Steps for development of marketing plan when setting a business plan

Steps for developing the marketing plan

1. Open with a summary of your marketing mix.

Just as an executive summary serves the function of giving quick information to the reader of the business plan, so too an upfront summary of your overall marketing plan helps your reader know what to expect as he or she reads on.

2. Identify your target market or target niche within a market.

Even though you have addressed this issue in another part of the business plan, restate it briefly here. Your reader may have skipped to this section without having read the earlier discussion of the target market, and even if the reader has read all sections, a quick reminder can only help get your message across. So, before you begin to describe how you plan to sell your product or service, let your reader know to whom you are selling. By having the target market or the niche within a target market in mind, your reader can make a more reasoned evaluation of your marketing plan.

3. Give a summary of the competition.

Again, a quick review of the pertinent factors of the marketing plan helps the reader understand the strategy of your plan. State who the competitors are and describe their marketing strategies. That information serves as a contrast to your own plan.

4. Describe the key factors of success within the industry.

Is quick response something customers expect? Are technological improvements in product or production process the key to success in your industry? Are consumers looking for lowest prices? Make sure your reader understands what factors are important for this particular target market.

5. Define your marketing mix in terms of the four Ps: product, price, place, promotion.

In this section, describe how you will market your product or service and give your rationale for your choices of marketing strategies. Your reader will want to see how each marketing decision addresses the target market's needs and the competitors' alternatives. 

You should discuss each of the four Ps, even if you don't necessarily use all of them. The reader will expect to see them all in your plan. For example, if your service is provided instantly via telecommunications, then place may not require as much attention as promotion for developing a brand awareness of your service.

6. Give the timeline for implementing your marketing strategies.

By identifying specific times (use "first month" rather than an actual date) for implementing your marketing plan, you will give your reader a sense of the overall time frame and expectations for results. A timeline, whether stated in words or pictorially as a graph, will give a concrete reality to the ideas of the marketing proposal.

7. Conclude with a vision of future plans.

You have been focusing on getting a particular product or service launched, but the reader may wonder, what's next? Where do you intend to take your idea after the initial start-up? Give the reader an idea of how you intend to expand and grow in the future. Will you broaden the market geographically or by age range? Will you add new products to your line? By revealing your vision of the business beyond the three to five years indicated in the pro forma financial plans, you can share with the reader your enthusiasm about the broader potential of the business venture.