Updated 4/7/2015

Creating Your Marketing Plan

A marketing plan is a blueprint used by a business to guide its marketing activities to a desired conclusion.

For this unit project, you will develop a marketing plan for a product/service of your choice and present your plan in an oral presentation.

Your plan should include: • Customer Profile • Marketing Objective(s) • Marketing Mix

! Product, Price, Place Decisions (as they relate to your marketing efforts)

! Promotion Decisions o Promotional Mix (combination of promotional elements to

include personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing and public relations)

• Marketing Tactics & Promotional Implementation Plan • Promotional Budget • Sample of Marketing Materials

Steps have been outlined below to help you prepare your presentation. It is strongly suggested that you use the headings listed for the titles on your slides. It is also recommended that you follow the suggested sequence. Your slides are simply talking points so keep them simple but your presentation should be detailed enough to assess your understanding of the concepts.

Step 1: Clearly Identify Your Customer Profile Who is the campaign aimed at? This will involve identifying who the target market is going to be and this, in turn, may be related to the market segment/s that the business is focusing on. A market segment is a group of people with similar characteristics that may influence spending on the business's products. A market segment might be related to gender, age grouping, occupation, leisure pursuit, lifestyle, house type and so on. This will help to ensure that the campaign gets to the people who are most likely to benefit from it and buy the product/service concerned. Be sure to define your customer profile in terms of demographic, geographic and psychographic data (see Chapter 6 for more info). Step 2: Establish Your Marketing Objectives What are you trying to accomplish with your marketing efforts? Marketing objectives are goals a business wants to accomplish through its marketing efforts. In a start-up marketing plan, the objectives may include such things as: • Creating awareness of your business • Educating your target market about the features and benefits of your

products • Understanding of the current and future needs of your target market • Reaching specific sales projections • Obtaining projected market share • Building a repeat customer and/or referral base

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Your objectives should be SMART goals - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time related. Also, to ensure they can be monitored and controlled, it is best to limit the number of objectives to a manageable number. Step 3: Create Your Marketing Concept What is the message? A promotional campaign is designed to try to make customers more aware of a product, brand or service. Getting the right message across is therefore important and as such making sure the message is clear and unambiguous is vital. The message may determine the type of promotional media used - TV, radio, internet and so on. It will be the central theme of your campaign, to which all promotional efforts will be tied.

Step 4: Create Your Marketing Mix

The marketing mix is made up of the four marketing strategies (known as the 4 P’s – product, price, place, and promotion) that will help you reach your market. Your marketing plan should address each of these key areas specifically:

Product (refer to Chapter 10 in the textbook for more details) 1. How should I design and position my product to meet the marketplace needs? 2. What are the primary features/benefits of my product? 3. What are the elements that make my product special? Describe your USP

(unique selling proposition). How are my products different than my competitors?

4. How will I position my product?

Place (refer to Chapter 10 in the textbook for more details) 1. Where should I sell my product? 2. Should I sell directly to the customer, or will I use an intermediary? 3. Is my location appropriate for my target market? 4. Will I utilize the Internet (E-commerce) to sell my goods/services? 5. What is my channel of distribution?

Price (refer to Chapter 10 & 11 in the textbook for more details) 1. What are the pricing considerations of my target market? What motivates

customers who will buy my product? (Are they price-sensitive? Are they status conscious?)

2. Can I compete on the basis of price? 3. How will outside factors affect my price strategy? What will my primary

strategy be? 4. How do I price my product so I will make a profit?

To determine a price strategy, consider your target market and take these steps:

a) Select a basic approach to pricing (cost-based, demand based, or competition based; refer to Chapter 11 in the textbook for more details)

b) Determine your pricing policy (flexible-price or one-price; refer to Chapter 11 in the textbook for more details)

c) Set a price based on the stage of your product relative to the product life cycle (introduction, growth, maturity, or decline; refer to Chapter 11 in the textbook for more details) using an effective pricing technique (psychological pricing or discount pricing; refer to Chapter 11 in the textbook for more details).

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Promotion (refer to Chapter 10, 12 & 13 in the textbook for more details)

1. Consider the brand name, personality/characteristics, USP, positioning strategy and determine the communication objective for your brand? How will you create brand identity?

2. Create a central promotional theme/message (slogan) that will be integrated throughout all of your marketing efforts (tied to your marketing objective).

3. How will you execute your promotional goal(s)? 4. What media forms will be the best for

reaching your target market?

Step 5: Determine Your Promotional Mix (refer to Chapter 12 & 13 in the textbook for more details) How will you get the message to your target audience? There are five basic categories in the promotional mix (personal selling, advertising, internet marketing, sales promotion, and public relations) and each plays a vital role in promoting businesses and their products. Most businesses use more than one type of promotion to achieve their promotional goals. All promotional elements must be coordinated.

Media planning is the process of selecting the advertising media and deciding the time or space in which ads should appear to accomplish a marketing objective. To establish a media plan and select the right medium to use, advertisers address three basic questions:

1) Can the medium present the product and the appropriate business image? 2) Can the desired customers be targeted with the medium? 3) Will the medium get the desired response?

Your promotional strategy section of your marketing plan will describe how you plan to develop and put to use marketing activities that remind, inform, and persuade the customer about your product. This is best accomplished with an integrated marketing campaign, utilizing a promotional mix which is the combination of different promotional strategies that work together to achieve your specific marketing objectives. When determining your promotional mix, the following must be considered: • Target Market • Product Value • Promotional Channels • Time Frame • Cost

Step 6: Establish Your Marketing Tactics & Promotional Implementation Plan To apply marketing strategies, you must develop an action plan, consisting of your marketing tactics, or activities that need to be taken to carry out the marketing plan. In your plan, you must outline day-to-day marketing activities and who will be responsible for executing each task. You will also need to consider the time frame you are operating under. When the campaign is

Updated 4/7/2015

scheduled to run, for how long and the long term plans need to be considered. In some cases, a campaign might initially run for four weeks and then be 'rested' to return after a few months - possibly in a different format. The time of year might be relevant. The opening of a new venue might be a time of fevered activity and then subsequent campaigns might be needed as specific events take place. A lot will depend on the nature of your company and the objectives your team has established.

Step 7: Establish A Promotional Budget You will need to determine the actual cost of the promotional decisions made in steps 5 & Refer to Chapter 12.2 in the textbook for more info. You may use this Advertising Budget Template (found on my web page), if you find it helpful. Be sure to also read this article before you begin - Creating Your Advertising Budget (found on my web page).

Step 8: Create Marketing Materials

Marketing materials are the tools used to promote your business/product. Careful consideration must be given as these valuable pieces are created. Remember, all of your marketing materials must be in line with your promotional objectives, be suitable for your target audience and be coordinated with the entire promotional campaign.

Here is your chance for your team to get really creative! Based on the promotional mix (selected in Step 5), create (minimally) 2 samples of your marketing efforts. These might include (but are not limited to): brochures, print ads, web page, commercial, flyer, social media, coupon etc.

Remember, all marketing materials should be coordinated and tied to the objectives in Step 2 and the concept created in Step 3. Before you begin creating your marketing materials, read these articles. Creating Sales Tools That Build Brand What Not To Do When Designing Marketing Pieces

 

Updated 4/7/2015

Print  this  and  bring  it  with  you  on  the  day  you  present.  

Marketing  Plan  Presentation  Grading  Rubric  NAMES: BUSINESS: PRODUCT/SERVICE:

REQUIRED  CONTENT        (Utilize  section  headings  I-­‐VII  on  slides)    Points  Possible  

Points  Earned  

EFFECTIVE  OPENING    €    HOOK      What  is  your  “wow”  factor?  Grabbed  our  attention  with  a  “hook”?  (something  unique  like  a  question,  story,  quote,  stat,  picture,  video  etc)    €    INTRODUCTIONS      Tell  us  who  you  are  and  your  qualifications  to  speak  on  this  topic.          €    AGENDA        Include  what  you  will  cover  in  the  presentation.    

  10    

I. CUSTOMER  PROFILE     10    II.  MARKETING  OBJECTIVES     10    III.  MARKETING  THEME/CONCEPT     10    IV.  MARKETING  MIX     20    V.  PROMOTIONAL  MIX     20    VI.  MARKETING  TACTICS  &  PROMOTIONAL  IMPLEMENTATION  PLAN     20    VII.  PROMOTIONAL  BUDGET     20    VIII.  SAMPLE  PROMOTIONAL  MATERIALS  (2)     25  X  2    

STRONG  SUMMARY  €    SUMMARY        Briefly  summarize  your  main  points.  Do  NOT  repeat  your  agenda. €    CALL  TO  ACTION      What  action  do  you  want  the  audience  to  take>          

  10    

BIBLIOGRAPHY        Multiple  sources  are  used  to  gather  information  and  are  

cited  in  a  bibliography  slide     5    

B/W  copy  of  slides  submitted    (using  “handouts”  print  option,  6  per  pg)     5    OVERALL  IMPRESSION:  • Logical  organization/flow  of  presentation    • Presenters  were  confident/prepared  &  utilized  powerful  

speaking  skills  such  as  posture,  voice  enunciation/projection,  energy  &  gestures    

• Creative  &  relevant  graphics  were  used  to  enhance  presentation  

• Effective  time  management/productivity  was  demonstrated  &  project  was  turned  in  on  time.  

• Project  demonstrates  creativity,  professionalism  and  a  commitment  to  quality  work  

  10    

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