The Marketing Plan

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The Marketing Plan

• Vishnu Parmar, IBA,
• University of Sindh, Jamshoro

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Steps in Preparing the Marketing Plan

• Defining the Business Situation
• Where we have been?
• Where do we want to go (in the short term)?
• How do we get there
• Management must understand that the marketing
  plan is a guide for implementing marketing
  decision making and not a generalized,
  superficial document

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What is a Marketing Plan ?
A marketing plan is the blueprint or the map you
intend to follow in order to achieve your goals.
If you are planning for existing programs, the
plan will incorporate the strengths of your
current effort with needed changes and
improvements. If the plan is for a brand new
product or service, it will pull all the elements
together for an effective start on marketing.
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What is Marketing Plan?

• The marketing plan must be linked to the overall
  goals and objectives of your organization..your
  business plan

customers
circulation
both
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INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

• The primary focus of the Industry Analysis is to
  provide sufficient knowledge of the environment
  (national and local Market) that can affect
  marketing strategy decision making.
• It begins with the broadest based assessment of
  environment and Industry trends than proceed to
  local market environmental and industry trend ,
  competition

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Competitor Analysis

• The information on competitors can be gathered
  initially by using as much public Information as
  possible and then complementing this with a
  marketing research project.
• Newspaper articles, websites, catalogs,
  promotions, interviews with distributors and
  customers and any other marketing strategy or
  company information available should be reviewed.
• Table 8.1

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Marketing Research For the New Venture

• Marketing research involves the gathering of data
  in order to determine such information as who
  will buy the product or service? What is the size
  of the potential market? What price should be
  charged? What is the most appropriate
  distribution channel? And what is the most
  effective promotion strategy to inform and reach
  potential customers?

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Steps of Marketing Research

• Defining the Purpose or Objectives
• How much would potential customers be willing to
  pay for the product or service?
• Where would potential customers prefer to
  purchase the product or service
• Where would the customers expect to hear about or
  learn about such a product or service?

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2. Gathering Data from Secondary Sources

• Before considering either primary sources or
  commercial sources of information the
  entrepreneurship should exhaust all free
  secondary sources
• Trade magazines, newspaper articles,
• Libraries government agencies and the internet
  are biggest sources to obtain secondary data

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3. Gathering Information from Primary Sources

• Gathering primary data involves a data collection
  procedure such as observation, networking,
  interviewing, focus groups, or experimentation
  and usually data collection instrument like
  questionnaire Table 8.4

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4. Analyzing the interpreting results

• At this stage the result should be evaluated and
  interpreted in response to the research
  objectives that were specified in the first step
  of the research process. The data should be cross
  tabulated in order to provide more focused results

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Understanding the Marketing Plan

• After gathering the necessary information
  entrepreneur can prepare the marketing plan
• MP helps an entrepreneur to compete effectively
  and operates in the market place to meet the
  objectives and goals of this new venture

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Understanding the Marketing Plan

• MP designs to provide the answers of the
  following three questions
• 1. Where have we been?
• 2. Where do we want to go?
• 3. How do we get there?

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Outline for a Marketing Plan

• Situation Analysis
• Background of the Venture
• Strength and Weaknesses of Venture
• Market Opportunities and Threats
• Competitor Analysis
• Marketing Objectives and Goals
• Marketing Strategies and Action Plans
• Budgets
• Controls

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CHARACTERISTICS OF A MARKETING PLAN

• It should provide a strategy for accomplishing
  the company mission or goal
• It should based upon facts and valid assumptions
  (Table 8.6)
• Allocation of resources must be well described
• It should provide continuity as long term plans
  can be built upon them

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CHARACTERISTICS OF A MARKETING PLAN

• It should be simple or short but not too short
  as detail of goals are excluded
• It must be flexible
• It must specify performance criteria that will be
  monitored and controlled

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Difference between Marketing Plan and Marketing
System

• Marketing Plan means written statement of
  marketing objectives, strategies, and activities
  to be followed in business plan
• Marketing System means interacting internal and
  external factors that affect ventures ability to
  provide goods and services to meet customer needs

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Figure 8.1, The Marketing System
External Environment Economy Culture Technology De
mand Legal Consideration Raw Material Competition
Feed Back
Entrepreneur
Marketing Planning Decisions
Marketing Strategies for Customers
Purchase Decision Of Customers
Internal Environment Financial Resources Suppliers
Goals Objectives Management Team