MARKETING STRATEGY : Free Sample Marketing Plan

Free Sample Marketing Plan: (Printable Version:)

A marketing plan for a small business typically includes Small Business Administration Description of competitors, including the level of demand for the product or service and the strengths and weaknesses of competitors.

Below is a free sample marketing plan outline. Please remember that your plan should be only as big as what you need to market your business. While everybody should plan an outline to help market a business, not everyone needs a complete formal marketing plan unless you are submitting to a potential investoror bank. You can use a less formal plan to outline what your goals to market your business if you don't need investors to stay in track of your progress. Many business owners get lost after a while, and that my friends is one of the ways how businesses fail.

1. Description of the product or service, including special features
2. Marketing budget, including the advertising and promotional plan
3. Description of the business location, including advantages and disadvantages for business marketing
4. Pricing strategy
5. Market Segmentation

Medium-sized and large businesses

The main contents of a marketing plan are:

Executive Summary
Situational Analysis
Opportunities / Issue Analysis - SWOT Analysis
Objectives
Strategy
Action Programme (the operational marketing plan itself for the period under review)
Financial Forecast
Controls

In detail, a complete marketing plan typically includes:[citation needed]

Title page
Executive Summary
Current Situation - Macroenvironment
- economy
- legal
- government
- technology
- ecological
- sociocultural
- supply chain
Current Situation - Market Analysis
- market definition
- market size
- market segmentation
- industry structure and strategic groupings
- Porter 5 forces analysis
- competition and market share
- competitors' strengths and weaknesses
- market trends
Current Situation - Consumer Analysis
- nature of the buying decision
- participants
- demographics
- psychographics
- buyer motivation and expectations
- loyalty segments
Current Situation - Internal
- company resources - financial
  - people
  - time
  - skills
- objectives - mission statement and vision statement
  - corporate objectives
  - financial objective
  - marketing objectives
  - long term objectives
  - description of the basic business philosophy
- corporate culture
Summary of Situation Analysis
- external threats
- external opportunities
- internal strengths
- internal weaknesses
- Critical success factors in the industry
- our sustainable competitive advantage
Marketing research
- information requirements
- research methodology
- research results
Marketing Strategy - Product
- product mix
- product strengths and weaknesses - perceptual mapping
- product life cycle management and new product development
- Brand name, brand image, and brand equity
- the augmented product
- product portfolio analysis - B.C.G. Analysis
  - contribution margin analysis
  - G.E. Multi Factoral analysis
  - Quality Function Deployment
Marketing Strategy - segmented marketing actions and market share objectives
- by product,
- by customer segment,
- by geographical market,
- by distribution channel.
Marketing Strategy - Price
- pricing objectives
- pricing method (eg.: cost plus, demand based, or competitor indexing)
- pricing strategy (eg.: skimming, or penetration)
- discounts and allowances
- price elasticity and customer sensitivity
- price zoning
- break even analysis at various prices
Marketing Strategy - promotion
- promotional goals
- promotional mix
- advertising reach, frequency, flights, theme, and media
- sales force requirements, techniques, and management
- sales promotion
- publicity and public relations
- electronic promotion (eg.: Web, or telephone)
- word of mouth marketing (buzz)
- viral marketing
Marketing Strategy - Distribution
- geographical coverage
- distribution channels
- physical distribution and logistics
- electronic distribution
Implementation
- personnel requirements - assign responsibilities
  - give incentives
  - training on selling methods
- financial requirements
- management information systems requirements
- month-by-month agenda - PERT or critical path analysis
- monitoring results and benchmarks
- adjustment mechanism
- contingencies (What if's)
Financial Summary
- gassumptions
- pro-forma monthly income statement
- contribution margin analysis
- breakeven analysis
- Monte Carlo method
- ISI: Internet Strategic Intelligence
Scenarios
- Prediction of Future Scenarios
- Plan of Action for each Scenario
Appendix
- pictures and specifications of the new product
- results from research already completed

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