Marketingplan

For a marketing plan is a ( written ) document of about 5 to 50 pages long, which shows how the company assesses the current market situation and its future development, the goals it pursues, and what strategies and marketing tools, it targets the wants to achieve. There are also indicators for progress and success monitoring and proposals for responding to ( unavoidable ) deviations between the actual and planned developments. A marketing plan is usually created for a product, product group, a strategic business unit or for the entire company. A marketing plan is the basis for a business plan that includes the planning of support functions. These include the manufacturing, financial, human resources and procurement plan as well as the planning of research and development and innovation.

Meaning and application areas

The main areas and occasions to create a marketing plan can be prepared by Waldemar fur can be summarized as follows:

• Investment: some considerable financial resources are necessary for the introduction of new or improved products or services as well as making investment decisions. In these cases, the responsible persons must convince usually a panel of experts from the fact that these investments are useful ( profitable) - the funds invested with a certain surplus (profit) flow back. The marketing plan is in such cases, the most important basis for discussion for critical review of assumptions about conditions, trends and expected buying behavior of potential customers.
• Responsibility: As soon as an employee as part of his professional development assumes responsibility for a product, product group or business unit, he has his contribution to the long-term success of the company to prove and show that it can deal responsibly with assets or financial and human resources. For this he needed a marketing plan usually.
• Skills: Approximately two-thirds of all managers in the German economy have a technical or scientific training. Once they want to qualify for the takeover of management tasks, you will need basic knowledge of business, and to a marketing plan is part of the application of this knowledge (see also management skills ).
• Assessment: Most large corporations are organized by strategic business units. The performance of the responsible employee is usually measured in the economic success, and that requires a professional planning. Here, the marketing plan is the heart of the business plan. Success in this context means that those responsible not only cost money, but can also provide revenue.
• Goal setting: The marketing plan or elements of it are based on target agreements on almost all levels of the hierarchy (for example, agreement of marketing objectives ). And the ability of a manager to implement goals into measurable results is a key requirement for career success (see also implementation expertise ).
• Entrepreneurship: When starting a business, investors, banks or conveyors want to be convinced of the usefulness and success of the business idea. Also you need a marketing plan as the core of the business plan ( business plan ).

The development of a marketing plan and the process of creating is to illustrate collectively the overview, the adjacent graph.

Development of a marketing plan

After evaluation of the relevant literature, a marketing plan consists of the following components:

At the beginning of the marketing plan is usually a summary ( Management Summary ) of the five elements. These are explained in more detail below.

Strategic Analysis

The marketing plan begins with the strategic analysis. It consists of the market, customer and competitor analysis. The market analysis provides information about the market potential ( the potential, expected future demand in quantity and in value ), the market volume ( the actual quantity sold at given prices, the market shares of the main provider and the prognosis of the further market growth). The customer analysis begins with a precise definition as possible of the target group, their buying habits, needs and expectations. The customers may be end users (consumers) or other companies. Key dates in the customer analysis are customer satisfaction and loyalty, attitudes, buying motives and expectations about the nature of the relationship with the provider. In the competition analysis, it is primarily to the assessment of the main goals, strengths and weaknesses of relevant competitors because you can formulate to aspiring competitive advantages in the context of strategic planning is the only way. It's about the core issue of what we have to do better, to a preferred supplier to be in the perception of the target group. The results of competitive analysis can be represented in a so-called SWOT profile. A common tool in this respect is the SWOT analysis.

Objective

The objective presupposes certain metrics. Typical goals include revenue growth, market share, or return on investment ( financial goals ). These indicators are called lagging indicators. The problem with this example, if the revenue is already decreasing, countermeasures are hardly possible and usually require large human and financial efforts. It applies the principle that the current turnover is the result of decisions ( or omission ) is taken three to five years ago. In other words, what one has failed strategically, operationally you can usually no longer heal. Why has shifted in recent years, the focus on metrics that can serve as early indicators. Examples of such indicators are customer satisfaction, innovation, customer focus of the organization, commitment and employee satisfaction, acquisition of new customers or image of the company ( market-and customer -related goals ). In the setting of objectives, the so-called SMART principle is particularly important: S stands for specific, M for measurable, A for Attainable, R for realistic and T for time bound. Objectives should be formulated so specific, measurable, achievable, ambitious and time-based. Consequently, the marketing plan includes short-and long -term as well as qualitative and quantitative objectives. All goals must be coordinated and may be contradictory not possible.

Strategy choice

A strategy can be defined as a set of measures that appear appropriate from A (current state ) to B ( target state ) to enter, ie to achieve goals. Strategies can be mainly divided into four groups: competition, positioning, portfolio and innovation strategies. Competitive strategies may give an answer to the question: How can those responsible for the marketing plan to gain a competitive advantage? A distinction is made by Robert S. Kaplan and David Norton in the three main sources of competitive advantage: superior ( attractive ) products, superior ( efficient ) processes or superior customer relationships ( loyalty and trust). According to the model of Michael Porter can provide a competitive advantage by focusing on quality and service (differentiation ) through a price advantage ( cost leadership ) or by specializing in niche markets. A company created by a positioning strategy his offer in a way that it takes a special, valued and marketed by competitors place in the minds of target customers. Portfolio strategies ( portfolio analysis) should help in planning the product range so that the company has as many profitable products on growing, attractive markets.

Strategy implementation with the marketing mix

The implementation of the strategy usually requires significant human and financial resources. These are planned as part of the marketing budget. It deals with the central question of how one has to split the marketing budget on the marketing tools and the contribution that these instruments are expected to make ( product, price, communication and distribution policy ) for the efficient achievement of goals. An essential task of product and pricing policy is the price-performance ratio set so that it appears attractive in the eyes of customers. The object of the communication policy is to inform customers about the offer and to get them to purchase. In the marketing plan you must therefore specify which means of communication (eg advertising, personal selling, public relations, sales promotion and direct marketing ) are in what combination best suited to do so. Accordingly, the financial resources to be planned.

Performance review

The marketing plan ends with the examination ( progress and economy ), primarily in three areas. Firstly, you have to regularly check the extent to which marketing tools afford the expected contribution to the implementation of the goals. Only in this way can take corrective action. On the other hand must have a performance review of the characters (which implement the marketing plan) done in terms of their contribution to the success of the marketing plan. The only way to develop the personal skills of the concerned specialists and managers and use them efficiently according to their strengths. In case of any sanctions imposed by the principle that they should come into play only if the persons are not carefully prepared for entrepreneurial unavoidable deviations from the plan, especially since a prediction of the future is not possible ( principle of forward planning ). The third area codes on the profitability of products, markets, segments, customers, distribution channels, etc. are set, so that one can derive an early stage opportunities for improvement and adaptation needs ( basic requirement of corporate control ).

Example of a Marketing Plan

As an example of the application of the methodology outlined the marketing plan of the Pindari Boomerang Factory was cited. It contains 42 pages, including 3 pages on the Summary (Executive Summary) omitted. In the Pindari Boomerang Facotory is a non-profit organization for the production and marketing of products of local crafts from the region Rockhampton (Queensland, Australia). In this region there are around 1.1 million tourists each year, of which 90 per cent of Australians and 10 per cent to foreigners ( British, German, American and New Zealand ). Examples of frequently requested items are boomerangs, whirling boards ( musical instrument ), T -shirts, music CDs and didgeridoos. Purpose of the company is to promote the local culture and the arts and crafts and creating new jobs (vision). The legal form comparable to a German stock corporation or cooperative; Shareholders are local shops and artisans.

Swell

• Diller, H., Vahlens Great Marketing Encyclopedia, 2nd edition, Munich 2001 ( ISBN 3-423-50861-2 )
• Homburg, Ch & Krohmer, H., Marketing Management, 3rd Edition, Wiesbaden 2009 (ISBN 978-3-8349-1656-3 )
• Ho Yin Wong et. . al: "Building a Marketing Plan - A Complete Guide ". Harvard Business School Press / Business Expert Press, Boston and New York 2011
• Kotler, P. & Keller, KL, Marketing Management, 13th ed, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2009 (ISBN 978-81-203-3570-7 )
• Meffert, H. et al, Marketing, 10th edition, Wiesbaden 2008 ( ISBN 978-3-409-69018-8 )
• Pelz, W., Strategic and Operational Marketing, A Guide to Creating a professional marketing plan, Norderstedt 2004 ( ISBN 3-8334-0634-8 )