WHAT IS A MARKETING PLAN?

 A marketing plan is a written document that summarizes

what the marketer has learned about the market place
and indicates how the firm plans to reach its marketing
objective/s.
 The Marketing Plan is a highly detailed, heavily
researched and well written report that many inside and
outside the organization evaluate.
MARKETING PLAN
 The Marketing Plan is generally undertaken for one of
the following reasons:
1. As part of the yearly planning process within the
marketing functional area
2. Needed for a specialized strategy (e.g. new product
planning, entering new markets, or trying a new strategy to
fix an existing problem)
3. As a component within an overall business plan
HOW TO WRITE A MARKETING PLAN
1. PURPOSE
2. SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS
3. MARKETING STRATEGY AND OBJECTIVES
4. TACTICAL MARKETING PROGRAMS
5. BUDGETING, PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS AND
IMPLEMENTATION
6. ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
1. PURPOSE OF THE MARKETING
PLAN
 Offer brief explanation for why this plan was produced
 Suggest what may be done with the information
contained in the plan
2. SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS
i. Current Product Analysis
ii. Customer Analysis
iii. Competitor Analysis
iv. Environmental Analysis (Opportunities & Threats) 
I. CURRENT PRODUCT ANALYSIS
 Product Attributes
 Pricing

 Distribution

 Promotion

 Services Offered

 Sales Analysis
II. CUSTOMER ANALYSIS
 demographic/psychographic profile of the market:
 gender, income, age, occupation, education, family life cycle, geographic region,
lifestyle, attitudes, purchasing characteristics, etc.
 characteristics of customers:
 Needs/benefits sought by market
 Product usage: Who, why, when, how?
 Customer Perception and attitude
 purchasing process:
 How does they make their purchase?
 decision-making process, decision maker, information sought for purchasing,
 Who makes the purchase?
 Does user purchase or is other party responsible (e.g., parent purchasing for children)?
 Who or what influence the purchase?
 market size estimates:
III. COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
 Describe direct competitors in terms of:
 Target markets served
 Product attributes, Pricing, Promotion, Distribution
network
 Services offered
 Discuss competitor’s strengths and weaknesses
IV. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
(OPPORTUNITIES & THREATS)
 Describe trends, events, conditions that are external
(usually uncontrolled by the company) that may impact
the company’s product(s) or the market.
 social and cultural
 demographic
 economic
 technological
 political
 legal, regulatory, ethical
3. MARKETING STRATEGY &
OBJECTIVE(S)
 Marketing Strategy
 Segmentation
 Target Market (who will be our customer)

 Positioning

 Branding etc
4. TACTICAL MARKETING PROGRAMS
 It contains descriptions of Marketing Mix or detailed
tactics to be carried out to achieve the objectives and
goals established in Step 3.
 Product
 Promotion
 Pricing
 Distribution
 Other Areas
5. BUDGETING, FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
AND IMPLEMENTATION
Marketing Budget
lay out spending requirements necessary for meeting the plan’s
objectives
 Outline spending requirements for each tactical marketing
decision
 Breakdown each tactical category
 e.g., types of advertising, types of services offered, marketing research
expense, etc.
 Show detailed spending timetable by:
 Month, Year
 Show spending by:
 Product (if plan is for more than one)
 Segment/Geographic area
 Distribution Network/Channel
FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
 Financial Projections
 Cash flow/revenue
 Scenario analysis
 Profitability

 Breakeven Analysis
 Marketing Contribution

 Ratio Analysis
 Limit to important marketing ratios
 e.g.,sales cycle, advertising-to-sales, conversions from trial
to purchase, website traffic-to-search engine marketing, etc.
6. ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
 potential situations that may affect the plan
 InternalFactors
 External Factors
 Research Limitations