Introduction to a marketing plan
A marketing plan can be identified as the basis of the entire business plan. This is
because all other parts of a business plan will be prepared based on the information
of the marketing plan, such as customer needs of the target market and quantity of
units in demand.
The marketing plan explains what goods or service an entrepreneur expects to
offer, its potential market and the related marketing strategies. It also includes the
projected sales for the product and the sales expenses to be incurred.
Marketing plan is the document that presents the goods or service that is expected
to be marketed by an enterprise, its target market, and how the target market will
be reached.
The following information is included in a marketing plan:
- Market analysis
- Marketing strategies of the proposed business
- Sales forecast
- Sales income and sales expenses
- Marketing Fixed Assets
Market analysis
A market analysis refers to exploring the market in relation to the business. It deeply
investigates the demand for the goods or service, the target customers, the nature of
the competitors and their marketing strategies, etc. This will help the entrepreneur
understand the factors that he/she should consider when deciding on marketing
strategies for his/her business.
The main purpose of a market analysis is to get the necessary information to
prepare an accurate marketing plan. Therefore, a market analysis is the first step of
preparing a marketing plan.
Obtaining information for a market analysis
Information needed for a market analysis can be gathered through different means.
Given below are some of the methods used often for this purpose:
# Distributing questionnaires among customers and getting their responses.
# Interviewing customers.
# Observering customers’ transactions in the market.
# Using sources such as newspapers, magazines, reports, the Internet etc.
Important factors in a market analysis
1. The demand for the goods or service
What the entrepreneur expects to offer to the market may be something
that is already available in the market. If not, it could be a modified version
of something that is already available, or something entirely new. Whatever
it is, it is necessary to examine the customers’ willingness to buy it as well
as their ability to buy it.
2. Target customer
This refers to the customers who we can expect to buy the product, or who
we can expect to be persuaded to buy it in future.
As a example -
# Exercise books for School students
# Gold Jewelry for Ladies
# Mobile phone repairing for Mobile phone users
# Sports goods for Sports persons
An entrepreneur must identify his/her target customer correctly. This can be done in
a very specific manner by considering factors such as the customer’s age, income
level, gender, occupation, social status, etc.
3. Competitors
The same kind of goods or services can be offered to the market by many
different suppliers. The other suppliers who provide goods or services that
are similar to those that we offer are our competitors. There are many
varieties of toothpaste, soap, chocolates, telecommunication services, etc
available on the market under different brand names, and these are examples
for competitive goods and services.
In addition to such homogeneous products, there can be substitute goods/ services as well.
Given below are some examples for substitute goods/ services.
Therefore, when studying competition, it is important that you consider the
homogeneous products (i.e. goods and services which are similar to yours), as
well as substitute products. In addition, you should pay attention to the marketing
strategies used by your competitors.
