MARKETING RESEARCH

Proponents USN Name BS Program

Business The official name of the business is <business name>. The type of business structure
Information of the company is a <sole proprietorship or partnership or corporation>. The
company’s main office or headquarters is located at <business address>. Key people
behind the company are as follows:
Name Position Role or Function

Business Guidelines (erase all texts in red when finished) Use your company description (in
Paragraph paragraph form) to provide detailed information about your company. Common
elements included in the section include:
 Company history – when was the business started, what inspired you to start the
business, what need does the company fulfill?
 Products or services and target market – a brief overview of what you plan to sell
and to whom
 Mission Statement – a clear statement that represents the purpose of your
company
 Vision statement – a statement about how you envision the future of the
company
 Business Objectives – an outline of what you want to accomplish in the
immediate future based on the data in the rest of the business plan as well as
future growth goals.
Company History


The products or services offered by the company includes <products or services>.

These will be offered to <target customers>.

Vision Statement


Mission Statement


Business Objectives
 
Market This is to be accomplished after doing the market overview
Description Guidelines (erase all texts in red when finished) The market description provides
specific details about who exactly will be interested in your product or service. How
big is the market? How old are they? What gender are they? Where do they live? The
more details, the better.
Demographics – age, gender, race, educational level, family structure, income level,
and occupation.
Geographics – where do your target market live? Are they in cities or the suburbs,
certain city, or region? Include statistics about the number of potential customers in
this geographic market.
Psychographics – describe the psychology or personality traits of your market. What
do they think? What are their beliefs and attitudes? What do they need more?
Customer characteristics – how does your target market buy or use products or
services? Do they shop online? Are they all about brand loyalty? How frequently do
they shop for the product or services you are offering, and will they come back for
more?
Market Need – state WHY your target market needs the product or service you’re
planning to sell. Outline a need among your ideal consumer, a gap in the current
business climate, and explain how your product or idea will fill that need among your
target market.
If you’re competing against companies with similar products or services, describe the
reasons why the consumer will come to you versus your competitors.
Start typing your contents here
Amount of To be accomplished after doing the marketing plan. Only the total marketing budget
Marketing is written here.
Fund <Pxxxxxxx>
Date
Submitted
 BUSINESS NAME
MARKETING PLAN 2021

PROFILE OF THE BUSINESS

Business Name

Guidance (remove when done): What’s your business registered business name? If you haven’t
registered a business name, add your proposed business name here.

Start writing your content here

Business Structure

Guidance (remove when done): What’s the formal structure of your business? Are you a sole trader, in a
partnership, a trust or company?

Start writing your content here

Business Location

Guidance: Where does your business operate from?

Start writing your content here

Date Established

Guidance: When did you begin trading?

Start writing your content here

Business Owner(s)

Guidance: Who are the owners of the business?

Start writing your content here

Owner/s Experience

Guidance: Create a brief summary of your (and other owner’s) experience in the industry and any major
achievements/awards.

Start writing your content here

1
 BUSINESS NAME
MARKETING PLAN 2021

Vision Statement

Guidance: A Vision statement should describe WHERE you want your business to be in the future. It
should communicate both the PURPOSE and VALUES of your business and answer the question, 'why are
we here?’

Start writing your content here

Mission Statement

Guidance: A Mission statement should outline HOW you will get to where you want your business to be
in the future (Your Vision). It should define the PURPOSE and PRIMARY OBJECTIVES of your business and
answer the question, 'What do we do?'

Start writing your content here

Business Objectives

Guidance: What are your short and long term goals for your business?

Start writing your content here

Products

Guidance: What products and/or services do you sell?

Product / Service Description Price

{insert product/service name} {insert brief product/service description} {insert unit price}

Short Term goals

Guidance: What are three primary short-term goals for your business (6-12 Months)?

Goal / Objective Description By when

{insert goal/objective name} {insert brief goal/objective description} {insert date of completion}

Long Term goals

Guidance: What are three primary long-term goals for your business (1-3 Years)?
2
 BUSINESS NAME
MARKETING PLAN 2021

Goal / Objective Description By when

{insert goal/objective name} {insert brief goal/objective description} {insert date of completion}

3
 BUSINESS NAME
MARKETING PLAN 2021

SWOT analysis

Guidance: Use the table below to list each of your businesses Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities or Threats (S.W.O.T.).

Strengths Weaknesses
 Start writing here  Start writing here

Opportunities Threats
 Start writing here  Start writing here

SWOT activity sheet

Guidance: Outline how and when you plan to address each of the weaknesses/threats from your SWOT analysis above.

SWOT weakness/threat Activity to address weakness/threat Completion Date

4
 BUSINESS NAME
MARKETING PLAN 2021

THE CONTEXT OF BUSINESS

Growth Potential

Guidelines (remove when done): Growth potential is an organization's future ability to generate larger
profits, expand its workforce and increase production. Growth potential can be gauged from an
organization's planned movement into new markets, the development of new product lines, the
employment of more effective marketing techniques, or other methods that grow a business from a
niche market to a more volume operation. Growth potential is often a barometer for investment
interest from public and private investors, venture capitalists and other stakeholders.

Start writing your content here

New Products and Developments

Guideliness (remove when done): Adding new products or services to your current offering can serve as
the catalyst that drives your business to higher levels of success. In fact, new product development is
often considered to be the cornerstone for building any successful business. Without it, businesses tend
to stagnate, then eventually decline. This is particularly true for businesses that primarily focus on the
short-term bottom line.

Start writing your content here

Economic Trends

Guideliness (remove when done): Considering trends in the overall economy can help business
managers make better decisions. Economic factors that commonly affect businesses include consumer
confidence, employment, interest rates and inflation.

Start writing your content here

Industry Outlook and Trends

The industry is a collection of Competitors producing a similar product or offering similar services to
their customers. Analyzing the industry enables a company to understand its position relative to other
companies that produce similar products or services like it. Industry trends can represent the direction
an industry or line of business is taking. Industry outlook refers to understanding the current and
expected trends in the economic environment that your industry operates in. These are your suppliers’
industries, your customers’ industries or your competing industries.

Start writing your content here

5
 BUSINESS NAME
MARKETING PLAN 2021

MARKET OVERVIEW
Guidance: Gathering information and identifying the key characteristics of your target market will help
you to find the most effective way to reach your target customers. The Market Overview should provide
an analysis of the market in which your business operates, including your customers, competitors and
the market as a whole. Revisit this process regularly to ensure that your strategy remains relevant and
targeted.

Target market:

Guidance: What’s the profile of an ideal customer for your business? In a paragraph or two, clearly
define your ideal customer - their needs, buying patterns and motivations for buying. This process will
help you to develop a mental image of your ideal customer

Start writing here

Marketing Objectives

Goals/objectives:

Guidance: In one or two sentences, summarize the key marketing objectives for your business. Your
objectives may be financial, with a goal to increase sales, marketing focused to build awareness of your
product/service, or online to build engagement with online customers and business networks.

Start writing here

Market research and environmental/industry analysis:

Guidance: What research have you completed to help analyze your market? Did you utilize a
survey/questionnaire? If so, you may like to attach a copy of your survey/questionnaire and findings to
the back of this plan. In this section, detail the results of the market research you have performed.
Consider questions such as:

 Is the area experiencing population growth or decline?

 Does the region where you operate have a stable economy?
 Are there any seasonal variations that might affect sales?
 What is the size of the market?
 What recent trends have emerged in the market?
 Is there potential for growth in the market? How will you be able to capitalize on any
opportunities?
 How will your entrance affect the market/customers?
 What external factors will affect your customers?

Start writing here

6
 BUSINESS NAME
MARKETING PLAN 2021

7
 BUSINESS NAME
MARKETING PLAN 2021

Customer Profile

Guidance: Who are your target customers and how do they behave? In a paragraph or two, clearly define a typical competitor – their specific
demographics such as age, social status, education and gender. What are your customers’ lifestyles, activities, values, needs, interests or
opinions? Where are they located? Please adjust the column headings as required.

Start writing here

Customer Age Gender Ethnicity Education Location Lifestyle Value Interests

{insert target {insert {insert {insert {insert {insert {insert {insert {insert
customer – customer’s customer’s customer’s customer’s customer’s customer’s customer’s customer’s
choose a age} gender} ethnic education location} lifestyle} values} interests}
name} background} level}

8
 BUSINESS NAME
MARKETING PLAN 2021

Competitor Profile

Guidance: What’s the profile of a typical competitor for your business? In a paragraph or two, clearly define a typical competitor - their size,
market share, unique value proposition, strengths and weaknesses. This process will help you to develop a mental image of your typical
competitor. Use the table below to analyze at least 5 competitors.

Start writing here

Established Market Value offered to

Competitor Size Strengths Weaknesses
date share (%) customers
{insert {insert {insert {insert {insert unique value to {insert what are your {insert what are your
competitor’s when was number of estimated customers, e.g. quality, competitor’s strengths} competitor’s
name} their staff} percentage price, or customer weaknesses}
business of market service}
established} share}

9
 BUSINESS NAME
MARKETING PLAN 2021

MARKETING PLAN

Marketing Objectives:

Guidance: Summarize the key marketing objectives for your business. Your objectives may be financial, with a goal to increase sales, or
marketing focused, to build awareness of your product or service. An effective (and accountable) way to define your marketing objectives is to
follow the ‘SMART’ acronym (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely).

Examples of SMART marketing objectives

 To achieve a 20% return on capital employed by April 2014 (Profitability Objective)
 To gain 15% of the market for sports socks by November 2018 (Market Share Objective)
 To make X brand of juice the preferred brand of 21-29 year old females in Australia by August 2019 (Branding Objective)

In a paragraph or two, summarize your marketing objectives as shown in the table.

Start writing here

Detail your SMART marketing objectives in the table below:

Objective Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Timely

{insert your specific marketing objective} {Is your {Can your {Is your {Is your {Have you set
objective objective be objective objective a specific date
specific?} measured?} achievable?} realistic?} for your
objective to be
achieved?}

10
 BUSINESS NAME
MARKETING PLAN 2021

Action Steps

Top 10 Action Steps:

Guidance: Create a list of the Top 10 action steps that will bring your theoretical objectives (your marketing strategy and objectives) to life. E.g.
Finish SWOT Activity Sheet, complete marketing budget}

Start writing here

Marketing Strategy:

Guidance: Use this section to detail the overall strategy you will use to position yourself within the market to meet your customers’ needs.
Whatever your strategy, you goal should be to differentiate yourself from your competitors to encourage customers to choose your business
first. The specific elements that make up your marketing strategy are typically referred to as the marketing mix. Each element can be varied to
broaden the appeal of products and services, and will therefore have a direct impact on sales.

The 5 P's of marketing

 Your PRODUCT (or SERVICE)
 The PRICING of your product/service
 Your POSITION (place) in the marketplace
 The PROMOTION of your product of service
 The PEOPLE in your business (salespeople, staff etc.)

Start writing here

11
 BUSINESS NAME
MARKETING PLAN 2021

The PRODUCT/SERVICE

Guidance: Here you should describe your long-term product strategy in detail. If you are providing a service then you should consider your
service(s) as your product(s).

You will need to consider:

 What features and benefits do you offer?

 The unique selling position - what makes your product/service different from your competitors’?
 Potential spin-off products/services?

In a paragraph or two, summarize your products as shown in the table.

Start writing here

Product/Service Features Benefits USP Support Spin Offs

{What is your {What are the {What are the {What makes your {what additional {Are there any
product/service?} features of your customer benefits of product/service support do you offer? potential spin-off
product/service?} your unique?} E.g. warranty, money products/services you
product/service?} back, etc.} can offer?}

12
 BUSINESS NAME
MARKETING PLAN 2021

The PRICING of your product/service

Guidance: Price is a critical component of your marketing mix. Why? Because choosing the right price for your products/services will help you to
maximize profits and also build strong relationships with your customers. By pricing effectively you will also avoid the serious financial
consequences that can occur if you price too low (not enough profit) or too high (not enough sales).

Setting prices for your products and services might seem like a daunting task, however, it doesn’t need to be … just remember:

 you are in business to make a profit (and that’s ok!)

 most business owners underprice the value that they deliver
 your sales and marketing strategy should defend your prices

Your overall pricing strategy will depend on your marketing, business and lifestyle objectives. So, before you start the research process spend
some time defining your income (and net profit) aspirations.

In a paragraph or two, summarize your pricing strategy as shown in the table.

Start writing here

Product/Service Price Costs Net profit Competitor Price Value

{What is your {What is the price of {What is the total {What net profit is {What is your {What unique value
product/service?} your cost of selling your made from selling competitor’s pricing does your
product/service?} product/service?} your for this product/service
product/service?} product/service?} offer/deliver?}

13
 BUSINESS NAME
MARKETING PLAN 2021

Your POSITION (Place) in the marketplace

Guidance: Place refers to the channels and locations for distributing your product, related information, and support services. This is how you will
position your product/service in the marketplace. This includes: the place where the product/service can be bought and the distribution channel.

Place represents the location where a product can be purchased. It is often referred to as the distribution channel. This may include any physical
store (supermarket, departmental stores) as well as virtual stores (e-markets and e-malls) on the Internet. This is crucial as this provides the
place utility to the consumer, which often becomes a deciding factor for the purchase of many products across multiple product categories.

In a paragraph or two, summarize your sales and distribution channels as shown in the table.

Start writing here

Sales and distribution channels

Percentage of
Channel Type Products/Services Channel Strategy
Sales (%)
{E.g. shopfront, internet, {List all the products/services {What {why have you decided to use this channel type? How and
direct mail, sold via this channel?} percentage of when will you use it? What is the strategy behind using this
export,/wholesale?} overall sales channel for this particular product/service?}
do you expect
to sell via this
channel?}

14
 BUSINESS NAME
MARKETING PLAN 2021

The PROMOTION of your product/service

Guidance: State how you currently promote and market your business now (or intend to). Compare (where applicable) what your competitors
do for promotion, noting what does and doesn’t work for them as well as yourself. Regardless of how good your business is, if you don’t
promote it and tell people you exist, it’s unlikely you will make many sales.

Promotion is more than selling and advertising your business. It’s about attracting the right people to use and reuse your business. There are a
number of techniques to use and they can be combined in various ways to create the most cost effective strategy for your needs.

Detail your promotion techniques into six categories:

• online
• public relations
• advertising
• promotion
• packaging/personal selling
• branding

Direct marketing is often added to the marketing mix despite being part of advertising rather than marketing.

In a paragraph or two, summarize your promotion strategy as shown in the table.

Start writing here

Product/Service Online Public Relations Advertising Promotion Packaging Branding

{What is your {What online {What PR {What advertising {What promotion {What packaging {What branding
product/service?} strategies are you strategies are you strategies are you strategies are you strategies are you strategies are you
using?} using?} using?} using?} using?} using?}

15
 BUSINESS NAME
MARKETING PLAN 2021

The PEOPLE in your business (salespeople, staff etc.)

Guidance: Every employee in your business (if you have them) can influence the marketing of your products and services. Knowledgeable and
friendly staff can contribute to creating satisfied customers, and can provide the unique selling experience that an organisation is often seeking.
If an outstanding team provides a competitive advantage, then the quality of recruitment and training becomes essential to achieving your
marketing objectives.

Some questions to consider when assessing your team members:

 Are they prepared to talk with clients in detail about your products and services?
 Do you have training in place to drive constant improvement?
 Do your team understand the process for handling client interactions?
 Are staff members empowered to make decisions (and act) on the business’s behalf?
 Do they have the communication skills to be effective?
 Do staff members ‘live’ your brand when they are at work?

In a paragraph or two, summarize your manpower requirement as shown in the table.

Start writing here

Name Job Title Department Responsibilities

{e.g. Francis Reyes} {E.g. Marketing/Sales {e.g. Sales} {insert the main responsibilities of this position}
Manager?}

16
 BUSINESS NAME
MARKETING PLAN 2021

Marketing Activity

Guidance: Once you have defined your marketing mix, the next step is to detail the specific activities that you will undertake to achieve your
marketing objectives. As you create these activities, keep referring back to your marketing mix – it will help you to assess which activities are
worth the time and effort to implement.

What steps/activities will you undertake to achieve your marketing objectives?

Date of expected
Marketing activity/milestone Person responsible Cost (₱) Success indicator
completion
{Print advertising, online advertising, {Who is responsible {When do you expect {estimated {What indicator/measurement result
mail-out, giveaway, media release, for completing this to complete the cost of will need to be met before this activity
event, website, blog/social media, task?} marketing activity?} activity} is considered a success?}
public relations, branding and
artwork, or publications and
catalogues}

17
 BUSINESS NAME
MARKETING PLAN 2021

Marketing Budget 2021

Guidance: To complete this marketing budget, you should rely heavily on your financial statements and
projections. Enter the details or attach your own budget at the back of this marketing plan. Remove
those that are not applicable to your business.

Item Monthly Feb Mar Apr

MARKETING/PROMOTION
Marketing agency
Radio advertising
Television advertising
Print advertising
Online advertising
Social media
Web search optimization
Mail-outs
Giveaways
Events
Branding and artwork
Merchandising
Publications
Catalogues
More…
Marketing/Promotion Subtotal
OTHERS
Research
Travel
Postage
Administration
Incidentals
More…
Others Subtotal
TOTAL

18
 BUSINESS NAME
MARKETING PLAN 2021

Action Steps

Top 10 Action Steps:

Guidance: Create a list of the Top 10 action steps that will bring your theoretical objectives (your
marketing strategy and objectives) to life. E.g. Finish SWOT Activity Sheet, complete marketing budget}

Start writing here

FINANCIAL ANALYSIS

Sales Forecast

Guidelines (remove when done): Sales forecasting is the process of estimating future sales. Accurate
sales forecasts enable companies to make informed business decisions and predict short-term and long-
term performance. Companies can base their forecasts on past sales data, industry-wide comparisons,
and economic trends. Newly founded companies have to base their forecasts on less-verified
information, such as market research and competitive intelligence to forecast their future business.

Sales forecasting allows companies to:

 Predict achievable sales revenue;

 Efficiently allocate resources;
 Plan for future growth.

Units sold Sales per

Products/Services Price Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
per month Month
Product A
Product B
Product C
Product D
Product N
TOTALS

Write a narrative about your sales forecast here

19
 BUSINESS NAME
MARKETING PLAN 2021

Operating Expense Forecast

Guidelines (remove when done): Operating expenses are incurred in the regular operations of business
and include rent, equipment, marketing, payroll, insurance, and funds allocated for research and
development. Operating expenses are necessary and mandatory for most businesses.

Particulars Description Monthly Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Salaries & Wages
Rent
Utilities
Marketing
Communications
Insurance
Legal Fees
Others…
TOTALS

Write a narrative about your operating expense forecast here

20
 BUSINESS NAME
MARKETING PLAN 2021

Projected Income Statement

Guidelines (remove when done): An income statement, also known as a profit and loss statement,
shows your revenues, expenses and profit for a particular period. If you are developing these projections
prior to starting your business, this is where you will want to do the bulk of your forecasting.

The key sections of an income statement are:

1. Sales – This is the money you will earn from whatever goods or services you provide.
2. Cost of Sales – This represents the direct costs related to the manufacturing or purchasing of
goods which has been sold.
3. Gross Income – computed as Sales less Cost of Sales
4. Operating Expenses – Be sure to account for all of the expenses you will encounter, including
general and administrative costs such as accounting and legal fees, advertising, bank charges,
insurance, office rent, telecommunications, etc.
5. Net Income – computed as Gross income less Operating Expenses.

Particulars Monthly Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Sales
Less: Cost of Sales
Gross Income
Less: Operating Expenses
NET INCOME

Write a narrative about your Income Statement here

Profitability Analysis

Guidance: Use the sales numbers above to compute for appropriate profitability ratios.

Start writing here

21
 BUSINESS NAME
MARKETING PLAN 2021

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
Guidance: Attach any supporting documentation in relation to this marketing plan.

List all of your attachments here. These may include resumes, customer survey/questionnaire and/or
financial documents.

Start writing here

22