• ttitude, Performance ... making learning pay! 1 • It's Good to Have a Plan What's a marketing plan? Th ere's a n ol d say ing th at goes somet hin g lik e t hi s: " He w ho fail s to plan, plans to fai l." In other words , success is hard to come by without putting in some thoughtful , careful planning . This truth is especially ev ident in the bus ine ss wor ld. Wh et her a b usi ne ss is ju st startin g up or has bee n estab - li shed for decades , it must have a marketing plan in place to succeed . Madelyn just moved to the big city and has sta rt ed her own small cou rier bus iness. She has a small car and a bicycle and is ma ki ng hersel f available to deliver docu- ments and packages th roughout the city. Now , s he just needs to "get her name ou t there ." A national pizza chai n has decided to intr oduce a new barbecue ch icken spe- cialty pizza . The company is currently successful in its ta rget market , but it really wa nt s to "push " th is new product in the coming year. Bo th Madelyn and the pizza company need market ing plans to achieve their business goals. Marketing plans organize and prov ide focus for a firm 's marketing strateg ies , and they are essential tools for organizational success . Learn more about marketing p lans and the benefits they can A marketing plan is a set of procedures or strategies for attracting th e ta rge t customer to a bus iness. There a re th ree commo n r easo ns for prov ide for your business. wri ti ng a ma rketing p lan: • First , the marketing plan may be included as part of the organi- za ti on's ov er all business plan. • Second , the plan may be presented to upper management by the marketing team as a way to demonst rate and so lidify its goals and s tr ategi es for th e upc om ing yea r. A Explain the benefi ts assoc iate d wi th having a marketing plan. • Third , the marketing plan may outline the company 's intentions B Identify t he components o f a mark eting pl an . fo r introd ucing a new p roduc t, en teri ng a new ta rge t m arke t, or tryi ng a new ma rketi ng s tra tegy . LAP-MP-00 1-SP © 20 11, MBA Research and Curriculum Center ® A Winning Plan 2 • Here are a few other things to keep in m ind abo ut marketing plans: • Marketing plans are important for businesses both big and small . A small business may have one simple marketing plan, while a major corporation may have hundreds of them -one for each individual product . • A ma rketing pl an has a w ide aud ience. It may be read by ma rke tin g team me mb ers , empl oyees in depar tmen ts throug hout the co mpany , up pe r mana gement , board mem- be rs, potent ial inves tors, etc. • Writin g a mark etin g pl an ca n inv olv e quite a bit of tim e, effort , a nd re search , but it 's worth it . Your busine ss a nd pr oduct have a much gre ater chance of success if you do the " leg work " fir st. For your benefit You a lready know th at successf ul busi nesses w rite market ing p lans. But, how exac tl y do ma rketing p lans co ntrib ute to that success? Here are some speci fic benef its your o rga ni za ti on ca n r ece iv e th rough the process: Understanding past marketing decisions and outcomes better. They say that history repeats itself . In business , some- times you want it to , and sometimes you don 't! When a business creates detailed marketing plans, it allows itself the opportunity to look back and see which strategies worked well-and which didn 't. The marketing team can build on its knowledge of the past to create ideas and plans for the future and to avoid repeating mistakes unnecessarily . Understanding target market(s) better. In business , the customer is king . No firm ach ieves success unless it satisfies its customers ' needs an d wa nts. To do this, the bus in ess m ust ha ve a deep understanding of its ta rget ma rket(s). Th e level of research and de tail re qu ired to w rite a marke ti ng p lan he lp s th e ma rketi ng team to know and u nde rstand i ts target marke t(s) as m uch as it possib ly can. Setting goals. Wri tin g a ma rketing plan forces the Company Goals marketing t ea m t o se t spec ifi c goa ls. Wh en goa ls are put in writing, th ey a re eas ier to remember , to s ti ck to, to m easur e, and t o ac hiev e. Planning marketing strategies with more precision. On ce mark etin g goa ls have been set , marke tin g st rategi es m ust be des igned and imp lemented to ac hi eve t hose goa ls. Witho ut a marke ting plan , things can get c hao tic. One member of the team may p lan a tele vi sion advertising campa ign, while another sets sales promotions into action , and yet another sends out direct mail -without coordination , these marketing strategies can compete with each other and create confusion among customers. A marketing plan provides clear guidance on what strategies w ill be used and when . Obtaining funding. A v ery impo rtan t be nefit of w riti ng a market ing p lan can be obta ining fundi ng for speci fic products or proj- ects . This funding mi ght co me fr om w ithi n th e c om pa ny or f ro m ou tside inv es tors. For exa mple, large co mpa ni es of ten h ave different marke ti ng tea ms for eac h of th ei r sp eci fi c prod ucts. The se tea ms mig ht h ave to "co mp ete" to ge t th e f und ing th ey wa nt o ut o f each yea rl y bu dget-and a we ll-wri tte n m arke ting plan can b e t he key to o btainin g i t. A small business, on th e o th er h and, mi ght need in ves tment d ollars to get off th e ground . A marketing plan , as part of an over all busines s pl an, is so methin g th at potential in ves tors will want to see before deciding whether or not to put money into the business. A Winning Plan LAP -MP -001 -SP © 2011 , MBA R esea rch and Curric ulu m Center ® 3 • Providing direction for everyone in the organization. Marketing plans provide clear direction for everyone in the organization , both inside and outside the marketing team . All company departments are interrelated. Can you see why sales representatives , accounts \~\\)V$il (' 1 payable clerks , and shipping supervisors would all need to know what 's in the market ing l 13 << -TR o/J'0 1 plan? Wh en eve ryone in t he orga ni zat ion is "in the know, " it's eas ier to stay on track. Tracking progress more effectively. It 's har d to gau ge marke tin g e ff ec ti veness when no spec ifi c objectives have been set . A well-wri tt en ma rket ing p lan allows a busi- ness to track its progress in a measurable way. Being ab le to demonstrate success can be essential for obtaining further funding or getting the "go ahead " to continue with certain products or marketing strategies . Summary A ma rketing pla n is a se t of p roced ur es or s tr ateg ies for at tr acting the target customer to a business. Wr iting a marketing plan can have many benefits for a business , including un - derstanding past marketing decisions and outcomes better, understanding target market(s) better , setting goa ls, plan ni ng market ing strateg ies wit h more p recision , obtaining funding , providing dir ection for e veryone in the orga ni za tion, a nd tra ck in g progress more effective ly. 1. What is a marketing plan? 2. What a re the three common reasons for writ ing a ma rket ing E e- I(. plan ? T1tIEl "' 3. Who reads a marketing plan? V' J " 4. What are the benefits of writing a marketing plan? You 're on the marketing team for a product made by a big com- pany that a lso makes hundreds of other products. To get the money you need out of the budget t hi s year , your marketing plan has to "wow " those in uppe r management . In the financ ial pla ns section of your document , one of your team members has ove r- estimated the expected revenues your marketing progra ms shou ld bring in .