Marketing plans

What should be in it?

There is a range of ways to present a marketing plan. Enlist the help of your business adviser or marketing consultant. There are also some software packages available that can help you with your plan. The framework will be up to you, but the following layout may be useful to begin with:

• Scope or executive summary - summarise where your business is now and where it aims to go with the marketing plan.
• Objectives - realistic objectives should show what the plan is intended to achieve in terms of turnover and profit.
• Market review - these are the key facts and assumptions on which the plan is based. Make sure the plan and reality are consistent. What sort of environment are you working in? Who are your competitors? Segment the market - who are you targeting with this plan?
• Marketing objectives - these need to be clear and quantified, based on current and established trends as well as an analysis of what you plan for business development and how you can improve the current position.
• Marketing strategy - how you are going to achieve your objectives; for example, through improving your product, increasing promotion or a new pricing strategy. This should be clear and realistic, reflecting the practical implications behind your marketing objectives.
• Marketing budget - state the resources that you will delegate to marketing activity, detailing areas of major cost.
• Marketing action plan - what is the action plan for each strategy? For example, the selection of media for your promotional campaign, delegation of resources for product development and market research. By setting yourself clear objectives and activities, results can be monitored more easily.