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MK 6943 Strategic Marketing Management

Marketing Plan Components

Resource: Principles of Marketing; Chapter 16: The Marketing Plan ( PDF course book

page 463)

Remember, the focus of your marketing plan should center on a unique company and product or

service. Essentially, you are an entrepreneur marketing your startup company’s unique product or

service.

Keep in mind that some of the marketing plan guidelines in the PDF course book refer to existing

businesses and product or services. Your focus should be a startup entrepreneurship; therefore,

overlook requirements for an existing business.

Contact the instructor if you have any questions, concerns, or comments.

Also see additional resources in Moodle course room: Marketing Plan Guidelines and Marketing Plan

Rubric. Be sure to incorporate visuals where appropriate.

Section 1. Executive Summary: PDF course book page 469 (to be completed during Week 7)

A marketing plan starts with an executive summary. An executive summary should

provide all the information your company’s executives need to decide without reading

the rest of the plan. The summary should include a brief description of the market, the

product to be offered, the strategy behind the plan, and the budget. Any other

important information, such as how your competitors and channel partners will respond

to the actions your firm takes, should also be summarized. Because most executives will

be reading the plan to make budgeting decisions, the budgeting information you include

in the summary is especially important. If the executives want more detail, they can

refer to the “budget” section, which appears later in the plan. The executive summary

should be less than one page long; ideally, it should be about a half page long. Most

marketing plan writers find it easier to write a plan’s summary la st, even though it

appears first in the plan. A summary is hard to write when you do not know the whole

plan, so waiting until the plan is complete makes writing the executive summary easier.

MK 6943 Strategic Marketing Management

Marketing Plan Components

Page 2 of 3

Section 2. The Business Challenge: PDF course book page 470

In the “business challenge” section of the plan, the planner describes the offering and

provides a brief rationale for why the company should invest in it. In other words, why is

the offering needed? How does it fit in with what the company is already doing and

further its overall business goals? In addition, the company’s mission statement should

be referenced. How does the offering and marketing plan further the company’s

mission?

Section 3: The Market: PDF course book page 470 - 476

a. Customers: Who are they and what do they need?

b. Company Analysis: Your firm’s strengths and weaknesses relative to this marketing and the offering

c. Collaborators: Your collaborators should include supplier and/or distributors or retailers.

d. Competitors: Who are they and what are they doing?

e. Business Climate: This section includes the opportunities and threats created by environmental forces, such as government regulations and legislations, the economy, and social, cultural, and technological forces.

Section 4: The Strategy: PDF course book page 477 - 478

a. The strategy: Why did you choose the strategy you did? Consider including a brief discussion of alternatives that were considered and discarded

b. The offering: Provide details on the features and benefits of the offering, as well as price options.

c. The communication plan: How will the offering be launched? What will the ongoing communication strategies be? This section is likely to be fairly broad and will require collaboration with communication partners such as your firm’s advertising agency.

d. Distribution: How will the offering be sold? Who will sell it? Who will ship it? Who will service it?

Section 5: The Budget: PDF course book page 479-480

a. Investment: Provide details about the budget needed to launch and maintain the offering.

b. Return: List both short-term and long-term financial goals of the offering, including its projected sales, costs, and net income

MK 6943 Strategic Marketing Management

Marketing Plan Components

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Section 6: Conclusion: PDF course book page 480

In the conclusion, repeat the highlights. Summarize the target market, the offer, and the communication plan. Your conclusion should remind the reader of all the reasons why your

plan is the best choice.