Introduction
Marketing is a young discipline as compared to other social sciences such as production and operations, accounting, economics and the many business areas known. Marketing arose in the early 1900, before this period all the branches now associated with marketing where addressed under economics (for example setting the price of a commodity was seen as an aspect of demand and supply), advertisement, and in some cases there was no information on the behavior of consumers towards the goods they purchased. Scholars at the top worlds universities came up with marketing in order to slice up to a greater extend the customer/seller behavioral responses. With the birth of industrialization in the 1950s more companies came into existence, hence, competition and then understanding consumer’s needs became a key factor which is the purpose of marketing.
There is this general say that “he who fails to plan, plans to fail,” and “a good plan followed with discipline has a higher probability to lead to success.” A marketing plan can be viewed as a written scheme that will help boost the sales of products and services of a new business venture. Writing a marketing plan is possible after data is collected from actual market, consumer and competitor information and getting professional advice. For a company to get a good marketing plan means they are serious and have carefully taken an approach to produce a useful product that is unique and marketable and will have a stable sales and profit all of which will attract investors to back their business.
The constituents of a marketing plan
Every good plan is broken into stages that are followed sequentially and the marketing plan should have the title, which contains the company’s name, the duration it takes to accomplish the marketing plan, the date the marketing plan was completed and the company’s logo and product of interest design and packaging type. Table of content ,the content of the plan should be presented in a chronological manner including the page numbers, if upon studies there where tables, diagrams and graphs, they should be presented on a separate page for quick access to them. Similarly, any appendices that has to be included at the end of the written plan is stated in the body of the writing. In addition, the plan should contain the cover letter and the historical background of the business.
The Goals and Objectives of a Marketing Plan
This is the portion of the plan that carries the “mission statement” of the company; usually stating the benefits of the customer, employees and consumer which is the goal you seek to attain. In the same line, sales objectives are stated after analyses of the company’s performance as well as your own performance and set benchmarks like using quartile reports to check if the plan is successful. Among other objectives to be presented in the plan is the profit objective which will include prediction after tax payments; pricing objective which involves good quality products at reasonable prices. Being able to thing like a consumer goes a long way to help putting in place an efficient pricing system. In addition to that, a marketing plan is drawn to meet up with the demand and needs of your customers. Frequently asking the regular customers their mind about the products of competitors will help ameliorate yours and also come out with better marketing strategies.
Analyzing the Fluctuating Market Conditions and the Environment
The growth curve of a company is chiefly affected by the market (consumers) if there is a drop in the growth curve (sells curve) the problem should be identified and eliminated, and in the case of an increase in the growth curve measures should be taken in order to adapt external factors that comes with the growth. The environmental condition of the area where the marketing plan is done is of great importance; for example high rates of unemployment will lead to less purchasing power. The political stability of the country and the laws governing a country determines the marketing strategy you would use. The population range and size is also taken note of in the marketing plan so as to adapt better strategies to meet the needs of the population type more efficiently than any other competitor.
The Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Treat analysis
This is the key analysis known in the business world as the SWOT analysis. A good marketing plan should contain the strength of the business approach like how effective will be the service towards consumers, cost effectiveness and the ease of innovating and adapting to new situations. In the same like, the weaknesses that the business approach can face should be addressed like loans, government policies that do not favor the business, and recognizing that certain products do not have immediate high impact in the market. Looking at the opportunities in marketing planning involves timing the introduction of a kind of product into the market, using customer survey information to know when to sell particular products. New companies selling the same products and services as your company and such companies are noted as threats in the marketing plan.
Diagrams, Tables, Graphs, and Pictures
In a business venture illustrations are planned for as we know a picture can be worth more than a thousand words for example location of the company can best be located with maps and pictures. Statistical illustrations like charts are used to illustrate price variation and make it easier for investors to appreciate figures (money).
Conclusion
A business that uses a marketing plan can easily identify leakages in the business system and also improve their captivity edge.