Marketing plan

A Marketing Plan is a written document that details the actions necessary to acheive a specified marketing objective(s). It can be for a product or service, a brand, or a product line. It can cover one year (referred to as an annual marketing plan), or cover up to 5 years. In general terms, it must:

• describe and explain the current situation
• specify the expected results (objectives)
• identify the resources that will be needed (including financing, time, and skills)
• describe the actions that will need to be taken to achieve the objective(s)
• devise a method of monitoring results and adjusting the plan where necessary

There are many formats for marketing plans and every company does it a little different, but the outline that follows is a very complete format. Using this format will produce a 30 to 40 page plan. Many companies prefer an abridged format that would yield a 10 to 20 page plan.

• 1 Title page
• 2 Executive Summary
• 3 Current Situation - Macroenvironment
  • economy
  • government
  • legal
  • technology
  • ecological
  • sociocultural
  • supply chain
• 4 Current Situation - Market Analysis
  • market definition
  • market size
  • market segmentation
  • industry structure and strategic groupings
  • Porter 5 forces analysis
  • competition and market share
  • competitors' strengths and weaknesses
  • market trends
• 5 Current Situation - Consumer Analysis
  • nature of the buying decision
  • participants
  • demographics
  • psychographics
  • buyer motivation and expectations
  • loyalty segments
• 6 Current Situation - Internal
  • company resources
    • financial
    • people
    • time
    • skills
  • objectives
    • mission statement and vision statement
    • corporate objectives
    • financial objective
    • marketing objectives
    • long term objectives
  • corporate culture
• 7 Summary of Situation Analysis
  • external threats
  • external opportunities
  • internal strengths
  • internal weaknesses
  • key success factors in the industry
  • our sustainable competitive advantage
• 8 Marketing research
  • information requirements
  • research methodology
  • research results
• 9 Marketing Strategy - product
  • product mix
  • product strengths and weaknesses
    • perceptual mapping
  • product life cycle management and new product development
  • Brand name, brand image, and brand equity
  • the augmented product
  • product portfolio analysis
    • B.C.G. Analysis
    • contribution margin analysis
    • G.E. Multi Factoral analysis
    • Quality Function Deployment
• 10 Marketing Strategy - Price
  • pricing objectives
  • pricing method (eg.: cost plus, demand based, or competitor indexing)
  • pricing strategy (eg.: skimming, or penetration)
  • discounts and allowances
  • price elasticity and customer sensitivity
  • price zoning
  • break even analysis at various prices
• 11 Marketing Strategy - Promotion
  • promotional goals
  • promotional mix
  • advertising reach, frequency, flights, theme, and media
  • sales force requirements, techniques, and management
  • sales promotion
  • publicity and public relations
  • electronic promotion (eg.: Web[?], or telephone[?])
• 12 Marketing Strategy - Distribution
  • geographical coverage
  • distribution channels
  • physical distribution and logistics
  • electronic distribution
• 13 Implimentation
  • personel requirements
    • assign responsibilities
  • financial requirements
  • management information systems requirements
  • month-by-month agenda
    • pert or critical path analysis
  • monitoring results and benchmarks
  • adjustment mechanism
  • contingencies
• 14 Financial Summary
  • assumptions
  • pro-forma monthly income statement
  • contribution margin analysis
  • breakeven analysis
  • Monte Carlo analysis
• 15 Appendix
  • pictures and specifications of the new product
  • results from research already completed

see also: marketing, marketing management, strategic management

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