Marketing Plan Guidance

 Marketing Plan Guidance

Prepare a marketing plan for an existing product or, think of a new or modification of an existing product. Follow the template as a guide. 

Executive Summary

The Executive Summary can be taken straight from the business plan or it can be newly written for the marketing plan. Below is a suggested list of things to be included. 

Description of the Company 

The description of the company should include a brief summary of the company including when it was founded and some general details about your company. It should not be more than about 10 lines and should not go into too much detail about the company’s mission or products and services as this comes later in the Executive Summary. 

Mission Statement 

This should not be anything new and should be taken directly from the Business Plan. Most companies have mission statements from day one and this should be included on all marketing plans.

Products and Services 

The information in this category could vary depending on the purpose of the plan. If this is a company wide marketing plan, then all products and services should be listed briefly giving a good description of what each of them can provide. If this marketing plan were specific to a product, then a description in more detail would better suit the marketing plan.

Financial Feasibility 

This section should also come straight from the business plan and give a brief description of the financial outlook of the company and what effects may arise if the marketing is not successful. You should not discuss financial plans for the marketing program in this section of the document.

Mission/ Vision

Not to be confused with the Company Mission, this statement is what you would like to get out of the marketing plan. If this is a marketing plan for a single product, then this statement should state what your company expects out of the product and they plan to achieve this.

Objectives

The objectives of the marketing for the particular product, service or company should be outlined in this section. If one of the objectives is to make 50,000 people aware of your new product then this is something that should be included in your objectives. You can also include company objectives in this section if they are directly affected by your marketing. For instance, if your goal is to make one million dollars in sales the first year, then this is an objective that comes in direct contact with the marketing program.

Competitive Environment

Here is where you need to outline the competitive environment of your market. This would include any competitors whether they are in direct or indirect competition.

SWOT Analysis

The SWOT analysis goes here.

Target Markets

This section will define in detail the market in which you will be marketing your product. It should be described in detail, and should outline how you conclude that this is the right market for your product/service. You should also state why this market is going to use your product, and show what research has been conducted to come to this conclusion.

Product Strategy

The product strategy should give a detailed description of what your product(s) are and how they are going to benefit your company. Describe in detail what your product is and what strategies you have to make it beat out your competitors.

Price Strategy

The price strategy is where you will describe your key pricing issues. It is a good idea to state whether you are taking the high cost-low turnover method or the low cost/high turnover method. If you think your key selling point is going to be the price, then explain that here. If you are taking the low cost/high turnover approach then explain how your company will succeed with the low profit-margin on each product. Be sure to include rough estimates of profit-margins, manufacturing costs and end consumer prices.

Promotion Strategy

The promotion strategy is one of the most important sections of the marketing plan. This is where it can make or break a marketing program. This section should include advertising strategies you plan to engage in, any marketing strategies for your products such as attending trade shows, conferences etc. Also you should explain what message you want to promote in all of the items mentioned above. You should send the same message through all channels of communication.

Service

Service should be described in terms of how service will add value to the product. This section should include service strategies (e.g., from the service quality model).