The Marketing Plan

Elements of a Marketing Plan

Executive Summary

Situation AnalysisSWOT analysisEnvironmental Scan

Objectivescompany’s missionmarketing objectivesfinancial objectives

Marketing StrategiesPositioning / Points of DifferenceMarketing Mix

Implementationorganizationactivities and responsibilitiestimetables

Evaluation and ControlPerformance StandardsCorrective Action

Appendix

Executive SummaryThe Executive Summary section of your marketing plan allows you to introduce your company and explain the major points of your plan in a nutshell.

A number of people lack the time and interest to read your entire marketing plan; nonetheless, they need to understand what it is basically about.

The Executive Summary is for them.

You will need to write it after the other sections have been written, since it's a summary of their major points. Some of the key points to cover are listed.

1. Introduce your company by briefly describing the nature of your business and the products or services you offer.

If your business is already in operation, state how long you've been in business and how long you've been at your current location. Describe your business activities including sales and customers. Highlight your accomplishments and successes. If your business is not yet in operation, describe the experience and training you have that qualifies you to operate this type of business. Include similar information for business partners or key managers of the company.

2. State your mission and company objectives.Your mission can be relatively abstract. As an example, for a child daycare center it might be to provide quality day care for children. Company objectives are more specific, such as to be the child care provider of choice within a specified area and to increase enrollment by 25 percent within the next 12 months.

3. Introduce your management team. Describe the organizational structure of your business. Is it a sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation? List key management. Include copies of their resumes in the supporting documents section. Disclose management salaries and ownership, management assistance and training needs, and supporting professionals (such as a bookkeeper or lawyer). List the board of directors.

4. Close the executive summary with a brief statement of the main marketing objectives and strategies contained in the plan.

Situation AnalysisThis part provides a snapshot of the company’s present position. It often reports the results of the SWOT analysis and environmental scan

SWOT Analysis – this analysis lists everything that can lead to a business’success and failures. Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats

Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors that affect a business. The analysis centers around the company, the customers, and the competition

company – marketing mix (four p’s)customers – target market, marketing information mgmt, customer

satisfaction, etc.competition – what are strengths and weaknesses when compared to

competitors. Market share.

In SWOT, strengths and weaknesses are internal factors.For example:

A strength could be:Your specialist marketing expertise.A new, innovative product or service.Location of your business.Quality processes and procedures.Any other aspect of your business that adds value to your product or service.

A weakness could be:Lack of marketing expertise.Undifferentiated products or services (i.e. in relation to your competitors).Location of your business.Poor quality goods or services.Damaged reputation.

Environmental Scan – external opportunities and threats

an analysis of outside influences that may have an impact on an organization

Political - government issues and regulations that impact business

Economic - the state of the economy is of interest to business

Socio-Cultural – customers and potential customers attitudes,lifestyles, and opinions

Technology – changes in technology can be threat or opportunityfor business

In SWOT, opportunities and threats are external factors.For example:

An opportunity could be:A developing market such as the Internet.Mergers, joint ventures or strategic alliances.Moving into new market segments that offer improved profits.A new international market.A market vacated by an ineffective competitor.

A threat could be:A new competitor in your home market.Price wars with competitors.A competitor has a new, innovative product or service.Competitors have superior access to channels of distribution.Taxation is introduced on your product or service.

ObjectivesThese are intended to let everyone know what the plan will accomplish.An objective must single-minded, specific, realistic, measurable, and havea time frame.

They should include the marketing and financial objectives

Marketing StrategiesIdentify target market(s) and marketing mix choices to focus on these marketsfocus should be on the key point of difference. This is the advantage a productor service has over its competition.

ImplementationPutting the plan into action and managing it. This part of the plan outlines a schedule of activities, job assignments, sales forecasts, budgets. Details of eachactivity and who is responsible . There needs to be good communication amongall team members so tasks are completed on time.

Evaluation and Control

It is important to measure how the plan is working. Performance standards are the measuring stick. A standard is an expectation for performance. The control part ofthe plan suggests actions that should be considered if objectives are not being met.

Appendix

The appendix is the part of the plan that includes any supplemental information. For this project, the appendix will some form of advertisement.

Project:

Pick one of the following topics and do a SWOT analysis. Use the slides to give you ideas for your analysis.

Webcast of a sporting event (baseball game, basketball game, football game,soccer match)

Webcast of a Broadway play or concert.