Encyclopedia of Marketing. Company marketing plan: short and detailed options

We offer a ready-made checklist with which you can draw up a ready-made marketing plan from scratch. The article details the structure and lists the main sections and marketing plan. We will tell you in what sequence it is more convenient to draw up a marketing plan, which elements of a marketing plan are mandatory, and which components can sometimes be missed. We believe that our checklist is suitable for protecting the promotion strategy of any product, because it is an exhaustive list of important information on the basis of which key strategic decisions are made.

The marketing plan has a fairly clear and logical structure, and its development is not a one-day process. You will need a lot of time to collect detailed information about consumers, to study the features and conditions of the market, to determine the competitive advantages of the product, and much more. Get ready to process and summarize many different facts, consider more than one alternative for business development. Don't be afraid to take the time to analyze different strategy options.

On average, drawing up a high-quality marketing plan can take (depending on the size of the business and the number of product groups in the company's portfolio) from 1-3 months. And if you deal with marketing planning at the same time as solving current issues, then put at least 2-4 months into this process. 50% of this time you will spend on collecting information, 40% on analyzing and considering alternatives, and only 10% on drawing up the marketing plan itself.

The structure of a standard marketing plan includes 8 elements and is as follows:

What is an Executive Summary

"Executive Summary" - a summary or summary of the key areas of the marketing plan. In this section of the marketing plan, they try to outline the main conclusions, recommendations and goals of the company for the next few years. This section is the last one you complete, but when you present your marketing plan, you start with this section.

The practice of laying out the key takeaways at the start of any presentation helps to tailor the guide to the desired format of the presentation, allows you to assess the main strategy without detailed study of the facts and prepare questions. In this section of the marketing plan, it is very common to also include content, presentation duration, presentation format, and preferred form of feedback.

Situational analysis and conclusions

The situational analysis section is designed to quickly get a complete picture of the market, its size, trends and features. Such an analysis helps to explain the choice of certain actions in the marketing strategy of the product. The main components of a situational analysis are:

• Analysis of the company's internal environment and resources, including an assessment of the level of achievement of current goals and objectives
• Analysis of consumer behavior in the market, assessment of the reasons for the purchase and refusal of the company's product
• Analysis of the external factors of the company, the behavior of competitors and key market trends

You can read more about an example of a situational or business analysis of a company in our article:

SWOT analysis and competitive advantages

Any situational analysis ends with a compilation, describing the strengths and weaknesses of the company, key opportunities and threats for sales and profit growth. Based on the results of the SWOT analysis, the following is formed:

• main product of the company
• indicating the development vector of product positioning for 3-5 years
• tactical action plan for the use and development of opportunities
• tactical action plan to minimize identified threats
• main

Definition of marketing goals and objectives

The first step in any marketing strategy is to set performance targets for the coming year. There are two types of goals that should be recorded in a marketing plan: business goals and marketing goals. Business goals relate to issues such as the position of the product in the market (share or place among competitors), the level of sales, profits and profitability. Marketing objectives consider issues such as attracting new customers, retaining current customers, increasing the frequency and duration of use of the product.

Protection of the marketing strategy

The presentation of the marketing strategy is the main section of the organization's marketing plan. At this stage of the presentation of the marketing plan, it is important to say about the following elements of the marketing strategy:

Without this section, the marketing plan will not be complete and not a single manager will approve the developed programs for the development of the product and its promotion to the market. The section begins with a presentation of the business model or P&L, which shows projected sales growth from the programs, required program budget, net income, and return on sales. The subsequent steps in this section are comments and clarifications on the P&L model:

• Budget structure with division into main cost items
• Overview of the main sources of sales growth and their correlation with budget items
• Assumptions used in the construction of the model in the field of cost growth, inflation and price level

Sales Generator

We will send the material to you:

From this article you will learn:

• Why is it needed
• How long to make it
• How to develop a company marketing plan
• How to do it quickly in half an hour
• What mistakes should be avoided

Modern enterprises are constantly in a state of competition with each other. The one that is weaker due to an illiterately developed marketing plan loses. A company's marketing plan is important as it helps take sales to the next level. Let's figure out together how to compose it and what strategy is better to apply.

What is a company marketing plan

The leaders of modern enterprises in a competitive environment are faced with questions on which the future of the company often depends. How to develop further, what mechanisms to use to reduce costs, where to look for and attract potential consumers, what marketing techniques to use to increase profits?

With the correct, competent and effective construction of the plan, you can easily find answers to these and other questions.

A company's marketing plan is a brief description of an algorithm that allows you to quickly find solutions to important production problems. Moreover, this document clearly indicates the timeframes and strategies. It could be one year, two or three.

The company's marketing plan is drawn up as a separate document. Together with financial and production plans, it is included in the strategic business plan of the company. With their help, it is easy to build a general line for the development of the enterprise.

To develop the document, the results of previous studies, data on the study of economic niches in which the enterprise operates are used. Additionally, resources and consumers are analyzed to determine the main goals and objectives. Be sure to indicate the period during which the desired results, indicated earlier, are achieved.

Why is a company marketing plan necessary?

We think this is understandable. The main objectives of this document include the following.

1. A company's marketing plan will help determine its profitability.

Therefore, it is necessary to use terms that everyone will understand - from the manager to the junior staff. This must be taken into account so that the work of all employees is as productive as possible.

1. For greater productivity, you need to consider how the system works.

From the document it will be clear which department of the company needs to be strengthened and which should be closed. It is important to describe each item in detail and accurately.

1. The marketing plan clearly sets goals and defines methods to achieve them.

It is important to have an additional document if the first does not justify itself.

1. The main purpose of the document is to coordinate the actions of the personnel (workers, employees) and the management (management) of the company.

Thanks to this, the actions of the company's employees will be clear, each of the employees will be well aware of their job responsibilities and perform them.

How long does it take to write a marketing plan for a company?

If the company is large, then the document is developed every year. In order to have a result, specific terms must be indicated, which depend on the size of the company, the scope of its activities.

Typically, the document is drawn up for a period of three to six years and is annually adjusted, the data is adjusted, and changed taking into account new market conditions. After revision, a company's marketing plan is often rewritten.

If the company is small, then according to research conducted in 2017, effective search or SEO marketing is used. It is usually used to promote goods and services on the Internet, along with contextual advertising and SMM.

Submit your application

Large companies work according to a different scheme, they prefer to use advertising in the media (newspapers, magazines), television, radio.

The frequency of reviewing the marketing plan for small businesses depends on demand, activity needs, which can be determined independently using a SWOT analysis.

Other tactics, goals and methods of promotion can be chosen. As soon as global changes occur in the market, the company most often adjusts the positioning of the product, service, which means that the entire marketing plan is reworked.

Let's look at an example. Company N produces premium baby food. In the early years, it was known only to a narrow circle of consumers. This means that the main task of the marketing department is to increase brand awareness. This will definitely be highlighted in the marketing plan of the enterprise.

In a year, when awareness grows, the assortment expands, the document will indicate specific deadlines for holding promotions, a section will appear in which you need to clearly describe advertising campaigns.

What goals should be reflected in the marketing plan of the company

The ultimate goal of a marketing plan is to continuously increase the company's profits.

Many businessmen often forget that marketers cannot decide everything themselves. They do not produce and sell goods and do not provide services, do not work with customers, partners. Therefore, it is important to consider all departments of the company and strengthen the interaction within it in order to constantly increase profits.

All members of the workforce must participate in the implementation of the marketing plan. If this does not happen, all your undertakings will remain on paper, time and effort will be wasted.

All goals must be fixed, fixed with specific dates, by which you can then check the exact deadlines. It might look like this:

• expansion, optimization of the customer base by (date) by (%);
• development of a strategy to increase sales by (date) in (times);
• increase in brand awareness among consumers, target audience by (date) by (%);
• expansion or formation of a new partner and dealer network by (date) by (quantity).

What is the structure of the company's marketing plan

The company's marketing plan consists of several sections.

1. Executive summary (introduction for management) is the first, introductory, section of the document. It indicates a list of tasks, the main goals of the company, its mission and the problems that the business is solving at the time of writing the marketing plan.

2. Evaluation of the company's activities at the current moment. This section clearly highlights the following points:

• Described main segments of the target audience.
• market analysis , including the legal framework, suppliers, forecasts and prospects, features of the industry in which the company operates;
• internal audit, during which the moments hindering the development of the enterprise, as well as mechanisms that can improve the situation, are identified;
• results of a previous SWOT analysis . At the same time, they evaluate the positive and negative factors that will affect your business;
• competitive advantages . This is what you are able to offer your business partners, potential customers. Based on the results obtained, you will be able to effectively promote a product or service.

3. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of your company's competitors. Here you need to describe the development strategy of your competitors, analyze the assortment, prices, their promotion methods, and the features of working with clients.

You can use the services of a "mystery shopper". This will allow you to draw conclusions to improve the further development of your business.

4. Development of a commodity strategy for your company. You analyze the product portfolio, sales, consumption volumes and draw conclusions, form recommendations for expanding the business. If necessary, evaluate the product line and the main production technologies.

5. Strategy development. It is necessary to describe the main directions of marketing of your company, how the trademark and the company as a whole are positioned.

Specify measures for working with clients, events that are carried out to attract new business partners, to strengthen the company's position in the market for goods and services. Analyze internal marketing and how you will serve your customers.

6. Analytics. Using special data, analyze and describe external and internal situations (on the market and in the company), possible risks that need to be taken into account in future activities.

You plan and carry out the collection of information, prepare analytical materials, think over measures that can be used in specific situations. Monitor competitors, publicity, market research and describe how it all is implemented in practice.

7 Action plan. Analysis and inclusion in the company's work plan of the activities necessary to achieve the goals that you set for yourself and the employees of the company. It is better if this is a table in which you enter the actions taken to promote a product or service, as well as fix the deadlines, indicate those responsible, etc.

8. Finance. Analyze the main indicators, draw conclusions. They will help you predict sales, see and evaluate incremental costs. Include sales dynamics in the document, break it down by customers, market segments, groups of goods (services), regions.

Be sure to analyze the main indicators of expenses, group them so that later they can be used to draw conclusions on improving sales and the marketing plan as a whole.

9. Implementation of control. This is the last section of your plan. It spells out in detail the main mechanisms and control tools with an exact indication of which divisions of your company will perform a particular item.

This section can include reports, key metrics, and milestones to help draw conclusions.

10. Applications. In this part of the document there will be graphs, tables, analysis of certain provisions of the marketing plan. This way you can track the progress of your business.

As you can see, all elements of the marketing plan are systematized into a list that meets certain areas of activity. This helps to solve specific problems, eliminate problematic issues, etc.

Step-by-step development of a marketing plan for a company

The development of a company's marketing plan consists of several stages. Almost all of them are mandatory.

Planning phase	Description
Analysis of the market for goods or services	No matter how hard we try, we still will not be aware of everything that happens on the market for goods and services. Study the trends. Perhaps those of them that operate on the market today will create competition for you tomorrow. You need to be alert. Study the habits of future and current customers, what has changed in them, their attitude to the quality of goods and services, their cost.
Product Analysis	Be as honest as possible. Remember that consumers will compare your products with competitors. Highlight the disadvantages and advantages. Evaluate the product, whether it is expensive or, conversely, cheap, simple or complex, high-quality or not. Try to understand why customers like the product and what needs to be done to make them buy it.
The target audience	It will be great if you get to know the target audience better. If not, analyze regular customers and draw conclusions about how they are configured for your products or services. Knowing the target audience is the first step to successful product positioning.
Positioning features and main advantages of your product	This point is similar to the second stage, but by turning on the imagination, you can bring your product or service to the ideal. Think about how to make the product more attractive in appearance, improve the composition, if possible.
Strategic planning	Having dealt with competitors, take care of the positioning of the product (product). So you will begin to understand how to act and develop an effective promotion strategy. Consider the assortment and how it can be improved, expanded, promoted. Decide which ad is better to choose and predict the possible results.
Drawing up a plan for 1-5 years (depending on the scale)	After receiving all the necessary information, you can paint the strategy for months. Be sure to include the date and month.

Development of a marketing plan according to the SOSTAC model

The SOSTAC structure was established in the 1990s. She is quite reputable and has an excellent reputation. Beginning businessmen and international companies take it as a basis to draw up a marketing plan.

The SOSTAC marketing plan consists of a number of steps.

Stage 1. Analysis of a specific situation

Analyzing the current situation, it is necessary to show the overall picture of the project. For this, the following questions are being worked out:

1. Who are your current clients? Create a detailed portrait of your target audience.
2. Based on the conducted SWOT analysis, draw conclusions about your strengths and weaknesses, possible threats to the company.
3. Analyze competitors. Who are they? On what basis do they compete with you? It could be a product, its price, better customer service, or a different reputation than yours. How exactly do you differ from each other?
4. Make a detailed list of channels that you can use to attract customers. Check the ones that will be the most successful for you. Separate those who perform well from those who perform poorly.

Only after that you will be able to see your potential customers, evaluate their motivation for purchases. Alternatively, you can make a portrait of the client. This will help you get to know your audience better. To do this, you can use the data obtained by the current CRM system after analyzing the history of orders.

From the information collected by your CRM system, you will be able to:

• understand your ratio of male to female clients;
• evaluate profiles based on age, average age and see if it is possible to create categories;
• find out data about the location of your customers, their addresses, what percentage lives in your region;
• study the history of successful purchases and create an overall picture, evaluate the average order, figure out how products differ in volume, color, size from the competition;
• figure out how your customers prefer to pay upon receipt - by cards or cash; how often orders are placed and purchases are made.

With this information, you can proceed to the next step, where we will collect information related to your company.

Let's look at a specific example. We have data about the target audience. Now let's take two avatars for a virtual online store that sells t-shirts.

Avatar A - Maxim

Maxim is a master of his craft, he is 26 years old, he lives alone, rents a one-room apartment in the center of Moscow, is not married, has a high income level, as for the capital. The guy is passionate about football and often supports his sports club. Every year he buys a new colored T-shirt with the logo of his team fan. He does it over the Internet.

It is convenient and comfortable for Maxim to place orders via the Web. He often communicates with friends and acquaintances via social networks, regularly follows the news from the world of domestic and world football, and does not mind getting acquainted with new paraphernalia.

The World Cup is coming soon, and this will provide an opportunity to present a new collection of T-shirts for football fans. Therefore, XXX company can contact Maxim and offer not only a T-shirt of an admirer of his favorite team, but also a unique international T-shirt of an active fan.

How will Maxim interact with your online store? It could be the following diagram.

Maxim gets acquainted with the latest news about the World Cup in a fashion blog. He notices that the company is offering to take part in a promotion - order a T-shirt with a logo dedicated to the championship at 10% cheaper. To do this, he needs to follow the link to the website of the online store.

Maxim makes a transition and gets to the site of the XXX online store. Here he is offered a large selection of quality T-shirts, which he can order with a 10% discount. Maxim chooses a T-shirt of the color, pattern, size he needs, and then completes the purchase by paying for it with a credit/debit card.

Avatar B - Margarita

Margarita is a professional in her field, she is 33 years old, the girl is in a relationship. Margarita follows the fashion world and tries to place orders through the online store.

And her young man, a fan of the football team and the local club, also likes to keep up with sports fashion. He buys jerseys from his team's fans every year.

The World Cup is coming soon, and Margarita knows about it. She, too, can become a customer of the XXX online store. A girl can buy a T-shirt for both herself and her boyfriend - together they are going to support the football team in the championship.

An example scenario of Margarita's interaction with an online store: a potential client received an email with an offer from an online store. This newsletter contains an online advertisement of a company that offers to order a T-shirt with the symbols of the championship using a promo code.

Margarita understands that this is a chance to give her beloved boyfriend a T-shirt, buy the same one for herself and save money. The girl goes to the website of the online store. To get information, she calls the support service and places an order over the phone.

To successfully promote an online store, you need to create two or three customer avatars for a separate group of products that have similar properties.

Stage 2. Goal setting

This part of the marketing plan should focus on your goals, which should be as specific as possible. Goals should be in line with the following:

• concreteness. Select the indicators that you will focus on.
• measurability. Decide how you will evaluate the effectiveness, exercise control.
• Reachability. How and when can you reach your goal?
• Realism or Valence. It takes into account what marketing tools you will use.
• Time limitation. See if the time is clearly indicated.

Continuing with the example of an online store selling t-shirts, the goals might be:

• Interaction: it is necessary to increase the number (flow) of customers by 50% by March 2018.
• attraction. The goal is to increase your brand awareness. Tracking with Google Analytics. Date: March - July 2018.
• Interaction. The mailing list of letters is increasing systematically: previously they sent one letter per quarter, now one letter per week, starting from April 2018 to July 2018.

Stage 3. Strategy for achieving goals

Your strategy should indicate that you are ready to achieve your goals.

Goal 1. Increase your brand awareness. Tracking with Google Analytics. Date: March - August 2018.

You should maximize the presence of your brand (product or service) in fan-oriented places online:

• Determine a cost-effective way to market.
• Are there any customers on these online platforms?
• Where exactly can you get the attention of potential customers?

You can achieve your goal only when you study competitive companies, so you understand what basic tools they prefer.

Goal 2. Engagement: Need to increase existing customer flow by 50% by April 2019.

Here you should carefully analyze the existing customer base and identify what each of its representatives prefers.

Goal 3. The frequency of emails is steadily increasing. Previously, they sent a letter in 3-4 months, now in 7-10 days, starting from April to July 2018.

By answering the questions below, you will determine the frequency of sending emails:

• How does the company currently interact with subscribers?
• Who are your competitors and how do they send mailings?

Stage 4. Tactics for achieving goals

Here you need to consider the main tools that will help you achieve the goals of your marketing plan. There may be several tactics.

Suppose you have chosen methods such as SEO optimization, contextual advertising, and email marketing. Let's consider them in detail.

During the analysis, key shortcomings were identified - a small budget for marketing and research within its framework. To determine the direction of marketing forces, it is necessary to analyze the requests for a specific product, in our case, T-shirts with the logos of football clubs.

The second tactic is focused on contextual advertising, that is, on payment for clicks made. Having determined the keywords, you will understand how much budget you need to allocate for contextual advertising.

The third tactic is email marketing.

You must develop a mailing strategy so that your customers receive emails regularly. The main purpose of the message is to make potential customers go to your site and order a product or use a service.

Stage 5. Active actions

At this stage, you embody what you have worked out into reality. It is important to re-examine the goals carefully in order to follow them.

Plan of exemplary active actions.

• SEO.

We analyze key queries. We optimize the main pages for keywords for better ranking of site pages by Yandex and Google search engines. Regularly (once every 2-3 days) we publish content. We create a reference mass. We place information on other sites.

• Contextual advertising.

Based on the analysis and processing of requests, we analyze the approximate traffic. We determine the budget and the main pages of the site (target) to which people will come for key queries.

• Email marketing.

First, we create a script for letters that your subscribers will receive. We analyze the involvement of recipients in the mailing list, profitability.

Stage 6. Control of the received results

This is the last step that will help you evaluate the previously announced goals. This analysis will allow you to draw conclusions - whether you are acting correctly.

Shortest company marketing plan

The shortest but most useful marketing plan for a company was created by Kelly Odel. It is suitable for any, even the newest idea, product or service. It is enough to fill in the table, and you will immediately see the big picture, including the future, which will help you draw a conclusion about the prospects for business development.

3 Common Mistakes in Developing a Company Marketing Plan

1. Inconsistent promotion

If you don't have a clear strategy in place, your company marketing plan can fail right away. Here, not only the presence of bright and memorable symbols, logo, but also the entire marketing program in general plays an important role.

1. Save justifiably

Advertising spending should pay off. What determines the effectiveness of the tools used to promote a product or service? There are many factors, including: product features, knowledge of potential consumers, goals set for the business.

At the same time, it is important to understand that the larger the company and the wider the goals it sets, the more expensive the business.

1. Don't have high expectations

Don't assume that there will be results immediately after implementing a marketing plan. Not always well-thought-out stages of promotion will give an instant effect. Keep a balance between what you promise in reality and advertising.

the marketing plan is a very important section. To write it, the team creating the project needs to conduct marketing research, the results of which should be presented in this paragraph. Before starting a study, it is necessary to define its objectives.

In most cases, marketing is carried out with the following goals:

1. Analysis of the needs of potential customers and possible demand, taking into account the cost of services and the solvency of the consumer. Analysis of the market in which the organization or enterprise will operate, the conditions necessary to promote the project. Using the data obtained to create an effective production or organizational program.
2. Analysis of risks and positive conditions that may lead to an increase or, on the contrary, a decrease in demand for manufactured products or services;
3. Determining the level of quality of products or services, assessing them in the context of real competition, searching for ways that can improve performance;
4. Identification and ways of using specific marketing systems and ways to increase demand: determining pricing policy and strategies for promoting a product or service;
5. Determining the effectiveness of the marketing strategy as a whole and assessing the possibility of implementing the above tasks.

The main task of any marketing research is to determine the existing demand for products or services, and to obtain the necessary information to form production and marketing plans. So, in the course of the work carried out, the target group or groups whose need for your service or product will be unsatisfied should be identified, which will ensure demand for your project, and hence financial stability.

As a rule, a marketing plan is carried out in several general stages:

1. Market research
2. Definition of strategy
3. Competition analysis
4. Price policy
5. Factors affecting pricing strategy
6. Marketing strategy

Now for each step in more detail.

Market research

The market and the manufactured product or service are being researched, the following characteristics are determined:

• Market segments;
• consumer needs;
• Ways of production to the client;
• The level of competitiveness of a product or service;
• Product life cycle;
• Ways to improve the quality of goods;
• Legal basis of production;
• The ability to copy the scheme of production or provision of services by competitors.

Definition of a key strategy.

There are many marketing strategies, and the project manager's task is to choose the most appropriate one. The most effective strategies are:

• Cost minimization - allows you to set the lowest prices on the market, which automatically ensures demand at the start of a business;
• Differentiation - when a product or service differs from all existing offers, which favorably distinguishes the business from competitors;
• Orientation to a specific segment - takes into account all possible factors (social, demographic, etc.), determines the target audience with the possibility of its further increase.

Analysis of the competitive environment

• Identification of the main competitors and leaders of a particular market, collection of data on all such enterprises, their structure, financial condition, staff, sales volume, main advantages and disadvantages of their business model;
• Conducting a comparative analysis of the goods or services of competitors and your company to identify the main factors affecting quality, price, service and sales.

In addition, it is necessary to identify the possibility of entering the main competitors in the sales market of your enterprise, the obstacles to this, as well as the difficulty of copying your products. The information can be presented in a table.

Price policy

It is the most important factor determining the success of an enterprise.

There are several main pricing strategies:

• High prices and better quality - this option is relevant if there is a demand for products and the company is able to produce goods of the desired quality;
• Low price and low quality - allows you to meet the demand of the broadest social groups and sell large volumes of goods;
• High price and low quality is an option that can only become profitable for monopolists;
• Low price and high quality - sales, special promotions, capture positions in the market.

The choice of one of the above strategies does not mean that the company must follow it all the time. The strategy may change depending on the market situation, the need for development and expansion, etc.

Identification of factors that can affect the pricing policy of the organization

• What systems of discounts and benefits can be introduced for wholesale buyers and regular customers?
• How long does it take to go through the standard cycle from production to purchase of products?;
• How will the customer pay for the product or service?
• How to protect yourself from debts and encourage the consumer to pay on time (discounts for prepayment, penalties for late payments)?;
• What systems of promotions, discounts, special offers can be created for regular customers who purchase goods for large amounts?

Definition of marketing strategy.

To write this paragraph, you need to answer the following question: “By what means will the organization, its services or products be promoted?” This can be media: television, radio, newspapers, or online advertising: mailing lists, advertising in search engines, social networks, etc.

The choice of one of the above methods of advertising will depend on many factors: your financial capabilities, the efficiency of using certain resources, and the geography of the market.

In addition, you also need to mention the following:

• How much will the selected advertising moves cost;
• How do you plan to attract and retain customers with additional discounts, discounts, promotions, special prices;
• What is your competitive advantage?
• The flaws in your marketing and sales system.

Thus, in this section of the business plan, you need to justify in detail the feasibility of your offer, show that your products will be or already are in demand, and also that you know exactly how to promote goods or services.

An example of a marketing plan in a clothing store business plan

It is planned that the clothes made at the Beautiful Clothes factory will be sold in the chain's branded stores. Seasonal collections for adults will be sold, therefore, the target audience is one of the largest population groups - men and women from 16 to 50 years old. The goods sold are competitive, since all clothing lines are made from domestic materials purchased from wholesale suppliers, which allows us to reduce the price, but maintain high quality standards. Another advantage of this project is the impossibility of using this scheme by competitors, since Beautiful Clothes stores will sell products of their own, well-established production.

The key strategy is to minimize costs. Beautiful clothes will sell clothes made from domestic materials at its own production, transportation costs are also minimal. This will allow you to set low prices, which, in turn, will automatically expand the target audience.

The main competitors of the store in Voronezh are Brands, Odezhka and FiCo stores. Their main advantages are the presence of promoted brands, but there are also disadvantages in their concept. Thus, Brands and FiCo sell good quality clothing at equally high prices. "Clothes", in turn, sells cheap clothes with low quality. "Beautiful clothes" will be able to give consumers the opportunity to buy quality items at reasonable prices, which gives it a clear advantage over the above competitors.

It is also planned to create a system of discounts, conduct seasonal promotions, as well as sell clothes from past collections at reduced prices. Bulk purchases are not provided.

To promote the store will be used:

• Advertising in social networks: Instagram, Voronezh groups in VKontakte;
• Advertising in local media: newspapers and TV channels;
• Distribution of flyers;
• Placement of advertising banners.

Alexander Kaptsov

Reading time: 11 minutes

A A

The formation of a stable array of buyers, finding their niche in the market, suppressing competitors, building a plausible reputation - this is not a complete list of issues that entrepreneurs have to solve. Without a clear marketing plan, it is almost impossible to achieve stable demand for products, brand recognition, and a large number of loyal customers. How to properly compose this important document for any business?

Marketing plan of the company - what is it?

Under the company's marketing plan should be understood the details of all its actions that are focused on achieving its optimal position in the market. It does not affect the production and technological aspects of the functioning of the company and only affects the sale of products and profit.

Benefits of developing a marketing plan for a company:

• First of all , determines which part of its funds will have to be spent on marketing activities.
• Secondly , to form a policy of promotion on the market of specific types of goods and services.
• Thirdly , draw up a strategy and tactics for working with the target market, including the procedure for setting prices.
• Fourth , certain goods, sales proceeds and profits.

Important point: Since the marketing plan draws in detail all marketing activities and expected results, it is possible to trace the effectiveness of certain approaches in the company's activities in the market.

Types of the company's marketing plan and the purpose of their preparation

There are many criteria for classifying marketing plans, including:

1. Duration of validity - strategic (more than 3 years), tactical (up to 3 years), operational (up to 1 month).
2. Coverage - a plan for turnover, sales, promotional activities, market research or integrated (comprehensive plan).
3. Depth of study - detailed or general.
4. Field of activity - a plan of goals, pricing policy, product policy, marketing communications, control and revision, finance, warehousing, ordering, supply (logistics), etc.

A marketing plan is a very serious internal document, which is focused on achieving certain goals:

• Maintaining the company's position in the market.
• Development and implementation of a new product.
• Coverage of new niches and segments (diversification), etc.

Important point: In connection with such a wide range of areas for using marketing plans, it seems necessary to draw up a separate document for each goal, since the methods and tools for each of the goals are different.

It should be remembered that a marketing plan is not an analogue of a business plan. It covers only the activities of the company in the market.

Structure and content of the company's marketing plan

The marketing plan is an internal document that is used to make decisions by the company's management. However, it has a fairly clear structure.

It can take several months to complete, as it requires:

1. Collecting information about buyers.
2. Studying supply and demand in the market.
3. Definitions of competitive advantages.
4. Competitive ratings, etc.

Important point: The marketing plan should not be just a "collection of facts", but a document containing analysis, recommendations, alternatives for the company's further work in the market.

All 3-4 months during which the marketing plan will be formed will be spent as follows: 50% of the time will be spent on collecting all the necessary information, 40% on analysis and evaluation, and only 10% on creating the document itself.

In order not to be mistaken in the formation of a marketing plan, it is advisable to focus on the following structure:

1. Resume . This section includes a description of the main points outlined in the marketing plan. Here the goal is necessarily prescribed and the ways to achieve it are listed. The expected results of the implementation of the plan are also prescribed.

Important point: Paradoxically, the first section of the marketing plan is always the last section, as it is the summary of the entire marketing plan.

2. Market overview and forecast . This section describes the market (size, growth opportunities, trends, features) and shows the specific behavior of consumers and competing firms in it. Here it is important to indicate how many competitors are in the selected segment, what share they cover, and also what are the opportunities for market growth.

3. SWOT analysis and competitive advantages . This part analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the company, the threats and opportunities for its functioning.

Based on the results of the SWOT analysis, the marketer should determine:

• The main competitive advantage of the company.
• Positioning of the product in relation to consumers (preferably with a forecast for 3-5 years ahead).
• Tactical measures to seize opportunities and reduce the impact of threats.
• A strategy to fight competitors and increase customer loyalty.

4. Purpose and objectives of the marketing plan . The marketing plan should contribute to the development of the business, which is why it contains business goals within the chosen planning horizon (month, year, three years) and marketing goals for the same period of time. Only after that, the tasks of marketing activities are drawn up.

5. Marketing mix (marketing mix). The core of any marketing plan is the so-called marketing mix, which is based on the 5P model for goods and the 7P model for services.

Model 5R. Any marketing event is built on the basis of five components:

• Product (Product) or product policy - logo and corporate identity, appearance and physical properties of the product, product range, product quality.
• Price (Price) or pricing policy - wholesale and retail price, the procedure for determining the cost of goods, discounts and promotions, price discrimination.
• Place of sale (Place) or marketing policy - the sale of goods in the markets, in stores, the basics of distribution, the display of goods, inventory management and logistics.
• Promotion (Promotional) or promotion policy - promotion strategy, promotional activities, PR activities, event marketing, communication channels, media strategy.
• People (People) - staff motivation and stimulation, corporate culture, work with loyal customers and VIP clients, feedback.

Model 7P is supplemented by two more "P", namely:

• Process (Process) - the conditions of interaction with the client, the order of service, the creation of a favorable atmosphere, the speed of the service, etc.
• Physical environment (physical evidence) - furnishings, interior, background music, image, etc.

Thus, when developing a marketing plan, each of the above positions is worked out in detail, which makes it possible to form a comprehensive idea of ​​the company's functioning in the market.

6. Choice of company behavior in the market . This part of the marketing plan describes the specific actions of the company in the market to achieve the goal and solve the identified problems.

7. Activity budget . Includes a detailed list of costs for marketing activities, which can be presented in the form of a table.

8. Risk assessment . This part describes the risks that a company may face in the course of implementing a marketing plan.

The main stages of developing a marketing plan: an example of drafting

Obviously, a marketing plan is a complex and complex document, which is not easy to form. However, even a specialist with basic knowledge in the field of marketing can do it. Where should you start?

First of all, you should collect information about the market, the selected segment, competitors, consumers, and then implement the following sequence of actions:

• Stage 1 . Analysis of market trends. Identification of customer requirements for quality, price of goods, packaging design, communication channels.
• Stage 2 . Product analysis. Evaluation of quality, price, packaging design, communication channels for an existing product.
• Stage 3 . Target market selection. Determination of the category of consumers who are more suitable for the proposed product.
• Stage 4 . Positioning and competitive advantages. Establishing the position of the company's product in relation to competitors (average in quality, lower in price, etc.) and its beneficial aspects.
• Stage 5 . Creating a strategy. Formation of promotions and special offers for the target audience, the procedure for promoting the brand to the market, etc.
• Stage 6 . Tactical action plan. Actions to achieve the ideal position of the product in the market.

It is advisable to give a simplified example of creating a marketing plan for a company selling fresh juices through five specialized points located in different parts of the city.

Stage 1. Analysis of market trends

1. Customers want to buy juices that are squeezed out of fruits and vegetables in their presence, sold in containers that are convenient for drinking (paper cups and plastic bottles).
2. Sale is carried out in places of rest and near large offices.
3. The price may be higher than the cost of draft carbonated drinks and coffee, but cheaper than fresh juices offered by cafes and restaurants in the city.

Stage 2. Product analysis

1. The company produces fruit juices in plastic bottles and on tap.
2. All five points of sale are located in crowded places, including near recreational areas.
3. The price of juices is similar to the cost of fresh juices in cafes and restaurants of the city.

Stage 3. Selecting a target market

1. Taking into account the properties of the product and its price, the main target audience will be working representatives of the middle class who monitor their health.

Stage 4. Positioning and competitive advantages

1. The company will offer customers a product of excellent quality and high cost.
2. Natural ingredients, ease of drinking, proximity to the consumer are the main competitive advantages of the company.

Stage 5. Creating a strategy

1. Targeting an array of regular customers.
2. Retention of the audience in the cold season.

Stage 6. Tactical action plan

1. Formation of a cumulative system of points for customers and a system of seasonal discounts.
2. Proposal of the delivery of juices in plastic containers around the city.
3. Expansion of the assortment by selling diet cookies and bars.

The above blank should be considered as a kind of basis for drawing up a marketing plan. In fact, having such information in hand, the marketer can only distribute it into the appropriate sections.

Problems of effective application of the marketing plan of the organization

Many marketers ask a completely natural question: why do marketing plans drawn up according to all the rules do not work and do not bring the desired effect?

The fact is that often quite accurate and meaningful documents include such shortcomings as:

• Use of information from one source . When leaving a marketing plan, you should use information from industry surveys, expert opinions, statistical bulletins, customer surveys, competitor reports, etc.
• Overgeneralization . The document should operate with data, and not endlessly “pour water” and write speculative, unsupported assumptions.
• Lack of flexibility . Despite its detail, the marketing plan must be flexible so that any of its parameters can be adjusted when the market situation changes.
• Lack of connection with the company's strategy . If the overall strategy of the company defines the sale of goods to middle-aged people, and marketing activities are focused on teenagers and young people, the marketing plan will not bring the expected effect.
• Inconsistency . If the marketing plan first considers the means of advertising and only then analyzes the product and customers, then the goals will not be achieved.

Important point: The finished marketing plan should be re-examined for any of the above problems.

A well-designed marketing plan is half the company's success in the market. With its help, you can create a clear, structured, consistent picture of the company's position in the industry and in a separate segment. It allows you to create a list of effective tactical marketing activities that will help achieve the company's goals.

1 ratings, average: 5,00 out of 5)

A good plan is half done!
Jewish wisdom

Marketing Action Plan

Jim Rohn always said: Never start a day if it hasn't already been planned out on paper! And this has become the rule of all successful business people.

I, in turn, slightly paraphrased the rule of the great psychologist, and I always advise my clients: never start marketing if you do not have a regular marketing plan. Otherwise, you risk being left without customers and without money!

It is important to understand that marketing is not about individual tricks, tricks and tools!

Marketing is a daily painstaking system work. And if you want your marketing to be effective, it needs to be carefully planned.

A marketing calendar will help you with this, which will display a plan of marketing activities with specific goals, expected results and an established budget. Creating it is not as difficult as it seems at first glance. You will only need to complete 7 steps.

Let's look at each of them.

Note: At the end of the article there is a link to a marketing calendar template that you can download to your computer and start using in your work.

#1 - Choice of planning tools

You can plan in different ways.

Someone the old fashioned way, can use a notepad. Some people prefer to use Excel. And some will like specialized software.

In fact, it doesn't matter which way you choose. The main thing is the created marketing plan.

There are several free, simple, but no less effective ways to create and maintain a marketing calendar:

• Google docs. Online Excel spreadsheets that allow multiple users to work in them at once. Great for team work.
• Evernote. An online notebook that's also great for teamwork. On the plus side, you can save and structure any notes regarding your marketing plan. Of the minuses - all calculations will need to be done manually.
• Trello. Another great tool for teamwork. Allows you to pull documents from Google docs and create cards with tasks and subtasks, as well as assign responsible persons.

If you want to use specialized professional software, I recommend paying attention to the following applications:

#2 - Drawing up a sales plan

The key task of marketing in absolutely any company (except for charities) is to fulfill the sales plan and receive the planned profit. And you should always remember this!

We will not dwell on the topic of sales planning now, but you should know exactly what financial indicators you want to achieve in each month.

Your marketing budget and the marketing channels you use will depend on this.

Planning Methods

There are three main planning methods:

• top-down planning
• bottom-up planning
• planning "goals down - plan up" (goals down-plans up planning)

In the first case, the company's management independently sets goals and develops plans for its sales department.

In the second case, the sales department develops its own goals and plans, which are sent to management for approval.

In the third case, the company's management develops goals and indicators for the development of distribution. Based on these data, the sales department draws up a plan, as well as a list of resources needed to fulfill the plan. Plans and resources are reviewed and approved by management.

As practice shows, the third method is the most effective.

Although, unfortunately, most distribution companies work according to the first method.

Usually the sales plan descends from the business owner to the commercial director, from the commercial director to the head of the sales department, from the head of the department to the senior manager (or supervisor) to the sales managers. Of course, this chain may change depending on the structure of the sales department in the company, but the principle of planning remains unchanged.

Why is this happening?

The answer is quite simple: top management always acts as an investor.

At the same time, having information about the average % rate on deposits, management expects its business to grow at least 2 times more than the average rate. Otherwise, the deposit is a more attractive and profitable investment.

Lower-level managers almost never think about the value of money, so top management rarely trusts them with planning.

What usually happens in top-down planning?

In most cases, top-down planning stimulates the shifting of responsibility and the development of protest thinking in sales managers. That is, having seen their sales plan for the month, managers begin to look for reasons and arguments why this plan is too high and unfulfillable. Any increase in the plan is perceived by them not as an opportunity to increase their income, but as a desire of management to reduce their salary.

But the root of the problem lies elsewhere: the manager is only comparing last month's sales plan with the current plan.

If the figure of the current plan is higher, the manager perceives it as a whim of the management, and no more. And he continues to work carelessly, without thinking about what is needed to complete the plan.

Believe me, only a few managers with this approach to planning try to figure out how they can increase sales. They will always expect that since management puts up plans, then it should give the resources to carry it out, as well as tell you how to carry out the plan.

At the same time, if any measure proposed by management turns out to be ineffective, it will automatically turn into an alibi for the manager why he did not fulfill the plan. Naturally, after that, the manager will demand an adjustment to the plan.

Therefore, I consider this approach to planning ineffective.

On the other hand, if planning is completely left to managers, there is a high probability that managers will simply underestimate their performance. Which, in turn, naturally will not please the management, and it will lower its plan to the sales department.

To avoid eternal problems with planning, the "targets down, plan up" method is used.

Why planning is effective Goals down - plans up

It is important to note that this approach to planning is closely intertwined with the company's development strategy. It involves the involvement of each sales manager in the process of planning sales for the year (with the distribution of sales for each month) for each group of goods.

Thus, each manager independently sets up an annual sales plan, which is then approved by the management.

Here are just a few pros for the Goals Down-Plans Up method:

Managers independently analyze monthly sales by key product groups in the context of the last 2 years.

Thus, they clearly understand the presence of seasonality in sales and can determine the ratio of seasonal rise and fall. Which, of course, will help to more accurately predict sales for the next year.

Managers analyze indicators of quantitative and qualitative distribution. Which, in turn, allows you to analyze:

• The number of outlets that do not have a top range. Entering the best-selling items in these outlets will definitely increase the average order, and, accordingly, sales.
• Assortment matrices for each client. This analysis is very important for distribution companies, but very few managers do it.

First of all, this analysis helps identify high turnover positions. It is on them that you should focus when launching marketing activities.

Secondly, it shows low-turnover positions that affect the overall turnover rate of the assortment. After all, it is precisely on the basis of the total turnover of the assortment that customers demand a deferred payment.

For the manager, the priority is the rotation of low-turnover positions, which, in turn, affects the improvement of the overall turnover of the assortment, and allows you to get additional sales.

• Sales "like to like".

This indicator is also very important for the correct preparation of a strategic plan.

For example, in March last year, the manager worked with 100 outlets, the sales volume of which amounted to 100,000 USD. In March of this year, an additional 10 outlets were opened on the territory of the manager. At the same time, the volume of sales in all 110 outlets amounted to 110,000 USD. Knowing that these 10 outlets made a purchase of 20,000 USD, we see that sales for the same customer base fell by 10,000 USD.

Thus, despite the overall apparent increase in sales compared to the same period of the previous year, the “like to like” analysis shows its decline.

For the manager, this is an occasion to deal with the reasons for the fall, as well as to determine the potential for sales growth.

Managers plan the necessary resources for sales growth.

Knowing the potential and needs of their customers, managers can draw up a list of effective measures aimed at increasing sales and distribution performance. Owning the data on the effectiveness of previous promotions, the manager can correctly predict in which month it is better to hold events and what increase they will give to sales.

Based on this data, the manager can also create an approximate marketing budget for the year, which will help management evaluate the effectiveness of investments in sales development.

Elements of planning

The main elements of planning are listed below:

• Sales data for each product group for each month for the previous 2 years
  These data are necessary so that the manager, firstly, sees the growth or decline trends for each product group, and, secondly, can correctly make a sales forecast for each month of the next year.
• Market expectations and trends
  Market expectations can adjust sales plans, both up and down.
• Information about the seasonality of products
  If the product has a pronounced seasonal character, then naturally the manager needs to know how much sales grow during the season, and, accordingly, how much they fall in the off-season.
• Marketing activity plan
  Any marketing activity has its own performance indicators. The sales manager needs to draw up a calendar of marketing events based on the performance indicators of previous promotions in order to stimulate sales growth as much as possible.
• The emergence of new products in the assortment of the company
  Of course, new products can increase a company's sales and should be included in the plan from the moment a new product enters the company's portfolio.
• Client business development strategy
  In strategic planning, it is important for every manager to take into account the development of their clients in the coming year. Opening branches (stores), entering new markets, changing owners - all these factors can affect the increase in sales, or decrease due to the deterioration of the financial condition of customers.
• Information about the planned price increase
  Very often, sharp price increases have the effect of increasing sales in the month that the price increase occurs, and further reducing sales in subsequent months. It is important for a manager to have this information in order to predict personal sales volume as accurately as possible.

After filling in the data, the manager receives a detailed sales plan for the year for each product group in the context of each month. A key feature of this planning approach is that managers take into account all factors that can affect both growth and decline in sales.

In most cases, managers find many new opportunities to increase sales and distribution. Also, how correctly and competently the plan will be drawn up will be an indicator of the professionalism and competence of this manager.

Naturally, the approval of the strategic plan will remain with the top management. It is desirable that the manager "defend" his plan to management, as well as the amount of resources and investments needed to achieve it. Then it will be much easier to make changes to the drawn up plan, since the management will only have to point out factors that the sales manager could not pay attention to.

After the sales plan is approved, the entire company receives both its development strategy for the year and the necessary resources to achieve its goals.

In order to ensure that plans do not remain just numbers on paper, each sales manager needs to compare actual sales results with planned sales on a monthly basis. This will help you see deviations from the plan for each product group. Thus, each manager will be able to quickly understand the reasons for the failure in any of the areas and improve their performance.

Also, the analysis of current indicators helps to evaluate the effectiveness of marketing activities. Based on the data on actual sales, it will be possible to abandon ineffective marketing activities and reallocate the budget.

Monthly analysis will regularly show how well the annual planning was done and how effective the planned marketing activities were.

Quarterly plan adjustment

With the help of monthly analysis, the sales team will be able to understand which customers are growing or falling in sales, as well as determine the factors that affect these deviations. It is important to understand that no planning is perfect.

No one can be 100% secure against the aggressive actions of competitors, the emergence of new strong players in the market, the economic situation in the country, and the bankruptcy of clients. Definitely, these factors must be taken into account, and changes should be made to the strategic plan once a quarter.

At the same time, when making adjustments, the manager must answer the following questions:

• How long will the emerging factors affect the growth / decrease in sales?
• Are there additional opportunities/risks to increase/decrease sales volume?
• How can you resist the emerging negative factors and what investments are needed for this?
• How likely is it that sales-influencing factors will emerge in the near future?

#3 - Choice of Marketing Channels

Choosing marketing channels is one of the most difficult tasks.

First, you need to know exactly the performance of each channel. This will allow you to accurately predict how much sales each channel is able to generate.

Secondly, you will need to properly allocate your marketing budget to get the most out of your marketing investment. When allocating your budget, always keep the 80/20 rule in mind and invest most of it in the most effective marketing channels.

Thirdly, you will be able to correctly plan your resource costs (time, money, etc.), and determine what you can do yourself (if you are an individual entrepreneur), what your team (marketing department) can do, and what should be given for outsourcing.

Fourth, always add new marketing channels to your plan. Test them and measure the results. Effective - leave in the marketing calendar, ineffective - discard!

#4 - Setting goals for each channel and distribution of the sales plan

Not all marketing channels can immediately generate sales.

If, for example, you make a special offer to your regular customers and throw it in the mailing list, you can safely expect that a certain % will immediately take advantage of your offer.

It all depends on the degree of readiness of the client to buy.

Therefore, next to each marketing channel you decide to use, clear and measurable goals should be written, in addition to the expected sales plan.

Each channel can have its own goals:

For a billboard, the main metric might be the number of calls to your office. For guest blogging, the number of clicks to your site. An advertisement placed with partners has the number of new customers.

By analyzing the fulfillment of goals, you can find your problem areas in the sales system and customer generation.

Accordingly, you will need to think carefully about the stages "Like"(design, usability, content, customer focus) and "Build Trust"(reviews, recommendations, evidence, value and quality of materials).

Definitely, these stages are the weakest links in your client generation system. Think about what can be improved at each stage, find out the opinion of your customers, and be sure to correct the mistakes.

#5 - Budget Allocation

The next step is the distribution of the budget.

Many companies approach the formation of a marketing budget chaotically, allocating small amounts to 1-2 marketing channels.

This principle is fundamentally wrong.

Your pricing should initially include % of the marketing budget that you will use on a monthly basis. With this amount you are ready to part no matter what!

Therefore, if you do not yet have a marketing budget, determine right now what% of sales (or profits) you will reinvest in marketing every month.

Once the budget is in place, your next task is to allocate it to the marketing channels. The principle of distribution is very simple: choose 20% of the channels that provide 80% of sales, and invest 80% of your budget in them.

• 15% - remaining used but less effective marketing channels
• 5% - new marketing channels that you have not used before

Why, in this way?

Firstly, there are no marketing channels that are guaranteed to be equally effective for every company (otherwise, everyone would have been millionaires a long time ago :-D). Everything needs to be tested and verified.

If you don't use different marketing channels and experiment regularly, you run the risk of never learning about the channels that could bring your company a good profit.

Secondly, there is a good folk saying: "Don't cut the goose that lays the golden eggs."

This means that in no case should you reduce the budget for the most effective marketing channels!

No. 6 - Appointment of responsible persons

The distribution and consolidation of areas of responsibility is the next step in creating an effective marketing plan. You must clearly understand who is responsible for what. Otherwise, you run the risk of finding yourself in a situation where everyone is responsible for everything, and, at the same time, everyone is not responsible for anything.

If you have a marketing department, list the person in charge next to each channel. Talk to him about the goals, deadlines, budget and expected sales result. Make sure your marketer understands you correctly.

If you work with partners, be sure to agree on specific actions that the partner must complete and specific deadlines (for example, an advertising post in the partner's Facebook group should be published on Monday, July 14 at 11.30. It should be pinned to the top of all publications and hang for 3 days).

If you use any outsourced services, use the same principle.

You should always know who you can turn to if any agreement is not kept. Or who you can ask for results if a marketing campaign fails.

#7 - Performance Analysis

Analysis of the effectiveness of marketing channels is the final element in the marketing planning system.

You need to know how many new customers and how much sales each channel generates for you. How much is it costing you. How much does each dollar invested bring you. What is the payback period and return on investment.

Knowing all these indicators, you will be able to use your marketing budget as efficiently as possible.

Therefore, monthly sum up the results of the use of each marketing channel: measure key indicators, look at the volume of sales and the achievement of goals, evaluate the effectiveness.

Based on the findings, you will always know how and how efficiently your budget is being used. You will also be able to identify and reject unprofitable and ineffective marketing channels.

Summing up

A marketing plan is one of the key elements in any company's strategy. Lack of planning very often leads to the fact that investments in marketing become ineffective and unprofitable.

The marketing plan allows you to correctly plan the volume of sales, distribute it to each marketing channel, set goals and allocate the budget. And regular work on the plan allows the company to identify and invest exclusively in the most effective marketing channels.