Marketing Plan Outline
Cover Page
Table of Contents (Use the Table of Contents function in Word)
1.0 Executive Summary
This is an overview of your paper. It includes a summary of each section of your
marketing plan including your strategies.
2.0 External Situation Analysis
Give a brief explanation of the sections in the external analysis.
Note: The external analysis consists completely of data that will be gathered by your
group. None of the following information can be your own thoughts or assumptions.
Therefore, every new piece of data needs a footnote with where you found this
information. This should read like an analysis of data – not a stream of your own
thoughts.
2.1
Customer Analysis
Introduction and overview paragraph stating how many customer segments you have
separated your business’s current customers into, give a brief statement naming each (i.e.
wealthy, older businessmen; professional business women) and explain why you chose
this customer segmentation (i.e. explain which segmentation method you used—customer
characteristic segmentation vs. product related approaches was used—and why).
If you have multiple product lines with different demographics for each line, you will
need to state each product line and then state the segments for each.
The information in this section comes from two sources: your customer surveys and
from interviews with your customers. Surveys are your best source of information and
should be used accordingly. You will need to include the results of your surveys in a
summary in the appendix and you will need to turn in your individual surveys (the
handwritten or typed ones if you did them over the phone) with your final paper.
Remember to footnote where you got the info – either reference your survey data or
footnote the business representative that you interviewed with the time and place of the
interview.
If your company has not started business and therefore doesn’t have any current
customers, you will only complete the last section of the customer analysis, potential
customers, and you will have a very in-depth market analysis instead.
2.1.1 Name of First Segment
Page 1 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline
Description of first segment. I.e. Company’s first customer segment is professional
women between 35 and 55 years old… For each segment, you need to include:
Size of the segment relative to other current segments. Does the 80/20 rule apply?
2.1.2 Demographics
Paint a very clear picture of who these people are. Use this rule – chose five professors
in the business school – can you tell if they fit into this segment. It should be clear who
fits and who doesn’t. You’ll need to address gender, where they live, how much they
make, their preferences, and psychographic information.
2.1.3 Customer Motivations
What is it about our company that brings these customers in the door? This should point
toward the strategic competitive advantages.
2.1.4 Purchasers and Users
Who actually purchases the product? Do these purchasers differ from the users of our
products? Who are the major influences of the purchase decision? Who is financially
responsible for making the purchase?
2.1.5 Product usage
What do customers do with our products? In what quantities and in what combination
are our products purchased? How do heavy users of our products differ from light users?
Are complementary products used during the consumption of our products? What do
customers do with our products after consumption? Are customers recycling our
products or our packaging?
2.1.6 Purchasing habits
Where do customers purchase our products? From what type of intermediaries do
customers purchase our product? Is E-Commerce part of that? Is distribution channel
use changing – are more or less products being purchased from us through the Internet,
from our catalog, in the store, through intermediaries?
2.1.7 Timing of purchases
When do customers purchase our products? Are the purchase and consumption of our
products seasonal? To what extent do promotional events affect the purchase and
consumption of our products? Do the purchase and consumption of our products vary
based on changes in physical/social surroundings, time perceptions, or the purchase task?
2.1.8 Why Products are purchased
Page 2 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline
Why customers select our products? What are the basic features provided by our
products? What customer needs are fulfilled by our products and service? How well do
our products fill the comprehensive needs? What are customers unmet needs? How are
the needs of customers expected to change in the future?
2.1.9 How products are purchased
What methods of payment do customers use to purchase our product? Are customers
prone to developing close, personal relationships with us or are they transaction oriented.
You have a choice of how to segment this section of your paper if you have more than
one current customer segment. You can either break each section above (2.1.1-2.1.9) into
multiple parts
Example:
2.1.1 Current Customer Segments
Women between 18 and 45
Info on who they are and info on how large the segment is
Women older than 45
Info on who they are and how large the segment is
2.1.2 Current customer demographics
Women between 18 and 45
Description of this group’s demographics
Women older than 45
Description of this group’s demographics
Or you can go through each section (2.1.1-2.1.9) for segment one and then start at 2.1.10
with Segment 2’s info, again going through each section. See example below.
2.1.10 Name of second segment
Description and size of second segment
2.1.11 Demographics of “name of second segment”
2.1.12 Motivations of “name of second segment”
You would need to then finish all of the required sections.
2.1.10 Potential customers
Page 3 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline
The last section of your customer analysis should be an overview of any potential
segments that the business owner is planning to or has contemplated targeting. Do
not include segments that you think would be a good fit – that goes in the market analysis
– this is strictly for segments desired by the business owner. In addition, there may be
segments that are specifically not desired by the business owner – you can also include
those segments in this section. If your business owner does not have a segment that he or
she thinks would be a good fit – you can say that instead.
2.2
Market Analysis
The market analysis is basically an overview of potential customers – you are analyzing
certain geographic regions or certain demographics within a region to decide where the
company has the best growth potential.
This section starts with an introductory paragraph stating in what market or markets your
company competes and what potential markets this section of your plan will examine and
why.
The information in this section can come from many sources including interviews,
magazines, newspapers, the library and the web. One of the most popular sites for data is
www.census.gov. However, this site will not give you cultural information.
Your company should not appear anywhere in this section. When you have finished
writing this section, do a word find for the name of your company – if it appears in the
market section, it is probably misplaced.
This section can be as inclusive or exclusive as you wish to make it. A common mistake
is to pack this section with information that isn’t usable or relevant to the marketing plan.
A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself how the information that is being reported fits
into your SWOT and will help your strategies. If you don’t see any relevance to your
company, then don’t include it in your paper.
2.2.1 Market size(s) and location(s)
This is a description of the potential market and where it is located. Include map of area
if necessary. Include the population or the number of businesses (whichever is relevant).
Example: The in-state Montana market that Company A competes for includes the area
from Butte to Philipsburg to Hamilton to Polson (including the Missoula valley) to
Helena. This area is home to 210,000 people; or, this area includes 68 health clubs.
2.2.2 Market growth
How is the area market population growing. Use past trends with current events to map
growth. A chart with a description of the information in the chart is a helpful way to
display this information.
Page 4 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline
2.2.3 Economics
Give an overview of the macro economic condition of the market(s) and predictions for
the next few years. Use benchmarks or indicators of the economic condition such as
income, housing costs, etc.
2.2.4 Culture
Give a socio-cultural overview of the market. This needs to be from verified sources and
footnoted, but it is a cultural statement about the population or the businesses. For
example, if you were looking at three potential markets – Florida, Virginia, and Portland
– you can find information that explains some major cultural differences and preferences
in the customer base. Some benchmarks that could be used include education, political
affiliations, religion, etc. Only use benchmarks that are applicable to your business.
2.2.5 Demographics
In this section, you will paint a clear picture of who’s in the market. This could include
ages, incomes, geographic dispersion, motivations, needs, and other benchmarks that are
relevant to your business. This needs to be as inclusive as the demographic overview of
the present customers.
In this section, like the section above, you may have multiple markets that you want to
analyze separately. Again, it is at your discretion how they are separated – either present
one market completely, then the next, etc or you can break each section above into
sections for each market.
2.3
Competitor Analysis
The information in this section can come from three sources: (1) interviews with
customers of competitors, (2) interviews with business representatives of the competitors,
and/or (3) interviews with your own business. Interviews are your best source of
information and should be used accordingly. You will need to include the results of your
interviews in a summary in the appendix and you will need to turn in your individual
interviews (the handwritten or typed ones if you did them over the phone) with your final
paper. Remember to footnote where you got the info – either reference your interview
data or footnote your business representative that you interviewed with the time and place
of the interview.
Your company should not appear anywhere in this section. When you have finished
writing this section, do a word find for the name of your company – if it appears in the
competitor section, it is probably misplaced.
This section begins with an introduction and overview paragraph stating how many
competitors or competitor groups you will be analyzing (how many exist), how you have
grouped them, and why was the best way to group them. You need to make an argument
Page 5 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline
for your competitor choices – this is why we chose them and this is why our list is
inclusive of everyone that we need to analyze. In many cases marketing plans analyze
both individual and groups of competitors. For example, if you were writing a marketing
plan for The TrailHead in downtown Missoula, you might analyze Pipestone
Mountaineering, REI, and the Canoe Rack individually as well as a competitor group of
outdoor box stores that included the characteristics of all of the larger sporting good
stores such as Gart, Bob Ward, Sportsmans Surplus, etc.
In some instances, you may have competitors that you choose not to examine. If that is
the case, you must explain why you have made this decision. For example, if you were
analyzing competitors for a vodka company, you might make the decision to analyze five
competitors – high end vodka, low end vodka, other distilled spirits, beer and wine. For
your high end, you might choose to only look at Absolut and Skyy. If this were the case,
you would say that while you recognize that there are x number of high end vodkas
including vodka a, b, c, etc, your data shows that Absolut and Skyy hold the majority of
the marketshare and typify high end vodkas – therefore, the analysis of those two will
provide the necessary information for understanding the high end competitors. You
could do the same for the remainder of your categories of competitors.
What follows is a list of the information that you will need for each competitor. Again, it
is at your discretion how you group that info – either presenting one competitor with all
of the data that you have collected on it, followed by the next, etc. Or, breaking the
competitor analysis into the sections below with each competitor’s information presented
under each section.
2.3.1 Market share, Size, Growth and Profitability
Either estimate or give the market share that the competitor or group controls.
Sometimes this is an unsubstantiated estimate – make sure if that is the case, that you
explain how you arrived at this estimate.
For size, growth and profitability, the information can be hard to find. You can use
indicators such as number of employees, size of space (if its retail), etc to try to quantify
how the company is doing. All of this data will be used to compare competitors and
assess who is the largest and poses the biggest threat.
2.3.2 Products
List and describe the products or product categories with pricing and quality. In some
cases, you will need to include brands.
We are trying to understand the range of product options that customers have between
competitors.
2.3.3 Distribution channels
Explain how the product moves both to the competitor and then from the competitor to
the customer with all channels that are utilized. You must include a channel map(s).
Below is an example from the company HTII:
Page 6 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline
With all diagrams and charts in the paper, you must include a description of what is in the
chart. The description should be able to stand alone – the chart or diagram is only there
to reinforce your point. For the above diagram, you would include a summary about the
three types of suppliers, how those supplies move to the company, and then that the
company only uses personal selling (no Internet sales, catalogs, storefront, etc) to sell
their product.
We are trying to understand the range purchasing options that customers have between
competitors. For example, if I want to buy something from REI, I can go to the store,
buy online, or use their catalog. If I want to buy something from the TrailHead, I can
only go to the store. This points to some potential opportunities or threats for the
TrailHead.
Often there are some technological advances that make pieces of the distribution chain
very efficient. Assess those here and describe them. For instance, JIT inventory
ordering, etc.
2.3.4 Pricing strategies
What are the prices of the products. Often it is helpful to include a pricing chart either
here (if it is small) or in the appendix. What strategies for pricing are being used.
We are trying to understand the range of price options that customers have between
competitors.
2.3.5 Product strategies
Describe how, when and why new products are offered by the business. This is often
difficult to determine, but you need to assess if this competitor is a market leader or a
follower – does the business introduce new and exciting products regularly (if so, give
examples) or does the business wait to see how sales go with competitors and then follow
their lead. Are there any new products on the horizon that we should anticipate this
competitor releasing.
We are trying to understand which competitors offer which products.
Page 7 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline
2.3.6 Service
What is the service package offered by the company. This includes how people are
treated by the business, the atmosphere of the business, the after sales service package,
etc.
We are trying to understand the range of service options that customers have between
competitors.
2.3.7 Image and positioning
What is the image of the company with its customers, in the market, with its competitors,
etc. What are they known for (both good and bad.)
What is their position – using the Myth of Excellence as a guide – put together what the
company tries to dominate and differentiate in (and if it is successful.) And then where it
is at or below industry par.
We are trying to understand why customers choose the competitors and how past
strategies have helped develop the image and position.
2.3.8 Major strengths and weaknesses
What hasn’t been covered above. Are there attributes of this company that you haven’t
had a chance to talk about – like they have a great website, the owner is especially loved
in the community, the phone system is difficult to navigate, etc.
2.3.9 Exit barriers
What barriers are in place that would keep this business open even in difficult times?
This often includes infrastructure, facilities, long-term contracts, egos, etc. Could this
business close, is it likely, etc.
2.3.10 Cost structure
What can you find out or assume about the cost structure of this business. Going back to
the TrailHead example, we can assume that Pipestone and the Canoe Rack have similar
inventory cost structures – small businesses ordering small quantities from manufacturers
or distributors. However, with REI and the box stores, we can assume that the cost
structure for inventory is better than at the TrailHead – larger buying group with multiple
locations and private labeling.
You would make similar arguments for overhead – the TrailHead and Pipestone own
buildings in downtown Missoula, the Canoe Rack owns a warehouse on California street,
REI has a very small space in a retail store front, etc.
Page 8 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline
What we are getting at here is which competitors have a cost advantage and can therefore
compete on price.
2.3.11 Organization and culture
For this section, we are trying to assess if this is this a top down organization, are
entrepreneurial ideas nurtured, is the culture quick to respond, what’s the vibe? This will
allow us to understand the ability to rapidly respond to customer, industry or market
changes.
In the TrailHead example, if a new brand of outdoor clothing is released, the structure at
the TrailHead allows for an employee to suggest that line be brought in and to have that
line in place within days. A company like Gart would be slower to respond due to
corporate layers that would need to be contacted.
2.3.12 Current and past strategies
In this section, you will list and describe all of the marketing and advertising strategies
that have been used in the recent past. For companies with advertising campaigns, you
should include copies of the advertisements in the appendices. In addition to compiling
all of the strategies (remember – this includes all marketing strategies – merchandising,
PR, layout changes, sales promotions, events, etc) you will need assess if they were
successful. This information can be difficult to get – if you cannot determine the success
of strategies, you should say that it couldn’t be determined.
2.3.13 Objectives and commitments
What are the goals of the company? This often ties in with the position or Myth of
Excellence score. Again, this information can be hard to find. Using the mission
statement can often be helpful.
2.3.14 Competitor analysis chart
Include all relevant information from the above analysis that can be compared in a chart
format
Marketshare
Products**
XC – Skis
Downhill skis
Pricing
Bob Ward
30-40%
REI
15%
TrailHead
15%
Fisher Brand
Alpina
Atomic
Rossignol
Competitive with
frequent sales
REI Brand
REI Brand
Europa
Fisher
N/A
Prestige with some
sales
Prestige with two
annual sales
Page 9 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline
Distribution
One retail outlet
Hours 9-9
Days – 7 per week
Online sales
minimal
One retail outlet
Hours 9-7
Days – 7 per week
Huge online sales
One retail outlet
Hours 10 -7
Days – 7 per week
No online sales
**Product brands are listed from highest quality to lowest quality for each
competitor
2.3.15 Potential Competitors
We will discuss six strategies that potential competitors use to enter the market. You will
need to explore each of those strategies and see if there are potential competitors on the
horizon. Using the TrailHead example, if you went back six years and wrote their
marketing plan, you would analyze market expansion and see that the national competitor
REI was potentially on the horizon given our demographic and location. If you were
writing a marketing plan for the Good Food Store, you might look at Whole Foods and
see if the Missoula demographic fit their needs. The six types of strategies for potential
competitors to enter the market are listed below.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
2.4
Market expansion
Product expansion
Backward Integration
Forward Integration
Export of Assets or Competencies
Retaliatory or defense strategies
Industry Analysis
This section begins with an introductory paragraph describing which industry you will be
analyzing. “Allstate Insurance competes in the insurance industry in Florida or in the
US.”
The information for this section will come from interviews with your business owner,
interviews with other people working in this industry, trade journals, newspapers, and the
web. Again, all information must be footnoted.
Again, your company should not appear anywhere in this section with the exception of
the introductory paragraph.
This section can be as inclusive or exclusive as you wish to make it. A common mistake
is to pack this section with information that isn’t usable or relevant to the marketing plan.
A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself how the information that is being reported fits
into your SWOT and will help your strategies. If you don’t see any relevance to your
company, then don’t include it in your paper.
Page 10 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline
2.4.1 Industry size and growth
How large is the industry in the market as defined in your introductory paragraph. How
is the industry growing. You may need to use US data scaled with smaller geography
census data.
You will use this information to understand how large your company is compared to the
industry and what types of opportunities or threats that poses. You will also use the
industry growth to benchmark how your company is doing with growth – if the industry
is growing at 8% and your company is growing at 10%, then you are gaining ground and
you’ll be trying to find out what advantages are making you more successful than
competitors. If you are growing at only 5%, you’ll need to figure out what the company
is doing wrong.
2.4.2 Economics
Give an overview of the macro economic condition of the industry. For example, what’s
a standard ROI, are companies growing, making money, not making money. You are
trying to figure out what your company can use as an economic benchmark to gauge their
own success and if your goals are realistic.
2.4.3 Industry profitability
You will need to include Porter’s chart of industry profitability with a summary of each
of the five categories. The five components are:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Competition among existing firms
Threat of substitute products
Threat of potential entrants
Bargaining power of suppliers
Bargaining power of customers
And each is described in your text. For each component, include a discussion of the most
important components of each. Be consistent with the rest of your strategic analysis.
Before your chart, include an explanation of what the chart is intended to do and explain
how you will use it. You should assume that your business owner will not be familiar
with any traditional business models.
You will use this information to understand opportunities and threats and to assess the
attractiveness of this industry for your business owner.
2.4.4 Industry cost structure
Page 11 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline
What is the standard cost structure for the industry. You have this information for your
competitors, now summarize it for the entire industry.
Again, you will use this information to see if your business has a cost advantage or
disadvantage to the industry which should point to opportunities or threats.
2.4.5 Distribution systems
You need to include all of the distribution diagrams that are used in this industry and an
explanation of each.
Often there are some technological advances that make pieces of the distribution chain
very efficient. Assess those here and describe them. For instance, JIT inventory
ordering, etc.
You will use this information to see if your business is using all of the distribution chains
and efficiencies within those chains the industry which should point to opportunities or
threats. Remember, there may be good reasons that you will stay away from distribution
chains for your company even if competitors are using them.
2.4.6 Trends, fads and technology
What trends or fads are affecting this industry? Are long are they expected to last. What
has happened in the past?
What technology is used in this industry. What new technology could change your
industry? What has happened in the past?
You will use this information to assess opportunities and threats.
2.4.7 Key success factors
What does every company in this industry need to compete. How are those changing –
how have they changed in the past?
You will use this information to make sure that your company has those attributes and is
not viewing them as competitive advantages.
2.4.8 Government
What (if any) governmental regulations will affect your industry.
You will use this information to assess opportunities and threats.
3.0 Internal Analysis
Page 12 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline
This section will begin with a brief introductory paragraph stating what information will
be reported in the internal analysis.
The information for your internal analysis typically comes from four sources: (1)
interviews with your business owner, (2) interviews with employees, (3) your own
observations, and (4) information that your business has made public such as
advertisements and its website.
3.1.1 Company Overview
This is a short history (a short paragraph) with a brief overview of what the company
does.
3.1.2 Mission and Goals
State the company’s mission statement and the long-term and short-term goals.
3.1.3 Product Offering
List and describe all of the products or product categories (with brands if applicable)
including product quality, attributes, other product specific information, and photos (if
applicable.)
Also explain new product strategies – how, when and why are new products offered.
Give examples if applicable.
3.1.4 Pricing
List and/or describe the product or product line pricing. Also explain any pricing
strategies that are used or have been used. If it works better for your paper, you may
include this with the product offering info above – renaming the section Product and
Pricing.
It is useful to include a price list as a chart (either here if it is short or in an appendix.)
Also include any pricing strategies that were used in the past and are no longer used and
why.
You will compare this information with your competitors and industry for analysis in
your SWOT to help you develop strategies if applicable.
3.1.5 Distribution
This section will include all of the distribution chains used by your company. This
includes both incoming supplies and the channels between the company and the end user.
Page 13 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline
Also include any efficiencies, technologies, etc that affect your distribution channels. In
some cases, descriptions of how much volume runs through each channel is necessary to
understand the viability and profitability of each channel (i.e. 10% of sales are on the
web, 80% are in the store, 5% from catalogs, and 5% from phone orders.) Include the
diagram of the distribution chain(s) here.
Also include any distribution strategies that were used in the past and are no longer used
and why.
You will compare this information with your competitors and industry for analysis in
your SWOT to help you develop strategies if applicable.
3.1.6 Financial Performance
In this section, you will examine sales, ROI or ROA, gross margin, profitability, and
market share. Much of this information can be presented as graphs and charts with
descriptions of each. If the company cannot or will not provide you with this
information, you need to say that in this section.
Include which product lines, business units, etc. are the most profitable, which have the
highest sales, etc.
It is up to you how far back in time you go with this analysis. Remember to state any
substantial business changes in your analysis that would affect changes in the financial
performance. For example, the TrailHead bought a building and moved in 2004, so you
would include that as a note with the numbers that were presented.
This data will be analyzed against anything that you were able to gather about your
competitors, the industry, and your own internal goals.
3.1.7 Non-Financial Performance Measures
Begin with a brief paragraph stating what non-financial performance measures you will
use to examine the company.
3.1.7.1 Brand Loyalty
Explain the level of brand loyalty that your company’s products and/or company itself
holds. Is it recognition, preference, insistence? Is there any brand awareness?
This should point to strengths and weaknesses and help guide your awareness strategies.
3.1.7.2 Service quality
What type of service does your company offer. In section 2.3.6, you analyzed your
competitors service package. Include the same information here but for your company.
Page 14 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline
You can then compare this to your competitors, to what your customers said they liked
and didn’t like and to what’s happening in the industry. This should give you a good idea
of your strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities or threats.
3.1.7.3 Brand/Firm Associations
If your company has some brand awareness, what do people associate with your
company. Its often helpful to break this section into two parts – brand/firm associations
from current customers and brand/firm associations in the target market. For example,
when you think of the TrailHead, what comes to mind. When you think of Pepsi,
Cellular One, what comes to mind.
This is a very tough section. This cannot be based on your own thoughts, but is instead a
compilation of what your customers said, what the business said, and information that
you’ve gathered in the market. Be sure to confirm or deny any information that you get
from your business owner.
The best way to gather data for this section, is to ask customers what they associate your
company with and then do a quick survey within the target market asking the same
question. All survey results must be summarized and included in the appendix.
This section will help guide your awareness strategies. You will either need to create
one, reinforce the one that you have, or change the perception in the target market.
3.1.7.4 Relative Cost
What is the cost structure for your company. Review section 2.4.4 and include the same
type of information for your business. You will then use this to see strengths or
weaknesses compared to your competitors and the industry.
3.1.7.5 Manager and Employee Capabilities and Performance
In this section you will explain the company hierarchy, who does what, what people are
good at, and what people are not good at. In addition, you will see if there are business
areas that are not being covered.
You will use Porter’s Value chain to assess the business’s strengths and weaknesses in
successfully and efficiently covering all aspects of the business functions. The basic
model of Porters Value Chain is as follows:
Page 15 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline
Before your model, include an explanation of what the model is intended to do and
explain how you will use it. You should assume that your business owner will not be
familiar with any traditional business models.
3.1.8 Past and current strategies
This will be a list, description, and explanation of outcome of all communication
strategies that have been used in the past. This includes PR, advertising, merchandising,
and personal selling. Include any accompanying information such as newspaper
clippings of ads or stories, etc in the appendix.
Be specific here, state what was done, why, when, how the effectiveness was measured,
and if it was effective (use numerical returns if possible.)
This will help guide what communication strategies are used in the future.
3.1.9 Strategic Problems
Are there any issues that put constraints on potential strategies that the company could
use. Examples from past marketing plans include (1) exclusive rights to certain brands
by competitors that the company has no way to change, (2) the Missoulian and the
business owner had a falling out so the Missoulian cannot be used as a method of
advertising, (3) prices are set by distributors so there is no discretion in pricing by the
business owner, (4) legal agreements that the owner has entered into, etc.
3.1.10 Organizational Capabilities and Constraints
Page 16 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline
In 3.1.7.5, you have addressed what the company is doing, can do, is not doing with its
employees. In this section, you will see what the company has, is doing, does not have,
etc in terms of property, equipment, strategic alliances, unused assets, etc. You are
examining the infrastructure of the company. This includes all aspects of the business’s
infrastructure from its parking, to telephones and equipment, to partnerships with other
businesses.
If you have a manufacturing company, you will need to include all aspects of the
manufacturing process.
3.1.11 Financial Capabilities and Constraints
This is an overview of how much capital the company has access to – both equity and
leveraged capital and how much money has been allocated for marketing activities during
the duration of your marketing plan. Refer back to section 3.1.2 – the company goals.
This is a very important section and will feed into your strengths and weaknesses in your
SWOT. Once your strategies are developed, this will determine if you have the budget to
reach your goals.
3.1.12 Strengths and Weaknesses
Just like in your competitor analysis, this section is for anything that didn’t fit above.
Anything that stands out about the company – either good or bad – that didn’t fit in one
of the above sections.
3.1.13 Business Portfolio Analysis
If the company has multiple business units or product lines AND if your marketing plan
is addressing more than one of those business units or product lines, then you will need to
complete and analyze the following two matrices. You will need to not only include the
matrix, but include an analysis of what the matrix tells you.
Before each matrix, include an explanation of what the matrix is intended to do and
explain how you will use it. You should assume that your business owner will not be
familiar with any traditional business models.
3.1.13.1
Market Attractiveness-Business Position Matrix
Page 17 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline
3.1.13.2
BCC Growth-Share Matrix
4.0 SWOT
This section will include a traditional SWOT chart with impact ratings and bulleted
information pulled from each of the five sections of analysis above.
Page 18 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline
Before your chart, include an explanation of what the chart is intended to do and explain
how you will use it. You should also include an explanation of the ranking system and
how it is used. You should assume that your business owner will not be familiar with any
traditional business models.
After the SWOT chart, you will need to write a short description of the big glaring items
in the SWOT – those ranked with a 9.
5.0 Financial Goals
State the company’s financial goals during the timeframe of your plan. These are the
goals that your strategies are going to achieve.
6.0 Goals for Image and Positioning
In this section you will state in layman’s terms, the position that the company would like
to achieve. You will base this off of the Myth of Excellence score, but you will not refer
to the Myth scoring system. Instead, you will use terminology familiar to your business
owner. The example below is from a plan for dB Sound, a high end audio retailer in
Missoula.
The desired Myth score for dB Sound was:
5 Experience
4 Product
3 Access
3 Price
3 Service
The above information would mean nothing to a business owner, so instead, the section is
written as:
dB will create an image of selling high quality sound rather than the latest technological gadget.
It is this image that will make dB unique when compared to other high end stores like Thirsty Ear
or Glacier Audio.
dB will also create a unique position by competing on the overall customer experience. When a
customer shops at dB, it will be unlike any shopping experience in the Western Montana market.
When a customer walks in, they immediately will be offered a cup of coffee or cappuccino. At
their finger tips, they will have access to the latest technology along with a salesman will have all
the answers readily available. If a salesperson does not have an immediate answer, resources will
be available with the solution. dB will offer two unique solutions:. in home trials before
purchase, and post purchase service including installation and warranty/repair services will also
be on par for creating dB’s one of a kind customer experience.
dB will also emphasize high quality products in all of its communications…
Page 19 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline
The two sections above – financial goals and image goals – combined with your SWOT
should lead you to strategies that hit your target market and reach your goals while
building a sustainable competitive advantage.
7.0 Strategies
Begin this section with an introductory paragraph that says this section contains the
strategies to reach your goals and explain why you chose these strategies. See the
example marketing plan for guidance.
You will have many strategies. The number of strategies is determined by your goals,
budget, and current situation. Your SWOT should guide your strategies – make sure that
you have addressed:
1. All of the items in the SWOT with a Impact Rating of 9. If you decide one should
not be addressed, you will need to include a paragraph stating why you did not
address it.
2. Strategies for Distribution, Pricing, Product, and Communications. Each one
must have at least one strategy. If, for example, you are not recommending any
pricing changes, your pricing strategy will be Status Quo. See an example below.
For one or all of the components of the marketing mix, you will have multiple
strategies. It is not unusual to have 5-10 communication strategies if you have a
large budget.
3. Internal strategies – if there are internal weaknesses such as people that need to be
hired, technology that needs to be purchased, etc, these will be included as
Internal Strategies. See example below.
If you cannot reach your goals within your budget, you will need to include Optional
Strategies. These strategies should be at the end of your strategies. They should allow
the company to achieve its financial and positional goals, but they go above the allowed
budget.
Remember, this is the section that the business owner really cares about. All of the prior
sections have been the background information that helped guide your analysis and has
allowed you to come up with the best strategies for this company. This section needs to
be excellent.
Each strategy should be written with the same format.
1. Type of Strategy: Name of the strategy
2. Brief explanation of the strategy with why this strategy was chosen.
3. Who will be in charge of the strategy.
4. Specifics of how the strategy will work and when the strategy will be executed.
This should be very complete – your business owner should be able to read and
follow your directions exactly.
5. Expected Outcome of the strategy in both financial terms and non-financial
(image) terms.
Page 20 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline
Multiple examples are given below. They are reproduced from previous marketing plans.
The sample marketing plan on the web uses a different format for strategy development –
you need to use the format of the examples listed below.
7.1
Communication Strategy 2: Print Advertising in the Missoulian
Due to the circulation density, number of subscribers, and type of subscribers in the
Missoula area, dB will want to advertise in the Missoulian to get the new business name,
product offering, and image introduced to the community. The Missoulian has wide
circulation, 25,000 on weekdays and 28,000 on Sunday, and this circulation covers all of
Missoula County, the Bitterroot, and various subscribers all over the US.1[1]
Dick Manning will oversee the ad campaign but will employ an agency to develop and
layout the ads. Dick will hire the agency and have oversight for final ad design; the
agency will do all design and layout. The recommended agency for this work is Partners
Creative.
The ads will run for 2 days per week (Thursday and Sunday) for the six weeks that store
is open. This ad campaign with piggyback the feature story that will be printed the week
that the store opens.
dB’s position and image is all about high quality sound, the experience of shopping in a
lovely atmosphere surrounded by prestige products, and very knowledgeable sales
people. The ads need to emphasize product quality, incredible knowledge and service,
and the ideal listening experience. The ad campaign needs to include a common theme to
link the ads together, but in total, there should be four distinct ads that can be run in
succession for the eight ad spots. (See Appendix K for examples of similar ad
campaigns.) Placement within the Missoulian should be left to the ad designer.
Estimated cost for design and layout is $400.
The ads should be designed to by 2x3, which will cost a total for $800 for twice a week
for four weeks. While a sell through rate on the Missoulian would be difficult to
determine especially given the circumstances of the new business and the six
communication strategies that are running together over the first six weeks of the
business, the overall goal is to use the Missoulian to attract new customers. A
coupon/discount/promotion is not recommended for the early ads because it is not
consistent with the image of the store; therefore, it will be very important for all sales
associates to ask customers at the time of purchase “where they learned about dB.” This
should go into the database that will be established in Internal Strategy 2: Database
Design and Implementation. After three months of sales, that data should be analyzed for
the return on the advertising in the Missoulian. If the store opens on May 1st as
scheduled, the analysis should be completed in August by Dick Manning or a store
associate.
Page 21 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline
Given an average of 25,000 readers, the overall goal is awareness of the store to 1% of
readers (250 people) and sales to 3% of those people (8 new customers.) With an
average purchase price of $2,000, the total sales projected through the Missoulian is
$16,000 with a cost of $1,200 or an overall return of $18,820 with a cost per new
customer of $150 and the added return of increased brand awareness in the community.
7.2
Communication Strategy 4: Establish Cold Calling as a Method of Personal
Selling
HTII will institute cold calling as part of its personal selling strategies. While calling
companies which have requested information from HTII during a trade show has been an
effective strategy in the past, the number of contacts are no longer sufficient to meet
HTII’s 2006 sales growth targets.
Brent Bowman will oversee this strategy, but it will be implemented with the help of two
additional employees that will need to be hired by the company in January 2006 (see
Internal Strategy 1 for an overview of hiring recommendations.)
This strategy needs to be implemented starting in January, 2006 and will have the
following components:
 HTI will need to hire 2 people with knowledge of the product that is being sold.
The people that are hired will also need to have good people skills, and sales
experience.
 HTI will need to compile a list of potential companies within the target market. A
list of 8,300 companies which own CNC machines has been compiled and is in
Appendix G.
 HTII will need to purchase contact management software. The recommended
database is ACT which costs $950 for a three user license. Information about
ACT is available at www.act.com.
 A sales packet will need to be made with all of the pertinent information of the
company. This packet needs to be similar to the one that is attached in Appendix
H. The sales packet will emphasize the desired image of the company including
high quality products and exceptional, on-site service. The sales packet will made
in house and will cost HTI around $14 each which includes postage, all paper
costs, and business card. (See Appendix H for the cost breakdown) This strategy
will cost HTI around $1400/month for the 10 months it will be used during the
year.
 Sales packets will be sent to approximately 190 companies per month and 1,900
per year assuming no mailings are done in November and December.
 Within two weeks of the packets being sent, calls will be made by the sales
department at HTII. Calls by the two new sales agents will need to be made to 75
companies each per month and 45 calls completed by Brent Bowman. The total
calls per month will equal 190, and the total for the year will equal 1,900. These
calls will be to establish a relationship with the potential customer, understand the
Page 22 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline

customers’ needs, give additional information about HTII and ProbeDriver, and
potentially set up a sales call.
For companies that request a meeting, the sales process will proceed with the
established status quo of HTII’s 2005 personal selling strategy.
Cold calling has a variable return rate (traditionally between 1% and 5%) depending
on many factors. Even though HTII has limited awareness in the market, the
financial savings to companies with CNC machines that switch to HTII’s products
and the size of the market, make it reasonable to assume that HTI should be able to
achieve a 3% return or 56 new companies during the year. This is an increase in
$855,000 in annual sales towards its goal of $1,000,000 in additional sales of
ProbeDriver. This strategy will also heighten awareness of HTII in the target market.
7.3
Internal Strategy 1: Improve Financial Record Keeping
HTI does not currently have financial records that can be used for management decision
and therefore needs to implement an efficient way to keep tract of the financial record
keeping.
To do this HTI has two options: hire a full-time book keeper or designate Eileen Hoyt to
this job. The best option is to train Eileen Hoyt, utilizing the knowledge that she already
has.
Training should be done through the Florida State University’s Distance Learning
program beginning in January 20XX. Four accounting classes would be necessary and
would take 6 months to complete. The total cost would be $2,500.
In addition to employee training, HTI needs to purchase QuickBooks and implement a
book keeping program. This software package is inexpensive ($200) and has the ability
to do all functions needed by HTI.
By implementing a strategy to keep financial records, HTI can keep tract of their
profitability, return, and operational efficiency. This will allow better management of
HTI’s four business units.
7.4
Communication Strategy 7: Improve Website
Currently, The PP lacks a completed website. However, one is in the progress of being
developed. A website is crucial for The PP. This communication strategy will greatly
enhance the visibility and awareness of The PP and could potentially lead to an increase
in class sizes. From interviews with Teresa and her staff, it has been determined that
most clients do not understand what The PP is about or what they offer. The website
would be an effective tool for a potential client to learn about The PP in an environment
that is private and comfortable.
Page 23 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline
ThinkHost is donating the web space for free. Matt Nord is currently in the process of
building this website. The website address is www.parentingplace.net. The current
website is sparse compared to other organizations in the industry. An improved website
needs to be implemented by February of 2006.
There are several ways to improve The PP’s website. Below is a web map on what The
PP’s website should look like.
Home
Page
Did
You
Know?
Our
Services
Registration
Form
Events
Calendar
About
Us
Email
Address
Partners
Funders
Invest in
our
Children
Child
Abuse?
Donation
Brochure
There are several other organizations similar to The PP that have excellent websites.
Appendix E is an example from the Wilmington Parenting Place. This website has a
friendly, family-oriented feel to it. It is important that The PP’s website emphasize its
positions. Because The PP dominates in services, it is important that The PP’s website
emphasize this. On the Our Services page, it will be detailed the services that are offered
at The PP. One aspect that The PP will further differentiate itself with is access. The
PP’s website will offer an online registration form. The form will allow potential new
clients to sign up for classes in a convenient, comfortable environment.
The reason to implement this strategy is that it will give The PP an additional tool to
accomplish its goals. It will strengthen The PP’s position will regards to differentiating
on access. It will also increase its visibility in the community. In 2005, having a good
website is like having a phone number. A company must have it in order to do business.
Funds:
Web space: donated by ThinkHost
Web design: donated by Matt Nord
Annual hosting: $50
Website Marketing: Will not be done in 2006.
Page 24 of 27
Links
Marketing Plan Outline
5.3.4 Communication Strategy 4: Missoulian’s Community Events Calendar
The Community Events Calendar appears in the Missoulian two times a week: Tuesday
and Friday. There is no cost associated with the publication. This service provided by the
newspaper is an effective way to communicate to the community. The Missoulian
distributes 52,000 copies everyday. It is estimated that 4% are in The PP target market,
and of that, perhaps 2% will come to be served by The PP, bring in approximately 42
clients.
It would be in the best interest of The PP to use this free service and advertise for their
parenting classes. The Community Bulletin has run ads of The PP Stop Child Abuse AllStar Softball fundraiser in the past. Contact Jackie Maunder, Advertising Consultant at
(406) 523-5237; Monday thru Friday 8-5. She can also be contacted by email
[email protected]. The staff at the Missoulian is willing to construct the
actual ad; Teresa would simply have to submit what information, logos, and art she
would like to have included a week prior to publication. Community Bulletin is a free
advertisement available 2-3 times every 6 months2. This strategy should be implemented
at the beginning of 2006 for upcoming parenting classes for the winter.
The strategy of using the Missoulian holds the potential of reaching all the goals of The
PP: to increasing the number of people that attend the parenting classes, to sustain and
maintain its position, and to increase the general awareness in the community. There is no
cost associated with this advertisement, which leaves money available for other forms of
advertising.
Funds: Free
7.5
Distribution Strategy 1: Status Quo
HTII currently uses personal selling as its only sales channel. In the high-tech probe
software industry, all companies use only personal selling due to the complexities of
customization and installation. HTII will continue to use personal selling and will not
implement additional sales channels in 2006.
7.6
Strategy Implementation Chart
This section should begin with a simple explanation of what information will be found in
the implementation chart.
A sample chart follows:
2
Meeting with Jacie Mauner, October 15, 2006.
Page 25 of 27
Marketing Plan Outline
Implementation and Control Summary Chart
Table 1
Specific
Activities
Person/Dept
Responsible
Budget
Completion
Date
Control
Monetary
Return
Customers
Gained
Other Return
Brent/R&D
5% of sales
ongoing
Brent
unknown
N/A
future
products &
competition
Brent
N/A
ongoing
Brent
Long term
potential
$2,000,000
potential 200
entry barrier
for competition
Brent/Sales
$3,000
ongoing
Sales, sellthrough rate
Long term
potential
$2,000,000
potential 200
strategic
alliance &
entry barrier
Sales force
$8,600
ongoing
Sales, sellthrough rate
$1,008,000
90
increased
brand
awareness
IMTS trade
show
Brent/Sales
$9,500
December,
2006
Monitor sales
$300,000
27
RD ideas,
competition,
contacts
Promotional
DVD
Brent
$1,000
March, 2006
Follow-up sellthrough rate
potential
customers
potential
customers
educate
potential
customers
Unmeasurable
increased
brand
awareness,
increased
company
credibility,
exposure
Unmeasurable
increased
brand
awareness,
increased
company
credibility,
exposure
Unmeasurable
increased
brand
awareness,
increased
company
credibility,
exposure
Unmeasurable
increased
brand
awareness,
increased
company
credibility,
exposure
Product
Activities
Research
and
development
Pricing
Activities
Volumeoriented
pricing
strategy
Distribution
Activities
Personal
selling to HAI
Developing
organized
calling list
(120
contacts)
Promotion
Activities
Website
improvement
Internet
Links
Sponsored
Links
Online
Newsletter
Brent/Website
developer
$1,500
January,
2006
January,
2006
Brent
$200
Brent
$5 startup + .25
cents per click
($255 for 1000
clicks). Est. total
cost $2,000
January,
2006
$1500 ($250 * 6
newsletters/year)
Ongoing
starting in
January,
2006
All
departments
Monitor sales,
website hits
Website hits
Website hits
Website hits
Page 26 of 27
Unmeasurable
Unmeasurable
Unmeasurable
Unmeasurable
Marketing Plan Outline
Press
Release
Brent
$150
At discretion
of owner
Monitor sales
Unmeasurable
Unmeasurable
increased
brand
awareness,
increased
company
credibility,
exposure
Brent
500
At discretion
of
owner/ASAP
Monitor sales
Unmeasurable
Unmeasurable
increased
brand
awareness,
increased
company
credibility,
exposure
2 Sales
Employees
Brent/HR
$15,000 +
commission/per
employee.
Estimated total
$90,000
January,
2006
Sales, sellthrough rate
increase sales
force
Unmeasurable
Brent focus on
RD & other
sales
Sales
Automation
System
Brent/HR
$900
January,
2006
Monitor
efficiency
help sales
force & and
track ROI
Unmeasurable
better
infrastructure
Brent/HR
$20,000 + piece
rate/per
employee.
Estimated total
$75,000.
January,
2006
Customer
feedback
technical
support and
programming
Unmeasurable
Focus on
customer
satisfaction
Feature
Article
Internal
Activities
2 Tech
Employees
Logo,
mission
statement,
slogan
Brent
$500
January,
2006
Customer
feedback
$244,350
Total
Unmeasurable
Unmeasurable
$1,308,000
117
increased
brand
awareness,
increased
company
credibility
Brand
awareness in
target market
and
operationally
sound
company
8.0 Conclusion
This is where you sum up what you’ve achieved for the company, how much it will cost,
and what the financial and non-financial returns will be.
Page 27 of 27