ow To Develop A Marketing Plan
Source: Managing a Small Business
The marketing plan is a problem-solving document.
Skilled problem solvers recognize that a big problem
is usually the combination of several smaller
problems. The best approach is to solve each of the
smaller problems first, thereby dividing the big
problem into manageable pieces. Your marketing plan
should take the same approach. It should be a guide on
which to base decisions and should ensure that
everyone in your organization is working together to
achieve the same goals. A good marketing plan can
prevent your organization from reacting to problems in
a piecemeal manner and even help in anticipating
problems. Before your marketing plan can be developed,
research must give you the basic guidelines: for whom
you are designing your product or service (market
segmentation), and exactly what that product or
service should mean to those in the marketplace
(market positioning). Below are some guidelines to
help you develop a marketing plan to support the
strategy you have selected for your organization.
Market Segmentation
Your marketing plan should recognize the various
segments of the market for your product or service and
indicate how to adjust your product to reach those
distinct markets. Instead of marketing a product in
one way to everyone, you must recognize that some
segments are not only different, but better than
others for your product. This approach can be helpful
in penetrating markets that would be too broad and
undefined without segmentation. No matter what you are
making or selling, take the total market and divide it
up like a pie chart. The divisions can be based on
various criteria such as those listed below.
Demographics
This is the study of the distribution, density and
vital statistics of a population, and includes such
characteristics as
Sex.
Age.
Education.
Geographic location.
Home ownership versus rental.
Marital status.
Size of family unit.
Total income of family unit.
Ethnic or religious background.
Job classification blue collar versus salaried or
professional.
Psychographics
This is the study of how the human characteristics of
consumers may have a bearing on their response to
products, packaging, advertising and public relations
efforts. Behavior may be measured as it involves an
interplay among these broad sets of variables:
Predisposition - What is there about a person's past
culture, heredity or upbringing that may influence his
or her ability to consider purchasing one new product
or service versus another?
Influences - What are the roles of social forces such
as education, peer pressure or group acceptance in
dictating a person's consumption patterns?
Product Attributes - What the product is or can be
made to represent in the minds of consumers has a
significant bearing on whether certain segments will
accept the concept. These attributes may be suggested
by the marketer or perceived by the customer. Some
typical ways of describing a product include:
Price/value perception - Is the item worth the price
being asked?
Taste - Does it have the right amount of sweetness
or lightness?
Texture - Does it have the accepted consistency or
feel?
Quality - What can be said about the quality of the
ingredients or lack of artificial ingredients?
Benefits - How does the consumer feel after using
the product?
Trust - Can the consumer rely on this particular
brand? What about the reputation of the manufacturer
in standing behind the product?
Life-Style
Statements consumers make about themselves through
conspicuous consumption can be put to good use by
research people who read the signals correctly. By
studying behavioral variables, such as a person's use
of time, services and products, researchers can
identify some common factors that can predict future
behavior.
Market Positioning
You must realize that your product or service cannot
be all things to all people. Very few items on the
market today have universal appeal. Even when dealing
in basic commodities like table salt or aspirin,
marketing people have gone to all sorts of extremes to
create brand awareness and product differentiation. If
your product or service is properly positioned,
prospective purchasers or users should immediately
recognize its unique benefits or advantages and be
better able to assess it in comparison to your
competition's offering. Positioning is how you give
your product or service brand identification.
Positioning involves analyzing each market segment as
defined by your research activities and developing a
distinct position for each segment. Ask yourself how
you want to appear to that segment, or what you must
do for that segment to ensure that it buys your
product or service. This will dictate different media
and advertising appeals for each segment. For example,
you may sell the same product in a range of packages
or sizes, or make cosmetic changes in the product,
producing private labels or selecting separate
distribution channels to reach the various segments.
Beer, for example, is sold on tap and in seven-ounce
bottles, twelve-ounce cans and bottles, six-packs,
twelve-packs, cases, and quart bottles and kegs of
several sizes. The beer is the same but each package
size may appeal to a separate market segment and have
to be sold with a totally different appeal and through
different retail outlets.
Remember that your marketing position can, and should,
change to meet the current conditions of the market
for your product. The ability of your company to
adjust will be enhanced greatly by an up-to-date
knowledge of the marketplace gained through continual
monitoring. By having good data about your customers,
the segments they fit into and the buying motives of
those segments, you can select the position that makes
the most sense.
While there are many possible marketing positions,
most would fit into one of the following categories:
Positioning on specific product features - A very
common approach, especially for industrial products.
If your product or service has some unique features
that have obvious value this may be the way to go.
Positioning on benefits - Strongly related to
positioning on product features. Generally, this is
more effective because you can talk to your customers
about what your product or service can do for them.
The features may be nice, but unless customers can be
made to understand why the product will benefit them,
you may not get the sale.
Positioning for a specific use - Related to benefit
positioning. Consider Campbell's positioning of soups
for cooking. An interesting extension is mood
positioning: "Have a Coke and a smile." This works
best when you can teach your customers how to use your
product or when you use a promotional medium that
allows a demonstration.
Positioning for user category - A few examples:
"You've Come a Long Way Baby," "The Pepsi Generation"
and "Breakfast of Champions." Be sure you show your
product being used by models with whom your customers
can identify.
Positioning against another product or a competing
business - A strategy that ranges from implicit to
explicit comparison. Implicit comparisons can be quite
pointed; for example, Avis never mentions Hertz, but
the message is clear. Explicit comparisons can take
two major forms. The first form makes a comparison
with a direct competitor and is aimed at attracting
customers from the compared brand, which is usually
the category leader. The second type does not attempt
to attract the customers of the compared product, but
rather uses the comparison as a reference point.
Consider, for example, the positioning of the
Volkswagen Dasher, which picks up speed faster than a
Mercedes and has a bigger trunk than a Rolls Royce.
This usually works to the advantage of the smaller
business if you can capitalize on the tradition of
cheering for the underdog. You can gain stature by
comparing yourself to a larger competitor just as long
as your customers remain convinced that you are trying
harder.
Product class disassociation - A less common type of
positioning. It is particularly effective when used to
introduce a new product that differs from traditional
products. Lead-free gasoline and tubeless tires were
new product classes positioned against older products.
Space-age technology may help you here. People have
become accustomed to change and new products and are
more willing to experiment than was true ten years
ago. Even so, some people are more adventuresome and
trusting than others and more apt to try a
revolutionary product. The trick is to find out who
are the potential brand switchers or experimenters and
find out what it would take to get them to try your
product. The obvious disadvantage of dealing with
those who try new products is that they may move on to
another brand just as easily. Brand loyalty is great
as long as it is to your brand.
Hybrid bases - Incorporates elements from several
types of positioning. Given the variety of possible
bases for positioning, small business owners should
consider the possibility of a hybrid approach. This is
particularly true in smaller towns where there aren't
enough customers in any segment to justify the expense
of separate marketing approaches.
MARKETING PLAN WORKSHEET
This is the marketing plan of
_____________________________________
I. MARKET ANALYSIS
A. Target Market - Who are the customers?
1. We will be selling primarily to (check all that
apply):
Percent of Business
a. Private sector ________
b. Wholesalers ________
c. Retailers ________
d. Government _______
e. Other ________
2. We will be targeting customers by:
a. Product line/services. We will target specific
lines ___________________
b. Geographic area? Which areas? ___________________
c. Sales? We will target sales of ___________________
d. Industry? Our target industry is
___________________
e. Other? ___________________
3. How much will our selected market spend on our type
of product or service this coming year?
________________________________________________________________
______________
B. Competition
1. Who are our competitors?
Name ___________________________________________
Address _________________________________________
Years in Business ___________________
Market Share ___________________
Price/Strategy ___________________
Product/Service ___________________
Features ___________________
Name ________________________________________
Address ______________________________________
Years in Business ____________________
Market Share ____________________
Price/Strategy ____________________
Product/Service ___________________
Features ___________________
2. How competitive is the market?
High ____________________
Medium __________________
Low ____________________
3. List below your strengths and weaknesses compared
to your competition (consider such areas as location,
size of resources, reputation, services, personnel,
etc.):
Strengths
Weaknesses
1.________________________ 1._______________________
2.________________________ 2._______________________
3.________________________ 3._______________________
4.________________________ 4._______________________
C. Environment
1. The following are some important economic factors
that will affect our product or service (such as
country growth, industry health, economic trends,
taxes, rising energy prices, etc.):
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
2. The following are some important legal factors that
will affect our market:
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
3. The following are some important government
factors:
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
4. The following are other environmental factors that
will affect our market, but over which we have no
control:
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
II. PRODUCT OR SERVICE ANALYSIS
A. Description
1. Describe here what the product/service is and what
it does:
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
B. Comparison
1. What advantages does our product/service have over
those of the competition (consider such things as
unique features, patents, expertise, special training,
etc.)?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
2. What disadvantages does it have?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
C. Some Considerations
1. Where will you get your materials and supplies?
________________________________________________________________
2. List other considerations:
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
III. MARKETING STRATEGIES - MARKET MIX
A. Image
1. First, what kind of image do we want to have (such
as cheap but good, or exclusiveness, or
customer-oriented or highest quality, or convenience,
or speed, or ...)?
________________________________________________________________
B. Features
1. List the features we will emphasize:
a.
______________________________________________________
b.
______________________________________________________
c.
______________________________________________________
C. Pricing
1. We will be using the following pricing strategy:
a. Markup on cost ____ What % Markup? ______
b. Suggested price ____
c. Competitive ____
d. Below competition ____
e. Premium price ____
f. Other ____
2. Are our prices in line with our image?
YES ___ NO ___
3. Do our prices cover costs and leave a margin of
profit?
YES ___ NO ___
D. Customer Services
1. List the customer services we provide:
a. ____________________________________________
b. ____________________________________________
c. ____________________________________________
2. These are our sales/credit terms:
a. _____________________________________________
b. _____________________________________________
c. _____________________________________________
3. The competition offers the following services:
a. ______________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________
c. ______________________________________________
E. Advertising/Promotion
1. These are the things we wish to say about the
business:
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
2. We will use the following advertising/promotion
sources:
1. Television ________
2. Radio ________
3. Direct mail ________
4. Personal contacts ________
5. Trade associations ________
6. Newspaper ________
7. Magazines ________
8. Yellow Pages ________
9. Billboard ________
10. Other ___________ ________
3. The following are the reasons why we consider the
media we have chosen to be the most effective:
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
