MARKETING AND SALES MANAGEMENT
CHECK POINT 92: MARKETING PLANNING
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MARKETING AND SALES MANAGEMENT
CHECK POINT 92: MARKETING PLANNING
Please Select Any Topic In Check Point 92 Below And Click. |
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DO I NEED TO KNOW THIS CHECK POINT?
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WELCOME TO CHECK POINT 92
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HOW CAN YOU BENEFIT FROM CHECK POINT 92? |
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The main purpose of this check point is to provide you and your management team with detailed information about Marketing Planning and how to apply this information to maximize your company's performance. |
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In this check point you will learn: |
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• What is a marketing plan?
• About two types of marketing plans.
• About the details related to the new product or service marketing plan.
• About the details related to the annual marketing plan.
• About budgeting process questions related to a marketing plan.
• About the basic steps in the marketing planning process.
• About marketing plan development guidelines.
• About the elements of a marketing plan outline.
• About the importance of a sound marketing plan.
• How to develop a marketing plan for your business. and much more. |
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LEAN MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES FOR CHECK POINT 92 |
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You and your management team should become familiar with the basic Lean Management principles, guidelines, and tools provided in this program and apply them appropriately to the content of this check point. |
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You and your team should adhere to basic lean management guidelines on a continuous basis: |
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Treat your customers as the most important part of your business. |
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Provide your customers with the best possible value of products and services. |
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Meet your customers' requirements with a positive energy on a timely basis. |
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Provide your customers with consistent and reliable after-sales service. |
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Treat your customers, employees, suppliers, and business associates with genuine respect. |
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Identify your company's operational weaknesses, non-value-added activities, and waste. |
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Implement the process of continuous improvements on organization-wide basis. |
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Eliminate or minimize your company's non-value-added activities and waste. |
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Streamline your company's operational processes and maximize overall flow efficiency. |
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Reduce your company's operational costs in all areas of business activities. |
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Maximize the quality at the source of all operational processes and activities. |
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Ensure regular evaluation of your employees' performance and required level of knowledge.
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Implement fair compensation of your employees based on their overall performance.
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Motivate your partners and employees to adhere to high ethical standards of behavior. |
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Maximize safety for your customers, employees, suppliers, and business associates. |
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Provide opportunities for a continuous professional growth of partners and employees. |
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Pay attention to "how" positive results are achieved and constantly try to improve them. |
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Cultivate long-term relationships with your customers, suppliers, employees, and business associates. |
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1. WHAT IS A MARKETING PLAN? |
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MARKETING PLAN |
Business owners and marketing managers must be fully familiar with all elements of effective marketing planning, and develop a clear marketing plan to ensure successful performance of their organization.
A Marketing Plan is a comprehensive management document which summarizes all strategies, planned activities, and objectives related to the promotion of an organization's products and services in the marketplace during a specified period.
Marketing plan is particularly important for several reasons outlined below. |
PURPOSE OF A MARKETING PLAN |
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It serves as a road map and helps management to progress from one point to another in the process of implementing planned actions and achieving desired results. |
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It helps management to monitor and control planned activities and measure achieved results. |
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It informs each member of the marketing team of individual responsibilities in various areas of marketing and sales management. |
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It helps to allocate company resources to all elements of the marketing mix to obtain the most effective results. |
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It helps to identify opportunities for new products or services, existing and potential problems in the marketplace, and threats created by competition. |
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KNOWLEDGE OF MARKETING PLANS |
A renowned marketing expert William A. Cohen suggests that:
"Knowledge of marketing plans is not an option for marketing managers, but a requirement. Every marketing manager must not only understand and have working knowledge of marketing plans, but must also be able to develop and implement them." (44)
Operational Marketing Plans may be classified into two types illustrated below. |
CLASSIFICATION OF OPERATIONAL MARKETING PLANS |
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New Product Or Service
Marketing Plan |
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Annual
Marketing Plan |
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ONLINE |
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2. NEW PRODUCT OR SERVICE MARKETING PLAN |
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NEW PRODUCT OR SERVICE MARKETING PLAN
It is necessary to develop a New Product Or Service Marketing Plan when the company intends to introduce new products or services into the market. In fact, such a plan must be completed even before the development of new products or services even begin.
A new product or service marketing plan usually presents numerous difficulties to marketing managers since historical information is unavailable. This plan, therefore, is based on logical assumptions and common knowledge related to similar products or services and their performance in the marketplace. |
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ONLINE |
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3. ANNUAL MARKETING PLAN |
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ANNUAL MARKETING PLAN
An Annual Marketing Plan is designed to outline a company's detailed marketing and related activities for a period of twelve months. This plan usually represents an easier task because previous information related to product or service performance is available to the marketing manager.
An annual marketing plan normally starts with Situation Analysis, which includes a comprehensive evaluation of past results and examination of appropriate trends in the marketplace. This analysis will enable the marketing manager to accomplish important tasks outlined below. |
IMPORTANT MARKET SITUATION ANALYSIS TASKS |
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To examine the performance of a particular product or service. |
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To understand customer requirements. |
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To evaluate competitors' threats. |
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To identify new opportunities in the marketplace. |
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Business owners and marketing managers frequently use SWOT Analysis to identify their company's strengths and weaknesses in the marketplace. |
WHAT IS SWOT ANALYSIS? |
SWOT Analysis, also known as SWOT Matrix, represents a structured method for evaluating four critical factors related to a particular business organization, or a specific business project, product, service, or person:
• Strengths.
• Weaknesses.
• Opportunities.
• Threats.
SWOT analysis was developed in the U.S. in the 1960's by Albert S. Humphrey, who was a management consultant specializing in organizational management.
SWOT Analysis is discussed in details in Tutorial 1. |
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ONLINE |
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4. THE BEGINNING OF THE MARKETING PLANNING PROCESS |
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THE BEGINNING OF THE MARKETING PLANNING PROCESS
The Marketing Planning Process requires strong cooperation among all members of the company management team. This is particularly important since a Marketing Plan is designed to provide the foundation for the company's overall planning and budgeting activities.
Business owners and marketing managers must view the development of a marketing plan as one of the critical tasks in successful business planning. A well-prepared marketing plan will provide the management team with a clear guidance in effective utilization of the company’s assets in a highly competitive marketplace. Moreover, each marketing plan must be supported with detailed budgets to ensure effective management control. These budgets represent an integral part of the overall Operating Budgeting activities which are discussed in detail in Tutorial 3.
The marketing planning process, similarly to the budgeting procedure, demands answers on very specific budgeting questions. Once these questions are answered, it becomes possible to proceed with the marketing planning process. |
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ONLINE |
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5. THE BUDGETING PROCESS QUESTIONS |
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Some of the important Budgeting Questions are outlined below. |
IMPORTANT BUDGETING QUESTIONS |
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What business are we really in? |
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Do we have unique or valuable skills? |
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Who are our customers and how do they view us? |
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What is our position in the marketplace? |
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Who are our competitors and how do they view us? |
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What is our position in the industry? |
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What are our major strengths and weaknesses? |
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What should we do to improve performance? |
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Where do we want to be in one to five years from now? |
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Do we have to incur additional capital expenditure? |
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How can we finance our future development? |
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What steps should we take to achieve our objectives? |
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ONLINE |
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6. STEPS IN A MARKETING PLANNING PROCESS |
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A typical Marketing Planning Process entails a number of steps which are summarized below. |
THE MARKETING PLANNING PROCESS |
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Step 1: Complete A Situational Marketing (SWOT) Analysis. |
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Step 2: Formulate Specific Marketing Objectives. |
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Step 3: Define And Evaluate Market Segments For Your Products Or Services. |
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Step 4: Finalize The Elements Of The Marketing Plan. |
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Step 5: Formulate The Financial Budget For Your Marketing Plan. |
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ONLINE |
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7. MARKETING PLAN DEVELOPMENT GUIDELINES |
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THE IMPORTANCE OF A MARKETING PLAN
Since the development of a Marketing Plan represents a critical element of overall planning activities, it is essential to make such a plan as effective as possible. Some of the Marketing Plan Development Guidelines that should be considered at this stage are summarized below. (45) |
THE MARKETING PLAN DEVELOPMENT GUIDELINES |
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All senior managers within the organization should participate in all stages of marketing planning, particularly in the early stages. |
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Company managers should be encouraged to provide fresh ideas at the beginning of the marketing planning period. |
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Managers who are ultimately responsible for the marketing plan should search for and obtain the best information from all possible sources. |
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Product managers who have the ultimate responsibility for the marketing plans should be kept informed and should be continually guided by top management. |
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Marketing plans should be incorporated into the company's overall business plan. |
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Marketing plans should take into consideration the specific stage of the product's or service's life cycle. |
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Marketing plans should include contingency plans to accommodate various possibilities in the marketplace. |
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Managers responsible for marketing planning should communicate with other managers within the organization to avoid misunderstandings. |
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Marketing planning procedures should be supported by detailed and updated documentation available to all concerned managers within the company. |
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ONLINE |
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8. MARKETING PLAN OUTLINE |
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MARKETING PLAN OUTLINE
A Marketing Plan must be prepared and summarized in accordance with the particular requirements and objectives of the organization. The structure of such a plan may include a number of issues that are summarized in a Marketing Plan Outline as illustrated below. (46) |
ELEMENTS OF A MARKETING PLAN OUTLINE |
1. Marketing Plan Summary:
- • Marketing plan overview.
- • Description of the company's products and/or services.
- • Company's advantages and disadvantages in the marketplace.
- • Capital investment requirements.
- • Sales budgets.
- • Expected profitability.
2. Analysis Of The Company's Products And Services:
- • Detailed description of the company's products and/or services.
- • Strengths and weaknesses of the company's products and/or services.
3. Analysis Of The Company's Resources:
- • Description, strengths and weaknesses of the company's human resources.
- • Description, strengths and weaknesses of the company's financial resources.
- • Description, strengths and weaknesses of the company's operational resources.
- • Description, strengths and weaknesses of the company's IT and online marketing resources.
4. Analysis Of Market Demands And Trends:
- • What is the estimated demand for the company's products and/ or services?
- • What is the trend in demand for similar products and/or services?
- • Who are the decision-makers in the marketplace?
- • What are the customers' buying behavior characteristics in the marketplace?
- • What are the current opportunities for marketing the company's products and services online?
5. Analysis Of External Marketing Factors:
- • Are there any demographic limitations for the product or service in the marketplace?
- • Are there any economic limitations for the product or service in the marketplace?
- • Are there any legal limitations for the product or service in the marketplace?
- • Are there any technological limitations for the product or service in the marketplace?
6. Analysis Of The Competition In The Marketplace:
- • Who are the main competitors in the marketplace?
- • What are the main competitors' strengths and weaknesses in terms of their products and /or services?
- • What are the main competitors' strengths and weaknesses in terms of their human, financial, and operational resources?
- • Who are the main competitors of the company's products and services online?
7. The Existing And Potential Target Markets:
- • Who are the existing customers, based on demographics, social, and business interests?
- • What type of customers may become interested in our products and/or services in the future, based on the above market segmentation factors?
8. Problems And Opportunities:
- • What are the specific problems and opportunities in the marketplace?
- • How can the company overcome the existing problems and turn them into new opportunities?
9. Marketing And Sales Objectives:
- • What are the company's specific marketing objectives for the next twelve months?
- • What is the volume of sales that the company's plans to achieve during the next twelve months?
- • What are the company's objectives of selling products and services online?
10. Marketing Strategy:
- • What type of marketing strategy does the company plan to adopt during the next twelve months?
- • What is the specific product or service strategy for the next twelve months?
- • What is the specific pricing strategy for the next twelve months?
- • What is the specific promotion strategy for the next twelve months?
- • What is the specific distribution strategy for the next twelve months?
- • What are the company's specific strategies for successful online marketing?
11. Financial Budget:
- • What are the expected income projections for the next twelve months?
- • What are the expected expense projections for the next twelve months?
- • What are the expected cash flow projections for the next twelve months?
12. Marketing Plan Supporting Materials:
- • Include any additional supporting materials which are relevant to the specific marketing plan.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ONLINE |
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9. THE IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING PLANS |
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THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE FOR A MARKETING MANAGER
Preparation of Effective Marketing Plans represents an ultimate challenge for the marketing manager. The immediate use of these plans starts within the marketing department, and helps direct the overall activity of the organization.
Successful Implementation Of Marketing Plans strongly depends upon the performance of the company's employees, particularly the sales force. This, in turn, necessitates meeting several important requirements outlined below. |
REQUIREMENTS FOR A SUCCESSFUL
IMPLEMENTATION OF MARKETING PLANS |
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Regular planning of marketing and sales activities. |
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Effective motivation of marketing employees and the sales force. |
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Continuous monitoring of achieved results. |
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A typical Annual Marketing Plan Outline is presented next. |
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ONLINE |
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10. SMALL BUSINESS EXAMPLE
MARKETING PLAN OUTLINE |
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MARKETING PLAN OUTLINE
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MARKETING PLANNING SOFTWARE |
You can find additional information about Marketing Planning software programs online: |
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ONLINE |
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11. FOR SERIOUS BUSINESS OWNERS ONLY |
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ARE YOU SERIOUS ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS TODAY? |
Reprinted with permission. |
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12. THE LATEST INFORMATION ONLINE |
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LESSON FOR TODAY:
Sound Marketing Plan Is The Best Map For Success!
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Go To The Next Open Check Point In This Promotion Program Online. |
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