Importance of marketing plan in business

In every company, the preparation of a marketing plan is vital for monitoring and tracking of the company’s marketing strategies for a certain product or service. The marketing plan is used as a tool by management or the owner to check whether the strategies that have been put into record are being implemented. It will also be a tool to determine or measure the performance of that certain product or service and also be a guide for management to revise the marketing strategy.

A marketing plan is a detailed written document that describes the strategies and steps to achieve a specific company’s marketing objectives. The marketing plan can be created for a certain product or service, a brand name or a product line. The plan can be for a period of one year or five years.

The marketing plan can be included in the business plan as part of it. The foundation of a well-written and organized plan is an effective and strong marketing strategy. Even if the marketing plan states a list of detailed action plans, the marketing plan that doesn’t have a strategic and sound basis is of lesser use. In most of the companies, strategic planning is a process that is undergone on a yearly basis. Few business organizations use marketing plans that are older than three years.

In addition to the corporate objectives that are ingrained in the marketing plan, it should also consist of the corporate mission which also lays down the guidelines for the company’s objectives in marketing activities. The emphasis in this process is to capture a complete and accurate picture of the plans and objectives. Certain customer related factors should be considered in the marketing plan.

The marketing objectives must state where the business organization plans to be at a certain and specific period in the future; what end objectives identified by the company should be achieved and at what period of time they are to be accomplished. However, very precise description of how the results are expected to be achieved is not required.

To achieve a high efficiency rate, the marketing results of your marketing efforts should be measurable. This measurement may be according to sales volume, value in currency, market share, the rate of market penetration for distribution channels and others. The marketing objective must be based on the company’s financial objectives that will convert these quantifiable measurements into measurements for marketing. The marketing strategies can be viewed as a definite action plan in which marketing objectives will be accomplished and within the structure that was selected by the company for use.

The main parts of a small business marketing plan are:

• Identifying your target market
• Understanding the competition and your differentiation
• Setting up your marketing goals
• Defining your marketing strategy (ways to achieve your marketing goals)
• Projecting the costs of the marketing activities

Please see the very basic sample marketing plan summary and budget attached. Hope it will be useful for you!

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