Marketing PlanA traditional marketing plan will normally have the following components:
I'll go into much more detail later but briefly, the market situation analysis assesses the status of your product or service in the current marketplace. Try to put your finger on where your product fits in relation to the rest of the market. This is where you will need to define the overall market and your target market. Who are they? Where do they live? How many are there? What are their spending habits? This is also the place where you should spell out the market segmentation. These terms may not be familiar to you but there are some goods links that will walk you through the basics. Another word about market analysis: talk about your competitors. Identify and quantify them. Talk about market share and provide an honest assessment of how much of that pie will be yours. A SWOT analysis is a standard format for identifying your Strengths and Weakness as well as facing up to potential Opportunities and Threats. I recommend you take the time to do this exercise! You can find a full explanation of how these are done here. The marketing objectives are the reasons why you develop a marketing plan in the first place. Work on some short, crisp sentences like "increase sales by 75% from year one to year two". If you are not familiar with SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) this is a good place to check it out. Marketing strategies simply explain how you intent to carry out your objectives. Action plans are important throughout the business plan and this is no exception. Set some dates regarding your marketing strategy. Remember, this is a living document and changes will be made on a regular basis. Establishing benchmarks gives you something to shoot for and will make the reader of your plan feel confident in your ability to manage the plan - and your business.
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