This how to create a marketing plan guidebook template has 16 pages and is a MS Word file type listed under our sales & marketing documents.

Sample of our how to create a marketing plan guidebook template:

How to Create a Marketing Plan Guide Step by Step Instructions Guidebook to Help You Create a Winning Marketing Plan Table of Content Introduction 3 1. Executive Summary 4 2. Situation Analysis 5 3. Marketing Goals and Objectives 6 4. Industry and Market Analysis 7 5. Target Customers 9 6. The Brand 10 7. Strategies and Tactics 11 8. The Implementation 14 9. Financial Projections 15 10. Evaluation and Monitoring 16 Introduction A marketing plan details everything you need to know to successfully promote your business. It's your road map for finding and keeping customers. It is made up of a series of interlocking activities and tasks. It will help you to develop a structured approach to creating services and products that satisfy your customers' needs. Your marketing plan will help you answer key questions about your business and act as a reference document to help you to execute your marketing strategy. The time you put into the planning now, will pay off many times in a near future. By planning your marketing step by step, you give your company the best chance of success in today's competitive marketplace. Remember strategies at all levels of the organization should be well articulated and understood. When writing your plan, you need to be clear about the objectives that you follow and how you're going to achieve them. 1. Executive Summary It is an open secret to complete your Executive Summary last. It's easier because this section summarizes each of the other sections of your marketing plan. Your Executive Summary will be helpful in giving yourself and other people you interact with (e.g., employees, advisors, etc.), an overview of your plan. Your executive summary should answer questions like these: Don't forget, your Executive summary is an overview of your marketing plan. It gives the reader only the key points that you will develop in detail later. 2. Situation Analysis The first section of your marketing plan should start with assessing your business current situation. Give a clear overview of your company and explain where your business is currently at, in the business life cycle. Then, define your company and its products or services, then show how the benefits you provide set you apart from your competition. That section should provide information like; 3. Marketing Goals and Objectives Now, what do you want to accomplish with your marketing plan? Where do you want to go? In which timeframe? To answer those questions, you must set the goals and objectives that you pursue. Those goals and objectives must be realistic and attainable with your company's given resources and capabilities. All organisations, regardless of business size and age, should have long-term goals couple with objectives which will support the medium and long-term goals. You can use the SMART acronym (Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic, Time based) to make sure your goals and objectives are realistic. Your objectives may be financial, like increasing the sales, or maybe marketing focused like building your brand or increase awareness of your product. The most important is to enlighten us on what goals you are going to do and why (objectives) you are doing that. Finally, don't forget to determine the measures to track the performance versus the objective and then take corrective action if needed. Write down a short list of goals-and make them measurable so that you'll know when you've achieved them. 4. Industry and Market Analysis Knowing the industry and the market that you want to compete in is an essential element of your success. Keep in mind that the business environment will influence your strategies. To compete in your chosen industry or market, it's important to identify and understand areas which may affect your business directly and indirectly. Some external factors or forces such as: political, economic, social, technical, legal or even environmental (PESTLE), could impact your business or sales. You need to assess them properly. By understanding and ranking the identified PESTLE elements you will be able to look at which factors you will actively need to work with or manage, to support your businesses strategy in your competitive market. Acknowledging the problems and challenges of the marketplace including your customers and competitors will help you to succeed. The most important competitors you'll face are the ones who are directly targeting your ideal consumer. In competitive market, it's a must to analyse the competitors with whom you compete. You must know their products, their brands and their positioning. Revisit this process regularly to ensure that your strategy remains relevant and targeted. Here are the points that you should describe or include, in the industry and market analysis: 5. Target Customers Target customers are different than your target market, and you should really know both. Your target market refers to the area that you will serve, while your target customers are the people who are most likely to purchase your product. Gathering information and identifying the key characteristics of your target market will help you to find the most effective way to reach your target customers. Your goal is to deliver the right messages, to the right people, at the right time. Being able to identify your target customers more clearly will help you to speak their language. At the same time, having a message delivered the good way will help you to get a higher return on investment. This section should explain or describe: 6. The Brand What makes you distinct in the marketplace? A strong brand is the key for success. To build a great brand, you need a clear idea of what sets your company apart. Creating a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) will help you to bring customers through your doors. A USP is a statement that identifies what makes your business the better choice. It also tells why your target customer should choose you over the competition