The Marketing Plan: An Introduction

In a competitive situation, whether in business, politics or sports, most organizations have far too much invested to just fly by the seat of their pants. The most likely winners are those that have analyzed their own strengths and weaknesses, studied their competition and examined the external environment for factors that will affect them. They have a specific objective in mind and they know what skills and resources they need to build upon. They have identified their optimal strategies and tactics, set a time schedule, and have provided for methods to measure their success and continually improve along the way.

If your company prefers to drive itself to its goals rather than be at the mercy of the whims of the marketplace, then you should have a marketing plan. The Pepper Group has vast experience in marketing planning and has helped many organizations maximize their success through developing solid strategies. We work with you to design and implement a plan that will help you reach your objectives and create undeniable value for your business.

Marketing Plan Outline
Here is a basic outline for a marketing plan that would be tailored to meet your organization's specific needs.

• Executive Summary
  
  
• Situation Analysis
• Market
• Segmentation
• Growth forecasts
• Current market position (from the customer's viewpoint)
• Competitive Analysis
• Competitor market shares
• Competitor weaknesses
• Internal Analysis
• Resources
• Competitive advantages
• Strengths and weaknesses
• Client/customer base
• Business segments' growth potential and profitability analysis
• Environmental Analysis
• Trends
• Opportunities prioritized by attractiveness and achievability
• Threats ranked by probability and impact
  
  
• Objectives
• Financial Objectives
• Revenue, net profitability, gross margin, etc.
• Marketing Objectives
• Market share, sales, brand equity, etc.
  
  
• Strategies
• Market targeting
• Market positioning
• Strategic priorities
• Marketing mix
• Product/service strategies
• Pricing
• Promotion
• Channels
• Sales
  
  
• Implementation
• Tactics to support strategies
• Timelines
• Responsibilities/ownership
• Investment required
• Measurement
• Sales forecasts
• Milestones
• Scenario/contingency plans
  
  
• Resources
• Capabilities/competencies to build
• Measurement systems and procedures to implement
• Manpower needed
• Marketing research
• Total budget required
  
  
• Evaluation
• Measurement of results vs. plan
• Evaluation/estimation of ROI from tactics
• Tactical adjustments based on successes and failures