Importance of marketing plan in business
In every company, the preparation of a marketing plan is vital for monitoring and tracking of the company’s marketing strategies for a certain product or service. The marketing plan is used as a tool by management or the owner to check whether the strategies that have been put into record are being implemented. It will also be a tool to determine or measure the performance of that certain product or service and also be a guide for management to revise the marketing strategy.
A marketing plan is a detailed written document that describes the strategies and steps to achieve a specific company’s marketing objectives. The marketing plan can be created for a certain product or service, a brand name or a product line. The plan can be for a period of one year or five years.
The marketing plan can be included in the business plan as part of it. The foundation of a well-written and organized plan is an effective and strong marketing strategy. Even if the marketing plan states a list of detailed action plans, the marketing plan that doesn’t have a strategic and sound basis is of lesser use. In most of the companies, strategic planning is a process that is undergone on a yearly basis. Few business organizations use marketing plans that are older than three years.
In addition to the corporate objectives that are ingrained in the marketing plan, it should also consist of the corporate mission which also lays down the guidelines for the company’s objectives in marketing activities. The emphasis in this process is to capture a complete and accurate picture of the plans and objectives. Certain customer related factors should be considered in the marketing plan.
The marketing objectives must state where the business organization plans to be at a certain and specific period in the future; what end objectives identified by the company should be achieved and at what period of time they are to be accomplished. However, very precise description of how the results are expected to be achieved is not required.
To achieve a high efficiency rate, the marketing results of your marketing efforts should be measurable. This measurement may be according to sales volume, value in currency, market share, the rate of market penetration for distribution channels and others. The marketing objective must be based on the company’s financial objectives that will convert these quantifiable measurements into measurements for marketing. The marketing strategies can be viewed as a definite action plan in which marketing objectives will be accomplished and within the structure that was selected by the company for use.
The main parts of a small business marketing plan are:
- Identifying your target market
- Understanding the competition and your differentiation
- Setting up your marketing goals
- Defining your marketing strategy (ways to achieve your marketing goals)
- Projecting the costs of the marketing activities
Please see the very basic sample marketing plan summary and budget attached. Hope it will be useful for you!
Please click the image below twice to enlarge or download it.
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Its true marketing plan is vital part of a company. With out plane no one can be successes
I once attended a public lecture on the keys to a great business. At this lecture the lecturer maintained the opinion that for any small business to succeed it only needs two viable factors; great business plan and a significant capital investment. This is true although I have found that these thing s are not so easy to come by. From reading your blog I have found that the marketing objectives which you discuss are very insightful. Thanks for this advice.
Wow, thanks for the summary download of a marketing plan - definately helps to put your words into pictures (which famously tell more, of course).
“To achieve a high efficiency rate, the marketing results of your marketing efforts should be measurable”
Indeed, tracking is the key to good marketing in long term - because only by tweaking campaigns can you get your best performance.
Eric’s last blog post..Leadership Development Programme
Like all businesses, plan, execute and monitor should be the routine.
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I read an article saying that marketing should be 80% of the companies resources and I agree with it…
thanks for sharing your thoughts…
Wow, thanks for the summary download of a marketing plan - definately helps to put your words into pictures
Great article. Nice to see it illustrated too.
Marketing plans are vital for all businesses large and small. Not only do they help with the direction of the company, but it allows you to track and measure your activities. Using this information, you can try and improve future activities, providing a better ROI on your marketing investments.
An interesting take on a tried and tested method for appraising your own and your companies progress. Thanks for the post
Richard
It’s difficult to run a business with this crisis, but we cannot give up, otherwise the crisis will win the struggle I think it’s worth to keep working and try the run the business normally and hope we will get over this situation soon.
I could not agree more, I have personally benefited tremendously from making an effective Marketing plan for my organization.
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