What to Include in Your Marketing Plan


The completion of the marketing plan is the culmination of all of the research, the conceptualization and testing of ideas, the making of assumptions, the development of objectives, and the preparation of detailed financial plans. It is typically the document that is presented to upper management for final approval of a new marketing venture, or used as the annual plans for the marketing department.

As indicated in Chapter 14, a marketing plan should document the background that led up to the writing of the marketing plan in the first place, all of the research that was done, the key conclusions and objectives based on that research, a description of all the action programs to be implemented in order to achieve the plans objectives, and financial projections based on those programs. Contingency plans may also be included indicating what the company should do if things do not go exactly as planned. Marketing plans are typically divided into several sections, such as those listed here.

Introduction

The introductory section should clearly state the overall purpose of the marketing plan. It may serve as a table of contents, as illustrated in most of the marketing plans in this book. It may also serve as an executive summary, enabling the reader (including higher management) to quickly grasp the major thrust of the document. As shown in many of the marketing plans in this book, this section may also include a brief description of the steps taken to develop the marketing plan.

Background

The background section of the marketing plan should review the background of the project or past marketing efforts. It should then outline any previous efforts that led to the development of the marketing plan. In some cases this may include a detailed description of the history of the brand or product line. (This may be necessary if there is a complex history that the reader of the plan must know in order to understand the relevance of the new actions planned.) In other cases it may be sufficient to briefly state what led up to the development of the current marketing plan.

Market Review

This section of the marketing plan should present all of the available data relevant to the marketing of the products or services to be included in the plan. The market review should summarize the growth and nature of the market for the related product category. If the company is currently participating in that category, the market review should identify the companys past and projected participation in that market. It should include details such as the size of the market, the markets history and trends, and competitive activity. It may also include things like the number of appropriate retail outlets by trade class and geographic region, product movement through the various retail channels, shares of market by manufacturer, price points by manufacturer and trade class, and industry advertising expenditures by manufacturer and medium.

Consumer Usage and Attitudes

This section of the marketing plan should outline present consumer practices, desires, and expectations concerning your product category in total and, if appropriate, the specific elements of your proposed marketing plan.

Trade Practices and Attitudes

This section of your marketing plan should identify retailer practices related to your product categories, as well as their attitudes toward the distribution aspects of your marketing plan. This is especially important if your plan is designed to obtain new distribution or to achieve improved performance in existing retail outlets.

Planning Assumptions

In this section of the marketing plan, you should present your key conclusions based upon the facts presented in the Background, Market Review, Consumer Usage and Attitudes, and Trade Practices and Attitudes sections of the plan. You should then state the assumptions you used in the development of your specific plans and strategies.

Key Strategic Marketing Objectives

This section should state specifically what you are trying to accomplish with the plan.

Marketing Plan Elements

The following sections of your marketing plan should lay out the specifics of the various actions to be taken to accomplish the Key Strategic Marketing Objectives. The following are examples of the types of marketing plan elements that should be included.

BRAND NAME . This section should state the brand name or names that will be used in the marketing effort described in the marketing plan. If this is a new brand name, such as for a new product, the rationale for using this name should be discussed.

PRODUCT LINE. This section should describe the entire product line included in the marketing plan. If this product line has unique qualities, these qualities should be discussed.

PRODUCT WARRANTIES. Sometimes product warranties can be an important part of a marketing plan. If your product includes warranties, these should be described in this section of your marketing plan.

PACKAGING. Describe the packaging strategy for the products involved in your marketing plan, along with a description of the packaging, in this section. You may also want to include pictures of the artwork.

PRICING STRATEGY. In this section, state the pricing strategy, list the prices of all the products included in the marketing plan, and state the justification for the pricing strategy, if this is appropriate.

SALES AND DISTRIBUTION METHODS . Describe the sales and distribution methods to be used for the products in your marketing plan in this section. In some cases this will simply require a statement that the products will be sold through the normal company sales and distribution organization. In other cases the strategy might be quite different. In those cases the rationale for the strategy should be discussed.

ADVERTISING COPY STRATEGY. If the products in the marketing plan are to be advertised, this section should present the copy strategy.

ADVERTISING MEDIA STRATEGY. If the products are to be advertised, this section should state the advertising media strategy.

SALES PROMOTION. In this section, describe all sales promotion plans, including all consumer discounts , rebates, and trial devices such as coupons . Show the financial implications of these promotions either in this section or in the Financial Projections section. (Several of the marketing plans in this book first discuss the sales promotion plans in this section, then include them in the profit-and-loss statements and leave the detailed calculations for the appendices.)

PUBLICITY. If publicity is to be used in your marketing plan, the publicity strategy and plans should be included in this section.

IN-STORE MERCHANDISING. In this section, outline what will be done to attract consumer attention in the retail store, if this is appropriate for your marketing plan.

INTERNAL STAFFING REQUIREMENTS. If special staffing requirements are necessary for implementing your marketing plan, state these in this section.

TEST MARKETING. If test marketing is planned for the marketing venture, describe it in this section of the marketing plan.

TIMETABLE. Your marketing plan should also include a detailed timetable for the venture.

Financial Projections

This is a key section of your marketing plan. In many cases a ˜˜go/no-go decision on moving forward with your plan will largely depend on the calculations you include here. Because of this, the Financial Projections section of your marketing plan should include detailed calculations on the costs, volume, and pay-out of the plan. It should also include pro forma profit-andloss statements. In sum, the purpose of this section is to demonstrate the financial viability of the marketing plan.

Contingency Plans

This section should provide plans for retaliating against possible competitive actions. These include competitive product improvements, lower prices from competitors, increased advertising or sales promotion by competitors , and technical changes to the category.

Appendices

Include any background and supporting data for various sections of the marketing planincluding detailed market review data, study questionnaires, a detailed advertising media plan, and the financial assumptions and calculations used in the financial projectionsin appendices.




Powerhouse Marketing Plans(c) 14 Outstanding Real-Life Plans and What You Can Learn from Them to Supercharge [... ]aigns
Powerhouse Marketing Plans(c) 14 Outstanding Real-Life Plans and What You Can Learn from Them to Supercharge [... ]aigns
ISBN: 735621675
EAN: N/A
Year: 2006
Pages: 172

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