Why marketing plan important?
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A marketing plan is extremely important as it can act as a pre-feasability study. It will help you identify your market niche, who exactly do you target and what strategies to use in targetting these potential customers. A marketing plan removes the focus really on the product, and more on the customer since you can have the greatest roduct but no market to offer it to. Also, a proper marketing plan will help you to identify possible markets to target and in addition, make judgements on possible pitfalls for your product and how to avoid it.\n\nA marketing plan is CRUCIAL for any successful product.
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when a company advertises (markets) its product, it helps if that product is in stock/available immediately. Therefore, a good supply chain will make it easier for them to live up to their promises (in the marketing).
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The first step in identifying your target market is understanding what your products/services have to offer to a group of people or businesses. To do this, identify your product or service's features and benefits. A feature is a characteristic of a product/service that automatically comes with it. \n\nFor example, if a toothpaste has a stain-removing formula, that's a feature. The benefit to the customer, however, is whiter teeth.\nWhile features are valuable and can certainly enhance your product, benefits motivate people to buy. \n\nAn example is anti-lock brakes; they are features on a car, but the benefit to the consumer is safety. \nBy knowing what your product/service has to offer and what will make customers buy, you can begin to identify common characteristics of your potential market. \n\nFor example, there are many different consumers who desire safety as a benefit when purchasing a car. Rather than targeting everyone in their promotional strategy, a car manufacturer may opt to target a specific group of consumers with similar characteristics, such as families with young children. This is an example of market segmentation. \nIn one column, list the features of your product/service. In the other, list the benefits each feature yields to the buyer. \n\nFeatures: Benefits: \nList six of each.\n\nStep Two: Segment Your Overall Market \n\nIt is a natural instinct to want to target as many people and groups as possible. However, by doing this your promotional strategy will never talk specifically to any one group, and you will most likely turn many potential customers off. Your promotional budget will be much more cost effective if you promote to one type of customer and speak directly to them. This allows you to create a highly focused campaign that will directly meet the needs and desires of a specific group. Again, this is called market segmentation. \n\nNow you need to look up market segmwentation.
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That's a pretty broad question; it really depends on your specific business.  What do you plan to do?  \n\nAt the very least you need to make sure you have a business plan with at least an idea of your specific market and a detailed breakdown of your estimated cash flows.  I would recommend starting at the sites listed below; they have some good free resources that can jump start the business planning and marketing planning process. \n\nOne thing I would also recommend is finding a mentor in the business/industry you are going to start.  There's is nothing more valuable than real world experience and you would be surprised to see how many successful business owners are willing to share their knowledge!
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The success of a business is a matter of planning. \nA business plan enables you work out the viability of your business. \n\nIt also allows you to work out in advance how you will operate your business. \n\n\nPlanning is traditionally considered to be one of the four major functions of management, along with organizing, leading and coordinating/controlling. Simply put, planning is identifying where you want to go, why you want to go there, how you will get there, what you need in order to get there and how you will know if you're there or not. \n\nBusiness plans often conclude with a statement about profitability. \n\nA well made business plan should also help you set up business relationships with others. It will help you communicate the viability of your strategy to financiers, suppliers and government agencies. \n\nAnd once you have commenced, the business plan plots a course for you to follow in operating the business. \n\nObviously, any business can set up and operate without a business plan but it is darn good practice to have one. Managing your business with the assistance of a business plan is more likely to increase profitability and efficiency as well as contribute to the future development of the business. \n\n\n\nThe following are many of the types of plans generated in a business organizations.\n\n1.Strategic Planning (establish organizational goals and how to reach them)strategic planning determines where an organization is going over the next year or more, how it's going to get there and how it'll know if it got there or not. The focus of a strategic plan is usually on the entire organization, while the focus of a business plan is usually on a particular product, service or program.\n2.Business Planning (plan a new business organization, product, business department, etc.)Business planning is often conducted when:\nStarting a new venture (organization, product or service) \nExpanding a current organization, product or service \nBuying a current organization, product or service \nWorking to improve the management of a current organization, product or service .\n3.Project Planning (design and carry out a specific, one-time effort, eg, building, product, etc.)\n4.Program Planning (design and carry out a major, internal or external org'l function)\n5.Management-by-Objectives (comprehensive process to ensure organizational goals being met).\n\nThen there are other types of planning as well like Marketing Planning, Tactical Planning, Internal-control planning etc.
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Marketing management is the analysis, planning, implementation, and control of programs designed to manage mutually beneficial exchanges with markets. \n\nHope this helps!
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Sorry, need more information from your post. \n\nItemizing basic marketing functions depends on the marketing dept and industry you are in. \n\nTypically a marketing dept needs the following:\n1) Marketing Communications (design and Brand) - field marketing\n2) Interactive \n3) Analysis and Reporting\n4) Industry and Primary Research\n5) Direct Marketing and Lead Generation (optional)\n6) Business Development/Partnership marketing\n7) Event Marketing (optional)
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Case studies of work your agency has executed for other clients is always effective. Hopefully your case study will highlight work for a company closely related to your target.\n\nBusinesses are very interested in ROI - Return On Investment. Therefore, present metrics you've used to track previous campaigns, as well as the "win" your client realized.\n\nAs with all advertising, building a brand is important. Therefore, try to market your company in ways that highlight your brand attributes.\n\nRemember that in your case, you have at least two target audiences: future clients and future employees.
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Depends on a lot of other factors.  What is more important - the cost effectiveness, or the impact of your advertising.  When you are running a small business - cash flow is king.  So if you can hedge your bets on some inexpensive advertising or promotion that generates quick business...then you can spend more on advertising and promotion.  But be careful to not generate more business than you can handle.\n\nDo not discount the benefits of word of mouth advertising or referrals.  If you can design a program to encourage word of mouth (reward referrals) then you will let you current customers do a lot of advertising for you.\n\nAnother option...depending on your business is trade.  I do some marketing for a massage therapist...so I get massages.  We both benefit.
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Marketing is what is done to make the public aware of a product/service/company.  This can include many things, advertising, public relations, person to person communications and more.  It's important because without marketing your product won't be known to the public.
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Simple answer would be that Marketing (the study and analysis of the product or service a company provides, its brand positioning, pricing, promotion to potential buyers, and the development of strategies to manage all these areas) is an essential part of a business plan and in the real world business grads are expected to be able to help in this area.
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Your job is to give them what they want and (help) to make them happy...\nI feel that a good sales pitch includes telling your customer what you can do for them and giving them all info neccessary to help them help you to get the job done...\nIt is very important to be accessable and to make sure that your customer is happy...\nIf every customer that you service is happy,\nthen you go smoothly all the way...\nIf you are a sub-contractor, do not rely on one company, unless they pay verrrrry well....\nHave at least three big customers.....
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1-better sales\n2-it will increase ur market share\n3-you will cut out competitors
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very - it enables you to raise money by showing finance companies what you want to do with what they lend you.\n\nThe other major use of a business plan (what we in Britain call a Corporate Plan) is so that you can measure how you are doing compared to what you thought you should be doing.   If figures are not matching up, why not?   Are sales down?   Are outgoings much higher than expected?   Why?   \n\nA business plan helps you to spot any problems when they are molehills and not when they become mountains.\n\nPeople who think they are not useful tend to run companies into the ground - or not have a business at all!
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I would say that you need both. The education, so you know what's going on, what people are talking about, plus when it comes time to hire people, then you can hire people that you know what they're talking about (plus is true)and that you know that they are knowledgeable on the subject that you are trying to hire on. \n\nKnowledge is also a major factor, because then (like I said above) you know what's happening around you and you know what others are talking about. Plus it's also important because when marketing strategies are needed you can give your 50cents, or when something happens, then you know or at least have an idea on what to do &/or who to turn to for assistance
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Branding is the first level of recognition in marketing.  It is very important.
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Outline of a Marketing Plan\n\nYour written marketing plan need not be lengthy and complicated. You can even make it as simple as possible. It is an internal document where you can be honest and direct when describing your company's weaknesses.\n\nGordon suggests the following outline:\n\n1. Situation Analysis. Your first step is to take a comprehensive look at your company's challenges, its position in the market place, level and intensity of competition, and other factors that may affect your marketing strategies. This is the market research portion of your plan.\n\nChallenges. When you open your business, you are faced with the huge task of letting your target market know that you exist, and willing to serve their needs. You are faced with the challenge of communicating with your target market to get them to become your customers.\n\nPosition in the marketplace. Your promotional strategy should highlight the "unique selling points" of your business.\n\nCompetition. This involves a complete analysis of the businesses already offering your type of goods and services within your geographical area (e.g. county, town, and city). You want to learn how many businesses are already in the marketplace, what they offer, and where they are located. By looking at this data, you can identify the relative strengths and weaknesses of your competitors in the area of price, quality, selection, promotion, services, customer service/personnel support, facilities/atmosphere, and location. \n\n2. Target Audience. One of the most important segments of your market analysis involves identifying the people or businesses that may have a desire to purchase your type of product or service. The key is to know who buys what, how often, from whom, and what they may be looking for. If you are operating in a broad geographical market, you may have several target group - the primary, secondary, and so on. Your marketing plan should concentrate on reaching your primary audience, and allocating smaller budgets for the secondary market.\n\nProfile of primary audience. You should identify the number of potential customers, who they are, how often they buy, who they are currently buying from, how much they spend, and if they are brand or store loyal. This group is the segment of the market that will consume your type of goods and services, and hopefully still in search of a business to patronize. If you are a wedding planner, your main market is the engaged couple planning to get married within a definite time frame.\n\nSecondary audience. Utilizing a rifle approach, your secondary audience is those in the periphery of your main target group. \n\n3. Objectives. Marketing objectives quantify the results you are looking to achieve. By clearly stating these results in advance, you provide performance criteria against which your future results can be compared. Whatever marketing objectives you decide on, they should meet certain criteria. They must be realistic, measurable, and be guided by short, medium and long-term deadlines.\n\nProfit. Profit objectives state the bottom line progress you want your marketing efforts to achieve. You may set the goal of achieving 2 percent profit in your first year, and increasing it by 10 percent every year hereafter.\n\nMarket share. Market share objectives state your desired cut of the total industry sales pie, or at least the local industry. If the total revenue of all the wedding planners in your county is $2 million, how much of that is yours? If you only have 2% of that pie, you may want to increase your share to about 10% after launching your marketing campaign.\n\nSales volume target. Your sales volume affects your cost structure: the higher the sales that you generate, the lower your cost. Specific sales volume levels can give you more bargaining power with your suppliers. Sales volume objectives should clearly state the total goods or services you intend to deliver. Your goal can be to increase your sale