The Marketing Plan
The most important part The business must be aware of its strengths and
weaknesses through internal and external analysis and
of a business plan is the look for market opportunities.
Marketing Plan. To keep
The business must analyze its products and services from
one’s business on course the viewpoint of the customer—outside-in thinking. What
this plan must be geared is the customer looking for and what does the customer
want (benefits)? The business must gain knowledge of the
toward the business’s marketplace from its customers.
mission—its product and
The business must analyze its target markets. What other
service lines, its markets, additional markets can the business tap into and are there
additional products or services the business can add?
its financial situation and
marketing/sales tactics. The business must know its competition, current and
potential. By identifying the competitor’s strengths and
weaknesses the business can improve its position in
the marketplace.
The business must make decisions on how to apply its
resources to the target market(s).
The business must utilize the information it has gathered
about itself, its customers, its markets, and its competition
by developing a written Marketing Plan that provides
measurable goals. The business must select marketing/
sales tactics that will allow it to achieve or surpass its goals.
The business must implement the plan (within an
established budget) and then measure its success in terms
of whether or not the goals were met (or the extent to which
they were). The Marketing Plan is an ongoing tool designed
to help the business compete in the market for customers.
It should be re-visited, re-worked, and re-created often.
This marketing plan outline is designed to serve as a guide for discovery, analysis and marketing activity planning, as outlined by ASBCD. ©2018 The CMO Team
[1]
The Marketing Planning Process
Mission
GOAL
SETTING
Corporate Objectives
Marketing Audit & Assumptions
ANALYZING SWOT Analysis & Buyer Personas
THE CURRENT
SITUATION Current Promotional Strategy
Competition & Pricing
Marketing Objectives & Strategies
CREATING THE
MARKETING STRATEGY
Forecasts of Expected Results
Marketing Budget
ALLOCATING MARKETING
RESOURCES AND MONITORING Detailed Action Plan
Timelines & Team Members
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Marketing Plan Outline
There is no single “right” way to approach a marketing plan. Your marketing
plan should be part of an ongoing self-evaluation process and unique to
your business.
State the purpose of the marketing plan.
Review business goals and objectives as well as specific strategies to reach them.
Below, list out each goal from your business plan that your marketing plan and activities can directly
or indirectly support.
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Marketing Plan Outline [continued]
A. Mission Statement
1. What do we do?
2. How do we do it?
3. Who are we doing it for?
4. What value are we bringing to the table?
Everything your company does should be
guided by and consistent with your Mission
Statement. The mission statement is the
one place you can be general, rather than
specific. This is your vision of the business:
it’s philosophy, and what makes it different
from any other business.
If you don’t already have a mission statement,
write one down. Refer to it often as you
develop your marketing plan. An opportunity
that takes you away from your business
mission is not a good opportunity for you.
A strategy or tactic that does not carry the
business towards fulfilling its mission is faulty
and should be revised.
In order to determine how to get where you
want to be, you need an accurate, objective
picture of where you are now.
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Marketing Plan Outline [continued]
B. Diagnosis: Where are you right now? In order to determine how to get where you
want to be, you need an accurate, objective
picture of where you are now.
Write a brief statement assessing the
current state of the business.
[5]
Marketing Plan Outline [continued]
C. Product/Service
1. Identify each product or service in terms
of name, trademark, color, shape or other
characteristic, including packaging and
labeling.
2. What is your competitive advantage?
How does your product or service
differ from the competition in terms
of exclusivity, exclusive processes, or
other features.
[6]
Marketing Plan Outline [continued]
C. Product/Service - continued
3. What are your strengths versus your
competition?
4. What are your weaknesses versus your
competition?
5. What is your product’s/service’s
personality?
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Marketing Plan Outline [continued]
D. Target Audience/Customer Persona Identify your customers – include all
demographics, lifestyle, and professional
information.
1. Who are your customers? (Adjust the
following questions based on whether
you are in a B2C or B2B market.)
• Male or female?
• How old?
• What education level?
• What type of work? Profession? Title?
• What are their challenges, pain points,
needs?
• What level of income?
• How knowledgeable about your product
or service?
• What factors (e.g., price, availability,
service, etc.) influence this customer’s
purchase decisions?
• What other people (if any) influence the
purchase decision?
• How would you describe your customers’
personality?
• What are their values? What brand values
would resonate with them?
• Is there anything else unique about your
customer?
Exercise: Think about the 20% of your
customers who generate or will generate
80% of your business. Write one-paragraph
description of this typical customer.
2. Do you have a large, homogenous
customer base, or several smaller market
segments?
If segments: Describe each segment’s
customers according to section D #1
above.
[8]
Marketing Plan Outline [continued]
D. Target Audience/Customer Persona - continued
3. Meeting customer needs:
• What are your customer’s real needs?
• What are your customers perceived
needs?
• Are you meeting either or both of these?
• If not, where do you fall short?
• What resistances do people have to
buying your product or service?
Identify location of customers (local,
regional, national or international).
4. Identify location of customers (local,
regional, national or international).
5. Identify market trends – include
information about market studies and
test marketing.
6. List factors that affect purchasing such as:
• Seasonal
• Obsolescence
• Tax considerations
• Price
• Availability
• Convenience
• Service
• Emotional considerations; e.g., prestige,
status, fear, lifestyle, etc.
• Any other factors you can think of
Write a brief paragraph that synthesizes all
the factors that affect the purchase of your
product.
[9]
Marketing Plan Outline [continued]
E. Distribution
1. Identify the most effective methods for
getting products/services to customers
in the target market.
• Do customers come to you?
• Do you go to the customer?
• Do you mail out samples, use trial offers,
or premiums?
2. Do you make it easy for customers or
potential customers to find, acquire,
engage with or get to your product/
service?
3. Have you made it easy for customers
or potential customers to get more
information about your product(s) or
service(s)?
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Marketing Plan Outline [continued]
F. Promotional Strategy
1. What is your current image in the
marketplace?
• How are you perceived by your
customers?
• What is your current image inside your
organization, as a workplace?
- How are you perceived by your
employees?
- Is this accurate to the desired culture
of the organization?
2. What would you like your image to be in
the workplace?
3. Will everything in your organization
consistently represent the image you
want to project?
• Employee behavior
• Place of business atmosphere
• Printed communication
[ 11 ]
Marketing Plan Outline [continued]
F. Promotional Strategy - continued
4. What type of customers are you targeting
with current marketing efforts?
5. Where/how do you currently get new
leads?
6. How are your leads followed up?
[ 12 ]
Marketing Plan Outline [continued]
F. Promotional Strategy - continued
7. Where/how do you get repeat business?
8. What is the source of your most
productive referrals? Are you doing
everything you can to manage the
source(s)?
9. Review the Message:
Is your message written in terms of what
the customer needs and wants to hear,
or in terms of what you want to say about
your business, product, service?
Your Promotional Strategy consists of
blending and using each of the following
components to the same end — that is,
with the same message.
• Advertising
• Personal Sales
• Sales Promotion
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Marketing Plan Outline [continued]
F. Promotional Strategy - continued
10. Review: What’s working? List the
promotional and marketing activities
you have used in the past 12 months.
When finished, prioritize them in order
of effectiveness/ROI. Examples:
A. Advertising – Social Media
B. Advertising – Digital / Online
C. Advertising – Mobile
D. Personal One:One Selling
E. Direct Mail
F. Sales Promotion (coupons, freebies,
samples, trial offer, etc)
G. Trade Shows
H. Publicity and Public Relations
I. Email Campaigns
J. Automated Marketing
K. Cross-channel (Multi-channel)
Campaigns
L. Content Marketing
M. Social Media Marketing
N. Mobile Marketing
O. Video Marketing
11. Are the benefits you offer being
communicated effectively? (Indicate
yes or no for each of the activities listed
above.)
12. Review: Does the audience for each of
the media/channels outlined match your
target market profile?
13. Review public relations activities.
• What are your plans?
•C an you generate any product
publicity? How?
• Special programs
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Marketing Plan Outline [continued]
G. Competition (Direct and Indirect)
1. Identify competitors by divisions, product
lines and markets.
2. Compare your marketing techniques with
those of your competitors.
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Marketing Plan Outline [continued]
H. Pricing
1. How price sensitive is your market — in
other words, how much change occurs in
buying behavior when prices rise or fall?
2. Do your prices position you as “top of
the line” or “bargain basement?” Are you
happy with your position?
3. Does your current marketing strategy
support this price position?
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Review and Simplify the Process!
Now that you’ve completed the “front end” of the marketing plan outline, you
have a wealth of information at your fingertips including:
1. “Who are we as an organization?”
2. An outline of verticals and buyer-persona targets
3. Documented previous year’s marketing activities
4. Identified strengths, weaknesses, competition, and competitive advantages
5. Market, audience, and pricing trends
Next, your plan will:
6. Outline the big-picture growth goals and develop marketing objectives and strategies
7. Define activities, budgets, timing
8. Outline tracking, reviews and analysis
Marketing Objectives, Strategies and Tactics Should Relate to and Support
Business Goals
n overarching business plan goal is a broadly defined and desired end result. Goals are focused on the big
A
picture. They are “whats,” not “hows.” Example:
• Improve profits by promoting higher-margin products.
Supporting Marketing Objective:
Objectives are measurable and focus on the “whats”, not “hows”. Example:
• By June 1st, show a 35% increase in “additional information requests” on website for our three identified
higher-margin products.
Marketing Strategy:
Strategies focus on the approaches you will use to persuade prospects to take action. It is the vision for the
tactical actions you will take, and guides the plan to achieve the objective or goal. A strategy is a “how,”
or a “why”, not a “what”. Example:
• Develop a multi-channel awareness campaign for each of our three high-margin products that will drive traffic to
custom landing pages with unique personalized offers.
Marketing Tactics:
Each tactic is one single action you will take. Tactics can change based on trends, needs, available resources
etc., whereas a strategy tends to stay the same. Tactics answer the question “what will you do?” Examples:
• Shoot six customer testimonial videos featuring our three high-margin products.
• Design personalized landing pages to host customer testimonial videos and special “request more info” offers.
• Design a direct mail campaign to drive traffic to personalized landing pages.
• Write posts for sales executives to publish on their personal LinkedIn pages linking to customer testimonial
videos and “request info” landing pages.
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Marketing Plan Outline
Use this form to outline each marketing objective, related strategy, and tactics. Combine to create an overall
outline of your annual marketing plan. Share with executives and employees to gain buy-in and understanding
of your marketing vision and goals.
Business Goal:
Supporting Marketing Objective:
Marketing Strategy:
Marketing Tactics and Estimated Budget for Each:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Timeline:
Expected Outcome/What Are We Measuring?
Marketing team leader responsible for this objective? Who else is on this team?
[ 18 ]
Marketing Plan Outline
Use this form to outline each marketing objective, related strategy, and tactics. Combine to create an overall
outline of your annual marketing plan. Share with executives and employees to gain buy-in and understanding
of your marketing vision and goals.
Business Goal:
Supporting Marketing Objective:
Marketing Strategy:
Marketing Tactics and Estimated Budget for Each:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Timeline:
Expected Outcome/What Are We Measuring?
Marketing team leader responsible for this objective? Who else is on this team?
[ 19 ]
Marketing Plan Outline
Use this form to outline each marketing objective, related strategy, and tactics. Combine to create an overall
outline of your annual marketing plan. Share with executives and employees to gain buy-in and understanding
of your marketing vision and goals.
Business Goal:
Supporting Marketing Objective:
Marketing Strategy:
Marketing Tactics and Estimated Budget for Each:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Timeline:
Expected Outcome/What Are We Measuring?
Marketing team leader responsible for this objective? Who else is on this team?
[ 20 ]
Marketing Plan Outline
Use this form to outline each marketing objective, related strategy, and tactics. Combine to create an overall
outline of your annual marketing plan. Share with executives and employees to gain buy-in and understanding
of your marketing vision and goals.
Business Goal:
Supporting Marketing Objective:
Marketing Strategy:
Marketing Tactics and Estimated Budget for Each:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Timeline:
Expected Outcome/What Are We Measuring?
Marketing team leader responsible for this objective? Who else is on this team?
[ 21 ]
Marketing Plan Outline
Use this form to outline each marketing objective, related strategy, and tactics. Combine to create an overall
outline of your annual marketing plan. Share with executives and employees to gain buy-in and understanding
of your marketing vision and goals.
Business Goal:
Supporting Marketing Objective:
Marketing Strategy:
Marketing Tactics and Estimated Budget for Each:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Timeline:
Expected Outcome/What Are We Measuring?
Marketing team leader responsible for this objective? Who else is on this team?
[ 22 ]
Marketing Plan Outline
Use this form to outline each marketing objective, related strategy, and tactics. Combine to create an overall
outline of your annual marketing plan. Share with executives and employees to gain buy-in and understanding
of your marketing vision and goals.
Business Goal:
Supporting Marketing Objective:
Marketing Strategy:
Marketing Tactics and Estimated Budget for Each:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Timeline:
Expected Outcome/What Are We Measuring?
Marketing team leader responsible for this objective? Who else is on this team?
[ 23 ]
Marketing Plan Outline [continued]
On-going Marketing Activities
List out any ongoing marketing activities and budgets for each. These would be activities that are
repeated daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly.
ACTIVITY FREQUENCY BUDGET
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