Marketing Plan and Importance of Having a Viable Marketing Plan
Every start-up
business should have a complete business plan without which there is always a
huge possibility of failure. A business plan is important for a company for the
fact that it is regarded as an entrepreneur’s road map or master plan. It is
found that almost every successful business started its business with a
complete business plan and definite goal.
 |
| Marketing Plan |
Basically a
business plan includes company overview, business model, marketing pan,
financial plan etc. Every single part of a business plan is very much important
for the business start-ups as all of them are inter-related. In the company
overview section, company’s mission, vision, objective etc are discussed. In
the business model section, company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats are found out. The main thing that is made clear in this section is company’s
position in the industry. In the marketing plan section of a business plan,
marketing strategies comprising 4Ps of marketing is discussed and some core
decisions are made. And finally, in financial plan section, a 1-3 year cash
flow statement, income statement and balance sheet forecast is made. Thus, a
business plan helps a start up to analyze each and every possible situation and
make plan and action plan on how to handle those situations.
So, marketing plan
is a very important part of a company’s business plan which is created based on
company’s mission, vision and objects described in company overview section of
the business plan.
Creating a Viable Marketing Plan
In the marketing
plan, entrepreneurs are to make decisions regarding marketing mix (4Ps) of
marketing; Product, Price, Place, Promotion. Along with marketing mix, company
need to identify its target market, customer segmentation, competitors etc. So,
the core of marketing plan is to make decisions regarding marketing mix.
Definition of Marketing Mix
This is the set of
controllable tactical marketing tools – product, price, place and promotion –
that a firm blends to produce the response it wants on the target market.
Following are
complete descriptions of what to decide in marketing plan and how to do that-
Product
A product is
something that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or
consumption that might satisfy a want or need. In marketing, products don’t
necessarily mean only physical goods. It includes physical goods, services and
experiences.
So, in the
marketing plan, an entrepreneur needs to define his or her product like what
need or want it satisfies etc. Entrepreneur also needs to determine whether to
go for quality or quantity.
Price
Price is the amount
of money charged for any product or service.
Company need to
determine the price of its product or service. There are different pricing
strategies like cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy etc. In cost
leadership strategy, businesses try to offer lowest possible price in the
industry by increasing production and distribution efficiency. In differentiation
strategy, businesses try to charge a comparatively higher price for a high
quality product or service. Company need to determine which strategy to follow.
From another point of view, there are two types of pricing strategies; market
penetration and skimming strategy. In market penetration, businesses try to
sell its product and services in lowest possible price to capture the market.
And in price skimming strategy, businesses try to charge high price to reach
the breakeven point in shortest possible time.
Place
Place refers to
distribution of company’s product or services.
There are different
distribution strategies a firm can apply. It can go for intensive, selective
and exclusive distribution. To follow each of these strategies, company will
have to manage different distribution channels too. In the marketing plan, a
start-up company need to determine these distribution related decisions.
Promotion
Promotion refers to
communication; communication with the customers.
There are different
promotional strategies a business can apply to market its products and services.
Some basic elements of promotion are advertising, sales promotion, personal
selling, packaging, direct marketing, publicity etc. Businesses use different
combinations of these promotional elements to increase their sales volumes. An
entrepreneur needs to make a promotional mix for his or her business.
Some
other things that should include in marketing plan are customer segmentation,
market positioning of the product and services, consumer analysis, brand review
etc.
No comments:
Post a Comment