How to develop a marketing plan - General Guidlines

key factors that affect the marketing of your product or service. 

• Concentrate on the opportunity—the customer problem that your product or service is solving. You may be fixing a weakness in the competitors' services by offering customized service or guarantees on products that aren't available elsewhere. 
• Review your marketing objectives. At what level of sales will you reach the breakeven point? When do you anticipate reaching that point? How long will it take to reach the next sales milestone? What strategies can you design to fulfill these objectives? 
• Focus on the buying behavior of the customer. When, where, why, and how do they buy this product or service? What needs are being fulfilled for them? What factors are important to the consumer in choosing this type of product or service 
• Determine the value of each customer to your business. Weighing the cost to acquire a customer with the long-term value of that customer helps you decide on the appropriate marketing strategies to use. For example, if each customer is worth winning and keeping, then the more expensive marketing strategies of relationship-oriented direct sales might be worth the cost. If, on the other hand, you are trying to reach a wide range of customers, then less expensive strategies, such as mass mailings of sales promotions, can be more effective. To determine the value of a customer, consider the following questions:
  • Are you building an annuity business, such as magazine subscriptions that continue for years, or does your business provide a quick, one-time service?
  • Do customers buy your product often as a consumable or inexpensive entertainment, or is your product durable, only purchased occasionally during a lifetime? 
  • Do you need to build brand loyalty, or is your product/service the only one that will fill the customers' needs? 
  • Is the process of buying the product/service relationship-oriented, requiring direct sales, or is it transaction-oriented and easily adapted to direct mail marketing or online selling?