Marketing Plan Outline

MARKETING PLAN OUTLINE
Marketing Plan (also known as an Action Plan or Marketing Strategy) is a written

plan that specifies the marketing goals and objectives to be achieved over a specified period of
time. It also includes the strategies to be used to achieve these marketing and promotional
goals. Although the following outline may seem very long or detailed, your business will dictate
how comprehensive you need to be. Some sections may not be relevant to your business or
market. i.e. you may not have all of the sections broken up with headings, but will include the
information in 1-2 paragraphs.
Executive Summary
It is recommended that you write this section last as it is a summary of the entire plan. Here, you
will highlight the main elements of your plan and create a desire by the reader to continue
reading your entire plan.
In the executive summary, you will:
Summarize the current situation, your company missions and objectives

Provide a description of your product or service
State your marketing objective (i.e. increase sales of Product X by 15%)
Describe our marketing program(s) and strategy
Project your expected marketing and/or financial results
Point out the keys to your success
Make sure you have answered the following questions in your executive summary:
Who is your company?
What is your target market?
What is your product or service?
Where is your market located?
When will your marketing plan be implemented?
What are the expected results?
How much will it cost?
What is the expected return on your investment? How much profit? How many sales?
SITUATION ANALYSIS
Industry Analysis
Characteristics of the Market
Market size, growth rate, market potential, industry forecasts, history of market, stage of market,
industry structure, level of competition
Trends or Drivers
Major industry trends, fashion, fads, changes in use of product, new categories of potential
users, demand cycles, seasonality, special occasions and worldwide events
Legal, Political & Economical Factors

Present & potential laws affecting your business or market, government agencies or regulating
bodies, corporate tax shelters, government spending, effects of taxation, inflation, interest rates,
exchange rates, international trade developments, political climate and stability
Sociocultural Factors
Lifestyle changes, environmental concerns, changes in use of disposable income, living
conditions, level of social mobility from one social class to another, urban development and loss
of rural living spaces or movements from rural to urban centres
Technological Factors
Breakthrough technologies or processes, rate of technological innovation, relative costs of
technology, research & development, industry dependence on technology, energy use
Sales Analysis
Economic growth and profitability of the industry vs. your company
Evolution of sales, market share, variable costs
Evolution of marketing expenditures & profit margins
Distribution trends & developments
Types of distribution channels
Competitive Analysis
Who are your direct competitors (exactly what you offer)? Who are your indirect
competitors (offer substitutes)?
How long have they been in business? How is their business: Steady? Increasing?
Decreasing?
What have you learned from their operations? From their advertising?
What are their strengths and weaknesses? Ensure you are being unbiased.
Are there any opportunities and threats that your competition may present?
How does their product or service differ from yours? What is your competitive
advantage?
List the direct competitors in your local market. These are firms who offer exactly what
you offer. List the current number and the number in existence for the past three-year
period.
List the indirect competitors in your local market. These are firms who offer substitute
products.
Analyze any competitors who have gone out of business in the past and if possible, why.
Explain how your firm will compete with these competitors to prove how you can survive
in their markets.
Examine risks that could occur when you enter the market. For example, what if your
key competitor cuts their price when you open your business?
Competitive Analysis Chart
Competitor Market Product Strengths Weaknesses Marketing Aggressiveness Threat

Share or Strategy (high, low, medium)
Service
Direct
Competitor
#1
#2
Indirect
Competitor
#1
#2
Substitutes
#1
#2
Potential
Entrants
#1
#2
Related
Products
#1
#2
Customer Analysis – Target Market
Who are your customers? Who is most likely going to buy your product/service? Define your
target market(s).
Where are your customers located?
What are the market trends? Are they growing? Steady? Declining?
Is the market share growing? Steady? Declining?
How is the market segmented? What factors are the most relevant? (demographic,
geographic
location, behavioural, purchasing habits, etc)
Are the markets large enough to expand?
How many potential clients are there in your area? (population count)
Market Segmentation
Geographic - where your customer is located
• Demographic – gender, age, income, housing, education
• Distribution – how your product or service is distributed to your customer
• Lifestyle – based on analysis of consumer attitudes, values, behaviours, emotions,
perceptions, beliefs and interests.
must meet the most basic level of need before they will strongly desire higher level needs.
• Product Life Cycle – individuals accept and adopt new technology at various stages of a
product’s life cycle.
SWOT ANALYSIS
INTERNAL FACTORS
S – Strengths: what this business does best.
W – Weaknesses: areas that this business needs to improve.
EXTERNAL FACTORS
O – Opportunities: what conditions in the industry or the community might the business
use to improve its position?
T – Threats: what conditions in the industry or community might undermine the success
of the business operation?
Analysis of Marketing Activities
Analyze your current marketing plan, if any
Analyze the resources and metrics employed to evaluate the effectiveness of your
campaign
Analyze your brand’s strength
Objectives
Corporate objectives
Marketing objectives
Establish clear and measurable goals that express a desired sales level, or market
share, brand variables, ROI, both in the Short Term(1 year) and Long Term (3-5 years)
Marketing Strategy
Marketing Mix
Types of Market Strategies
Marketing Communication Program

Marketing Tools – Advantages & Disadvantages
Media Plan
Media Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Print
Radio
TV
Billboards
Events
Public
Relations
Online
Website
Social
Media
 Advertisement A + Advertisement B # Advertisement C * Advertisement D
Implementation Plan
Product design & development - What are the technical requirements (packaging, labeling,
etc)? Do you need to outsource? Are there any marketing requirements?
Marketing and sales - Pricing requirements, positioning, branding & corporate material,
advertising, market test, loyalty program, sales force, customer service
Distributors
Resource requirements
Scheduling
Performance Evaluation & Monitoring

Monitor ad campaigns - performance metrics, advertising costs
Sales Analysis i.e. break even, benchmarking, profit and loss statements
Gather feedback from your sales people and analyze any compensation paid to them
Look at the profile of any new clients. Are they the same as your target market?
Performance & Cost Ratios –
Financial Information
Financial capsule
Financial assumptions
Budget
Sales Projections (3-5 years)
Contingency Plans
Symptoms of failure
Alternative strategies
Appendices
Include any documents you think may be valuable to the reader or analysis that is too large to
include in the body of your report.
Product literature or brochures
Market research data
Surveys
Past advertising campaign
Photographs of your product/facility
Media coverage
Financial documents: break-even analysis, cash flow statement, sales projections,
balance sheet, business ratios (liquidity, solvency, profitability, return-on-investment)

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MARKETING PLAN OUTLINE

Marketing Plan (also known as an Action Plan or Marketing Strategy) is a written

In the executive summary, you will:

Summarize the current situation, your company missions and objectives

Legal, Political & Economical Factors

Competitor Market Product Strengths Weaknesses Marketing Aggressiveness Threat

Marketing Communication Program

Performance Evaluation & Monitoring

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