Importance of Planning for Marketing

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION

2. IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING FOR MARKETING

3. PROCESS OF PLANNING

3.1. MISSION AND OBJECTIVES

3.1.1. MISSION

3.1.2. OBJECTIVES

3.2. SWOT ANALYSIS

3.3. SEGMENTATION

3.4. MARKETING STRATEGY

3.5. MARKETING RESEARCH

3.6. MARKETING MIX

3.7. CONTROL SYSTEMS

4. FLOW CHART

5. CONCLUSION

RECOMMENDATION

6. REFERENCE

1.   INTRODUCTION

The report is being written to my client explaining the importance of marketing planning and suggesting the marketing plans for the proposed business venture.

The report describes the importance of marketing plan and the marketing planning process for the new business venture.

The report includes the importance of marketing planning and the stages involved in it. Process of, the objectives and SWOT analysis are explained in the report. Marketing research and marketing mix are also detailed with the segmentation.  Control systems, the budgeting plans and the key performance indicators are mentioned and briefed in this report.

The report then includes a flow chart showing a graphical representation of the marketing planning process. This gives a clear idea of the planning process step-by-step.

2.   IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING FOR MARKETING

Marketing plan is an important factor that affect the economic status and vale of a business venture. Planning for marketing shows a clear idea and directions for a successful and intelligent marketing procedures. Planning is the process of deciding what should be done and how, to achieve a target. Planning is the first stage before marketing and it includes preparation of the policies, marketing procedures, budgets, etc. proper marketing plan increases the market and economic value of the business.

Marketing plan works on the principle of marketing-based actions for the future minimising the cause of any uncertainties and risks and producing decisions for that. Marketing planning determines the future of a business or an organisation, showing light upon the product and marketing development, sales promotion and profitability.

Importance of proper planning for marketing are:

• It helps to avoid occurrence of any future uncertainties.
• Provides a clear communication and coordination among different sectors
• Helps in achieving higher performance standards.
• It helps in controlling the marketing development of the organisation
• Makes the customers fully satisfied
• It helps in doing the marketing procedures through the objectives and helps in achieving them.

3.   PROCESS OF PLANNING

3.1.         MISSION AND OBJECTIVES

3.1.1.      MISSION

According to Mintzberg, mission statement of the marketing plan is, “organisation’s basic function in the society, in terms of the products and services it produces for its costumers”. Mission of the marketing plan is to provide a clear idea of what steps to be undertaken to achieve a goal, and thus making the marketing venture a success.

Fig 3.1: Mission Statement

The four elements of a clear business mission are:

1. Purpose – The purpose describes on why the business exists. What is the purpose of the existence of a business.
2. Values – Values are the basic beliefs of the people working for the business. This can include;

• Basic business principles
• Loyalty and commitment of the employers towards the business
• Guidance on expected behaviour – to promote a good work environment.

3. Standards and behaviour – This analyse the working pace and everyday activities and take decisions and actions to improve it day-by-day.
4. Strategy and scope – This explains two things;

• The products and services it offers
• The competences and method it follows

This describes the boundaries of a business that is set by the management.

Fig 3.2: Mission and Objectives

3.1.2.      OBJECTIVES

The main objectives of the marketing plan are:

• To increase the market and the economic value of the business venture.
• Increase the sales and brand awareness
• Achieve the target
• Launch and promote new services and products
• Enhance the relationship with the customer
• Make a stronger coordination with different sectors
• Improve internal communication and the stakeholder relationship

3.2.         SWOT ANALYSIS

SWOT analysis simply means Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat.
SWOT analysis enables us to identify the internal strengths and weakness of the business.

Strength – The strengths of the organisation should be identified in comparison to the competitors. What characteristics of the company is better than others, its unique selling proposition, low-coat market value service or item, advantages compared to the other companies, etc. are studies in this part. 

While analysing the strengths of the company, it must be always analysed in comparison to other ventures or company. And all the internal aspects as well as the concepts from the consumer side should be known.

Weakness – This part helps to identify the flaws that should be improvised. All the factors that must be studied and improved, what made loss to the business, what should be avoided, etc. are to be studied in this area.

In this case, both the internal aspects and the customer side review should be considered and taken into note.

Opportunities – Opportunities are like the chances that helps in promoting the venture. Identifying any interesting factors or trends, making one of the characteristics an opportunity, any local events, changes in policies and technologies are some of the things that can be done.

Opportunities can help in promoting the business and increase its market standard, by taking part in any local events and improvising any visible weaknesses. Utilising the unique feature of the organisation is also a good method.

Threat – Threats analyses the possible risks or problems that could arise in the future. Competitive policies of other companies, weak factors of the company, technologies, lack of proper updating and knowledge about the modern market, cash- debts, etc. are some of the possible threats.

These can be identified using PEST analysis, or similar features, and this helps in avoiding most possible risks.

Fig 3.3: SWOT Analysis

3.3.         SEGMENTATION

Segmentation is a marketing planning procedure where one or more market segments are identified. One or more market segments where the company can provide service are identified based on the marketing criteria. These criteria should be based on the products that the company sells or the services they provide.

The market segments should be divided based on the market around the company. The type of costumers should be considered in this process.

Fig 3.4: Segmentation

Possible Criteria:

Any common criteria can be used, any common characteristic of the customers, company products, etc. possible types of criteria are:
Geographic Segmentation – This includes the distance from the store and its position.

Demographic Segmentation – This segmentation is based on the factors like age, gender or education.

Psychographic Segmentation – This includes personality, values, etc of the segment users.

Behavioural Segmentation – Behavioural segmentation is based on the benefits, usage, user structure, etc. of the consumers.

Fig 3.5: Segmentation Criteria

Choosing criteria:

Every possible criterion would not match the marketing plan all the time. It always depends on the type of the business plan. So, the choice of criteria should always be careful as it affects the marketing plan. The chosen criteria should match the marketing strategy of your business.

If the marketing plan is to focus on only one segment, then choose the criteria that seems more attractive to the segment customers. On the other hand, if the plan is to focus on multiple segments, then the criteria should be chosen to develop multiple marketing approaches.

3.4.         MARKETING STRATEGY

Marketing strategy outlines the plan of the business in finding the client and customers for the business and to achieve the target or the goal. A company can have more than one marketing strategy at a time using different marketing media including digital media, networking and print media. It helps you identify the costumers, understand their needs, and implement the most effective marketing methods.

Fig 3.6: Marketing Strategies

Purpose of marketing strategy:

• It provides an edge over the competitors.
• It helps in developing goods and services in best profit-making potential.
• Helps in increasing the departmental coordination.
• It helps in fixing the advertising budgets in advance.

Types of marketing strategy:

• Interactive marketing – This method encourages active participation between the consumer and the marketing campaign. Interactive marketing is becoming a trend due to the consumers’ high demand for better online experience and modern technologies.
• Digital marketing – Digital marketing uses a medium to promote the marketing. Traditional methods include television and print advertisements. Modern methods include text messages, emailing, online advertisement streaming, signing up for emails, etc.
• Internet or online marketing – Online marketing is the most trending method, as it enables the retailer to reach out to the costumer online, advertise the products and sell it over the internet.

3.5.         MARKETING RESEARCH

Marketing research is the process of gaining information on different factors and topics regarding the market, customers, and new products, analysing het information gained and interpreting them. They provide relevant information to help solve most common marketing challenges that business field face.

Primary research: Primary research is the information that the company compile by itself. This can include raw data collected from a group of surveys, researches etc. and interpret these data for different business purposes.

Primary research collects two types of information as given below;

Secondary research: Secondary research are the information that are already provided. This includes, the local government policies and reports about the industry. The most common ways of attaining secondary information are;

3.6.         MARKETING MIX

Marketing mix refers to a set of actions that a company uses to promote its products and services in the market. The 4Ps make up the marketing mix – Price, Product, Promotion and Place. However, there are 4 other Ps nowadays – Packaging, Positioning, Public and Politics, in the increasing marketing mix.

4Ps of Marketing mix:
Price: It refers to the value put for the product, depending on several internal and external factors like cost of production, demand, ability of the market to play, supply, etc. This also shows the demand and image of the product.

Product: It refers to the product itself that has been sold. The product need to deliver a minimum level of performance.
Promotion: This includes all the methods undertaken by the company to make the products and services known to the users and the market. This can include the advertisements, press releases, online ads, etc.

Place: Place strategy is the point of sale of marketing. It aims in catching the eye of the customer and making it easy for them to buy.

Importance of Marketing Mix
All the 4Ps of marketing mix, make up the nosiness plan and when handled right, make the business a great success. The 4Ps influence each other.

3.7.         CONTROL SYSTEMS

Marketing control is the process of monitoring the proposed marketing plans as they proceed and do adjustments and alterations as required where necessary. Control involves measurement, evaluation and monitoring. It is important to make control planning as the proceedings of the marketing plan should always need to be compared against the standards and need to be modified if required.

Fig 3.7: Marketing Control Process

Budgeting – Marketing budget is the balance between the cost of advertisement materials and the revenue through the marketing plan. There are several plans to monitor the budgets, including the cost of print ads, travel expense for any trade shows, cost of market research studies and other internal expenses. The expenses should be closely monitored to reduce the outgoings and thus increasing the profitability of the company. Clear examination of expenses helps to maintain the budget.

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Key Performance Indicators – Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are measurable value that demonstrates how effective is the company in achieving key business objectives. Organisations use KPIs at different level to evaluate how close is them to the target. High-level KPI focuses on the annual or overall performance while the Low-level KPIs focus on the processes or employees. SMART KPI criteria is used to evaluate the performance of the indicators – Smart, Measure, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound.

Marketing metrics and KPIs helps in monitor and track the digital marketing performance, social media growth progress, etc. and help in achieving the target monthly as well as annually.

Some of the best marketing metrics are:

• Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL)
• Sales Qualified Leads (SQL)
• Funnel Conversion Rates
• Lifetime Value of a Customer (LVC)
• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

4.   FLOW CHART

5.   CONCLUSION

The report clearly explains the marketing plan for the proposed business plan and all the marketing planning process for a successful venture. Importance of the business is well explained in the report with all the possible outcomes of a good marketing plan. The marketing planning processes are briefed in the report with suitable figures.

• Mission statement and the objectives of the marketing planning
• SWOT analysis – Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat
• Segmentation of the uses depending on different criteria.
• Different marketing strategies used to promote the brand
• Marketing researches for a good marketing management
• 4Ps of the marketing mix to increase the marketing value of the company
• Control planning process including budgeting and the KPI is explained.

A graphical representation of the marketing planning process is also included in the report.

RECOMMENDATION

Depending on the company that you are planning to start, different marketing strategies can be adopted. For instance, if you’re planning to start a food franchise, the marketing strategies that would be useful are:

• Brand name and positioning

• Fresh and good quality food products
• Attractive advertisements – digital and online marketing
• Offers and promotions at times, etc.

6.   REFERENCE

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GKTODAY. (2016, April 26). Retrieved from https://www.gktoday.in/gk/importance-of-marketing-planning/

Hanlon, A. (2018, March 5). Smart Insights. Retrieved from How to use Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP) to develop marketing strategies: https://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/customer-segmentation-targeting/segmentation-targeting-and-positioning/

Juneja, P. (n.d.). Marketing Management. Marketing Strategy.

Klipfolio. (n.d.). Retrieved from Key Performance Indicators: https://www.klipfolio.com/resources/articles/what-is-a-key-performance-indicator

Lake, L. (2018, August 26). the balance small business. Retrieved from Different types of marketing strategies: https://www.thebalancesmb.com/types-of-marketing-strategies-2295338

Riley, J. (n.d.). tutor2u. Retrieved from https://www.tutor2u.net/business/reference/marketing-planning-what-is-a-mission-statement

Sherman, F. (2018, June). Chron. Retrieved from Define Market Segmentation & Targeting: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/define-market-segmentation-targeting-3253.html