SAMPLE MARKETING PLAN OUTLINE
The following outline is the format used in developing a marketing plan. The ideal
plan should be 10 to 15 pages in length, not including your financials or
appendixes.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This is the most important part of the marketing plan because it is an overview.
The summary should be as short as possible, but in any event, should not exceed
three pages. It should be a concise and clear highlight of what the company is all
about. It should include descriptions of the following, while at the same time
remaining to the point. It is the last part of the plan to be completed.
- The Company; when it was formed to pursue what purpose
- The Product/Service:
- what are you selling
- what makes it unique
- is it a proprietary product/other entry barriers
-- at what stage is its development
- The Market:
- current size
- location of target market segmentation
- recent growth (cite sources)
- projected growth (cite sources)
- estimated company market share or projected sales
- Financial:
- net income per year expected
- source of additional capital
- cash flow contingency plan
- Management:
- completeness of team
- brief past experience
- highlight strengths
STEP ONE: Execute a Situational Analysis
B. Market Position/Market Analysis: This section proves to be one of the major
obstacles in writing a market plan. It provides an in-depth view of how the
company perceives the market into which it will be selling.
It is this area in which you identify your market niche. What is it about your
market segment that makes it right for your company. Is it a niche ignored by
competitors or ill-serviced by competitors? If you go into it and make a profit,
what would stop a larger competitor from entering it?
It should address the following:
- Market:
- What is your market, or, who are your customers (other
businesses, government, residential consumers, etc.)
Why does this market need your product/service? Is your
product/service a fad or continuing need: being phased out or
created by new technology - Estimate the size of the market (in terms of number of customers)
Estimate how much the total market will spend on this or similar
products/services in the next year.
- Envirormient: Discuss any environmental factors (economic, political-legal,
competitive, social-cultural or technological) that affects your market or
product/service. Environmental factors are those that have significant
effects on your operation, but over which you have no control, i.e., county
growth, rising energy prices, inflation, government regulation, etc. - Competition:
- Discuss your competition: number of competitors (direct and
indirect), type of company (product or service), location, age
reputation, size (sales or customers), market share
Estimate how much of your product/service all the competition
will provide in the next year - List major competitors and discuss their; product/service
features, price, location/distribution, reputation/image, market
share, size, age, product/service quality, and marketing strategy
STE P TWO : CREAT E MARKETIN G GOALS & OBJECTIVE S
C. Marketing objective: Must be measurable such as desired market share or
percentage growth in sales
STE P THREE : CREAT E COMPETITB ^ POSITIONING &
DIFFERENTIATION :
D. This is a brief description of your competitive advantage over the competition.
It should also address your positioning strategies, and the image that you are
projecting to the consumer.
STE P FOUR: CHOOSE MARKE T SEGMENTS, TARGE T MARKET S
AND EVALUAT E MARKE T DEMAND
E . Target market: Carefully define what your customer base will be, considering
geographic, psychological, demographic and benefit characteristics.
- List the characteristics of your average customers: age, location
(market area), average income, sex. lifestyle (family or single),
working, and other important information. The more you
understand about your market, the better you can sell to it. - What do customers like and dislike about your product/service?
- How large is the market?
- What is the growth potential? .
STE P FIVE : DETERMIN E YOU R MARKETIN G MI X STRATEGIES ,
IMPLEMENTATIO N & EVALUATIO N
F. Market Mix Strategies - Product/Service Strategies: Provide a detailed description of existing
products, services and plans for future products/services.
Description:
- components
- potential component supply problems
- proprietary protection
- advantages/disadvantages to competing products/services
- differentiation from competition. Here a high level matrix
comparing your products/services capabilities,
strengths, and characteristics to your competitors is useful
Future Products/Services - innovations to existing line
- new products/services
- development time lines
Price Strategy: - What will be your basic pricing approach? Will you use high
quality/high price, meet-the-competition, discount strategy, or
other?
What price(s) have you set for your product/service? Can you
obtain an adequate share of the market at those prices? - Are the prices you plan to charge compatible with the image of the
business you will be creating?
Distribution/Place Strategies: - Product: The decision of how to get your product to your customer is
important because of the time lags involved and the costs of middlemen.
It would address: factory distribution, company-owned regional
distribution, independent remote distribution, order lead times, etc., - Product/Service: The choice of location should enter into your
plans. The requirements will depend on the type of
goods/services to be sold and the market which is sought. A
retails store's primary concerns will be traffic patterns,
parking availability, neighboring businesses and institutions -
all factors that affect the number and type of people that are
exposed to the business location
- Promotion Strategies:
-. Describe how you plan to promote your product/service. State how you
will promote: advertising, direct mail, personal contacts, sponsoring
events or other (word-of-mouth, trade associations, etc.)
- If you plan to advertise, state what media you will use: radio,
television, newspaper, magazines, telephone book yellow
pages, and/or other (billboard, etc.). State why you consider the media
you have chosen to be the most effective
-. State the content of your promotion or advertising: what your
product/service is, why it is attractive, business location,
business hours, business phone number, and other. When
you are designing your advertising theme, remember you are
selling to satisfy the customer's need.
G. Implementation: By using a plan of action chart, containing objectives,
responsible party for each segment of the plan, deadline for completion, and actual
completion date, you will be able to visualize the effectiveness of your plan. You
• should also develop a contingency plan. If your marketing mix is not appropriate
or effective, what altemative(s) exist?
H. Budget: A well prepared budget is an effective tool. It should reflect projected
revenues and costs associated with the proposed marketing plan. A one year Profit
and Loss Statement is required.
I . Review process:
- A primary responsibility of marketing is to determine and prioritize
essential marketing activities. These are the activities which
support marketing strategies and are sometimes referred to as
tactics. - The use of regularly scheduled evaluations provides an opportunity
to make slight corrections if needed to insure that year-end
objectives will be met. Major problems can normally be prevented
before they occur. The situation is analogous to conducting regular
maintenance on a vehicle rather than waiting for a breakdown which
requires substantial time and money to repair.
Monthly and quarterly objectives are measured against actual results.
It is the responsibility of management to determine why variances
have occurred and to take corrective action. Action alternatives
may include the replacement of personnel, requesting additional
marketing funds, introducing new product/services, lowering prices
and many more.
Each area of review must be selected and tailored to the particular
company. Areas of review could include, but not limited to:
- Financial condition indicators
- Market position
- Market standing
- Innovation
- Productivity
- Profitability
- Growth in sales(measuring new & established customers)
- Public responsibilities
Sample Solution