strategies./p
p Remember that the term marketing is defined as the broad effort to generate sales leads on a larger scale basis and it entices customers to look and consider a companys products and services. Some important components to consider include products and services, unique company aspects, positioning, and atracting and maintaining a certain market./p
pThis is further developed in the core ingredients of the strongMarketing Strategy./strong/p
pstrongem– Positioning Statements:/em/strongnbsp; Strategic Focus on the most important Target Markets; the Marketrsquo;s most important Needs; and how your Products and Services meet those Needs.nbsp; State the Main Competition; how your Products and Services are better./p
pstrongem– Pricing Strategy:/em/strongnbsp; Provide a Price Breakdown of your Products and Services and relate your Pricing Determinants and Strategy to your overall Marketing Strategy.nbsp; Consider things like:nbsp; What your Products and Services cost you to produce and sell; what your Margins will be; Discount Policies amp; Strategies; Dealer and Distributor Margins; Recouping R amp; D costs; Possibility of Pricing Wars; Critical Supply and Demand factors; How Pricing will change over time, etc./p
pstrongem– Promotion Strategy:/em/strongnbsp; This component of your Marketing Strategy will answer how you spread the word about your Company to future Customers, and how you will Promote your Products and Services.nbsp; Elements to consider:nbsp; Advertising, Public Relations, Trade Shows, Events, Direct Mail, Internet Strategies, Seminars, Sales Literature, Expected Response Rates, Promotion Costs, Name identification, Brand Loyalty, Advertising Budgets, Incentives; Advertising Message, Theme and Vehicles; Customer Communications and so forth.nbsp; It is important to determine the Marketable Differences in your Products and Services over your Competition./p
pstrongem– Distribution Strategy:/em/strongnbsp; How will you / who will distribute your Products and Services?nbsp; What is Unique in your Distribution Strategy compared to the Competition?nbsp; What are your Distribution Strengths?nbsp; Types and numbers of Sales People?nbsp; Sales People Compensation Structure?nbsp; Sales Territories?nbsp; These are some of the questions you should be asking while developing your Marketing Strategyrsquo;s Distribution System. nbsp;/p
pYour Marketing Strategy should conclude with determining the Changes over the next three to five years which would impact most on your Marketing Strategies.nbsp; What potential changes can harm your market and bring advantage in your market?nbsp; How can you excogitate for these changes?nbsp; A Marketing Strategy is never stagnant, it is always developing and adjusting to Market Conditions, Trends and Changes./p
pWith your Marketing Strategy fully developed, you can now assemble your strongMarketing Strategy Profit amp; Loss Statement/strong.nbsp; This Marketing Pamp;L Statement is less about Sales Forecasting, which is developed in more detail in the subsequent Strategic Planning Process, and more about a general indication of whether the Marketing Strategy will be successful.nbsp;/p
pnbsp;strongAn Example Marketing Strategy Profit amp; Loss Statement Format/strong/p
pstrongemnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Proposednbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Estimatednbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Actual/em/strong/p
pVolume/p
pnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; — Value/p
pnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; — Cases/p
pnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; — Percent Increase/p
pShare/p
pCost of Goods/p
pSales amp; Distribution Expenses/p
pAdvertising amp; Promotion Costs/p
pMisc Costs/p
pPre-Tax Profits/p
pThe last Section of your Marketing Plan deals with your strongMarketing Programs/strong.nbsp; Areas to consider include:/p
p
ul
liDefining Marketing Programs/li
liHow the Marketing Strategy will be implemented/li
liIdentify specific Marketing Plans/li
liState Market Gaps and how they will be met/li
liHow performance of your Marketing Programs will be measured and quantified/li
liHow your Target Markets relate/li
liHow you will capture Markets others are competing for /li
/ul
/p
pThe Marketing Programs put your Marketing Strategy into action, bringing ldquo;liferdquo; to your Marketing Plan./p
pstrongConclusion/strong/p
pYour Marketing Analysis and Plan are developed in concert with your Products and Services Development, resulting in a Marketing Strategy and implemented through the Marketing Programs.nbsp; These Marketing Strategies and Programs are then assimilated into your Company and executed through your Companyrsquo;s Strategic and Sales Plan. A Flow Chart outlining this inter-relationship follows below:/p
pProducts and Services Development =gt; Market Analysis =gt; Marketing Strategy =gt; Marketing Programs =gt; Marketing Plan =gt; Strategic Plan =gt; Sales Plan = strongemHappy Customers and Business Success/em/strong/p
pnbsp;strongAbout the Author/strong/p
p Frank Goley is a Business Consultant for ABC Business Consulting and has been helping companies to succeed for many years. He is an expert in developing business plans, marketing plans, funding plans, strategic plans, turnaround plansnbsp;and project specific business plans. Frank is also a business coach and business turnaround consultant . Frank is author of emstrongThe Comprehensive Business Plan Workbook ndash; A Step by Step Guide to Effective Business Planning/strong/em, and he writes the Business Success Strategies blog.
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