SIX ELEMENTS OF A GOOD MARKETING PLAN

A marketing plan is a business document produced by marketing professionals to describe the

current position of the business in the market and strategies to sustain or improve market
acceptance of their products and services. It is typically developed to cover a period of one to
five years but subject to periodic review for adjustments and opportunities.
This write up attempts to itemize six elements that makes for a good marketing plan

An analysis of the current situation of the organization

The ideal place to start is a SWOT analysis of the company. Effort should be made to identify
the areas of Strength. These are factors that currently enhance the position in the market place
and are usually not easily imitated. They include copyrights, proficiency, superior technology,
skills, expertise, low staff turnover.
In addition, factors that are inimical to the attainment of the companys marketing objectives
without dependent on external forces should be identified. These factors known as Weaknesses
are likely to include inadequate inventory management, poor cash-flow management, outdated
marketing strategy, low level of understanding and utilization of IT and improper planning.
In carrying out the situational analysis, one should equally be mindful of the Opportunities and
Threats being presented .These includes government policies, emerging markets, new
discoveries, special events, etc. Having a clear understanding of these the current situation, the
unique value proposition should be adopted. This should be followed by unique positioning
statement. All these should be in alignment with the business mission, vision and objectives.

2.

Create a Target Market Profile

This can be called the creation of your buyer persona. It is a demonstration of the level of your
understanding of your customers, their expectations, whims, etc. It should include demography,
income level, and social status, cultural and social biases.
Based on the above buyer persona, an estimated demand for the product you offer is created to
serve as a benchmark for your sales projections.

Clear Marketing Objectives

The purpose of

a marketing plan is to set out the target for marketing activities ensuring that

such align with the company objectives. They may range from strategies to increase costumer
base, market penetration pricing strategies, increasing customer awareness and building
favorable customer attitudes towards the products and services.
This is where the desired outcome of the marketing plan is defined. The marketing objectives
should be SMART based being
S Specific
M Measurable
A Attainable/Achievable
R Realistic/Repeatable
T Time Based

Common approach utilizes marketing metrics. Marketing metrics is focused on initiatives that
drive engagement, conversations, interactions and awareness ultimately leading to sales.
Marketing metrics identify methods for generating leads for the business. The consistency of the
marketing team in applying these methods to generate leads is routinely analyzed in average
leads per business day month over month growth rate. Since marketing is not just about
generating leads, the end view of leads generation is the average leads close rate. Once sale is
achieved, the next is the need to ensure customer satisfaction that leads to repeated sales. Not all
sales lead to repeated sales hence the need to identify Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL).

The marketing metrics should be able to identify the percentage of leads that become MQL per
month. It is equally expected that the marketing plan should be multi-channel. Hence the
marketing metric should be able to indicate the MQL per channel.

Description of your Competition

It is imperative that in drafting a marketing plan, market research should be conducted to

determine the presence of your product relative to your competition in the market. The market
survey should include similarities and differences between your product and that of your
competition in terms of demand, availability, packaging, price, market share etc. The survey
should also include identity of direct and indirect competition, as well as their strength and
weaknesses.

Pricing

Part of an effective marketing plan is the recommendation of prices for the product. It is no
gainsaying that for most goods and services a significant determining factor for the volume of
sales recorded is the price. In recommending the price for the product, a comparison of the
market price of the competition is a very important. If the price is too high, it is an indication of
the need to re examine the process of production for improved efficiency. With a product price
that is too high demand and market share may drop and the company may eventually go into
extinction due to low sales. If the product price is too low compared to the competition, the
company may be shortchanging itself in the expected profit margin.

Marketing Budget

Marketers have to justify the essence of allocating significant resources to the marketing budget
in the marketing plan.
Using the data obtainable in the marketing metrics and market survey that evaluates the impact
of the competition in the market place a clear and convincing marketing budget can be prepared.
Essential parts of the marketing budget include
i.

Online presence

ii.

Promotional Plans

iii.

Advertising plans

iv.

List of advertising media to be used and the estimated cost of each.

v.

Cost Allocated to Promotions and advertising

vi.

Cost of producing advertising and promotional materials