Monday, December 5, 2011

Creating A Marketing Plan Template

By Pete Malcolm


Coming up with a business plan is usually a difficult task for people setting up their own businesses. However, embracing the new trend of engaging a marketing plan template can ease this hurdle for many. To come up with a marketing plan template, one must identify the crucial aspects of the business plan for writers to create something applicable for that specific industry. In addition, expert input is required just to make sure the end product is as perfect as expected.

A marketing plan template carries various details to meet business needs, depending on the complexity or simplicity of the business. While one marketing plan template could be formatted simply, others contain very detailed sections that depict the holistic view of an investment to the stakeholders. However, some characteristics of a marketing plan template are common across businesses of diverse nature.

Many a marketing plan template contains a 'marketing objective' section, which outlays the direction and sole purpose of the marketing department of an enterprise. This section contains details such as branding; customer and market knowledge; the uniqueness of the product or service and as a long range objective, customer satisfaction. Short and medium term objective could include details such as competitive position, sales turnover, market share and pricing. With a well created marketing plan template, all these details can be quickly captured to clearly indicate the marketing objective.

Another key section of a marketing plan template is the 'marketing strategy', involving an evaluation of changes in the business environment. Some businesses can afford stable marketing strategies while some like the computing industry have strategies that easily become obsolete. Considering this, the frequency of altering marketing strategies should be indicated. This will help the marketing department to know how often to change their strategies so as to survive competition.

Finally, an essential part of a good marketing plan template is that of business analysis, which discusses the company's competitive feasibility, for instance using a SWOT analysis. Here, the company must identify its key strengths that give it an edge over competitors. This way, the marketing department will do its best to ensure they capitalize on selling these strengths. On the other hand, the weaknesses will help the department avoid washing dirty linen in public. The business analysis must be reconciled with the ever changing business environment so that any developing threats or opportunities are factored in.

A marketing plan template is usually part of a marketing plan which is simply a document written to capture the actions that have been targeted to achieve the marketing objectives of a business. For businesses striving for nothing but excellence, this is a must-have. The market plan usually has an extended period cover between one and a couple op years depending upon the nature and competitiveness of the business. For a big organization with numerous businesses, a standard marketing plan template with a consistent information sequence, presentation format and depth is more appropriate. Creating the template that best suits the needs of your business means being able to be quickly analyze and strategize an action plan at any opportunity.




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