Marketing Plan

Marketing is not a one-time event, but an on-going process. A specific Marketing Plan outlining concrete goals is indispensable to a well-managed business; without it, financial budgets and profit plans are incomplete. While even the best Marketing Plan cannot ensure success, conducting thorough research and establishing specific objectives greatly minimizes the possibility of failure. The Marketing Plan decreases misunderstanding and increases organized thinking, as well as serving as a measuring tool for annual progress. 

Specific marketing problems are unique to each individual business, but common problems facing small businesses are a shortage of funds for adequate advertising and promotion and a lack of time for developing creative marketing strategies. The greatest difficulty, however, may be developing a creative and tightly focused overall marketing strategy. The ideas outlined are only suggestions; a truly effective Marketing Plan must be adapted to the particular needs of the individual business. 

The Marketing Plan outline: Just as you discovered if you've ever written a business plan, there are many, many variations in the format and outlines for Marketing Plan. Study examples you see on the Internet and from other sources, and modify this outline as you see fit. Typically, however, your written Marketing Plan should include the following sections: 

Before starting on your written Marketing Plan, you should answer the following questions: 

· Who are your potential customers? 
· What's the most effective way to inform your potential customers? 
· What do your customers want? 
· How can you position your product/service in an appealing manner?
· What is the product or service you are selling? 
· Who is your market that will buy the product or service? 
· What need does the above market have for your product or service? 
· What is the basic message that you would like to send to this market in regards to your product? 
· What is the best way of getting in contact with your projected market? (i.e.- T.V, Radio, Print, Online) 

For making a Marketing Plan look closely at your target market. What's their age, sex, profession, income level, educational level and residence? If you're selling $70,000 vehicles, it really is a waste of time to target an audience who's making minimum wage. 

Sure, they may come by the dealership and test drive the car. But will they be able to afford the payments? It may sound like a cold way to approach your marketing strategy but, after all, you're in business to make money. That is an important concept while making any Marketing Plan.

Moreover, marketing objectives can work in two different ways depending on what type of Marketing Plan you are writing. If you are writing a company wide Marketing Plan, then this section would outline all of the objectives you wish to attain through your marketing program. They should be listed in a number format along with a detailed description of how you wish to accomplish these objectives. 

Similarly, if the plan were being created on an individual product/service basis then the marketing objectives would be what the company expects to gain from this product/service. Once again, objectives should be listed in a number format with a detailed description of how this products/services marketing will tie in with the marketing of the program and how this will be accomplished. 

Target Markets 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 come to the conclusion 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.