A marketing plan is a request for funds in return for a promised level of incremental revenues, unit sales, market share or profits. One can develop marketing plans for products, services, market segments or brands. The critical components of a marketing plan includes the following:
• Summary
• Objectives (attract new consumers, create new uses, increase share of requirements, incent trial, encourage repeat purchase, encourage add-on purchase, increase awareness, increase loyalty, change value perception, increase emotional bond, extend into new product and service categories, etc.)
• Situation Analysis
• Market analysis
• Competitive context
• Customer profile (segments, needs, attitudes, behaviors, insights, etc.)
• Strategies and tactics (touching upon all key marketing components that will be used: product, packaging, pricing, distribution, advertising, publicity, sales promotion, social media, selling, etc.). Be specific.
• Operations considerations (impact on plant capacity, need for new assets, etc.)
• Financial projections
• Pro forma profit and loss statements, balance sheets, cash flows, etc.
• Including funds required to execute plan
• Supporting customer research (qualitative research, concept testing, volumetric modeling, market test results, etc.)
• Risks and contingency plans
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One comment
Jon Johnson
March 23, 2009 at 8:42 am
Great concise explanation of the components that make up a marketing plan. What level of detail would you suggest for the risks and contingency plan section?
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