role of marketing business plan

What is a Marketing Plan & How to Write One [+ Examples]

Published: August 07, 2024

One of my favorite ways to break through writer’s block, whether the assignment is a marketing plan or a short story, is simply reading more examples. (I also recommend taking a long walk; you’d be surprised.)

I can’t take you on a walk, but I can give you some examples, some inspiration, and some guidelines to get your creativity humming.

If you don’t know where to start, we’ve curated lists of marketing plans and marketing strategies to help you write a concrete plan that will produce results.

Let’s start by understanding the differences between the two.

Table of Contents

Marketing Strategy Examples

What is a marketing plan, marketing plan vs. business plan, how to write a marketing plan, types of marketing plans, marketing plan examples, marketing plan faqs, sample marketing plan.

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A marketing plan is a strategic road map that businesses use to organize, execute, and track their marketing strategy over a given period. Marketing plans can include different marketing strategies for various marketing teams across the company, all working toward the same business goals.

The purpose of a marketing plan is to write down strategies in an organized manner. This will help keep you on track and measure the success of your campaigns.

Your marketing plan lays out each campaign‘s mission, buyer personas, budget, tactics, and deliverables. With all this information in one place, you’ll have an easier time staying on track with a campaign, and you can figure out what works and what doesn’t.

To learn more about creating your marketing plan, keep reading or jump to the relevant section:

A marketing plan is a strategic document that outlines marketing objectives, strategies, and tactics.

A business plan is also a strategic document. But this plan covers all aspects of a company's operations, including finance, operations, and more. It can also help your business decide how to distribute resources and make decisions as your business grows.

A marketing plan is a subset of a business plan; it shows how marketing strategies and objectives can support overall business goals. And if you need an assist executing a marketing plan, might I recommend HubSpot’s marketing hub ?

Marketing Strategy vs. Marketing Plan

A marketing strategy is the part of your marketing plan that describes how a business will accomplish a particular goal or mission.

This includes which campaigns, content, channels, and marketing software you’ll use to execute that mission and track its success.

A marketing plan contains one or more marketing strategies. It's the framework from which all your marketing strategies are created, and it helps you connect each strategy to a larger marketing operation and business goal.

For example, suppose your company is launching a new software product, and it wants customers to sign up. The marketing department needs to develop a marketing plan that'll help introduce this product to the industry and drive the desired sign-ups.

The department decides to launch a topical blog, debut a YouTube series to establish expertise, and create new X and Instagram accounts to join the conversation around this subject. All this serves to attract an audience and convert this audience into software users.

To summarize, a business' marketing plan is dedicated to introducing a new software product to the marketplace and driving sign-ups for that product. The business will execute that plan with three marketing strategies : a new industry blog, a YouTube video series, and an X account.

Of course, the business might consider these three things as one giant marketing strategy, each with its own specific content strategies. How granular you want your marketing plan to get is up to you. Nonetheless, every marketing plan goes through a particular set of steps in its creation.

• State your business' mission.
• Determine the KPIs for this mission.
• Identify your buyer personas.
• Describe your content initiatives and strategies.
• Clearly define your plan's omissions.
• Define your marketing budget.
• Identify your competition.
• Outline your plan's contributors and their responsibilities.

1. State your business' mission.

Your first step in writing a marketing plan is to state your mission. Although this mission is specific to your marketing department, it should serve as your business' main mission statement.

In my experience, you want to be specific, but not too specific. You have plenty of space left in this marketing plan to elaborate on how you'll acquire new customers and accomplish this mission.

For those of you running startups or small businesses, HubSpot’s starter bundle is a great all-in-one solution — it can help you find and win customers, execute content marketing plans, and more.

If your business' mission is “to make booking travel a delightful experience,” your marketing mission might be “to attract an audience of travelers, educate them on the tourism industry, and convert them into users of our bookings platform.”

Need help building your mission statement? Download this guide for examples and templates and write the ideal mission statement.

2. Determine the KPIs for this mission.

Every good marketing plan describes how the department will track its mission‘s progress. To do so, you need to decide on your key performance indicators (KPIs) .

KPIs are individual metrics that measure the various elements of a marketing campaign. These units help you establish short-term goals within your mission and communicate your progress to business leaders.

Let's take our example of a marketing mission from the above step. If part of our mission is “to attract an audience of travelers,” we might track website visits using organic page views. In this case, “organic page views” is one KPI, and we can see our number of page views grow over time.

Also, make sure to check whether your current reporting software facilitates the KPIs you need. Some reporting tools can only measure a set of pre-defined metrics, which can cause massive headaches in particular marketing campaigns.

However, other tools, like HubSpot’s analytics software , can offer full flexibility over the KPIs you wish to track.

You can generate custom reports that reveal average website engagement rates, page visits, email, social media traffic, and more.

These KPIs will come into the conversation again in step 4.

3. Identify your buyer personas.

A buyer persona is a description of who you want to attract. This can include age, sex, location, family size, and job title.

Each buyer persona should directly reflect your business' current and potential customers. All business leaders must agree on your buyer personas.

4. Describe your content initiatives and strategies.

Here‘s where you’ll include the main points of your marketing and content strategy.

Because there‘s a laundry list of content types and channels available today, you must choose wisely and explain how you’ll use your content and channels in this section of your marketing plan.

When I write this section, I like to stipulate:

• What types of content I'll create. These might include blog posts, YouTube videos, infographics, and ebooks.
• How much I'll create. I typically describe content volume in daily, weekly, monthly, or even quarterly intervals. It all depends on my workflow and the short-term goals for my content.
• The goals (and KPIs) I'll use to track each type. KPIs can include organic traffic, social media traffic, email traffic, and referral traffic. Your goals should also include which pages you want to drive that traffic to, such as product pages, blog pages, or landing pages.
• The channels on which I'll distribute my content. Popular channels include Facebook, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram.
• Any paid advertising that will take place on these channels.

5. Clearly define your plan's omissions.

A marketing plan explains the marketing team's focus. It also explains what the marketing team will not focus on.

If there are other aspects of your business that you aren‘t serving in this particular plan, include them in this section. These omissions help to justify your mission, buyer personas, KPIs, and content.

You can’t please everyone in a single marketing campaign, and if your team isn’t on the hook for something, you need to make it known.

In my experience, this section is particularly important for stakeholders to help them understand why certain decisions were made.

6. Define your marketing budget.

Whether it's freelance fees, sponsorships, or a new full-time marketing hire, use these costs to develop a marketing budget and outline each expense in this section of your marketing plan.

You can establish your marketing budget with these 8 free marketing budget templates .

7. Identify your competition.

Part of marketing is knowing your competition. Research the key players in your industry and consider profiling each one.

Keep in mind that not every competitor will pose the same challenges to your business. For example, while one competitor might rank highly on search engines for keywords that you’re also chasing, another competitor might have a heavy footprint on a social network where you plan to launch an account.

Easily track and analyze your competitors with this collection of 10 free competitive analysis templates .

8. Outline your plan's contributors and their responsibilities.

With your marketing plan fully fleshed out, it‘s time to explain who’s doing what.

I don’t like to delve too deeply into my employees’ day-to-day projects, but I know which teams and team leaders are in charge of specific content types, channels, KPIs, and more.

Now that you know why you need to build an effective marketing plan, it’s time to get to work.

Starting a plan from scratch can be overwhelming if you haven't done it before.

That’s why there are many helpful resources that can support your first steps. We’ll share some of the best guides and templates to help you build effective results-driven plans for your marketing strategies.

Ready to make your own marketing plan? Get started with this free template.

The kind of marketing plan you create will depend on your company, your industry, and your business goals. We compiled different samples to suit your needs:

1. Quarterly or Annual Marketing Plans

This marketing plan by Visit Oxnard, a convention and visitors bureau, is packed with information: target markets, key performance indicators, selling points, personas, marketing tactics by channel, and much more.

It also articulates the organization’s strategic plans for the upcoming fiscal year, especially as it grapples with the aftereffects of the pandemic.

Lastly, it has impeccable visual appeal, with color-coded sections and strong branding elements.

• It states clear and actionable goals for the coming year.
• It includes data and other research that shows how the team made its decisions.
• It outlines how the team will measure the plan’s success.

4. Safe Haven Family Shelter

This marketing plan by a nonprofit organization is an excellent example to follow if your plan will be presented to internal stakeholders at all levels of your organization.

It includes SMART marketing goals , deadlines, action steps, long-term objectives, target audiences, core marketing messages , and metrics.

The plan is detailed yet scannable. By the end of it, one can walk away with a strong understanding of the organization’s strategic direction for its upcoming marketing efforts.

• It confirms ongoing marketing strategies and objectives while introducing new initiatives.
• It uses colors, fonts, and formatting to emphasize key parts.
• It closes with long-term goals, key themes, and other overarching topics to set the stage for the future.

5. Wright County Economic Development

• “Going viral” isn’t a goal; it’s an outcome.
• Be surprising. Subvert expectations.
• Be weird and niche if you want to be weird and niche, but establishing a shared cultural understanding might result in a bigger audience.

Pridemore Properties’ Instagram smash hit is unexpected, to say the least. You think you’re getting a home tour that takes your figurative breath away; you get a home tour that takes the agent’s literal breath away.

Verizon’s toe-tapping, hip-shaking Totalmente (aka Total by Verizon, a contractless phone plan) ad debuted during Univision’s Spanish-language broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII. The ad reinvents the 1998 Elvis Crespo song “Suavemente,” an earworm if I’ve ever heard one, replacing the lyrics with Total by Verizon features.

Verizon Value’s CMO and VP of Marketing, Cheryl Gresham, has admitted that she didn’t know much about marketing to a majority-Latinx audience.

In an interview with Campaign Live , she said she didn’t think the idea would have gotten off the ground “if it had just been me and a lot of other people that had a background like myself in that room.”

CampaignLive wrote, “Gresham says the team opted for a creative concept that spoke to all the Latinos in the room — despite Gresham herself not understanding the connection.”

Gresham’s marketing strategy hinged on knowing her audience and, just as importantly, trusting her fellow marketers who knew how to reach that audience.

Strategic Takeaways for Demographic Marketing

• Know what you don’t know.
• Foster diversity in marketing leadership and staff.
• Know your audience.

The catchy tune and the great storytelling certainly don’t hurt.

But more than that, Ogilvy and Verizon dug deep into Latinx culture — more than 25 years deep — to craft an ad that doesn’t feel like it’s just responding to the latest trend. They also tapped Venezuelan American comedian, musician, and producer Fred Armisen to direct the spot.

6. Chappell Roan

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Marketing Plan

A document that lays out the marketing efforts of a business in an upcoming period

What is a Marketing Plan?

A marketing plan is a document that lays out the marketing efforts of a business in an upcoming period, which is usually a year. It outlines the marketing strategy, promotional, and advertising activities planned for the period.

Elements of a Marketing Plan

A marketing plan will typically include the following elements:

Marketing objectives of the business : The objectives should be attainable and measurable – two goals associated with SMART, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Current business marketing positioning : An analysis of the current state of the organization concerning its marketing positioning.

Market research : Detailed research about current market trends, customer needs, industry sales volumes, and expected direction.

Outline of the business target market : Business target market demographics.

Marketing activities : A list of any actions concerning marketing goals that are scheduled for the period and the indicated timelines.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) to be tracked

Marketing mix : A combination of factors that may influence customers to purchase products. It should be appropriate for the organization and will largely be centered on the 4Ps of marketing – i.e., product, price, promotion, and place.

Competition : Identify the organization’s competitors and their strategies, along with ways to counter competition and gain market share .

Marketing strategies : The development of marketing strategies to be employed in the coming period. These strategies will include promotional strategies, advertising, and other marketing tools at the disposal of the organization.

Marketing budget : A detailed outline of the organization’s allocation of financial resources to marketing activities. The activities will need to be carried out within the marketing budget .

Monitoring and performance mechanism : A plan should be in place to identify if the marketing tools in place are bearing fruit or need to be revised based on the past, current, and expected future state of the organization, industry, and the overall business environment.

A marketing plan should observe the 80:20 rule – i.e., for maximum impact, it should focus on the 20% of products and services that account for 80% of volumes and the 20% of customers that bring in 80% of revenue.

Purpose of a Marketing Plan

The purpose of a marketing plan includes the following:

• To clearly define the marketing objectives of the business that align with the corporate mission and vision of the organization. The marketing objectives indicate where the organization wishes to be at any specific period in the future.
• The marketing plan usually assists in the growth of the business by stating appropriate marketing strategies, such as plans for increasing the customer base.
• State and review the marketing mix in terms of the 8Ps of marketing – Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, Physical Evidence, and Performance.
• Strategies to increase market share, enter new niche markets, and increase brand awareness are also encompassed within the marketing plan.
• The marketing plan will contain a detailed budget for the funds and resources required to carry out activities indicated in the marketing plan.
• The assignment of tasks and responsibilities of marketing activities is well enunciated in the marketing plan.
• The identification of business opportunities and any strategies crafted to exploit them is important.
• A marketing plan fosters the review and analysis of the marketing environment, which entails market research, customer needs assessment, competitor analysis, PEST analysis , studying new business trends, and continuous environmental scanning.
• A marketing plan integrates business functions to operate with consistency – notably sales, production, finance, human resources, and marketing.

Structure of a Marketing Plan

The structure of a marketing plan can include the following sections:

Marketing Plan Objectives

This section outlines the expected outcome of the marketing plan with clear, concise, realistic, and attainable objectives. It contains specific targets and time frames.

Metrics, such as target market share, the target number of customers to be attained, penetration rate, usage rate, sales volumes targeted, etc. should be used.

Market Research – Market Analysis/Consumer Analysis

Market analysis includes topics such as market definition, market size, industry structure, market share and trends, and competitor analysis. Consumer analysis includes the target market demographics and what influences their buying decisions – e.g., loyalty, motivation, and expectations.

Target Market

This defines the target customers by their demographic profile, such as gender, race, age, and psychographic profile, such as their interests. This will assist in the correct marketing mix for the target market segments.

SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis will look at the organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis includes the following:

• Strengths are the organization’s competitive advantages that are not easily duplicated. They represent the skills, expertise, and efficiencies that an organization possesses over its competitors.
• Weaknesses are impediments found in the operations of an organization, and they stifle growth. These can include outdated machinery, inadequate working capital, and inefficient production methods.
• Opportunities are prospects for growth in the business through the adoption of ways to take advantage of the chances. They could include entry into new markets, adopting digital marketing strategies, or following new trends.
• Threats are external factors that can affect the business negatively, such as a new powerful competitor, legislative changes, natural disasters, or political situations.

Marketing Strategy

The marketing strategy section covers actual strategies to be included according to the marketing mix. The strategy centers on the 8Ps of marketing. However, firms are also at liberty to use the traditional 4 P’s of marketing – product, price, place, and promotion. The 8 P’s are illustrated below.

The correct marketing mix is determined by the target market. The most expensive options are advertising, sales promotions, and PR campaigns. Networking and referrals are less costly.

Marketers also need to pay attention to digital marketing strategies that make use of technology to reach a wider market and have also proven to be cost-effective.

Digital marketing channels, which became popular in the early 21 st century, may eventually overtake traditional marketing methods. Digital marketing encompasses trending methods, such as the use of social media for business.

Other strategies within the marketing strategy include pricing and positioning strategy, distribution strategy, conversion strategy, and retention strategy.

Marketing Budget

The marketing budget or projection outlines the budgeted expenditure for the marketing activities documented in the marketing plan. The marketing budget consists of revenues and costs stated in the marketing plan in one document.

It balances expenditures on marketing activities and what the organization can afford. It’s a financial plan of marketing activities to be carried out – e.g., promotional activities, cost of marketing materials and advertising, and so on. Other considerations include expected product volume and price, production and delivery costs, and operating and financing costs.

The effectiveness of the marketing plan depends on the budget allocated for marketing expenditure. The cost of marketing should be able to make the company break even and make profits.

Performance Analysis

Performance analysis aims to look at the variances of metrics or components documented in the marketing plan.  These include:

Revenue variance analysis : An analysis of positive or negative variance of revenue. A negative variance is worrisome, and reasons should be available to explain the cause of deviations.

Market share analysis : An analysis of whether the organization attained its target market share. Sales may be increasing whilst the organization’s share of the market is decreasing; hence, it is paramount to track this metric.

Expense analysis : An analysis of marketing expense to sales ratio . This ratio needs to be compared to industry standards to make informed comparisons.

The ratio enables the organization to track actual expenditures versus the budget. It is also compared to other metrics, such as revenue analysis and market share analysis. It can be dissected into individual expenditures to sales to get a clearer picture.

Administration of a Marketing Plan

The marketing plan should be revised and adapted to changes in the environment periodically. The use of metrics, budgets, and schedules to measure progress towards the goals set in the marketing plan is a continuous process by marketing personnel.

There should be a continuous assessment to verify that the goals of the marketing plan are being achieved. The marketing manager should be able to review if the strategies documented are being effective, given the operating environment.

It is irrational for the marketing manager to notice anomalies and wait to review at year-end when the situation might have already deteriorated.

Changes in the environment may necessitate a review of plans, projections, strategies, and targets. Therefore, a formal periodical review – such as monthly or quarterly – may need to be in place. This may mean preparing an annual marketing plan but reviewing the plan quarterly to keep targets and plans aligned closely to environmental changes. It goes without saying that plans are as good as their feasibility to succeed in the given environment.

More Resources

Thank you for reading CFI’s guide to Marketing Plan. To keep learning and advancing your career, the additional CFI resources below will be useful:

• 4 P’s of Marketing
• Market Research
• Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
• Competitive Advantage
• See all management & strategy resources
• Share this article

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Module 2: Marketing Function

The role of the marketing plan, learning objectives.

• Explain the role of a marketing plan as a guiding document for marketing activities

The Marketing Plan

Effective marketing requires a plan—specifically, a marketing plan. Although customers should be at the center of any marketing plan, marketing activities do not operate in a vacuum. Instead, marketing is one function within a larger organization, and it operates within a competitive market environment. To ensure the effectiveness of marketing activities, the marketing plan must take all of these factors into account. Furthermore, once a plan is in place, it serves to guide all the marketing activities that an organization undertakes.

The marketing plan can take a variety of formats. It’s often a formal document that is broadly reviewed to create alignment and support across the organization. It can also be a presentation that explains each of the objectives and strategies. Sometimes the elements of the marketing plan are presented on a company’s internal Web site (or intranet), allowing all employees to access the information and see updates.

The format is less important than the impact. The marketing plan identifies the marketing objectives and explains how marketing activities will help the organization achieve its broader goals and objectives. The marketing plan describes how the company will use the marketing mix—product, promotion, place, and price—to achieve its marketing objectives effectively within the competitive market environment. The marketing plan also focuses the company’s resources on reaching target customers and driving them to act.

Marketing Plan Alignment with Company Goals

The executive leadership of a company is charged with creating the framework that aligns and focuses the work of employees: the company’s mission, objectives, and strategy. The company’s mission describes its purpose and explains why it exists. The executive leadership defines corporate goals and the high-level strategies that marketing activities should support.

Informed by corporate goals and strategies, marketers develop marketing objectives to support the broader company goals. They may cover a variety of areas: company growth, sales, market share, profitability, customer perceptions, market penetration, and so forth. The marketing objectives represent a set of measurable goals, tied to marketing activity, that align with and move the company towards its corporate mission and goals.

For example, Bristol-Myers Squibb is a pharmaceutical company with a mission t o discover, develop, and deliver innovative medicines that help patients combat and recover from serious diseases. The company’s business strategy focuses on the manufacturing and distribution of medication, but it’s also engaged in medical research and the discovery of new treatments. Both the mission and strategy inform the marketing plan. The company’s marketing objectives and strategy should reinforce customer perceptions about the company’s biotech innovation and commitment to promising pharmaceutical breakthroughs. 

Marketing Plan Input: Situation Analysis

Beyond the company’s purpose and focus, the marketing plan must take into account a range of internal and external factors that can be very complex. A situation analysis  examines both the internal and external factors that might impact the marketing plan.

Internally, the company has both strengths and weaknesses that will influence the plan, such as its products, workforce, market perceptions, and other characteristics that give it advantages or disadvantages in the market. Outside the organization there are a range of opportunities and threats such as competitors, economic forces, government regulations, and other political factors.

The situation analysis helps refine corporate goals and produce a relevant set of marketing objectives. At the corporate level, typical objectives include profitability, cost savings, growth, market share improvement, risk containment, reputation, and so on. These corporate objectives can be translated into specific, measurable marketing objectives. For example, the marketing objective “Introduce three new products” might lead marketers to support corporate goals on profitability, increased market share, and movement into new markets. A corporate goal of “Increase profit margins” might dictate marketing objectives around product innovation, quality of materials, and the price charged.

Translating Marketing Objectives into Strategies and Tactics

Once the organization has conducted a situation analysis and identified its marketing objectives, the next step is to figure out what strategies will be most effective and the tactics that will be used to carry them out. You will learn more about the differences between strategy and tactics later on; for now, think of the strategy as the “big idea,” or approach, and tactics as “the details”—the specific actions that will be taken to make the big idea a reality and help the organization reach its goals. For example, if you’re a chess player, your strategy might be to “keep your opponent on the defensive,” and one of your tactics might be to “take the opponent’s queen as early in the game as possible.” Your goal, or objective, is to win the game.

Obviously, a marketing plan needs to include actual plans,  and that’s where strategy and tactics come in. Though it’s crucial for a marketing plan to be aligned with an organization’s mission and mindful of its target customers, its competitors, and so on, it’s just as important to have a plan of action that spells out exactly how the organization’s resources will be used to reach its goals. Strategies and tactics are the key components of that action plan.

Marketing Plan Implementation and Evaluation

Once the plan is in place, the organization begins to implement the strategies. Successful marketing strategies require effective implementation. For example, if the organization has a promotional strategy to launch a social media campaign, then significant work is required to hone the message, manage social media tools, and encourage customers to engage. The strategy cannot achieve results if it is not executed well.

How will you know if it has been executed well? Marketing organizations need to identify what constitutes a successful marketing campaign and then measure the results to determine whether it had the desired impact. Did it reach the desired customers? Was it cost-effective? Did it generate the sales expected? Were the metrics for the specific elements of the campaign successful? Marketing metrics might include the number of customers viewing an advertisement, the number of social media “shares” or “likes,” the number of visits to a Web site, the proportion of new customers vs. existing customers, customer spending levels, etc. The right set of marketing metrics depends on what you are trying to accomplish with the marketing campaign.

Marketers should capture and analyze the appropriate metrics to understand the the success of marketing activities—to improve planning and future results.

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• Study of Human Immune Response to HIV. Provided by : NIAID. Located at : https://www.flickr.com/photos/niaid/5613410129/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Boundless Marketing: definition of marketing plan. Provided by : Boundless. Located at : https://www.boundless.com/marketing/textbooks/boundless-marketing-textbook/marketing-strategies-and-planning-2/introducing-the-marketing-plan-26/the-marketing-plan-143-3500/ . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

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Blog Marketing What is a Marketing Plan & How to Create One [with Examples]

What is a Marketing Plan & How to Create One [with Examples]

Written by: Sara McGuire Oct 26, 2023

A marketing plan is a blueprint that outlines your strategies to attract and convert your ideal customers as a part of your customer acquisition strategy . It’s a comprehensive document that details your:

• Target audience:  Who you’re trying to reach
• Marketing goals:  What you want to achieve
• Strategies and tactics:  How you’ll reach your goals
• Budget:  Resources you’ll allocate
• Metrics:  How you’ll measure success

In this article, I’ll explain everything you need to know about creating a marketing plan . If you need a little extra help, there are professionally designed marketing plan templates that’ll make the process much easier. So, let’s ditch the confusion and get started!

Click to jump ahead:

What is a marketing plan?

How to write a marketing plan .

• Marketing plan v.s. business plan
• Types of marketing plans

9 marketing plan examples to inspire your growth strategy

Marketing plan faqs.

A marketing plan is a report that outlines your marketing strategy for your products or services, which could be applicable for the coming year, quarter or month.  

Watch this quick, 13-minute video for more details on what a marketing plan is and how to make one yourself:

Typically, a marketing plan includes:

• An overview of your business’s marketing and advertising goals
• A description of your business’s current marketing position
• A timeline of when tasks within your strategy will be completed
• Key performance indicators (KPIs) you will be tracking
• A description of your business’s target market and customer needs
• A description of how you will measure the performance of the strategy

For example, this marketing plan template provides a high-level overview of the business and competitors before diving deep into specific goals, KPIs and tactics:

Learning how to write a marketing plan forces you to think through the important steps that lead to an effective marketing strategy . And a well-defined plan will help you stay focused on your high-level marketing goals.

With Venngage’s extensive catalog of marketing plan templates , creating your marketing plan isn’t going to be hard or tedious. In fact, Venngage has plenty of helpful communications and design resources for marketers. If you’re ready to get started, sign up for  Venngage for Marketers   now. It’s free to register and start designing.

Whether you’re a team trying to set smarter marketing goals, a consultant trying to set your client in the right direction, or a one-person team hustling it out, Venngage for Marketers helps you get things done.

As mentioned above, the scope of your marketing plan varies depending on its purpose or the type of organization it’s for.

For example, you could look for performance marketing agency to create a marketing plan that provides an overview of a company’s entire marketing strategy or simply focus on a specific channel like SEO, social media marketing, content marketing and more, like in this example:

A typical outline of a marketing plan includes:

• Executive summary
• Goals and objectives
• User personas
• Competitor analysis/SWOT analysis
• Baseline metrics
• Marketing strategy
• Tracking guidelines

Below you will see in details how to write each section as well as some examples of how you can design each section in a marketing plan.

Let’s look at how to create a successful marketing plan (click to jump ahead):

• Write a simple executive summary
• Set metric-driven marketing goals
• Outline your user personas
• Research all of your competitors
• Set accurate key baselines & metrics
• Create an actionable marketing strategy
• Set tracking or reporting guidelines

1. Write a simple executive summary

Starting your marketing plan off on the right foot is important. You want to pull people into your amazing plan for marketing domination. Not bore them to tears.

One of the best ways to get people excited to read your marketing plan is with a well-written executive summary. An executive summary introduces readers to your company goals, marketing triumphs, future plans, and other important contextual facts.

Basically, you can use the Executive Summary as a primer for the rest of your marketing plan.

Include things like:

• Simple marketing goals
• High-level metrics
• Important company milestones
• Facts about your brand
• Employee anecdotes
• Future goals & plans

Try to keep your executive summary rather brief and to the point. You aren’t writing a novel, so try to keep it under three to four paragraphs.

Take a look at the executive summary in the marketing plan example below:

The executive summary is only two paragraphs long — short but effective.

The executive summary tells readers about the company’s growth, and how they are about to overtake one of their competitors. But there’s no mention of specific metrics or figures. That will be highlighted in the next section of the marketing plan.

An effective executive summary should have enough information to pique the reader’s interest, but not bog them down with specifics yet. That’s what the rest of your marketing plan is for!

The executive summary also sets the tone for your marketing plan. Think about what tone will fit your brand ? Friendly and humorous? Professional and reliable? Inspiring and visionary?

2. Set metric-driven marketing goals

After you perfect your executive summary, it’s time to outline your marketing goals.

(If you’ve never set data-driven goals like this before, it would be worth reading this growth strategy guide ).

This is one of the most important parts of the entire marketing plan, so be sure to take your time and be as clear as possible. Moreover, optimizing your marketing funnel is key. Employing effective funnel software can simplify operations and provide valuable customer insights. It facilitates lead tracking, conversion rate analysis, and efficient marketing optimization .

As a rule of thumb, be as specific as possible. The folks over at  VoyMedia  advise that you should set goals that impact website traffic, conversions, and customer success — and to use real numbers. Complement your goals with website optimization tools (e.g., A/B testing speed with Nostra – check Nostra AI review to learn more) to further improve conversions.

Avoid outlining vague goals like:

• Get more Twitter followers
• Write more articles
• Create more YouTube videos (like educational or Explainer videos )
• Increase retention rate
• Decrease bounce rate

Instead, identify  key performance metrics  (KPI) you want to impact and the percentage you want to increase them by.

Take a look at the goals page in the marketing plan example below:

They not only identify a specific metric in each of their goals, but they also set a timeline for when they will be increased.

The same vague goals listed earlier become much clearer when specific numbers and timelines are applied to them:

• Get 100 new Twitter followers per month
• Write 5 more articles per week
• Create 10 YouTube videos each year
• Increase retention rate by 15% by 2020
• Decrease bounce rate by 5% by Q1
• Create an online course  and get 1,000 new leads
• Focus more on local SEO strategies
• Conduct a monthly social media report to track progress

You can dive even deeper into your marketing goals if you want (generally, the more specific, the better). Here’s a marketing plan example that shows how to outline your growth goals:

3. Outline your user personas

Now, this may not seem like the most important part of your marketing plan, but I think it holds a ton of value.

Outlining your user personas is an important part of a marketing plan that should not be overlooked.

You should be asking not just how you can get the most visitors to your business, but how you can get the right visitors.

Who are your ideal customers? What are their goals? What are their biggest problems? How does your business solve customer problems?

Answering these questions will take lots of research, but it’s essential information to get.

Some ways to conduct user research are:

• Interviewing your users (either in person or on the phone)
• Conducting focus groups
• Researching other businesses in the same industry
• Surveying your audience

Then, you will need to compile your user data into a user persona  guide.

Take a look at how detailed this user persona template is below:

Taking the time to identify specific demographic traits, habits and goals will make it easier for you to cater your marketing plan to them.

Here’s how you can create a user persona guide:

The first thing you should add is a profile picture or icon for each user persona. It can help to put a face to your personas, so they seem more real.

Next, list demographic information like:

• Identifiers
• Activities/Hobbies

The user persona example above uses sliding scales to identify personality traits like introversion vs. extroversion and thinking vs. feeling. Identifying what type of personality your target users tend to have an influence on the messaging you use in your marketing content.

Meanwhile, this user persona guide identifies specific challenges the user faces each day:

But if you don’t want to go into such precise detail, you can stick to basic information, like in this marketing plan example:

Most businesses will have a few different types of target users. That’s why it’s pertinent to identify and create several different user personas . That way, you can better segment your marketing campaigns and set separate goals, if necessary.

Here’s a marketing plan example with a segmented user persona guide:

The important thing is for your team or client to have a clear picture of who their target user is and how they can appeal to their specific problems.

Start creating robust user personas using Venngage’s user persona guide .

4. Conduct an extensive competitor analysis

Next, on the marketing plan checklist, we have the competitor research section. This section will help you identify who your competitors are, what they’re doing, and how you could carve yourself a place alongside them in your niche — and ideally, surpass them. It’s something you can learn to do with rank tracking software .

Competitor research is also incredibly important if you are starting a blog .

Typically, your competitor research should include:

• Who their marketing team is
• Who their leadership team is
• What their marketing strategy and strategic marketing plan are (this will probably revolve some reverse-engineering)
• What their sales strategy is (same deal)
• Social Media strategy (are they using discounting strategies such as coupon marketing to get conversions)
• Their market cap/financials
• Their yearly growth (you will probably need to use a marketing tool like Ahrefs to do this)
• The number of customers they have & their user personas

Also, take as deep a dive as you can into the strategies they use across their:

• Blog/Content marketing
• Social media marketing
• SEO Marketing
• Video marketing
• And any other marketing tactics they use

Research their strengths and weaknesses in all parts of their company, and you will find some great opportunities. Bookmark has a great guide to different marketing strategies for small businesses  if you need some more information there.

You can use this simple SWOT analysis worksheet to quickly work through all parts of their strategy as well:

Click the template above to create a SWOT chart . Customize the template to your liking — no design know-how needed.

Since you have already done all the research beforehand, adding this information to your marketing plan shouldn’t be that hard.

In this marketing plan example, some high-level research is outlined for 3 competing brands:

But you could take a deeper dive into different facets of your competitors’ strategies. This marketing plan example analyses a competitor’s content marketing strategy:

It can also be helpful to divide your competitors into Primary and Secondary groups. For example, Apple’s primary competitor may be Dell for computers, but its secondary competitor could be a company that makes tablets.

Your most dangerous competitors may not even be in the same industry as you. Like the CEO of Netflix said, “Sleep is our competition.”

5. Set accurate key baselines & metrics

It’s pretty hard to plan for the future if you don’t know where your business stands right now.

Before we do anything at Venngage, we find the baselines so we can compare future results to something. We do it so much it’s almost like second nature now!

Setting baselines will allow you to more accurately track your progress. You will also be able to better analyze what worked and what didn’t work, so you can build a stronger strategy. It will definitely help them clearly understand your goals and strategy as well.

Here’s a marketing plan example where the baselines are visualized:

Another way to include baselines in your plan is with a simple chart, like in the marketing plan example below:

Because data can be intimidating to a lot of people, visualizing your data using charts and infographics will help demystify the information.

6. Create an actionable marketing strategy

After pulling all the contextual information and relevant metrics into your marketing plan, it’s time to break down your marketing strategy.

Once again, it’s easier to communicate your information to your team or clients using visuals .

Mind maps are an effective way to show how a strategy with many moving parts ties together. For example, this mind map shows how the four main components of a marketing strategy interact together:

You can also use a flow chart to map out your strategy by objectives:

However you choose to visualize your strategy, your team should know exactly what they need to do. This is not the time to keep your cards close to your chest.

Your strategy section may need to take up a few pages to explain, like in the marketing plan example below:

With all of this information, even someone from the development team will understand what the marketing team is working on.

This minimalistic marketing plan example uses color blocks to make the different parts of the strategy easy to scan:

Breaking your strategy down into tasks will make it easier to tackle.

Another important way to visualize your marketing strategy is to create a project roadmap. A project roadmap visualizes the timeline of your product with individual tasks. Our roadmap maker can help you with this.

For example, this project roadmap shows how tasks on both the marketing and web design side run parallel to each other:

A simple timeline can also be used in your marketing plan:

Or a mind map, if you want to include a ton of information in a more organized way:

Even a simple “Next, Now, Later” chart can help visualize your strategy:

7. Set tracking or reporting guidelines

Close your marketing plan with a brief explanation of how you plan to track or measure your results. This will save you a lot of frustration down the line by standardizing how you track results across your team.

Like the other sections of your marketing plan, you can choose how in-depth you want to go. But there need to be some clear guidelines on how to measure the progress and results of your marketing plan.

At the bare minimum, your results tracking guidelines should specify:

• What you plan to track
• How you plan to track results
• How often you plan to measure

But you can more add tracking guidelines to your marketing plan if you see the need to. You may also want to include a template that your team or client can follow,  for  client reporting ,  ensure that the right metrics are being tracked.

The marketing plan example below dedicates a whole page to tracking criteria:

Use a task tracker to track tasks and marketing results, and a checklist maker to note down tasks, important life events, or tracking your daily life.

Similarly, the marketing plan example below talks about tracking content marketing instead:

Marketing plan vs. marketing strategy

Although often used interchangeably, the terms “marketing plan” and “marketing strategy” do have some differences.

Simply speaking, a marketing strategy presents what the business will do in order to reach a certain goal. A marketing plan outlines the specific daily, weekly, monthly or yearly activities that the marketing strategy calls for. As a business, you can create a marketing proposal for the marketing strategies defined in your company’s marketing plan. There are various marketing proposal examples that you can look at to help with this.

A company’s extended marketing strategy can be like this:

Notice how it’s more general and doesn’t include the actual activities required to complete each strategy or the timeframe those marketing activities will take place. That kind of information is included in a marketing plan, like this marketing plan template which talks about the content strategy in detail:

Marketing plan v.s business plan

While both marketing plans and business plans are crucial documents for businesses, they serve distinct purposes and have different scopes. Here’s a breakdown of the key differences:

Business plan is a comprehensive document that outlines all aspects of your business, including:

• Mission and vision
• Products or services
• Target market
• Competition
• Management team
• Financial projections
• Marketing strategy (including a marketing plan)
• Operations plan

Marketing plan on the other hand, dives deep into the specific strategies and tactics related to your marketing efforts. It expands on the marketing section of a business plan by detailing:

• Specific marketing goals (e.g., brand awareness, lead generation, sales)
• Target audience analysis (detailed understanding of their needs and behaviors)
• Product:  Features, benefits, positioning
• Price:  Pricing strategy, discounts
• Place:  Distribution channels (online, offline)
• Promotion:  Advertising, social media, content marketing, public relations
• Budget allocation for different marketing activities
• Metrics and measurement to track progress and success

In short, business plans paint the entire business picture, while marketing plans zoom in on the specific strategies used to reach your target audience and achieve marketing goals.

Types of marketing plans that can transform your business strategy

Let’s take a look at several types of marketing plans you can create, along with specific examples for each.

1. General marketing strategic plan / Annual marketing plan

This is a good example of a marketing plan that covers the overarching annual marketing strategy for a company:

Another good example would be this Starbucks marketing plan:

This one-page marketing plan example from coffee chain Starbucks has everything at a glance. The bold headers and subheadings make it easier to segment the sections so readers can focus on the area most relevant to them.

What we like about this example is how much it covers. From the ideal buyer persona to actional activities, as well as positioning and metrics, this marketing plan has it all.

Another marketing plan example that caught our eye is this one from Cengage. Although a bit text-heavy and traditional, it explains the various sections well. The clean layout makes this plan easy to read and absorb.

The last marketing plan example we would like to feature in this section is this one from Lush cosmetics.

It is a long one but it’s also very detailed. The plan outlines numerous areas, including the company mission, SWOT analysis , brand positioning, packaging, geographical criteria, and much more.

2. Content marketing plan

A content marketing plan highlights different strategies , campaigns or tactics you can use for your content to help your business reach its goals.

This one-page marketing plan example from Contently outlines a content strategy and workflow using simple colors and blocks. The bullet points detail more information but this plan can easily be understood at a glance, which makes it so effective.

For a more detailed content marketing plan example, take a look at this template which features an editorial calendar you can share with the whole team:

3. SEO marketing plan

Your SEO marketing plan highlights what you plan to do for your SEO marketing strategy . This could include tactics for website on-page optimization , off-page optimization using AI SEO , and link building using an SEO PowerSuite backlink API for quick backlink profile checks.

This SEO marketing plan example discusses in detail the target audience of the business and the SEO plan laid out in different stages:

4. Social media marketing plan

Your social media marketing plan presents what you’ll do to reach your marketing goal through social media. This could include tactics specific to each social media channel that you own, recommendations on developing a new channel, specific campaigns you want to run, and so on, like how B2B channels use Linkedin to generate leads with automation tools and expand their customer base; or like making use of Twitter walls that could display live Twitter feeds from Twitter in real-time on digital screens.

For B2C brands, you can target Facebook and Instagram. Gain Instagram likes to build trust for your brand’s profile and post engaging content on both platforms. Leverage AI social media tools to automate and scale your content plan..

Edit this social media marketing plan example easily with Venngage’s drag-and-drop editor:

5. Demand generation marketing plan

This could cover your paid marketing strategy (which can include search ads, paid social media ads, traditional advertisements, etc.), email marketing strategy and more. Here’s an example:

1. Free marketing plan template

Here’s a free nonprofit marketing plan example that is ideal for organizations with a comprehensive vision to share. It’s a simple plan that is incredibly effective. Not only does the plan outline the core values of the company, it also shares the ideal buyer persona.

Note how the branding is consistent throughout this example so there is no doubt which company is presenting this plan. The content plan is an added incentive for anyone viewing the document to go ahead and give the team the green light.

2. Pastel social media marketing campaign template

Two-page marketing plan samples aren’t very common, but this free template proves how effective they are. There’s a dedicated section for business goals as well as for project planning .

The milestones for the marketing campaign are clearly laid out, which is a great way to show how organized this business strategy is.

3. Small business marketing strategy template

This marketing plan template is perfect for small businesses who set out to develop an overarching marketing strategy for the whole year:

Notice how this aligns pretty well with the marketing plan outline we discussed in previous sections.

In terms of specific tactics for the company’s marketing strategy, the template only discusses SEO strategy, but you can certainly expand on that section to discuss any other strategies — such as link building , that you would like to build out a complete marketing plan for.

4. Orange simple marketing proposal template

Marketing plans, like the sample below, are a great way to highlight what your business strategy and the proposal you wan to put forward to win potential customers.

5. One-page marketing fact sheet template

This one-page marketing plan example is great for showcasing marketing efforts in a persuasive presentation or to print out for an in-person meeting.

Note how the fact sheet breaks down the marketing budget as well as the key metrics for the organization. You can win over clients and partners with a plan like this.

6. Light company business fact sheet template

This one-page sample marketing plan clearly outlines the marketing objectives for the organization. It’s a simple but effective way to share a large amount of information in a short amount of time.

What really works with this example is that includes a mission statement, key contact information alongside all the key metrics.

7. Marketing media press kit template

This press kit marketing plan template is bright and unmistakable as belonging to the Cloud Nine marketing agency . The way the brand colors are used also helps diversify the layouts for each page, making the plan easier to read.

We like the way the marketing department has outlined the important facts about the organization. The bold and large numbers draw the eye and look impressive.

8. Professional marketing proposal template

Start your marketing campaign on a promising note with this marketing plan template. It’s short, sharp and to the point. The table of contents sets out the agenda, and there’s a page for the company overview and mission statement.

9. Social media marketing proposal template

A complete marketing plan example, like the one below, not only breaks down the business goals to be achieved but a whole lot more. Note how the terms and conditions and payment schedule are included, which makes this one of the most comprehensive marketing plans on our list.

What should marketing plans include?

Marketing plans should include:

• A detailed analysis of the target market and customer segments.
• Clear and achievable marketing objectives and goals.
• Strategies and tactics for product promotion and distribution.
• Budget allocation for various marketing activities.
• Timelines and milestones for the implementation of marketing strategies.
• Evaluation metrics and methods for tracking the success of the marketing plan.

What is an executive summary in a marketing plan and what is its main goal?

An executive summary in a marketing plan is a brief overview of the entire document, summarizing the key points, goals, and strategies. Its main goal is to provide readers with a quick understanding of the plan’s purpose and to entice them to read further.

What are the results when a marketing plan is effective?

When a marketing plan is effective, businesses can experience increased brand visibility, higher customer engagement , improved sales and revenue, and strengthened customer loyalty.

What is the first section of a marketing plan?

The first section of a marketing plan is typically the “Executive Summary,” which provides a concise overview of the entire plan, including the business’s goals and the strategies to achieve them.

Now that you have the basics for designing your own marketing plan, it’s time to get started:

More marketing design guides and templates:

• Marketing Infographics: The Definitive Guide [Includes Infographic Templates]
• 20+ Business Pitch Deck Templates to Win New Clients and Investors
• 20+ White Paper Examples [Design Guide + White Paper Templates]
• The Evolution of Marketing [Timeline Infographic]

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How to create a marketing plan in 2024

7 steps to creating an effective marketing plan for businesses of all sizes

A marketing plan is a bit like a job description for your company. Everyone should have one, but they’re often not fit for purpose, out of date, and reviewed infrequently...

Research has shown that businesses with plans succeed, outperform competitors, and retain staff, more than those with no plan.

Without a plan there’s no direction for the company or its employees, decisions can be uninformed, opportunities can be missed and threats can damage or destroy the business.

Whether you are looking at creating a traditional marketing plan or a multichannel digital marketing plan, we've got resources to help you.

Free marketing plan template aimed at small businesses

In this article, Annmarie Hanlon recommends 7 simple steps for structuring a classic marketing plan. But for an SME or SMB, you need a little more detail about prioritizing your investment of time and money in your communications channels as we've mentioned.

Our Free marketing plan template download , by our co-founder Dr. Dave Chaffey who developed the RACE Planning Framework, provides a little more detail needed for a 'real-world' plan to grow a business.

Free marketing plan template download

Use our simple three-page Microsoft Word template if you work for a small business who needs to create a simple, practical marketing plan quickly. It's structured in three sections of steps using the acclaimed RACE Growth System for improving marketing results

Access the Free marketing plan template

What is a marketing plan?

A marketing plan is your place to document the process of defining and implementing your marketing strategy and creating a roadmap for future growth and business development. A marketing plan should be customer-centred, focused on your target audience and the value propositions you will deliver to them.

The key element of marketing strategy within the plan that you need to compete effectively is the Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning strategy for your brand, known as STP for short. These stages in target marketing strategy development that should be central in your marketing plan are summarized in Figure 4.10 in Digital Marketing: Strategy, Development and Planning created by Dave Chaffey of Smart Insights.

Your plan must reference Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning as essential sections you must cover in a classic marketing plan for a large business. However, for smaller businesses, you also need more practical strategies for how you will reach and engage your audiences using the key digital marketing channels today including search, social media and email marketing and then how you will persuade and convert your audience on a website or on your social pages. So, for a small or medium business (SME or SMB depending on where you are reading) your marketing plan must also include communications strategies to help you achieve your goals. That's why Smart Insights created the RACE planning framework to give guidance on how to best plan and action best practices for these channels.

How to create and structure a marketing plan

To structure your marketing plan, we recommend utilizing the Smart Insights RACE Growth System, an easy-to-use strategic marketing framework that helps you identify opportunities, strategies, and actions to help you drive growth, at each stage of your marketing funnel.

As the visual shows, our OSA process, of which you can see examples in different sectors in our editable Word plan templates, is structured in three parts:

• Opportunity : Situation review including marketplace analysis (customers, competitors and channel partners), performance analysis and Vision and SMART Objective setting based on forecasting (spreadsheet tools available in our templates)
• Strategy : Segmentation, Targeting and Positoning (STP) and the tactics forming the 7Ps of the marketing mix.
• Action : Budget, resourcing including team and tools and marketing technology (Martech) and 90-day action plans.

As a marketer, every activity will fall into either an opportunity, strategy, or action. With a strong marketing plan in place, you will be able to measure each of these elements, and more importantly, ensure all marketing activities remain integrated.

Some marketing plans, such as this Chartered Institute of Marketing recommendation on How to write a marketing plan define more stages, but particularly for smaller businesses we believe the simpler  Opportunity > Strategy > Action enables you to communicate your plan better!

Identify marketing opportunities

Let's now look at what you need to include in your plan, starting with your opportunities. A marketing plan is not just a list of activities to work on! To identify the opportunities to prioritize and challenges to overcome. You need to start with internal audits, external analysis, and goal setting - to give your marketing a purpose. We recommend summarizing your key issues based on a TOWs analysis which is a powerful form of SWOT analysis explained in our post giving SWOT analysis template examples .

Through our RACE Planning Framework, you can access tools and templates designed to help you optimize across 25 opportunities, integrated across each stage of RACE, which you can see in the infographic below:

Starting with these holistic approaches, you will quickly identify opportunities for growth and can plan strategies and actions that help you achieve your vision for your business. That's why opportunities are the first step in our OSA cycle.

Identify marketing strategies

Now you know what you want to do, strategy is working out how to achieve your goals in an efficient and effective manner. To do so, you'll likely lean on guides, templates, and models to inform your strategy.

Making good business decisions to inform your budgets, investment priorities, and key metrics are all elements of a successful marketing strategy.

Marketing plan actions

Of course, the final stage of any marketing strategy is putting it all into place!

To help you manage your time and marketing outputs, our RACE Growth System is structured around short 90-day planning cycles. This means you will see quarterly growth, as well as setting longer-term annual goals.

Quarterly measurement and reporting allow marketers and business owners to spot trends and make optimizations in a shorter timeframe too, to keep cycling customers through your dedicated marketing funnel experience.

Example marketing plan structure

It can be daunting to develop a marketing plan for the first time, so let's walk through the basics together. If you're looking for a practical, simple, data-driven marketing plan, these 7 factors will help you create and action your plan with success.

Step 1. Customer analysis (Opportunity)

A good plan starts by asking 'Where are we now?'. Gain an overview via your customers, but don’t forget to ask the right questions. One of my pet hates is the ‘hypothetical question’ e.g. A hotel asking “if you would stay here again?” It’s possible you would stay there again, but if it’s been a one-off visit it’s very unlikely it will actually happen. Removing hypothetical questions ensures you capture facts, not fiction.

If you’ve got a start-up business or are looking at a marketing plan for a totally new area, many other research resources are available including online reports, insights via trends and conferences. This informs your business decision and ensures the plan is fundamentally sound.

Step 2. Marketing audit (Opportunity)

After you’ve captured customer insights, the next step is a comprehensive review or audit of the business. Most countries publish statistical data on businesses in their region. This can tell you the number of businesses in specific sectors, average numbers of employees, average earnings, average income per household and more. This valuable information highlights market values, market potential and opportunities. This enables you to understand where your business sits in its market sector and the market share available.

A key element of the audit is the SWOT and whilst you and many marketers are familiar with the SWOT analysis, you may be less familiar with the McKinsey 7S framework of business. Taking a holistic look at the business, thinking about Strategy, Structure, Systems, Staff, Style, Skills and Shared values forms a base for your SWOT. Business members can access a 7S and SWOT template in the smart insigths Business marketing plan guide .

Part of a marketing audit is competitor benchmarking. Really understanding what the competitors offer. The more you understand how they work, the more likely you are to be able to predict their next move. You won’t be one of these companies that says “we never saw it coming”. Tools such as Google Alerts help you embed this as an automatic ongoing process.

One of my clients ensured they always got the early news on their key competitor by buying some of their shares! It meant they had access to latest reports, and newsletters and could attend annual meetings to hear what other shareholders thought. This was all for an investment of £150.

Step 3. Create sustainable objectives: Where do we want to go? (Opportunity)

It’s easy to create general objectives; it’s harder to develop SMART objectives.

Taking this one stage further, businesses that use numbers alone often miss key values inside the business. It’s easy to become numbers-driven; it’s harder to create ‘softer’ objectives. In Emarketing Excellence (2022), Dave Chaffey and PR Smith developed the 5s model, initially as a mechanism for reviewing websites. I’ve used this for many years to develop business objectives. It tends to challenge the thinking within a business and gets the owners and managers considering the business as a whole, rather than sales alone.

Look at your business. Do you have SMART objectives for:

• The sales forecast; sales figures, number of new clients wanted?
• Customer service; how can you improve the service to customers?
• Communication (speak) providing information to clients?
• Saving time, increasing your business efficiency and reducing costs?
• The wow factor! Adding sizzle to make your business stand out from the crowd?

Step 4. Segment your customer base (Strategy)

Key strategic initiatives for your business will include one or more of these options:

• Enter new markets
• Develop new products
• Improve the competitive position of the business
• Maintain the competitive position
• Harvest part of the business
• Exit the business

When you know the strategic initiatives the business is taking, it’s easier to segment your customer base, whether you’re B2B, B2C or a blend of both. You can use the mnemonic SUPERB to identify your customer segments:

• Size – Is the market large enough to justify segmenting?
• Unique – Do measurable differences exist between segments?
• Profits – Do anticipated profits exceed the costs of additional marketing plans and other changes?
• Easy Access – Is each segment easily accessible to your team?
• Reaction – Is the market able to react to your communications?
• Benefits – Will the different segments need different benefits?

Step 5. Target new customers and position your business (Strategy)

Growing a business always involves finding new customers, this may be different segments or markets and may encourage your business to look at product development.

What opportunities are there in your business to:

• Sell more of your existing products or services to your existing customer base? (Market Penetration Strategy)
• Introduce your existing product range to a new customer group? (Market Development Strategy)
• Augment or improve the existing product offer? (Product Development Strategy)
• Move into a new market with a new product offer using the skills within the business? (Diversification Strategies)

Pricing is a critical area in any business. Kotler (1988) described nine marketing mix strategies on price quality, which we look at in detail in the Business marketing plan guide for Business members, to support your pricing strategy development.

A pricing matrix is a really useful tool for product marketers or managers because it helps you identify opportunities within your product and pricing strategies. Don't forget to research which of these strategies are your main competitors using too and make sure to use key messages to help differentiate yourself.

Step 6. Create your marketing action plan (Action)

The key to making it happen is to create a detailed marketing action plan. If you don’t have time to conduct each step yourself, you can explore other options and contract out specific tasks to an external consultant or agency.

I have found that an Action Plan that includes more detail, nominates someone to do the work and sets dates by when it should be completed, is more likely to get done than a loose set of instructions. A good action plan becomes ’work instructions’ for different people.

Busy marketing managers may enlist support from the admin team who often relish the opportunity to carry out new tasks, as long as they have a detailed brief. Or for more specialized work, marketing managers may wish to enlist an Agency.

Step 7. Monitor, manage and improve (Action)

The final step is about monitoring action, managing the process and measuring results. The 7 steps to make your plan happen are:

• It is essential to maintain the impetus, start the plan today, not tomorrow.
• Appoint one person to monitor the entire plan and give them the authority to do so.
• Regular meetings should be held to review the plan. These could be 20-minute meetings at the start of the week.
• If you don’t do it today, your competitors will start tomorrow.
• If one item is difficult to start, move on to the next area.
• At the end of each quarter, review what has taken place and where more help is needed.
• The most successful businesses stick to the plan and make it happen – whilst still getting on with the day job.

Other types of marketing plan

As the world of digital marketing continues to develop, many find that particular functions within marketing require their own planning document. See examples of where this may be useful below:

• New product marketing plan: Launching a new product requires its own planning, this process can be make or break for your product. Find out about the product launch plan that generated $1 billion in 60 days .
• Content strategy: 98% of marketers believe 'having or following' a content strategy is 'important for marketing success'.
• Nich marketing strategy: Niche marketing considers the narrow category into which your business falls and targets specific subsets of customers accordingly.

But, remember, it is recommended to define one flagship plan for the whole team, for governance and accountability, before branching out into secondary planning.

One final tip; set a start and an end date for creating and launching the marketing plan , if not, the audit stage could continue indefinitely! Download your free guide and get started today.

Use our simple three-page Microsoft Word template if you work for a small business who needs to quickly create a simple, practical marketing plan quickly. It's structured in three sections of steps using the acclaimed RACE Growth System for improving marketing results

By Annmarie Hanlon

Annmarie Hanlon PhD is an academic and practitioner in strategic digital marketing and the application of social media for business. Dr Hanlon has expertise in the strategic application of social media for business and the move from digitization, to digitalization and digital transformation for business. Her expertise spans consumer touch points, online customer service, the use of reviews, the role of influencers, online engagement and digital content. You can follow her update on Twitter https://twitter.com/annmariehanlon

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The Role of Marketing Planning in Business

• Small Business
• Advertising & Marketing
• Business Marketing Plans
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Organizational Marketing Activities

Difference between market orientation & sales orientation, how to build a relationship with my customer through advertising.

• Why Customer Differentiation Is Important
• What Are the Steps in a Marketing Strategy?

Every business needs a marketing plan. It doesn't matter if you are a one-man service provider or a major corporation with 1,000 employees across multiple states. Marketing is what drives sales; without sales, you don't make the money required to stay in business long-term. As important as marketing plans are, many business leaders don't devote enough time and resources to them. Great leaders take the time to regularly develop marketing strategies and plan to build a company with a purpose.

Purpose of a Marketing Plan

The purpose of a marketing plan is to decide how you will sell your products or services to consumers. Rather than assuming your product is perfect for everyone, the plan focuses on key people who are most likely to buy the product. For some small companies or professionals, the marketing plan might be completely referral based, which means the strategy is to provide the best possible results so existing customers tell everyone they know about you.

While this is one type of strategy often utilized, it rarely is enough to sustain a new business over years of growth and development and ultimately, it doesn't help a large business that may still need to capture a bigger market to be profitable. Business leaders should ask two key questions when starting to develop a marketing plan: What problem do I solve for my customers? What makes me different than everyone else on the market ?

Importance of Marketing Planning 

Marketing plans and strategies are important because they make sales easier for any business owner. When you target your ideal customer in a smarter way, you reduce the costs of marketing and increase your chances of converting leads into sales. Asking what problem you solve and why customers should choose you helps you identigy the specific issues of someone ready to buy.

Putting an ad for your services in the newspaper is one way small businesses start marketing. However, the business is unable to control who sees the paper on any given day. This means most newspaper, magazine or mailer ads are offering general branding services in most cases, and not targeted marketing. Consumers rarely jump on general ads, so this costly method is really developing branding. But creating an ad to solve a specific issue helps ready-to-buy readers understand that your company has the solution.

For example, an estate planning attorney can put an ad in the paper with his picture and a list of services. While he may get some results, his ad might perform better by targeting baby boomers who need to help their parents plan to pass assets to the next generation.

Developing a Strategic Marketing Strategy

When developing a strategic marketing strategy, you want to create an "a-ha" moment in the reader's mind. These moments are where the reader realizes that you have an answer to something that has been on their mind to some degree.

When consumers are aware of their requirements and a solution is presented to them, they are more likely to buy. If a person doesn't realize they have a problem, it takes longer to educate them through the process of seeing why they might need you. You are less likely to get a sale if customers don't see a need or extreme desire.

Think about a chiropractor. Someone who doesn't have back pain might be a difficult person to sell the service to because they don't see a need. Someone with back pain might realize she needs a solution, but she isn't sure if that solution is chiropractic, massage or physical therapy. It might even be surgery. This is why you need to consider what the consumer needs and what makes you different – and the best solution.

• Business.gov: Why do I need a marketing plan?
• Midwest Marketing LLC: The 5 Key Benefits of a Marketing Plan to your Business
• Entrepreneur: Use These 5 Steps to Create a Marketing Plan

With more than 15 years of small business ownership including owning a State Farm agency in Southern California, Kimberlee understands the needs of business owners first hand. When not writing, Kimberlee enjoys chasing waterfalls with her son in Hawaii.

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Importance of service marketing, how to write a good ad for the newspaper, how to write a marketing profile, how to write an executive summary on a marketing plan, how does a business strategy differ from strategic marketing management, customer importance in marketing, what is a marketing misconception, 6 marketing ideas for letter writing, what is faux marketing, most popular.

• 1 Importance of Service Marketing
• 2 How to Write a Good Ad for the Newspaper
• 3 How to Write a Marketing Profile
• 4 How to Write an Executive Summary on a Marketing Plan

2.2 The Role of Marketing in the Strategic Planning Process

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• 1 Explain the role of marketing in the strategic planning process.
• 2 Discuss the business portfolio and identify planning tools.
• 3 Describe a SWOT analysis.
• 4 List and describe marketing strategies based on analytics.

Explain the Role of Marketing in the Strategic Planning Process

To get a better idea of the importance of marketing in the strategic planning process, let’s imagine that you’re the owner of a manufacturing business that produces widgets. You’ve been able to recruit top engineering talent to design these widgets and source components from trusted, reliable vendors, and your manufacturing facility is efficient and can produce the widgets in a cost-effective manner. Sounds like a winning business, doesn’t it?

Well, the only thing we’ve left out of the equation for success is customers, and without customers, the finest engineering staff and manufacturing facility in the world won’t ring the bell in terms of profits or revenue. You need to determine who your customers are, what their needs and wants are, how you’re going to reach them, and how you’re going to persuade them to buy your widgets. That’s where marketing comes into the strategic planning process, and that’s why it plays a crucial role.

Marketing in the strategic planning process has several basic but critical functions:

• First, marketers assist the strategic planning team in executing a marketing philosophy throughout the strategic planning process.
• Second, marketers assist the organization in gathering and analyzing information necessary to examine the current situation (the first step in a gap analysis).
• Third, marketers are responsible for the identification of trends in the marketing environment and assessing the potential impact of those trends. 24

Business Portfolio Definition

As noted above, many businesses have a single product or business unit. However, larger organizations such as Apple , Alphabet , General Electric , Meta , and Microsoft often have multiple diverse business units called strategic business units. Despite the fact that these SBUs report directly to the parent company’s headquarters, they typically develop their own vision statements, mission statements, objectives, and goals, and the strategic planning for these SBUs is performed separately and apart from other SBUs within the organization. 25 When companies have multiple products or business units, these comprise the business portfolio —the total group of product lines, services, and business units that the company possesses.

To give you a better sense of what a business portfolio entails, look at Figure 2.5 , which illustrates the products and services of Microsoft and how each offering contributes to the overall strategic plan of the company. 26 Microsoft reported $168 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2021, and each of its product lines (or strategic business units) contributes to this revenue in differing amounts. 27 It’s easy to see from this breakdown why each of these businesses under the Microsoft “umbrella” would have different strategic plans to execute within the markets they serve. You likely wouldn’t have one overarching marketing or business strategy for all of these SBUs because the markets for Office, Gaming, LinkedIn , and the other SBUs are likely very different and would require different strategies to reach and retain customers.

Analyze and Design the Business Portfolio

There are many reasons why an organization would establish separate business units or product lines as it grows. For example, if the current product line is in a market where growth is limited, it may choose to branch out to other product lines or markets. Alternatively, an organization may choose to expand into other product lines to take advantage of emerging opportunities.

Emerson Electric , headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, has five business segments: Network Power, Process Management, Industrial Automation, Climate Technologies, and Commercial and Residential Solutions (i.e., tools and storage). These business segments provide products as diverse as hardware and software technologies; motors; fluid control systems; heating and air-conditioning products and services; and tools, storage products, and appliances for residential, health care, and food services. 28 When you consider divisions as diverse as these, it should be readily evident why each is a separate division with separate strategies to compete in its respective marketplaces.

Conversely, a business may choose to expand in areas in which it already has experience and can use the power of its core competencies to establish sustainable competitive advantage with new products in existing markets.

There are a few tools that can help determine which course of action is best advised given the current circumstances of the organization, the marketplace, and other factors. Let’s take a look at a few of them.

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix

The BCG matrix is a model developed by Boston Consulting Group that can be used to analyze a business’s product lines or SBUs and make decisions about which to invest in in the future and which they should try to minimize further investment in or even eliminate. The bottom line is that no business has unlimited funds to invest in its product lines, and the BCG matrix is a useful model in determining how to allocate money in terms of marketing, research and development (R&D), etc. to that portfolio.

As shown in Figure 2.6 , the BCG matrix considers both market share and market growth rate. The SBUs or products that have high market share in a high-growth market are called stars and are placed in the upper left quadrant. These are the opportunities that hold the most promise for the organization.

Conversely, those SBUs or products that have low market share in a low-growth market are referred to as dogs and are placed in the lower right quadrant. These are prime candidates for divestiture or elimination because they have relatively low growth potential, and although the business has significant funds tied up in them, they bring in virtually nothing in terms of revenues. Divestiture could also provide needed capital to invest in your stars or question marks.

Cash cows , in the lower left quadrant, are an interesting breed, so to speak. A cash cow is an SBU or product that has high market share in a low-growth market. They’re valuable to a business because they generate significant revenue that can fund other strategic initiatives or emerging opportunities. Incidentally, they’re called cash cows because the thinking is to “milk” these products for profits.

Those SBUs or products that have a low market share in a high-growth market are called question marks (sometimes also called “problem children”) and are placed in the upper left quadrant. Question marks are among the most complex decisions to be considered when developing a BCG matrix because a root cause analysis may be required in order to determine why these SBUs are, in fact, question marks. Obviously, with high-market growth, the market is strong, but there are one or more reasons why your organization hasn’t been able to capitalize on it and gain market share. Does the product line need more investment in order to move into the “star” category? Is competition so strong in this market that additional funding in terms of advertising campaigns or other marketing tactics render them useless? Is the question mark just a trend in which you can expect high growth without a lot of market share for a short period of time?

Once you have categorized each of your SBUs or products on the BCG matrix, you’ll have a crystal-clear vision of where each stands and can identify which you should prioritize and which need to be divested.

To better understand the BCG model, let’s do a simplified matrix for Apple and some of its products (see Figure 2.7 ). Because Apple has so many products and services, we’re showing only four hardware products in this matrix.

In this sample matrix, we’re going to place the Apple iPhone in the star category. You’ll recall from our discussion above that stars have relatively high market share in a growing market. Let’s face it: the iPhone is the shining gem of Apple’s portfolio. Even though Apple has diversified its product line, the iPhone is still responsible for 52 percent of the company’s revenue, raking in an astounding $192 billion in 2021. 29

Next, we’re going to put the iPad and the MacBook in the cash cow category. Remember that the BCG matrix is built on two parameters—market share and market growth. Both the iPad and the MacBook have relatively high market share compared to competitors, but the market for these products is not growing much anymore. 30 The Apple iPad had a 31.5 percent share of the global tablet market during the first quarter (down from 38 percent in the previous quarter), and the MacBook still holds popularity, garnering 15.3 percent of the market share. 31 Both the iPad and the MacBook are well-established products that continue to generate substantial income for Apple, and these products require relatively little additional investment for them to remain profitable.

Let’s move on to the question mark category. Remember that question marks have low market share in a high-growth market, and we’re going to place the Apple iWatch in this category. The iWatch has the potential to become as big of a hit as the iPhone, but the jury is still out because there are too many unknowns in the market. Global sales of smartwatches increased by 13 percent in the first quarter of 2022, and the Apple iWatch continues to lead in market share. 32 However, Apple will need to analyze its iWatch vis-à-vis its other products to decide if it should continue to invest in the product. 33

Finally, let’s move on to the dog quadrant of the matrix. We’re going to place the iPod in this category because market growth has slowed considerably as people use their phones to listen to music or podcasts. The iPod has experienced a shrinking market share as a result, and it wouldn’t make sense for Apple to continue to invest in the iPod. 34 As a matter of fact, Apple announced in May 2022 that it would discontinue the iPod Touch, while the touch-screen model launched in 2007 will remain on sale until supplies run out. 35

Link to Learning

Would you like to learn more about the BCG Matrix? Watch this brief video from Solve It Like a Marketer.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT is an acronym for a business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and it is a useful aid for zeroing in on a feasible marketing strategy. The purpose of a SWOT analysis is really quite simple. Marketers want to identify the strengths and weaknesses in the organization’s internal environment as well as the opportunities and threats that exist in the organization’s external environment. It is generally presented in the format seen in Figure 2.8 . You would complete the template with bullet points in each of the four quadrants.

A SWOT analysis will aid in taking advantages of the organization’s strengths and opportunities while avoiding (or at least minimizing) weaknesses and threats to its success. Realistically, some of the factors are in the control of the company (i.e., strengths and weaknesses), but other factors are outside the control of the company (i.e., opportunities and threats). Let’s consider each of these in a little more detail.

Strengths can be factors such as patents or trademarks possessed by the company that hinder competitors in participating in the market; a better cost structure than competitors; a talented, innovative staff; or strong brand recognition in the market. Strengths are internal to the organization, and they’re also positives. Questions to ask when developing this section may be: What do you do well? What unique resources you can draw on? Consider a company like Starbucks . If you were preparing a SWOT analysis for Starbucks, its strengths might include a strong brand image, solid financial performance, impressive growth in the number of stores, and an extensive international supply chain. 36

Weaknesses are also factors within a company’s internal environment, but these are hindrances to your success, so they’re categorized as negatives. Weaknesses may be difficulty in accessing capital or funding, outdated technology, an unmotivated workforce, weak brand recognition, or high levels of debt. Let’s go back to Starbucks. If you were preparing a SWOT analysis for Starbucks, some of its weaknesses may be high prices versus the competition and the imitability of its products. 37

Now we’ll switch over to external factors that affect the business. Opportunities are openings for something positive to happen if (and only if) you can capitalize on them. Opportunities can be moving into a new market segment that offers improved profits (like a snack food manufacturer moving into the health foods sector), competitors that have quality or delivery problems, or impending legislation that would favorably affect your organization if you’re able to capitalize on it. Once again, let’s go back to Starbucks. If you were preparing a SWOT analysis for Starbucks, some of its opportunities might be expansion in developing markets, a coffee subscription service similar to that offered by Panera Bread , and the introduction of new products and holiday flavors. 38

Finally, threats are anything external to your organization that can negatively impact your business. These may include supply chain problems, ongoing staffing problems, new competitors entering the market, or impending legislation that would negatively impact your organization, like tariffs. If you were doing a SWOT analysis for Starbucks, you might identify threats such as competition with lower-cost coffee sellers, tightening discretionary spending due to inflation, or the rising price of coffee beans. 39

Check out this video for a very simple example of a SWOT analysis.

When preparing a SWOT analysis, it is also helpful to compare elements by ranking strengths and weaknesses (internal factors) in terms of relative competitive importance. Marketers can also rank threats and opportunities (external factors) in terms of their likelihood and magnitude. 40

Earlier in this chapter, we pointed out the differences between corporate-level strategy, business-level strategy, and functional strategy. If you’re a fan of movies like Other People’s Money or Wall Street , you might think that corporate strategy focuses on hostile takeovers, mergers, and ruthless acquisitions.

The movie Moneyball is about a baseball general manager assembling a team by using computer analysis to hire new players. This is a great example of using analytics to inform strategy. Watch a clip of the movie here, where you see the analytics applied.

Market Penetration

When a company focuses on growing its market share in its existing markets, it is using what’s known as a market penetration strategy . This approach generally entails significant expenditures in advertising and other marketing efforts in order to influence consumers’ brand choice and create a brand reputation for the company, thereby increasing its market share.

In some mature industries (like soap, laundry detergent, or toothpaste), a market penetration strategy becomes a way of life because nearly all competitors are also engaged in intensive advertising and battle for market share. It becomes a way of life because companies fear that if they don’t advertise as much as or more than their competitors, they will lose market share.

To give you an idea of how fierce the competition is with a market penetration strategy, consider Procter & Gamble , which spent $4.7 billion on advertising in 2020. 41

Product Development

As noted above, a market penetration strategy focuses on existing products and existing markets. By contrast, a product development strategy involves the creation of new or improved products in order to drive growth in sales, revenue, and profit. Although the advertising expenditures involved with a market penetration strategy may be significant, they often pale compared to the expenditures involved in a product development strategy. This is because product development generally requires significant investment in R&D activities. 42

The automobile industry provides a good illustration of the product development strategy. Car makers generally refresh their models every few years to encourage car owners to trade in their old vehicles and buy the redesigned cars with the latest tech features such as driver assist, Wi-Fi hotspots, and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. 43 At the same time, all the manufacturers are spending billions of dollars developing new electric vehicle models to meet ambitious goals for phasing out gasoline-powered engines.

Another great example of a product development strategy is Tide laundry detergent. Tide has undergone more than 50 formulation changes over the past 40 years in an effort to continually improve its product’s performance. The name always stays the same, but Tide has a “new and improved” formula with each new product release. 44

If you doubt the power of a product development strategy, the next time you go to the grocery store or supermarket, just look at how many “new and improved” products are on the shelves!

Market Development

A market development strategy involves searching for new market segments and uses for a company’s products. This strategy can involve the launch of its existing products into new markets or different geographical areas. In doing so, the company attempts to capitalize on the strength of the brand name it has developed in the existing markets and find new markets in which to compete.

Facebook is a great example of a market development strategy. It’s difficult to remember when Facebook wasn’t a household word, but Facebook started out as a small platform that enabled Harvard University students to compare headshots. The popularity of the platform spread to other college campuses, and eventually Facebook allowed nonstudents to join. It looks like the strategy worked—Facebook is now the largest social network in the world, with nearly 3 billion users! 45

To help you better understand these strategies, let’s consider each one from the perspective of one company— Harley-Davidson . If Harley-Davidson were to adopt a market penetration strategy, the company would focus on selling more Harley-Davidson motorcycles in the US market. If the company were to adopt a product development strategy, it would begin selling a new product such as biker clothing for children under the Harley-Davidson brand in the US market. Harley-Davidson is currently pursuing a market development strategy, with plans to develop a new motorcycle to manufacture and sell in China. Harley-Davidson’s diversification strategy might entail selling new products like children’s biker clothing in China for the first time.

Product Diversification

A product diversification strategy is still another tool that companies can use to improve profitability and increase sales of new products. This strategy can be utilized at both the business level and the corporate level. At the business level, marketers would expand into a new segment of an industry in which the company is already operating. 46 For example, consider Apple . The company launched its revolutionary iPhone in 2007, but it didn’t stop there. It has since diversified into tablets and other technology-related products. 47 At the corporate level, let’s consider a dine-in restaurant that adds corporate catering and perhaps a fleet of food trucks—both businesses outside the scope of its existing business.

There are three types of diversification techniques, as shown in Figure 2.9 .

Let’s look at each of these strategies in a little more detail.

The concept of concentric diversification revolves around the addition of similar products or services to an existing business. 48 If a picture is worth a thousand words, then an example has to be worth even more, particularly an example to which you can easily relate as a student. As you’re reading this chapter, consider book publishers, like Harper Collins , Simon & Schuster , or Penguin/Random House . These book publishers don’t only print the works of one author; rather, they have hundreds or perhaps thousands of authors’ works in their arsenals. These publishers will publish print books, e-books (like the one you’re reading right now), and audiobooks and may even sell the rights to some of the books for film and TV adaptations, allowing them to garner additional streams of revenue for one product. 49

Conversely, the concept of horizontal diversification involves making available to existing customers new and perhaps even unrelated products or services so that you can garner a larger customer base. 50 For example, consider a company that produces dental hygiene products like toothbrushes and dental floss. In order to increase sales to existing customers, the company may decide to introduce into the market a line of oral irrigators or teeth whiteners. These products are new to the company, but they still serve the same customer base as its existing products.

Finally, conglomerate diversification takes horizontal diversification one step further. Conglomerate diversification involves the development and addition of new products or services that are significantly unrelated. You’re not only introducing a new product, you’re introducing a new product that is completely unrelated to your existing line of business. 51 Consider General Electric when looking for an example of conglomerate diversification. General Electric started out as a lighting business, but over the years, it has diversified into medical devices, household appliances, aircraft engines, financial services, and more. That’s taking conglomerate diversification to a whole new level!

Blue Ocean Strategy

Learn about market-creating strategies known as the Blue Ocean strategy from Harvard Business Review , where it uses Cirque du Soleil as an example.

Knowledge Check

It’s time to check your knowledge on the concepts presented in this section. Refer to the Answer Key at the end of the book for feedback.

• Opportunity
• Market share and market growth rate
• Market size and market share
• The ratio of dogs to cash cows in the product portfolio
• The potential for question marks to cross over and become stars
• Question mark
• Market development
• Product diversification
• Horizontal diversification
• Product development

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Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/principles-marketing/pages/1-unit-introduction

• Authors: Dr. Maria Gomez Albrecht, Dr. Mark Green, Linda Hoffman
• Publisher/website: OpenStax
• Book title: Principles of Marketing
• Publication date: Jan 25, 2023
• Location: Houston, Texas
• Book URL: https://openstax.org/books/principles-marketing/pages/1-unit-introduction
• Section URL: https://openstax.org/books/principles-marketing/pages/2-2-the-role-of-marketing-in-the-strategic-planning-process

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What is a marketing plan and why is it important?

Before you spend a cent on marketing, you first have to understand the market and your customers.

Companies of all sizes have one thing in common: They all began as small businesses.  Starting small  is the corner for those just getting off the ground. Learn about how to make that first hire, deal with all things administrative, and set yourself up for success.

A marketing plan is a blueprint for launching new products, understanding the intricacies of your market, growing your audience, and promoting your company to customers who want what you’re selling. 

With a well-designed marketing plan, you can design more effective promotions and impactful campaigns, reach your customers with targeted advertising, and track your business success with analytics. Without one, you might as well throw your marketing budget down a well and hope for the best. 

If you’ve been tasked with creating a marketing plan for your company, there are some basic elements to keep in mind. Though every marketing plan will reflect the specific business and industry it’s been created for, most share a few common features and can be boiled down to just one or two simple objectives. In this article, we’ll outline some of the basic elements of a marketing plan and how to write one.

When you’re ready to put the plan into action, WeWork All Access and WeWork On Demand are there to support you with hundreds of dedicated workspaces around the world, so you can seamlessly collaborate on marketing strategy in a professional and stylish office space.

What is a marketing plan?

A marketing plan is a document outlining a company’s future marketing efforts and goals. It can be as short as a single page or made up of many smaller campaign plans from different marketing teams. 

However large and complex those plans are, the idea remains the same: A marketing plan is created to organize, execute, and eventually measure the success of a business’s marketing strategy .

Types of marketing plans

Marketing plans come in as many different shapes and sizes as there are different kinds of business, but they can be broadly placed into one (or more) of a few different categories. Here are some of the most common you’ll encounter.

• Annual marketing plans. These types of marketing plans arrange campaigns according to when they’re expected to launch, rather than the content of the campaigns themselves. It’s a useful way to get an overview of a marketing strategy for the upcoming year, and to measure success continuously as time passes.
• Content marketing plans. This is a more content-focused way of approaching a marketing strategy, and highlights the specific channels and audiences you want to reach. Content marketing plans can look very similar to annual marketing plans, but are less concerned with the “when” and more with the “what” and the “how.”
• Product launch plans. Launching a new product or service requires a specific kind of marketing plan. The main goal is to successfully introduce the new product to the market. But these plans also include the strategies, tactics, and content needed in the buildup to the launch itself.
• Social media marketing plans. Social media channels are such a vital part of a company’s marketing goals that it’s often wise to create a separate social media marketing plan dedicated to creating advertising and promotional content on these platforms.

What is the purpose of a marketing plan?

A marketing plan lays out your business strategy for acquiring new customers and selling more products and services. But it also serves as a way of analyzing exactly how successful your marketing efforts have been so far. Knowing this information helps steer ongoing campaigns in the right direction, aligns your marketing with your company’s values, and ensures that future campaigns are better targeted and more effective.

To understand why a marketing plan is important, just consider what would happen without one. Your advertising budget would be spent based entirely on guesswork about where your potential customers can be found and what they’re looking for. You’d have no idea which of your campaigns contributed to increased sales figures. And you’d have no baselines from which to build more effective campaigns in the future.

How to create a marketing plan

Elements of a marketing plan.

The basic building blocks of any good marketing plan are focused on objectives, research, competitors, and content. These objectives should be clearly defined and easily measurable goals —ideally no more than two or three—and informed by as much consumer research as you can reasonably gather.

Whether your goal is increasing your Instagram followers, driving traffic to your site, or attracting more cheese fans to your cheese store, set a specific target by which to monitor the performance of any campaign. As you develop your marketing plan and learn what’s effective and what’s not, you can set more accurate targets and begin to hone in on the strategies that really work for your company.

A marketing plan should also describe your brand’s biggest competitors and the campaigns they’re running, as well as identify any openings in the market that would allow your company to grab market share. This is where SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis comes into its own, enabling a company to shape its marketing plan around its own strengths and weaknesses.

Lastly, a marketing plan should outline the content of each campaign. Will your pre-roll video content use animation or live actors? Can you offer discounts and voucher codes to new customers? Will you leverage your mailing list to notify existing customers of a new product launch?

Define a marketing plan strategy

If your marketing plan is a roadmap, then your marketing strategy is the road. The strategy describes which tools you’ll use to hit the targets laid out by the main marketing plan document, and how they’ll be applied.

Here’s where you get down to the fundamentals of selling. Depending on who you ask, there are as many as seven P’s of marketing, though most agree on four core elements: price, product, place, and promotion.

What are you selling? How much are you charging? Where will your customers see it? And how will you promote it to them? Marketing gurus will promise you that if you can answer all of these questions correctly, you’ll be guaranteed boundless success.

Of course, in the real world it’s not quite so straightforward. But the four main P’s are an ideal starting point for anyone creating a market plan from scratch.

How to measure the success of a marketing plan

An enormous amount of effort and investment is poured into monitoring the effectiveness of advertising campaigns, but at some level, consumer behavior becomes what’s known as a black box. You can measure what goes into it and what comes out the other end, but what happens inside the mind of a consumer can ultimately only be guessed at based on outcomes. Even the shoppers themselves can’t reliably report on why they choose certain products over others.

That’s why tracking a marketing plan’s performance alongside more specific KPIs (key performance indicators) is crucial. Advertising spend and sales figures aren’t linked in a simple or obvious way, so measuring success on a more granular level—such as increasing conversions or returning customers—helps create a much clearer picture of how well your marketing plan is doing.

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Final thoughts on creating a marketing plan

Marketing plans need to be squarely outlined and adhered to, but they shouldn’t be set in stone. You need to be able to course-correct when something isn’t landing, or lean more into campaigns when they’re working well. 

Quick aside: This is particularly true when it comes to the content of social media marketing plans, which are truly effective only when they’re timely and topical. Memes are a perfect example of this: How often have you seen a promoted tweet deploy some forgotten joke from months ago, presumably because it had been left in somebody’s annual marketing plan?

But while it’s useful to have a flexible approach , it’s important that your marketing plan is resilient and doesn’t flip-flop or bounce wildly between ideas. Move the goalposts too much and your plan will quickly fall apart, leaving your campaign in chaos. Allow your strategies some time to settle in, and even if you don’t reach success, you will gain invaluable performance data for future projects.

Steve Hogarty is a writer and journalist based in London. He is the travel editor of City AM newspaper and the deputy editor of City AM Magazine , where his work focuses on technology, travel, and entertainment.

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What Is a Marketing Strategy?

• How It Works
• Marketing Strategies vs. Plans
• Creating a Marketing Strategy

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Marketing Strategy: What It Is, How It Works, and How to Create One

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A marketing strategy refers to a business’s overall plan to convince customers to buy its products or services. A marketing strategy determines how to reach prospective consumers and turn them into customers. It contains the company’s value proposition , key brand messaging, data on target customer  demographics, and other high-level elements.

A thorough marketing strategy covers the four Ps of marketing: product, price, place, and promotion.

Key Takeaways

• A marketing strategy is a business’s plan for reaching prospective consumers and turning them into customers of their products or services.
• Marketing strategies should revolve around a company’s value proposition and make use of unique brand messaging.
• The ultimate goal of a marketing strategy is to achieve and communicate a sustainable competitive advantage over rival companies.
• A marketing strategy is a big-picture idea that informs smaller, short-term marketing plans.

Understanding Marketing Strategies

A clear marketing strategy should revolve around the company’s value proposition. This communicates to consumers what the company stands for, how it operates, and why it deserves the customers' business. A well-constructed value proposition provides marketing teams with a template that should inform their initiatives across all of the company’s products and services.

The ultimate goal of a marketing strategy is to achieve and communicate a sustainable competitive advantage over rival companies. To do this, a business must understand the needs and wants of its customers. Whether it’s a print ad design, mass customization , or a social media campaign, a marketing asset should effectively communicate a company’s core value proposition .

For example, Walmart ( WMT ) is widely known as a discount retailer with “everyday low prices.” Low prices are its value proposition, so all its business operations and marketing efforts are rooted in that idea, which appeals to its core consumer base. Its marketing strategies may be found on TV, in print, or on the accounts of social media influencers, but they all emphasize the same value proposition of low prices on everyday products.

Many companies use market research to identify what is most important to consumers and how to differentiate their products or services from those of competitors. This information can be used to identify untapped audiences and develop a plan for reaching them, which will increase sales and improve a company's bottom line.

Marketing Strategies vs. Marketing Plans

The marketing strategy is outlined in the marketing plan . This is a document that details the specific types of marketing activities a company will conduct in a given timeframe. It contains important information such as what the current and near-future marketing initiatives will be, how they will be conducted, what their goals are, and the timetables for enacting them. A company may have separate marketing initiatives for each of its products or services; it may also have multiple marketing initiatives for the same product or service that are implemented at different times or on different platforms.

Marketing strategies inform a business's marketing across many verticals and over a longer period of time. These strategies should ideally have longer life spans than individual marketing plans because they contain value propositions and other key elements of a company’s brand, which generally hold constant over the long haul.

Marketing strategies cover big-picture messaging, while marketing plans delineate the logistical details of specific campaigns.

For example, a marketing strategy might say that a company aims to increase authority in niche circles where their clients visit. The marketing plan puts that into action by commissioning thought leadership pieces on LinkedIn.

How to Create a Marketing Strategy

Creating a thoughtful and effective marketing strategy requires several steps.

Identify Goals

While sales are the ultimate goal for every company, a marketing strategy can also include short-term goals such as:

• Establishing authority
• Increasing customer engagement
• Generating leads

These smaller goals offer measurable benchmarks for the progress of your marketing plan. Think of strategy as the high-level ideology and planning as how you accomplish your goals.

Create a Customer Profile

Every product or service has an ideal customer, and you should have a profile outlining what you know about yours. It can include:

• Who they are
• What they are most interested in
• What problems they want to solve
• What is holding them back from solving those problems
• What solutions your competitors offer them
• What types of media are ideal for reaching them

If you sell power tools, for example, you’ll choose marketing channels where general contractors may see your messaging. This could be TV ads, or it might be social media accounts focused on home renovation and DIY.

Develop a Message

Now that you know your goals and who you’re pitching to, it’s time to create your message. Your clients have a problem that needs to be solved and something that is standing in the way of that solution. Your marketing message needs to communicate how your product or service will solve their problem and improve their lives.

This is also when you differentiate your solution from the one provided by your competitors and show how it's the best option for your customers.

Define Your Budget

How you disperse your messaging may depend on how much you can afford. Will you be purchasing advertising? Working with thought leaders or influencers? Hoping for a viral moment on social media organically? Sending out press releases to the media to try to gain coverage?

Your budget will dictate what you can afford to do.

Select Your Channels

Even the best message won't work unless it is communicated through the appropriate medium. Selecting the best channel for your marketing efforts will depend on who your customers are, who they trust, what types of media they consume, and what budget you have to work with.

Some companies may find the most value in creating blog posts for their website. Others may find success with paid ads on social media channels. Find the most appropriate venue for your content.

Track Measurable Benchmarks

To target your marketing, you need to know whether it is reaching its audience. Determine your metrics and how you’ll judge the success of your marketing efforts. Make sure these are clearly defined and measurable. For example, you may decide to track:

• Customer signups
• Sales of an individual product
• Social media followers
• Customer retention
• New accounts opened

Which metrics you track will depend on the goals of your marketing campaign and the type of business you are running.

What Do the Four Ps Mean in a Marketing Strategy?

The four Ps are product, price, promotion, and place. These are the key factors that are involved in the marketing of a good or service . The four Ps can be used when planning a new business venture, evaluating an existing offer, or trying to optimize sales with a target audience. They also can be used to test a current marketing strategy on a new audience.

What Does a Marketing Strategy Look Like?

A marketing strategy will detail the advertising, outreach, and public relations campaigns to be carried out by a firm, including how the company will measure the effect of these initiatives. The functions and components of a marketing plan include market research, tailored messaging  that targets certain demographics and geographic areas, platform selection, and metrics that measure the results of marketing efforts and their reporting timelines.

Is a Marketing Strategy the Same as a Marketing Plan?

The terms “marketing plan” and “marketing strategy” are often used interchangeably because a marketing plan is developed based on an overarching strategic framework. The plan outlines marketing activities on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis, while the marketing strategy outlines the overall value proposition. In some cases, the strategy and the plan may be incorporated into one document, particularly for smaller companies that may only run one or two major campaigns in a year.

Companies need to sell their products and services to generate revenue and put them on the path of being a successful business. To sell their products or services, they have to let consumers know of them. They must also convince consumers to buy them as well as convert consumers from competitors. Having a marketing strategy that outlines this process and more is a crucial step in converting consumers into customers.

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How To Create A Successful Marketing Plan

Published: Aug 13, 2024, 7:15am

Table of Contents

What is a marketing plan, marketing plan vs. marketing strategy, why businesses need a marketing plan, essential marketing channels, how to create a marketing plan, bottom line, frequently asked questions (faqs).

The difference between a flourishing business and a floundering business often comes down to an effective marketing campaign. This is especially true for small businesses. Every successful marketing campaign starts with a well-thought-out marketing plan. In this article, we will guide you through the steps on how to create a top-notch marketing plan to help put your business on the road to success.

A marketing plan is essentially a roadmap that guides businesses through the complex terrain of promoting their products or services. Think of it as a blueprint that details specific marketing campaigns, timelines, target audiences and channels such as social media , email or traditional media. Your plan should also establish clear metrics for success, the methodology used to evaluate performance and allocated budgets.

It is important to note that a marketing plan is not a static document. It is supposed to be an ever-evolving plan that adapts to market trends, customer feedback and the successful or unsuccessful marketing efforts. If done properly, a marketing plan will help you synchronize your marketing objectives with your overall business goals and ensure every marketing activity aligns with your broader vision of growth.

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Some assume that “marketing plan” and “marketing strategy” are the same thing, but be aware they hold distinct meanings and serve different purposes. A marketing strategy is more big-picture thinking. It identifies your target market, your value proposition, how you position yourself against competitors and how you will sustain your value over time. It involves deep insights into your customers’ needs, market trends and competitive analysis. It is essentially the “why” behind all your marketing actions.

The marketing plan, on the other hand, details the “what” and the “when” of those efforts. Once you have your marketing strategy outlined, you can begin to create a marketing plan. The plan should outline the specific campaigns, activities and tactics you’ll use to carry out the strategy. This includes details on the marketing channels you’ll use, the timeline for implementation, the budget and the key performance indicators you’ll track to measure success. It’s a blueprint that translates the strategy into actionable tasks and schedules.

A carefully crafted marketing plan can be a game-changer for small businesses dreaming of steady growth and a competitive edge over larger companies. Marketing plans with smart strategies and targeted campaigns can level the playing field by helping small businesses carve out their niche. It provides a clear roadmap that aligns marketing efforts with business objectives to ensure every marketing action contributes to the broader company goals.

This focused approach saves small businesses money by efficiently focusing resources instead of using a scattergun approach that can drain limited budgets. By identifying and understanding target markets, businesses can tailor their messaging to meet specific needs, which increases the likelihood of conversion. A solid marketing plan offers a framework for measuring success by setting benchmarks. With careful tracking, small businesses can quickly see what’s not working and adjust strategies in real time for better outcomes.

Today’s businesses have a wide array of marketing channels available to them. From highly analytical PPC advertising to engaging in-person event marketing, there’s no shortage of methods to promote your company.

Social Media

During the past two decades, social media has proved to be a highly effective way for small businesses to market themselves at little to no costs. Platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn offer businesses a dynamic platform to engage directly with their audience. They allow for the sharing of content, running targeted ads and fostering community through comments and shares. Effective social media marketing can enhance brand awareness, drive traffic and strengthen customer loyalty.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is another highly effective way to reach an audience directly. Newsletters, promotional offers and personalized content can nurture leads, promote loyalty and drive conversions. Email marketing offers measurable results and high ROI, making it a staple in a digital marketing strategy toolbox.

• Content Marketing

Content marketing involves creating hyper-relevant and compelling content that will act as a magnet to attract a laser-focused group of people. You can create blogs, videos, infographics and podcasts to cultivate an engaged community of followers with whom your brand’s message genuinely resonates.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is the practice of optimizing website content to rank higher in search engine results pages. Effective SEO strategies including on-page optimization, quality link building and keyword research help drive traffic to your website.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising

PPC advertising is a method of online marketing where you pay a fee each time someone clicks on your ad. Popular platforms such as Google Ads and Bing Ads guarantee your ads show up first in search engine results for specific keywords, allowing you to bypass the “organic” results. While the pay-per-click fees can add up, this form of advertising provides immediate traffic and measurable results.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing leverages the reach of influencers in specific niches to help you promote your business to a larger audience. When you partner with a credible influencer, you can tap into their loyal followings, gain trust quickly and drive engagement that will hopefully lead to greater sales. Affiliate marketing can complement influencer marketing by allowing influencers to earn commissions on the sales they drive. This performance-based option is cost effective, as you will only pay for actual results.

Event Marketing

Event marketing involves marketing your brand, company or service through in-person or virtual events. It can be anything from interactive webinars and educational workshops to large-scale conferences and industry trade shows. Event marketing gives you the opportunity to directly engage with your audience and hopefully provide a memorable experience for your customers.

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Creating a marketing plan is a step-by-step process. Make sure you take your time with each step before moving on to the next one.

1. Create an Executive Summary

An executive summary is a snapshot of your simplified marketing goals, significant milestones and an outline of future plans. It should encapsulate relevant facts about your brand, setting the stage for the detailed strategy that follows. This section provides stakeholders with a clear understanding of where the company stands and where it intends to go, concisely summarizing the essence of the marketing efforts.

2. Identify Your Target Market

Who are you trying to reach? By identifying your target market you can tailor your marketing strategies effectively to help them reach the people most likely to be interested in your products or services. Outline the characteristics of your ideal customer including age, location, goals, pains and trigger points.

3. Research Your Competitors

Competitor research is a critical step in forming a marketing plan. Analyze the strengths and weaknesses in other businesses in your industry. This insight can help you identify opportunities for differentiation and areas where you can fill in the opportunity your competitors may have overlooked.

4. Determine Your Marketing Goals

Without clear marketing goals, you are just shooting barrels in the dark. Are you trying to increase brand awareness, boast sales or grow your digital footprint? And if so, by how much and in what timeframe? Use the SMART criteria for goal setting, which advises that goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

5. Establish and Track Benchmarks

Once you determine what your marketing goals are, it is important to track their effectiveness.

To do this, set baseline measurements for key performance indicators related to your goals, such as website traffic, conversion rates or social media engagement. Monitor these benchmarks on a regular basis and adjust strategies as needed to enhance marketing performance.

6. Identify Your Marketing Channels

Are you going to throw all your eggs in the social media basket? Or are you going to diversify your marketing strategy with both digital and in-person events? This step requires a deep dive into the various channels available—be it social media, email marketing, SEO or traditional advertising. When choosing your marketing channels, be sure to ask yourself where your target audience is most engaged.

7. Create a Budget

Finally, create a budget that covers all aspects of your marketing efforts from paid advertising and content creation to software subscriptions and event sponsorships. This will help you stay financially responsible as more marketing opportunities arise.

One of the keys to a successful business is setting yourself apart from the competition. A strategic marketing plan that details your marketing efforts can not only help you stand out but also provide a step-by-step guide toward reaching your business objectives.

What are the main elements of a marketing plan?

The main elements of a marketing plan typically include an executive summary, marketing objectives, target audience definition, marketing strategies, budget and metrics for performance evaluation. It outlines the company’s strategy for attracting and retaining customers by detailing specific actions to achieve campaign goals, timeline with key milestones, channels to be used and team members responsibilities.

What is a realistic marketing budget?

A realistic marketing budget is typically determined as a percentage of a company’s revenue. It is recommended that B2B companies spend 2% to 5% of their revenue on marketing. Because B2C companies typically have a broader range of marketing channels, it is recommended they spend between 5% and 10% of their revenue on marketing.

What should every marketing plan start with?

Every marketing plan should start with a clear mission statement for the marketing department that aligns with the overall mission of the business. This statement should be specific enough to guide marketing efforts but also allow room to adjust the plan as needed. For example, if your company’s mission is “to revolutionize home cooking,” the marketing mission might be “to inspire home cooks and provide them with innovative cooking solutions.”

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Jennifer Simonson draws on two decades as a journalist covering everything from local economic developement to small business marketing. Beyond writing, she tested entrepreneurial waters by launching a mobile massage service, a content marketing firm and an e-commerce venture. These experiences enriched her understanding of small business management and marketing strategies. Today, she channels this first-hand knowledge into her articles for Forbes Advisor.

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The 7 Functions of Marketing & Why You Need Them All

• Kayla is a content specialist with a B.S. in marketing. She is certified in Google Analytics and Google Ads Search and Display. When not writing, she enjoys reading, playing with her dog, and baking.

Marketing is imperative to your business’s success, but it entails more than advertising your product or service. You’ll find seven functions of marketing that inform your team’s operations: marketing information management, financing, product and service management, pricing, promotion, selling, and distribution.

This post will explore these functions and provide actionable resources to help you build a robust marketing strategy.

Keep reading to learn more, or if you’d like to receive more expert marketing advice like this from our award-winning marketing agency , subscribe to Revenue Weekly ! We’ll send pro marketing tips straight to your inbox twice a month.

What are the functions of marketing?

The seven functions of marketing are marketing information management, financing, product and service management, pricing, promotion, selling, and distribution. To help your business grow, you need each area to come together and build a productive marketing approach.

Why do you need to understand all 7 marketing functions?

You might be wondering why you need to understand each of the functions of marketing. You might also be trying to understand how they all tie back to marketing — aren’t other teams responsible for some of them?

For functional marketing that achieves success, all teams must work together. Each marketing function informs the next, and success requires a holistic view. For instance, your marketing communications impact your sales team’s success, and your distribution strategy affects whether your promotions drive real results.

As we explore each marketing function, you’ll see how they all work together to add depth to your marketing strategy.

7 functions of marketing

Ready to dive deeper into the functions of marketing and how you can implement them into your strategy? Keep reading for an overview of each!

1. Marketing information management

Functional marketing relies on robust data . Marketing information management systematically gathers and reports on data relevant to your marketing processes. This information includes:

• Determining your target market : To succeed, you must target your strategies to a specific customer group that aligns with your offering and goals.
• Understanding your target market: Once you’ve determined your target market, you’ll need to thoroughly understand their wants , needs, and goals to craft a marketing strategy that resonates with them.
• Conducting a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis: You’ll need to understand your business’s strengths and weaknesses and your external You should also gather information about regulations that could affect your business and cultural trends.
• Analyzing your competitors: Another aspect of your SWOT analysis that requires careful consideration is your competitive landscape . Know what your competitors do well and not so well, so you can respond strategically and set yourself apart.

You can collect this information through:

• Social media
• Customer reviews of your product and competitors’ products
• Internal data , such as website traffic reports
• Competitive research tools
• Your sales team, who has direct communication with your customers

I’m focusing on marketing information management first because your data will inform all other functions of marketing, from pricing to promotion and distribution.

Because of the all-encompassing importance of your marketing information, you’ll need a method for organizing, analyzing, and communicating your findings across teams. Fortunately, you have access to many online tools that can help, such as Tableau and Zoho.

Further resources for marketing information management

• 4 Cost-Effective Ways to Do Market Research Online
• 16 Market Research Tools
• How to Successfully Perform an Online Competitor Analysis
• The Best Free Online Survey Tools
• 7 Social Media Monitoring Tools
• 7 Best Social Listening Tools
• 2. Financing

All business endeavors must secure financing to operate. While your company needs funds to get off the ground, you and your marketing team will also need continual funding to support your marketing strategies.

The data you collected in the marketing information management stage will help you secure these funds. You should also look at data from past campaigns, particularly the metrics that tie into your overall business goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) .

For instance, if a campaign focused on increasing brand awareness , you might analyze metrics like impressions, reach, and social media shares.

You’ll want to communicate the value your marketing efforts have created for the company. Focus on the most relevant metrics and how they impacted your bottom line. If you can show that your marketing campaigns brought a high return on investment (ROI) , you’ll likely have an easier time securing financing.

Further resources for securing financing

• How to Plan a Marketing Budget
• The Cost of Marketing
• How to Manage a Marketing Budget
• Marketing Budget Calculator
• How to Measure Digital Marketing ROI

3. Product and service management

Your product or service stands at the center of all marketing strategies. After all, you need an excellent product for your marketing efforts to mean anything.

While research and development teams might be responsible for creating new products, this stage is a vital marketing function, too.

As a marketing leader, you should work closely with your research and development team to ensure your business creates an offering that will resonate with your target audience — and continue learning from your target audience post-launch.

Remember that data you collected in the marketing information management stage? Communicate your findings to the development team. They’ll need to know your target audience’s pain points and your company’s competitive landscape to create a stand-out offering.

You can also conduct marketing research pre-launch to ensure your offering resonates the way you intend. Post-launch, continue collecting information from customer interactions and use it to inform future product updates and releases.

The collaboration works in reverse, too — you’ll need a thorough understanding of your offering’s features so you can translate them into benefits that will matter to your audience. These benefits will form the foundation for all marketing communications you employ.

Further resources for product and service management

• How to Write Convincing Unique Selling Propositions
• 9 Value Proposition Examples
• How to Optimize for the Product Life Cycle
• How to Write Product Descriptions

Pricing is one of the most critical functions of marketing because the price you set determines your audience’s willingness to buy. However, setting your price is a complex process influenced by psychology and customer perceptions.

For instance, designer purse brands can price their products much higher than generic brands.

Why can two brands employ such different prices? Because of branding and how customers perceive the designer labels.

To understand that price differential, you must consider the value of your offering and the factors that influence worth, such as:

• Product quality
• Product benefits
• Post-purchase support
• Cause-driven business decisions
• Branding that resonates
• Brand community
• Exclusivity
• Convenience
• Customer experience

When you consider those factors, you can see some reasons why higher-end brands carry more substantial price tags. For instance, those brands might have a cause-driven business model focused on sustainability or offer an elite brand community.

On the flip side, some brands might opt for a lower price to appeal to more price-conscious consumers. The price you set depends on your market, business goals, marketing approach, and target audience. When selecting your price, consider:

• Your competitive landscape
• The cost of production
• The value your offering brings
• Your branding

The other marketing functions will all impact your pricing strategy. For example, your product’s benefits and quality affect its value. Distribution influences convenience or exclusivity. Meanwhile, promotions and sales help establish branding.

Further resources for determining your price

• 19 Pricing Strategies
• Ecommerce Psychology: What’s the Best Strategy for Displaying Prices?
• 5. Promotion

Promotion is the function of marketing most people probably think of first. After all, a large part of marketing involves getting your offering seen by your target audience and communicating its value to them.

The promotion stage involves all communications you use to help your target audience discover and learn more about your offering. Promotional strategies include:

• Setting up a website
• Optimizing your website for search engines (SEO)
• Running advertising campaigns
• Communicating on social media
• Publishing relevant content
• Partnering with influencers
• Generating word-of-mouth
• Hosting events

Most businesses will use a mix of communication channels to generate the most effective results. Your chosen platforms should align with your marketing goals , budget, competitive landscape, and target audience.

For instance, TikTok might work well for a business targeting Generation Z customers, while LinkedIn might serve business-to-business (B2B) companies well.

Pro tip: A robust promotional strategy will encourage two-way communication and build relationships with your audience. After all, brand-customer relationships foster loyalty , and customers sticking around will prove beneficial for your business.

Further resources for developing a promotional strategy

• 5 Fundamental Steps to Deploying a Website
• Learn DIY SEO
• Promoting Your Content
• Ecommerce Promotion Ideas
• How to Use YouTube for Marketing
• 5 Ad Marketing Tips

Once you’ve communicated your offering’s value, you need to close the sale. While your sales team might ultimately accomplish this goal, selling remains a critical marketing function.

Your marketing strategy should communicate with customers at every stage of the buyer’s journey , nurturing them down the funnel towards a sale. You can do so by using a robust mix of communication channels and targeting your content to each stage .

For instance, you could publish blog posts that generate awareness and encourage buyers to sign up for an email list.

Then, you can send emails that provide more in-depth information and guide your audience into the consideration stage.

You could point them to webinars or product guides to continue leading them into the decision stage, where they’ll ultimately decide whether to purchase your product.

Further resources for making sales

• How the Buyer’s Journey Affects Your Content Marketing
• How to Create Emails for Every Stage of the Buyer’s Journey
• 7 Best Practices for Lead Nurturing
• What is Conversion Marketing?
• 25 Tips to Increase Your Conversion Rate
• 7. Distribution

Now that you’ve created an effective product, communications strategy, and sales funnel, you need to get your offering to the buyers. Your distribution strategy consists of where you sell your product and deliver it to your customers. Distribution channels might include:

• Ecommerce stores
• In-person stores
• Wholesalers
• Warehouses and transportation to stores
• Shipping methods

Distribution matters to marketing because it fulfills the purpose of your communications. You’ve worked hard to get people to buy your product, and now you need to deliver.

Additionally, the marketing information you collect informs your distribution strategy. Both must work together for the most effective results.

Further resources for optimizing distribution

• Ecommerce vs. Retail: Should I Expand My Business Online?
• 6 Best Ecommerce Platforms for Small Businesses
• Social Media Ecommerce

Learn how digital strategies will inform all functions of marketing

Now that you’ve learned about the functions of marketing, are you ready to put them into practice? Digital marketing empowers you to collect information about your target audience, conduct competitive research, and communicate your offering to potential buyers.

Check out our library of free guides to learn about topics like:

• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Social media marketing
• B2B marketing

These digital strategies will complement and integrate all seven marketing functions, making your approach more robust and tech-driven. Browse the guides today, and learn how digital marketing will positively impact your business!

WebFX is a full-service marketing agency with 1,100+ client reviews and a 4.9-star rating on Clutch! Find out how our expert team and revenue-accelerating tech can drive results for you! Learn more

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Table of Contents

• What Are the Functions of Marketing?
• Why Do You Need to Understand All 7 Marketing Functions?
• 7 Functions of Marketing
• 1. Marketing Information Management
• 3. Product and Service Management
• Learn How Digital Strategies Will Inform All Functions of Marketing

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The Role of Marketing: How it Affects Business and How to Market the Right Way

14 minute read

Picture the scene: It’s Friday night, and you’re seated on the couch, unwinding while watching your favorite TV show. Your roommate joins you, and during a commercial break, a particularly amusing advertisement captures your attention. You find yourself laughing more than usual, and your roommate acknowledges the effectiveness of the marketing. This memorable commercial stays with you throughout the week, leaving a lasting impression on the associated company.

Many questions crop up from this experience: is an entertaining commercial really “marketing”? Is there more that goes into this kind of ad than just a funny idea? The ad almost seems more like it’s an attempted sale, but what’s the difference between sales and marketing? How do we define sales and marketing?

Definition of Sales and Marketing

Defining sales is straightforward. The term sales includes any number of activities that are designed to promote the purchase of a product or service. Sales processes will include negotiations of price, delivery, and other important elements. 

Marketing, however, is a little more difficult to define concretely, as it has several different meanings that are often conflated. Marketing can be defined as “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”

Functions of Marketing

From these two foundational definitions, we can essentially say that marketing makes sales possible, and without sales, marketing would be rendered redundant. They are complementary strategies, but very much distinct. The functions of marketing are many and go beyond simply drawing people’s attention to a particular product or service that is for sale. There are seven functions of marketing that are key for any business.

1. Distribution

In marketing, a distribution strategy refers to how a company is going to deliver its products or services to a customer. This can vary depending on what service or good you’re offering, as there are different distribution channels in marketing. You’re most likely not going to start a digital marketing agency in the middle of the countryside with only 3 neighbors within a 50-mile radius—you would likely have more success in an urban area where there’s plenty of potential businesses. Distribution strategy is key, regardless of the product or service offered.

2. Financing

It takes money to make money, as the old saying goes, and if you want to run a successful marketing campaign, you’re going to need some money. You don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket, but you need to create a smart financial plan that allocates some funds to spend, always planning so that your outlay does not outgrow your returns.

3. Market Research

Market research is arguably the most crucial of the seven functions, and it involves researching your target demographic to build a sound marketing strategy. Effective market research requires the use of tools to find out who you should be targeting based on what you’re selling. If you’re a tech company launching a new social media platform, are you going to target solely people aged 80+? Most likely not.

Once you know how to do market research, you’ll find that market research will help you create other elements of your marketing strategy, such as pricing. Make sure you’re not losing any profits by selling too low. Similarly, you don’t want to overcharge and then not see any kind of return because customers found a cheaper alternative amongst your competitors.

5. Product and Service Management

To stop your business from falling behind from your customers’ perspective, it is important to constantly make improvements to the product or service you offer. By staying on top of customer feedback and online reviews, you can see what’s working and what isn’t. Tracking performance metrics is a smart way to keep up with service management and identify the strengths and weaknesses of your campaigns.

6. Promotion

Promotion means getting your advertisements in front of the right eye. You’ll want to make sure there’s plenty of advertising from your brand’s end, and keep up with any trending advertising strategies. Advertising on Facebook is a great place to start your promotion efforts if you’re new to digital marketing and can’t rely on a trusted partner yet.

As we’ve explained, selling is not marketing, but it does provide an essential foundation for marketing. The selling process begins once you’ve completed market research and determined what your prospects want and need. From there, it’s time to finalize your offers and start selling.

The Difference Between Sales and Marketing

Having seen some of the functions of marketing, as well as having defined both sales and marketing, it should be clear that there is a huge difference between these two aspects of a successful business. The differences between sales and marketing are less stark, and the two topics are quite complementary, so understanding the complexities that separate them can be tricky.

Sales focus on actually selling the products or services through direct interaction with customers. On the other hand, marketing is much broader and focuses on creating awareness of the brand, product, or service, and building relationships with an audience to drive long-term sales growth. 

To sum up the nuances, we can say that marketing is the journey, and sales is the destination. To reach that destination, however, marketers must stay ahead of the curve and identify trending and lucrative strategies before competitors. Key to this success is inbound marketing, a popular marketing strategy that no business can afford to ignore.

What Is Inbound Marketing?

Inbound marketing is an approach aimed at bringing in and getting them interested in your company and your offerings by relying heavily on the creation and dissemination of quality, conversion-focused content. Inbound marketing can be contrasted with outbound marketing, which is an approach where businesses reach out directly to potential customers.

There are many ways to ensure you’ll get results with inbound marketing, and with all of the continuous technological advancements, companies can attract more attention by creating content that is relevant to people’s needs and by including keywords, key phrases, and other metadata that search engines look for when ranking search results.

Inbound Marketing Strategy Examples

Armed with a full grasp of what inbound marketing is and how it differs from outbound marketing, let’s analyze three of the most popular methods of inbound marketing.

SOCIAL MEDIA

One of the most common inbound marketing strategy examples, social media is a great way to engage potential leads. Companies that take advantage of social platforms are more likely to succeed because an eye-watering 91 percent of the U.S. population have a social profile of some sort. Including social media in your digital marketing efforts is the easiest and fastest way to tap into enormous audiences and increase your chances of gaining organic leads.

CONTENT CREATION

If you need to bulk up your website’s content to begin attracting organic visitors, there’s no better place to start than with a blog. At inSegment , we have our own digital marketing blog to dis cuss trending topics and share insights into the work we do. Any company can self-promote, and a blog is one of the best ways to do so. Also consider generating different types of content, including videos, podcasts, webinars, infographics, and whitepapers, all of which can help diversify your content portfolio and increase your attractiveness to a wider variety of audience members.

EMAIL MARKETING

Email is another great example of inbound marketing. Marketers can use email marketing to draw attention to solutions that companies or consumers need and encourage them to learn more with intriguing copy and creative calls-to-action (CTAs).

These three inbound marketing strategy examples are foundational to successful companies everywhere, and if you take advantage of and implement these inbound marketing tactics, you will see several improvements in your business, from increased traffic to better customer relations.

What About Marketing Performance Metrics?

Effective marketing relies on metrics for informed decision-making. Performance metrics, such as Return on Investment (ROI) and Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), gauge the impact and efficiency of your campaigns. ROI compares revenue to costs, guiding budget allocation and channel optimization. CAC assesses customer acquisition effectiveness, refining strategies over time. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) tailored to goals, like website traffic and social engagement, offer additional actionable insights to identify trends and opportunities.

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) shapes long-term success, tailoring strategies for retention and loyalty, and brand awareness metrics, such as reach and impressions, evaluate visibility. A strong brand presence attracts and retains customers. Leveraging analytics tools like Google Analytics will help you stay informed when it’s time to make decisions.

Strategically investing in marketing metrics empowers businesses to adapt and thrive. Conducting regular assessments and analyses helps you optimize your marketing strategies, propelling your business toward its full potential even in a dynamic and competitive market.

The Importance of Marketing in Business

Ultimately, the importance of marketing boils down to the fact that businesses need to get their products and services in front of the right eye. If you aren’t reaching out and constantly learning what your target audiences want, it becomes much more difficult to attract them and drive them toward conversion.

Taking advantage of tactics like social media and content creation can help enormously, but this is just a jumping-off point. Producing high-quality content that’s written with human visitors and SEO in mind can be tough, not to mention the difficulties that come with trying to plan, launch, and maintain a digital marketing strategy overall.

Putting your trust in an experienced agency with a track record of helping partners in your industry is the best place to start. As a full-scale digital marketing agency, inSegment has teams dedicated to SEO, Content, Social Media Advertising, and more. Working as an extension of partners’ companies, inSegment’s professional digital marketers have delivered successful, sustainable campaigns time and again.

Contact inSegment today and start leveraging digital marketing to drive results for your business.

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• How to build an effective email marketing strategy
• What is email marketing lead generation?

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• Oct 8, 2023

Understanding the Role of Marketing in Business Success

Marketing is an essential component of any business .

It is the process of creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

Marketing plays a crucial role in the success of any business, regardless of its size, industry, or location.

In this post, our team explores the importance of marketing in business success and provide insights into how business owners and marketing professionals can leverage marketing to achieve their goals.

The Foundations of Marketing:

A look back at the origins of marketing and how it has evolved over the years..

From the bustling marketplaces of ancient civilizations to the digital storefronts of today, marketing has always been at the heart of commerce.

Rooted in the art of persuasion and communication, marketing's primary objective has been to bridge the gap between products and potential consumers.

Over the years, the foundations of marketing have been built upon the Four Ps—Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.

As societies evolved, so did the techniques and mediums of marketing, transitioning from word-of-mouth endorsements and print advertisements to the vast digital landscapes of SEO , social media , PPC advertising , influencer marketing and data analytics.

This evolution not only reflects the changing dynamics of consumer behavior but also underscores the adaptability and resilience of marketing as an essential tool for business success.

Definition of Marketing:

Overview: At its core, marketing is the process of identifying, anticipating, and satisfying customer needs profitably. It's not just about selling a product or service but understanding the target audience, their preferences, and how best to reach and engage them.

Depth: Marketing encompasses a range of activities, from market research and product development to advertising and public relations. It's a holistic approach that considers every touchpoint a customer has with a brand, ensuring a consistent and positive experience.

The Four Ps of Marketing: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion:

Product: This refers to what a company is selling, be it a tangible item or an intangible service. It's essential to ensure that the product meets the needs of the target audience and stands out in the market.

Depth: Product decisions include aspects like design, features, quality, branding, and even after-sales service.

Price: This is the amount consumers are willing to pay for the product. It's a balance between covering costs, making a profit, and ensuring perceived value.

Depth: Pricing strategies can vary, from penetration pricing (starting low to gain market share) to premium pricing (setting a higher price to denote superior quality or exclusivity).

Place: This pertains to where and how the product is sold. It's about ensuring that products are accessible to customers when and where they want them.

Depth: Distribution channels can range from brick-and-mortar stores to e-commerce platforms, and decisions here include inventory management, transportation, and logistics.

Promotion: This involves communicating the product's features and benefits to the target audience. It's about informing, persuading, and reminding potential customers about the product.

Depth: Promotional activities can include advertising, sales promotions, public relations, and more recently, digital marketing efforts like social media campaigns and influencer partnerships.

The Shift from Traditional to Digital Marketing:

Overview: Traditional marketing, which includes mediums like print, radio, and television, has been the cornerstone for brands for decades. However, with the advent of the internet and the proliferation of digital devices, there's been a seismic shift towards digital marketing.

Depth: Digital marketing offers several advantages over its traditional counterpart. It's more targeted, allowing brands to reach specific demographics with tailored messages. It's also more measurable, with tools and analytics that provide real-time feedback on campaign performance. Moreover, digital marketing offers a two-way communication channel, fostering better engagement and relationship-building with customers. From SEO and email marketing to social media and pay-per-click advertising, digital marketing's tools and platforms have revolutionized the way brands connect with their audience.

The Importance of Marketing in Business Success

Marketing is critical to the success of any business for several reasons. Firstly, marketing helps businesses to identify and understand their target audience.

By conducting market research, businesses can gain insights into their customers' needs, preferences, and behaviours.

This information can then be used to develop products and services that meet their customers' needs and preferences.

Secondly, marketing helps businesses to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

In today's highly competitive business environment, it is essential to stand out from the crowd. Effective marketing can help businesses to create a unique brand identity that sets them apart from their competitors.

Thirdly, marketing helps businesses to build relationships with their customers. By engaging with customers through various marketing channels, businesses can establish trust and loyalty, which can lead to repeat business and referrals.

The Role of Marketing in Business Strategy

Marketing plays a crucial role in business strategy. It helps businesses to achieve their goals by providing a framework for identifying and pursuing opportunities .

Marketing strategy involves identifying target markets, developing marketing mix strategies, and implementing marketing programs.

Target Markets: Identifying target markets is a critical component of marketing strategy. By understanding the needs and preferences of their target audience, businesses can develop products and services that meet their customers' needs.

Marketing Mix Strategies: The marketing mix consists of four elements: product, price, place, and promotion. Developing effective marketing mix strategies involves determining the right product, price, place, and promotion mix to meet the needs of the target market.

Marketing Programs: Marketing programs are the tactics used to implement marketing strategies. These tactics can include advertising, public relations, sales promotions, and personal selling.

The Benefits of Effective Marketing

Effective marketing can provide several benefits to businesses, including:

Increased Sales: Effective marketing can help businesses to increase their sales by attracting new customers and retaining existing ones.

Improved Brand Awareness: Marketing can help businesses to build brand awareness, which can lead to increased recognition and trust.

Enhanced Customer Relationships: Marketing can help businesses to build stronger relationships with their customers, which can lead to increased loyalty and repeat business. Competitive Advantage: Effective marketing can help businesses to gain a competitive advantage by differentiating themselves from their competitors.

The Future of Marketing

The future of marketing is constantly evolving, driven by advances in technology, changes in consumer behavior, and shifts in the business landscape.

Some of the trends that are shaping the future of marketing include:

Personalization: Consumers are increasingly demanding personalized experiences, and businesses are responding by using data and technology to deliver personalized marketing messages.

Artificial Intelligence: AI is transforming the way businesses approach marketing, from predictive analytics to chatbots and virtual assistants.

Social Media: Social media continues to be a powerful marketing tool , with businesses using platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to engage with customers and build brand awareness.

Conclusion: Marketing is a Critical Component of Business Success.

It helps businesses to identify and understand their target audience, differentiate themselves from their competitors, and build relationships with their customers.

By developing effective marketing strategies and programs, businesses can achieve their goals and gain a competitive advantage.

As the business landscape continues to evolve, it is essential for business owners and marketing professionals to stay up-to-date with the latest marketing trends and technologies to remain competitive and successful.

• Digital Marketing

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16.1 Marketing Planning Roles

Learning objective.

• Identify the people responsible for creating marketing plans in organizations.

Who, within an organization, is responsible for creating its marketing plans? From our discussion above, you might think the responsibility lies with the organization’s chief marketing officer (CMO). The reality is that a team of marketing specialists is likely to be involved. Sometimes multiple teams are involved. Many companies create marketing plans at the divisional level. For example, Rockwell International has so many different business areas that each does its own strategic planning. The division responsible for military avionics, for instance, creates its own marketing plans and strategies separately from the division that serves the telecommunications industry. Each division has its own CMO.

Figure 16.1

Rockwell International’s many divisions serve a diverse set of industries, from military avionics and communications to consumer and business telecommunications. That’s why Rockwell develops marketing plans at the division level (business-unit level).

5chw4r7z – MAPS Air Museum – CC BY-SA 2.0.

Some of the team members specialize in certain areas. For example, the copier company Xerox has a team that specializes in competitive analysis. The team includes an engineer who can take competitors’ products apart to see how they were manufactured, as well as a systems analyst who tests them for their performance. Also on the team is a marketing analyst who examines the competition’s financial and marketing performance.

Some marketing-analyst positions are entry-level positions. You might be able to land one of these jobs straight out of college. Other positions are more senior and require experience, usually in sales or another area of marketing. Marketing analysts, who are constantly updating marketing information, are likely to be permanent members of the CMO’s staff.

In some consumer-goods companies with many brands (such as P&G and SC Johnson), product—or brand—managers serve on their firm’s marketing planning teams on an as-needed basis. These individuals are not permanent members of the team but participate only to the extent that their brands are involved. Many other members of the firm will also participate on marketing planning teams as needed. For example, a marketing researcher is likely to be part of such a team when it needs data for the planning process.

Key Takeaway

The CMO of a business unit is likely to be responsible for the creation of its marketing plan. However, the CMO is generally assisted by marketing professionals and other staff members, who often work on marketing planning teams as needed. Marketing analysts, however, are permanent members of the CMO’s staff.

Review Questions

• Who is involved in the creation of a marketing plan?
• In addition to marketing analysts, what other members of an organization help create marketing plans?

Principles of Marketing Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Business Plan vs. Marketing Plan

Back to Business Plans

Written by: Carolyn Young

Carolyn Young is a business writer who focuses on entrepreneurial concepts and the business formation. She has over 25 years of experience in business roles, and has authored several entrepreneurship textbooks.

Edited by: David Lepeska

David has been writing and learning about business, finance and globalization for a quarter-century, starting with a small New York consulting firm in the 1990s.

Published on March 3, 2023 Updated on December 11, 2023

Starting a business usually requires both a business plan and a marketing plan. The first has many components, including a marketing section, and covers all facets of the business. The second is essentially an expanded and more detailed version of the marketing section of your business plan.

Both are dynamic documents that will change over time as you learn more about your business. This guide lays out all the details of what goes into a business plan and what is in a marketing plan.

• Business Plan Components

A business plan has eight essential components .

1. Executive Summary 

The executive summary opens your business plan, but it’s the section you’ll write last . It summarizes the key points and highlights the most important aspects of your plan. Often investors and lenders will only read the executive summary; if it doesn’t capture their interest they’ll stop reading, so it’s important to make it as compelling as possible.

The components should include:

• The business opportunity – what problem are you solving in the market?
• Your idea, meaning the product or service you’re planning to offer, and why it solves the problem in the market better than other solutions.
• The history of the business so far – what have you done to this point? When you’re just getting started, this may be nothing more than coming up with the idea, choosing a business name , and forming a business entity.
• A summary of the industry, market size, your target customers, and the competition.
• A strong statement about how your company is going to stand out in the market – what will be your competitive advantage?
• A list of specific goals that you plan to achieve in the short term, such as developing your product, launching a marketing campaign, or hiring a key person. 
• A summary of your financial plan including cost and sales projections and a break-even analysis.
• A summary of your management team, their roles, and the relevant experience that they have to serve in those roles.
• Your “ask”, if applicable, meaning what you’re requesting from the investor or lender. You’ll include the amount you’d like and how it will be spent, such as “We are seeking $50,000 in seed funding to develop our beta product”. 

Remember that if you’re seeking capital, the executive summary could make or break your venture. Take your time and make sure it illustrates how your business is unique in the market and why you’ll succeed.

The executive summary should be no more than two pages long, so it’s important to capture the reader’s interest from the start. 

2. Company Description/Overview

In this section, you’ll detail your full company history, such as how you came up with the idea for your business and any milestones or achievements. 

You’ll also include your mission and vision statements. A mission statement explains what you’d like your business to achieve, its driving force, while a vision statement lays out your long-term plan in terms of growth. 

A mission statement might be “Our company aims to make life easier for business owners with intuitive payroll software”, while a vision statement could be “Our objective is to become the go-to comprehensive HR software provider for companies around the globe.”

In this section, you’ll want to list your objectives – specific short-term goals. Examples might include “complete initial product development by ‘date’” or “hire two qualified sales people” or “launch the first version of the product”. 

It’s best to divide this section into subsections – company history, mission and vision, and objectives.

3. Products or Services Offered 

Here you’ll go into detail about what you’re offering, how it solves a problem in the market, and how it’s unique. Don’t be afraid to share information that is proprietary – investors and lenders are not out to steal your ideas. 

Also specify how your product is developed or sourced. Are you manufacturing it or does it require technical development? Are you purchasing a product from a manufacturer or wholesaler? 

You’ll also want to specify how you’ll sell your product or service. Will it be a subscription service or a one-time purchase?  What is your target pricing? On what channels do you plan to sell your product or service, such as online or by direct sales in a store? 

Basically, you’re describing what you’re going to sell and how you’ll make money.

4. Market Analysis 

The market analysis is where you’re going to spend most of your time because it involves a lot of research. You should divide it into four sections.

Industry analysis 

Research and describe exactly what’s happening in your industry, such as growth rate, market size, and current trends. Where is the industry predicted to be in 10 years? Provide links to your sources. 

Detail your company’s place in the market. Will your product fit a certain niche? Is there a sub-industry your company will fit into? How will you keep up with industry changes? 

Competitor analysis 

Now you’ll dig into your competition. Detail your main competitors and how they differentiate themselves in the market. For example, one competitor may advertise convenience while another touts superior quality. Also highlight your competitors’ weaknesses.

Next, explain how you’ll stand out. Detail your competitive advantages and how you’ll sustain them. This section is extremely important and will be a focus for investors and lenders. 

Target market analysis 

Here you’ll describe your target market and whether it’s different from your competitors’.  For example, maybe you have a younger demographic in mind? 

You’ll need to know more about your target market than demographics, though. You’ll want to explain the needs and wants of your ideal customers, how your offering solves their problem, and why they will choose your company. 

You should also lay out where you’ll find them, where to place your marketing and where to sell your products. Learning this kind of detail requires going to the source – your potential customers. You can do online surveys or even in-person focus groups. 

Your goal will be to uncover as much about these people as possible. When you start selling, you’ll want to keep learning about your customers. You may end up selling to a different target market than you originally thought, which could lead to a marketing shift. 

SWOT analysis 

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and it’s one of the more common and helpful business planning tools.   

First describe all the specific strengths of your company, such as the quality of your product or some unique feature, such as the experience of your management team. Talk about the elements that will make your company successful.

Next, acknowledge and explore possible weaknesses. You can’t say “none”, because no company is perfect, especially at the start. Maybe you lack funds or face a massive competitor. Whatever it is, detail how you will surmount this hurdle. 

Next, talk about the opportunities your company has in the market. Perhaps you’re going to target an underserved segment, or have a technology plan that will help you surge past the competition. 

Finally, examine potential threats. It could be a competitor that might try to replicate your product or rapidly advancing technology in your industry. Again, discuss your plans to handle such threats if they come to pass. 

5. Marketing and Sales Strategies

Now it’s time to explain how you’re going to find potential customers and convert them into paying customers.  

Marketing and advertising plan

When you did your target market analysis, you should have learned a lot about your potential customers, including where to find them. This should help you determine where to advertise. 

Maybe you found that your target customers favor TikTok over Instagram and decided to spend more marketing dollars on TikTok. Detail all the marketing channels you plan to use and why.

Your target market analysis should also have given you information about what kind of message will resonate with your target customers. You should understand their needs and wants and how your product solves their problem, then convey that in your marketing. 

Start by creating a value proposition, which should be no more than two sentences long and answer the following questions:

• What are you offering
• Whose problem does it solve
• What problem does it solve
• What benefits does it provide
• How is it better than competitor products

An example might be “Payroll software that will handle all the payroll needs of small business owners, making life easier for less.”

Whatever your value proposition, it should be at the heart of all of your marketing.

Sales strategy and tactics 

Your sales strategy is a vision to persuade customers to buy, including where you’ll sell and how. For example, you may plan to sell only on your own website, or you may sell from both a physical location and online. 

On the other hand, you may have a sales team that will make direct sales calls to potential customers, which is more common in business-to-business sales. Sales tactics are more about how you’re going to get them to buy after they reach your sales channel. 

Even when selling online, you need something on your site that’s going to get them to go from a site visitor to a paying customer. By the same token, if you’re going to have a sales team making direct sales, what message are they going to deliver that will entice a sale? 

It’s best for sales tactics to focus on the customer’s pain point and what value you’re bringing to the table, rather than being aggressively promotional about the greatness of your product.

Pricing strategy

Pricing is not an exact science and should depend on several factors. First, consider how you want your product or service to be perceived in the market. If your differentiator is to be the lowest price, position your company as the “discount” option. 

Think Walmart, and price your products lower than the competition. If, on the other hand, you want to be the Mercedes of the market, then you’ll position your product as the luxury option. 

Of course you’ll have to back this up with superior quality, but being the luxury option allows you to command higher prices. You can, of course, fall somewhere in the middle, but the point is that pricing is a matter of perception. 

How you position your product in the market compared to the competition is a big factor in determining your price. Of course, you’ll have to consider your costs, as well as competitor prices. Obviously, your prices must cover your costs and allow you to make a good profit. 

Whatever pricing strategy you choose, you’ll justify it in this section of your plan.

6. Operations and Management 

This section is the real nuts and bolts of your business – how it operates on a day-to-day basis and who is operating it. Again, this section should be divided into subsections.

Operational plan

Your plan of operations should be specific , detailed and mainly logistical. Who will be doing what on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis? How will the business be managed and how will quality be assured? Be sure to detail your suppliers and how and when you’ll order raw materials. 

This should also include the roles that will be filled and the various processes that will be part of everyday business operations. Just consider all the critical functions that must be handled for your business to be able to operate on an ongoing basis. 

Technology plan

If your product involves technical development, you’ll describe your tech development plan with specific goals and milestones. The plan will also include how many people will be working on this development, and what needs to be done for goals to be met.

If your company is not a technology company, you’ll describe what technologies you plan to use to run your business or make your business more efficient. It could be process automation software, payroll software, or just laptops and tablets for your staff. 

Management and organizational structure 

Now you’ll describe who’s running the show. It may be just you when you’re starting out, so you’ll detail what your role will be and summarize your background. You’ll also go into detail about any managers that you plan to hire and when that will occur.

Essentially, you’re explaining your management structure and detailing why your strategy will enable smooth and efficient operations. 

Ideally, at some point, you’ll have an organizational structure that is a hierarchy of your staff. Describe what you envision your organizational structure to be. 

Personnel plan 

Detail who you’ve hired or plan to hire and for which roles. For example, you might have a developer, two sales people, and one customer service representative.

Describe each role and what qualifications are needed to perform those roles. 

7. Financial Plan 

Now, you’ll enter the dreaded world of finance. Many entrepreneurs struggle with this part, so you might want to engage a financial professional to help. A financial plan has five key elements.

Startup Costs

Detail in a spreadsheet every cost you’ll incur before you open your doors. This should determine how much capital you’ll need to launch your business. 

Financial projections 

Creating financial projections, like many facets of business, is not an exact science. If your company has no history, financial projections can only be an educated guess. 

First, come up with realistic sales projections. How much do you expect to sell each month? Lay out at least three years of sales projections, detailing monthly sales growth for the first year, then annually thereafter. 

Calculate your monthly costs, keeping in mind that some costs will grow along with sales. Once you have your numbers projected and calculated, use them to create these three key financial statements: 

• Profit and Loss Statement , also known as an income statement. This shows projected revenue and lists all costs, which are then deducted to show net profit or loss. 
• Cash Flow Statement. This shows how much cash you have on hand at any given time. It will have a starting balance, projections of cash coming in, and cash going out, which will be used to calculate cash on hand at the end of the reporting period.
• Balance Sheet. This shows the net worth of the business, which is the assets of the business minus debts. Assets include equipment, cash, accounts receivables, inventory, and more. Debts include outstanding loan balances and accounts payable.

You’ll need monthly projected versions of each statement for the first year, then annual projections for the following two years.

Break-even analysis

The break-even point for your business is when costs and revenue are equal. Most startups operate at a loss for a period of time before they break even and start to make a profit. Your break-even analysis will project when your break-even point will occur, and will be informed by your profit and loss statement. 

Funding requirements and sources 

Lay out the funding you’ll need, when, and where you’ll get it. You’ll also explain what those funds will be used for at various points. If you’re in a high-growth industry that can attract investors, you’ll likely need various rounds of funding to launch and grow. 

Key performance indicators (KPIs)

KPIs measure your company’s performance and can determine success. Many entrepreneurs only focus on the bottom line, but measuring specific KPIs helps find areas of improvement. Every business has certain crucial metrics. 

If you sell only online, one of your key metrics might be your visitor conversion rate. You might do an analysis to learn why just one out of ten site visitors makes a purchase. Perhaps the purchase process is too complicated or your product descriptions are vague. 

Learning why your conversion rate is low gives you a chance to improve it and boost sales. 

8. Appendices

In the appendices you can attach documents such as manager resumes or other documents that support your business plan.

• Marketing Plan Components

A marketing plan, as mentioned above, is a more detailed version of the marketing strategy section of your business plan. It includes six components.

1. Marketing Objectives

Start by detailing your short-term marketing goals. This could be “Reach 10,000 monthly site visitors by next year’” or “Acquire 500 new customers by May”. Be sure to set clear and attainable goals so your marketing team understands its targets. 

2. Target Market

You’ll want to document exactly who you’re trying to reach with your marketing. You should’ve already done a target market analysis for your business plan, and you’ll use it here. 

What Problem Are You Solving?

Whatever your product or service, it needs to solve a problem in the market. So, ask yourself, what problem does my business solve? Next, consider who faces that problem. 

A plumbing company, for instance, solves the problem of broken pipes. Who deals with that problem?  Homeowners and property owners and managers. 

Depending on your business, it may not be obvious who has the problem you’re solving. If it’s not clear, do more research. Either way, knowing who faces the problem you’re solving is just the beginning. You need to know much more about your target customers.

Research Your Market and Competition

Now, dig into your market with some online research. Do some Google and Bing searches about your target demographic, where they shop and live, what appeals to them and so on. 

Next, check out your competition to see who they’re marketing to. It may help to study their marketing through the eyes of a consumer. 

What need do they fill? Who would find their marketing appealing? Where do they advertise? If their ads appear on TikTok, they’re looking to attract a younger market. 

This market research should give you a general profile of your target market – but that’s not enough.

Talk to Potential Customers

To learn more about your target market, go straight to the source. The best way to learn their needs and wants, why they’d buy your product and how they’ll use it, is to ask them via a phone or email survey. 

If you’ve yet to make any sales, it’s probably best to post your survey online then promote it on social media by offering a small reward, such as a gift certificate. Just make sure you ask the right questions to get the information you’re looking for. 

You can also hold in-person focus groups and offer your goods at a discount for participants. 

Create Customer Profiles

Now it’s time to build detailed profiles of your target customers. You may have found that your product will appeal to more than one group of people. These are called customer segments, and all your segments together make up your target market. 

Create descriptions of each group with all the information you’re learned. These profiles should include:

• Pain points: the problems they have that you’re solving
• Benefits your product provides
• Their interests: what do they care about?
• Buying patterns: where do they shop?
• Age, location, income level, other factual information 

3. Value Proposition

Now you can use these profiles to craft a value proposition that will serve as the foundation of all your marketing. You may need to devise more than one value proposition to target different segments.

Your value propositions should be no more than two sentences long and answer the following questions:

• How is it better than competitors’ products

An example might be “Payroll software that handles all the payroll needs of small business owners, making life easier for less.” 

Remember that you need to align your value proposition with the wishes of your target market.

4. Marketing Activities

Now you’ll layout the specific marketing activities that you plan to conduct. Your target market analysis should have told you where you’re most likely to find potential customers, so if you found out that your potential customers use TikTok, you can post and run ads there. 

You’ll want to only perform the marketing activities that are most likely to reach your potential customers so that you’re not wasting marketing dollars. If getting found online is important to you, focus on search engine optimization (SEO) and social media ads.

Make the activities as specific as possible, such as “Run a TikTok ad promoting ____ for three months.”

5. Marketing Budget

Now, determine what these activities will cost and set a budget. When you go through this process, you may find that you need to adjust your marketing to stick to the budget you can afford.

Your marketing budget needs to align with your goals. If one of your goals is to obtain 500 new customers, which will generate $10,000 in revenue, you can’t spend more than that on marketing. You have to make sure you’re getting a good return on your investment, or at least breaking even. 

Now you’ll determine your key performance indicators (KPIs) to gauge the success of your marketing.

If you sell only online, one of your key marketing metrics might be your visitor conversion rate. You might do an analysis to learn why just one out of ten site visitors makes a purchase. 

Perhaps the purchase process is too complicated or your product descriptions are vague. The point is, learning why your conversion rate is low gives you a chance to improve it and boost sales. 

Similarly, if you’re not getting enough site visitors, you may need to revisit your SEO strategies. 

A business plan outlines the overall mission, objectives, and strategies of a business, encompassing aspects like operations, finances, and organizational structure.

In contrast, a marketing plan focuses specifically on strategies and tactics to promote products or services, detailing target audiences, promotional methods, and market positioning.

While the business plan provides a comprehensive view of the entire business, the marketing plan hones in on attracting and retaining customers.

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Make a great marketing plan

ILLUSTRATION —BY RACHEL REVILLA

A marketing plan is a written document that serves as a guide and outline of how a company intends to grow in the marketplace and win against the competition. The marketing plan is usually formulated annually but results are reviewed monthly, with major business reviews done quarterly on what worked versus what did not work.

While there is no standard format, the marketing plan must be focused, and the issues and activities must be clear. It has to gather data from external and internal sources and must look at problems, pain points and opportunities.

The table on the right shows a typical marketing plan format. If you are a neophyte or a student, follow the mini marketing plan format first in the next section so you will not be overwhelmed in preparing an entire marketing plan. Then work backward to complete the entire marketing plan as you gain more experience.

Mini marketing plan

For beginners, it is suggested to practice with a mini or shortened version of a marketing plan, instead of being overwhelmed with so many details. For a shortened version of a mini marketing plan, please consider the following format:

Marketing objectives

• Situations (Problems, opportunities, threats)

• Marketing strategies and tactics that solve situations above

• Estimated cost of strategy versus marketing objectives

As an example, consider this background: Bioderm is a germicidal soap brand manufactured by Cebu-based International Pharmaceutical Inc. (IPI), the same company that manufactures Efficascent Oil, Omega Pain Killers, Bronco Rub, Casino Alcohol, among many other popular products. Back in 2014, IPI discovered that Bioderm has over 80 percent total awareness level (an opportunity that could have been exploited). However, the high awareness did not translate to trial and usage in the bath soap category (problem to be solved) with Safeguard dominating and owning over half of the total market share. Safeguard also had high affinity and unmatched credibility among Filipinos (threat that needs to be negated).

As part of their marketing strategy and positioning, Bioderm did the following:

Marketing strategy phase 1

Product: They launched a reformulated variant with cooling sensation to create a different level of product use experience. Positioning: Level up the “ligo” (bath) experience.

Credibility: They tapped key opinion leaders to build trust and relevance and to create impact among consumers. In Luzon, they had TV personality Kim Atienza. In Mindanao, it was Sara Duterte, then Mayor of Davao City.

Story: They capitalized on existing user base—millions of users who are satisfied and trusted the brand. The distinct product experience of Bioderm extends even after bathing, setting a standard in germicidal soaps among its users, positioning Bioderm as a game changer.

Marketing strategy phase 2

As the trial level continued to grow, Bioderm benefited from high retention rates because of its value proposition: cooling benefit along with its germ protection attribute. See some feedback from consumers below:

Bioderm Coolness: “Nakaka-excite maligo ‘pag naaamoy ko sa banyo at sobrang lamig sa pakiramdam habang naliligo. Feeling refreshed ang body at mind ko.” (I feel excited to take a bath especially when I smell the soap in my bathroom. I also feel very cool after my bath; my body and mind feel refreshed.)

Bioderm Bloom: “Bukod sa mabango, hindi nakaka-dry sa skin, yung malambot ang feeling sa balat at hiyang din sa kids ko.” (Besides smelling good, it doesn’t dry the skin. It gives the skin a feeling of softness, which also suits my kids.)

Bioderm Freshen: “Natanggal nya yung dumi at pawis ng aking balat kaya presko na ang aking pakiramdam. Tumatagal ang bango.” (It removes dirt and sweat from my skin so I feel fresh. The fresh smell also lasts.)

The sales revenue of Bioderm went up by over 500 percent in six years with a cost to sales ratio of 5 percent, giving consumers more with every ligo (bath) and every hugas (wash).

4Ss to evaluate marketing plan formulation

The marketing plan can change over time. However, all marketing plans must be able to meet four basic criteria to be considered a diligently thought-out marketing plan. It is important for marketers to consider the 4Ss in formulating marketing plans, as follows:

• Sufficient: Will the planned marketing strategies and tactics attain our marketing objectives and goals?

• Synchronized: Were the relationships of each element of the marketing mix considered to produce the desired outcome?

• Selective: Have we considered as many potential combinations of the marketing mix as possible that can optimize results?

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• Sustainable: Is the plan going to survive competitive attacks or constraints like government and supply barriers? —CONTRIBUTED

Go, Escareal-Go and RG Gabunada co-authored “Marketing for Beginners: Start Strong, Succeed Fast,” currently the No.1 marketing book in the Philippines (available at National Book Store). They will be among the 12 award-winning marketing experts who will speak at the “How to Create a Strategic Marketing Plan” webinar on Sept 24 to Sept. 25. Email [email protected] .

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Changing the ‘mental model’: How brands are nudging consumers towards sustainability

In the latest feature in our new series exploring marketing’s role in driving sustainability, we explore the psychology behind switching to sustainable brands.

It could be seen as a perfect marketing storm. Concern for the environment is accelerating, just as the economic climate sees consumers cut back on sustainable products they perceive as too expensive. What options are open to brands when it comes to encouraging their customers to make more sustainable choices?

For the majority of consumers the perception sustainable products are more expensive than the alternatives still holds sway, according to psychologist Kate Nightingale, founder of Humanising Brands.

“This is simply what has been conditioned in us,” she says. “The whole mental model of sustainability has been built in our minds as something expensive and something for the privileged.”

The bad news is that once a concept like this becomes well-established it also becomes hard to shift. The subconscious mind makes more decisions than we realise and it operates on the basis of consistency, says Nightingale. Our subconscious often resists change, because familiarity can equate to safety.

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ASCVD Marketing Lead

About the role.

Internal Role Title: ASCVD Marketing Lead

Location: Seoul, Korea #LI-Hybrid

Novartis is unable to offer relocation support for this role: please only apply if this location is accessible for you.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategy development

• To lead agile local teams to focus on co-creation of launch excellence

• To identify opportunities for expanded access and convert into customer-centric business proposals and ultimately implementation

•To identify the most effective market segments to promote products, the most promising target

•To study medical and marketing information on products of the company to define their benefits, market share, positioning relatively to target groups of competitors, marketing promotion strategy in accordance to defined target groups.

•To plan product promotion tactics, develop the scheme, forms, methods and technology of promotion (action plan, media plan), to implement the terms of the financial discipline in accordance with budget.

• To plan the supply and demand for products within the area of responsibility, create cycle plans, implementation and forecasts turnover (yearly marketing plan, rolling forecast, monthly secondary sales plan).

• To develop and organize events, create the planned level of distribution and systematic implementation of new products.

• To liaise with Global and other regionbpartners to ensure best practices are known and adopted within region

• To lead discussions, develop relationships and influence key external stakeholders

Essential Requirements:

• At least 5 years of professional experience in pharma marketing field

• Expert negotiation & problem-solving skills

• Preferred proven experience in new launches

• Strong resilience

• Strategical mind-set

Why Novartis: Our purpose is to reimagine medicine to improve and extend people’s lives and our vision is to become the most valued and trusted medicines company in the world. How can we achieve this? With our people. It is our associates that drive us each day to reach our ambitions. Be a part of this mission and join us! Learn more here: https://www.novartis.com/about/strategy/people-and-culture

You’ll receive: You can find everything you need to know about our benefits and rewards in the Novartis Life Handbook. https://www.novartis.com/careers/benefits-rewards

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion:

Novartis is an Equal Opportunity Employer and take pride in maintaining a diverse environment. We do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status. We are committed to building diverse teams, representative of the patients and communities we serve, and we strive to create an inclusive workplace that cultivates bold innovation through collaboration and empowers our people to unleash their full potential.

Join our Novartis Network: If this role is not suitable to your experience or career goals but you wish to stay connected to hear more about Novartis and our career opportunities, join the Novartis Network here:

https://talentnetwork.novartis.com/network

Why Novartis: Helping people with disease and their families takes more than innovative science. It takes a community of smart, passionate people like you. Collaborating, supporting and inspiring each other. Combining to achieve breakthroughs that change patients’ lives. Ready to create a brighter future together? https://www.novartis.com/about/strategy/people-and-culture

Join our Novartis Network: Not the right Novartis role for you? Sign up to our talent community to stay connected and learn about suitable career opportunities as soon as they come up: https://talentnetwork.novartis.com/network