Marketing plan in a business plan: an example

In order for the idea outlined in its content not to become utopian, you need to check it for compliance with market realities. This is where marketing helps. One of the sections of the document is devoted to him.

What should be reflected in the section?

The management of the organization, investors or potential lenders should see this part of the document:

• what is the market capacity (better in quantitative terms);
• current price conditions, as well as their forecast for 3-5 years;
• what factors are determining in the development of the market situation;
• marketing risks;
• ways of promoting goods or services that will be applied depending on the stage of the plan implementation;
• at what stage of the life cycle the market is.

To carry out the work, there must already be a strategic goal, which becomes a hypothesis for testing in the course of marketing research.

Marketing materials become the basis for supporting the decision on choosing the strategy that the organization's management intends to use.

Different marketing concepts may be chosen depending on the characteristics of the product or service. This affects the structure of the section. For example, in the classic version, after the market analyst, there is a marketing plan consisting of “4P”:

• Product.
• Price.
• Distribution.
• Promotion.

For the service sector, the concept of "4C" is considered more attractive to use, including the description:

• Consumer values.
• Cost for clients.
• Convenience and availability of services (goods).
• Communication with the consumer.

Variants "5P", "7P" can also be used. Their use will increase the volume of work, but give an idea of ​​the impact of any process or personnel on potential sales.

What do you need to do to create a useful marketing plan?

Define Marketing Objectives

A properly constructed system of goals and indicators of an enterprise is a hierarchy headed by the most general goals determined by the owners. Among the subordinate goals, marketing is the most important. Writing a marketing plan begins with defining these goals.

Of course, the main goal of marketing activities is sales. But this goal is achieved in each type of business in its own way, so the hierarchy of marketing goals in each type of business will be different. Moreover, the marketing goals tree will depend on the marketing strategy chosen by the enterprise.

After setting your marketing goals, you need to

Define Marketing Metrics

Indicators are measures of achieving a goal. If your marketing goals meet SMART criteria, metrics are not difficult to define. You just need to take care of the collection of initial data and automate the calculation of indicators. This problem is solved in the 21st century with the help of information technology.

Define Marketing Metrics Plans

How to make a sales plan is written in the article at the link. Plans for subordinate indicators must be necessary and sufficient to fulfill plans for main objectives. Then a balanced scorecard is achieved.

Develop marketing plans

In order to create a marketing plan, it is not enough to define plans by indicators. We need to figure out what we will do to achieve the planned marketing results, that is, draw up a marketing plan. The plan should include, for each activity, a measurable goal, timeline, responsible person, budget and required non-financial resources.

Implement metrics and performance management business processes

To achieve the goals of marketing planning, the implementation of plans for indicators and activities must be controlled. It is useful to include a description of the control business processes in the marketing plan.

The marketing plan in a business plan is the second most important section after the resume, which is carefully scrutinized by investors and potential lenders. This point is no less important for the owner of the company, i. it defines the tactics of entering the market and selling products to potential consumers.

Assign a marketing plan in a business plan

The marketing strategy in the business plan displays structured information about the results of market research with the justification of the presence of demand for a product or service, the formation of a competitive price, the identified factors of influence on it, branding and sales methods with the required indicators for the next 3 years ...

The content should show investors the viability of the business plan with supporting estimates of revenue and promotional costs.

The purpose and objectives of marketing in the business plan

The main goal of the marketing section of the business plan is to get answers to the questions “what we create, who is our client, why they need our product and how we sell it”. The end result of the development of this part of the business plan should be a step-by-step strategy for achieving the set goals when starting the project.

Description of the main points of the marketing part of the business plan

Like other parts of the document, the marketing section of a business plan consists of several subitems.

Definition of demand and potential market size

Here are the analysis results that characterize:

general situation in the relevant business area;

identified trends of increasing or decreasing purchasing power;

the structure of the consumer's income and expenses.

The marketing section of a business plan reveals information about your product from the point of view of the consumer and about the market in which you will be working. The purpose of this section is to convey information about the place of your product in the market, target audience and product promotion.

The marketing section of a business plan should contain the following information:

1) Description of the product or service;

2) General characteristics of the sales market;

3) Overview of the competitive landscape;

4) Consumer research, target audience;

5) Distribution strategy;

6) Pricing strategy and tactics;

This information should be communicated to the person studying the business plan in a structured and understandable way. Therefore, it is advisable to split the marketing section into several blocks. Let's consider them.

Characteristics of a product or service

Before starting your own business, you need to carefully think over all the nuances and calculate how much money you need to start. As a rule, most businessmen are limited only by the financial plan, but this is a mistake. To successfully compete against the competition, you need an effective marketing strategy in your business plan that will help you take your place in the sun and generate consistent profits. Consider how it is composed.

Why do you need a marketing section

The main task of any business is to make a profit. Accordingly, in order to make a profit, a company needs to sell its goods or services. In order to sell, you need someone to know about the company and its products are popular. This can be achieved in different ways, but the smartest and most correct way is through a properly constructed marketing strategy.

The strategy needs to be thought out in the early stages of starting a business. Usually it is drawn up when writing a business plan, thinking over the main steps, and after opening the strategy is adjusted based on the general situation. What are the advantages of this section for a budding entrepreneur? Let's consider them in more detail:

• Proper planning. You will consider in advance the options for promoting your business, taking into account the overall strategy.
• Determining the exact amount required for promotion. You will know how much you need to spend on a sign, how much on social media promotion, how much on paper advertising or website creation. Knowing the numbers, you can build budgets and plan directions in which you will build promotions.

Attention: when drawing up the marketing part, the risks are assessed and a plan to combat them is developed. Advertising is built taking into account the strengths of the product, while the weaknesses are hidden, so you will understand what risks there are, how to get around them and what to do to get the maximum profit.

What is the marketing part of

Aspiring entrepreneurs often shorten the marketing part, describing it in general terms. This is a wrong decision, because you need to create several strong strategies, think about which direction of development you will bet on, what you will do first, than the second, which direction should bring customers to you quickly, and which - in the long run. The marketing part must include:

• The task your program is pursuing.
• A description of the goods or services that you plan to sell.
• Description of the target audience who will purchase your product. To highlight the target audience, it is necessary to conduct a market analysis and an analysis of the population in a particular locality.
• Principles of pricing for goods and services together with the rationale.
• Analysis of competitors who work in your niche or locality.
• Forecast of the costs that will be needed to start production.
• How exactly do you plan to promote your product on the market, what methods will be used.
• How exactly do you want to sell your products, what channels you plan to use.

You can include other sections in the structure if you need them. You need to decide how you will sell, what you will use, which methods will be more promising, which ones are better to postpone, etc. You will also understand how much it will cost you to implement high-quality marketing and put this amount in the budget so that came as a surprise to you. Let's consider these points in more detail.

Objectives and Goals