Every business, small or large, will be more successful with a business plan. And the key component of a business plan is the marketing plan. A good marketing plan summarizes the who, what, where, when, and how much questions of company marketing and sales activities for the planning year:
- Who are our target buyers?
- What sources of uniqueness or positioning in the market do we have?
- Where will we implement our marketing spending plans?
- When will marketing spending plans occur?
- How much sales, spending, and profits will we achieve?
The financial projections contained in your business plan are based on the assumptions contained in your marketing plan. It is the marketing plan that details when expenditures will be made, what level of sales will be achieved, and how and when advertising and promotional expenditures will be made.
So we think it is critical that every business has a good marketing plan in place. The better the marketing plan, the more likely your company is to succeed, now and for the long run. That is why we have affordable package options for businesses at whatever stage of the marketing process or their business’ life cycle they are in.
Options
Marketing Analysis Option- Every business should start with some analysis of the general economic environment, the environment of their industry and their market, their own company’s strengths and weaknesses and the possible threats and opportunities to and for their business. Our analysis option includes a Situation Analysis and a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis.
The Situation Analysis describes the total marketing environment in which the company competes and the status of company products and distribution channels. The primary purpose for the situation analysis section of a marketing plan is to describe what is happening in the market/s in which the company competes, and the company's product and distribution trends.
As part of this analysis we start with the "big picture" of macro-environment influences on your business and drill down through total market descriptions, the competition, target buyers/end users, and finally, product trends and your company’s distribution channels description.
Information in the Situation Analysis provides rationale and support for the marketing objectives, plans, and strategies. Key subsections include:
- macro-environment situation, which presents information on trends for demographic, economic, technological, political, social, cultural, material supply, etc., that impact on the company
- market situation, which includes size, growth trends of total market, and key segments
- competitive situation, which provides a description of major competitors with size, goals, market share, product quality comparisons, marketing strategies, marketing spending, etc.
- target buyer or end user situation, which analyzes the identification and behavior of target buyers/end users and consumer wants and needs
- product situation, which includes sales, prices, and contribution margins; net profits of each company product line are shown
- distribution situation, which provides information on size, trends, and importance of each distribution channel for the company's products
The SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis analyzes the major external opportunities and threats to the company and the internal strengths and weaknesses of the company, along with a discussion of key issues facing the company.
- External opportunities and threats to the company are discovered and described with possible programs to capitalize on the opportunities, and possible solutions to potential threats to the company.
- Internal strengths and weaknesses of the company are discovered and described in a competitive context.
- Key issues addresses decisions to be made by the company, based upon the analysis of these external opportunities and threats and internal company strengths and weaknesses, and helps to determine objectives, strategies, and tactics.
*Pricing will be determined based on a) the complexity of your industry, market, and organization and b) the level of research necessary to discover data and other information and insights necessary to conduct a thorough marketing analysis.
Marketing Strategy Option- This is a fitting option for businesses that have already done their analysis and now need some help developing their marketing strategy. We will first help your business determine its goals and objectives as related to marketing and then formulate a customized marketing strategy to meet those goals and objectives.
The goals and objectives section of the marketing strategy outlines major company goals and the marketing and financial objectives. We work with companies to determine these goals and objectives before we start developing the marketing strategy relating to the 4 Ps (Product, Price, Promotion, and Place).
Major company goals could include both short- and long-term goals. For example:
- company definition (e.g., "to be a manufacturer of 100 percent all-natural snack food products")
- market definition (e.g., "to attain leadership in dollar market share and volume for the healthy, all-natural snacks segment of the salty snacks category")
- technology (e.g., "to become known in the industry as the leading developer of new vegetable protein products")
Financial objectives are generally described in quantitative terms for at least three years in the future. Examples of financial objectives to obtain are:
- gross sales (increase)
- cost-of-goods (decrease)
- gross margin (increase)
- net income (increase)
- return on investment (increase/maximize)
- return on income (increase/maximize)
Marketing objectives are quantitative translations of the company's financial objectives, in marketing terms. For example:
- sales dollars
- sales units
- market share
- distribution levels/channel
- advertising awareness
- key account distribution
Your company’s marketing strategy will include the company's marketing strategy statement summarizing the key target buyer description, competitive market segments the company will compete in, the unique positioning of the company and its products compared to the competition, the reasons why it is unique or compelling to buyers, price strategy versus the competition, and advertising and promotion strategy.
The marketing strategy we develop for your company will:
- identify and quantify specific marketing goals and objectives
- determine how marketing results will be measured and compared with marketing goals and objectives
- clearly define what your company is and does
- determine the products or services that your company can most profitably provide
- identify target buyers/end users
- establish your market category (for example- fast food purveyor, high-end audio equipment sales, accounting services for businesses , affordable childrens’ clothing, estate planning legal services, etc.)
- determine your positioning in the marketing category (deciding whether your company will be a market category leader, follower, challenger, or niche player)
- describe the unique characteristics of your organization and your products or services that distinguish them from the competition
- define whether your pricing will be above, below, or at parity with your competitors and establish whether you will lead, follow, or ignore changes in competitors' pricing
- identify the distribution channels through which your products/services will be made available to the target market/end users
- describe how advertising and promotions will convey the unique characteristics of your products or services
- describe any research and development activities or market research plans that are unique to your business
- describe the image or personality of your company and its products or service
*Pricing will be determined based on a) the complexity of your company's industry, market, and organization and b) the level of research necessary to discover data and other information and insights necessary to prepare a comprehensive marketing strategy.
As a bonus, when you purchase both of these packages together you receive an extra 10% discount!
