FREE What Should Be Included in a Marketing Plan [ How to Write One & Tips ]

Ever wonder how businesses promote their products and services in an organized and timely manner? It is because they make use of a marketing plan. A marketing plan is a document that includes a detailed outline on how a particular business advertises and markets their products and services for the coming year. It provides details or a description of the business activities that are needed to be able to accomplish specific marketing goals and objectives within a specific period of time.

If you are in need of a marketing plan, then this article would be of great help to you. In this article, we have some of the best marketing plan samples and templates that you can download on this site should you need to create a marketing plan for your business. If you have no knowledge about creating a marketing plan, then this page will be very much useful to you. We also have included the steps on how you can create one, as well as the things that you need to include in it. Read more information about a marketing plan below.

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What Is a Marketing Plan?

Let’s start by defining a marketing plan. So what exactly is a marketing plan? A marketing plan is a written document that is used to outline a business, an organization, or an entity’s future advertising and marketing plans. A marketing plan specifically contains the goals and objectives that an entity plans to accomplish. It also includes a detailed description of activities, strategies, and steps that a business will need to do in order to achieve these goals. Creating a marketing plan involves a thorough research of the market, the business competitors, the budget needed, etc. If you need to create a marketing plan, there are various types of business plan templates available on this page to help you structure and format your document.

How Can You Benefit from a Marketing Plan?

Now that you clearly understand the definition of a marketing plan, it’s time to talk about the benefits that it can provide to the organizations and entities that curate these documents. A marketing plan can provide a lot of benefits to the business, especially when the different actions and strategies are consistently implemented. To help you further understand the benefits that a marketing plan can provide to the business or entity, here is a list of the benefits of a marketing plan:

• A well-crafted marketing plan helps businesses in determining the direction that they want to take the company. It helps them set goals and expectations including the steps on how to accomplish them.
• A marketing plan clearly allocates the tasks that everyone needs to do, which will then allow the members of the company or entity to work together in order to achieve a common goal.
• A marketing plan enables businesses to develop effective strategies that will help the company grow, increase its sales, and become better than their competitors.
• When a business has a marketing plan in place, this will help them understand whether a new opportunity is good for the overall goals and needs of the business.
• Through a marketing plan, businesses will have a measuring tool to track the progress of the implementation of the various actions and goals of the business.

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What Should Be Included in a Marketing Plan?

A marketing plan wouldn’t be an effective document without all the necessary components present. Keeping all the important elements is essential, especially when you are creating one from scratch. Refer to the components listed below when you start making your marketing plan, sales plan, financial plan, or any plan that you may need to create for your business.

• Market research – researching is an important process in order to get the required information and data that you will need for your marketing plan. Market research involves a careful study of the different aspects of a business’ market. Through careful research, you will be able to identify the buying patterns of various consumers in a particular industry, the market size, trends, and the growth of the said market.
• Target market– now that you have done a thorough research of the different business markets, identify the target market that will most likely purchase the products and services that your business is or will be offering to the clients.
• Positioning – how do people see your brand based on the products and services that you are offering? By asking yourself this question, you will be able to determine your company’s positioning in the current market by understanding how customers or clients perceive your business. Through this, you will be able to improve your marketing and branding strategies.
• Competitive analysis – analyzing your business competitors is important to better understand their products or services, the type of market they are catering to, their price points, etc. This will help you improve the products and services that you will be offering to customers and clients.
• Market strategy – planning your market strategy is also an essential element in every marketing plan. To help you plan your market strategy, it is important to think about the different markets and create methods on how you can advertise and sell your products and services. You can do this by organizing events, advertising through email, social media, brochures, coupons, and other activities that will attract potential customers or clients.
• Budget – now that you have developed the different strategies and methods that you will do in your marketing plan, how can you effectively implement them? Proper budgeting is necessary in order to allocate your budget and how you will be spending them to market your products and services.

What Is the Difference between a Marketing Strategy and a Marketing Plan?

A marketing strategy and a marketing plan are terms that are commonly used especially in business planning. To help you clearly understand the various differences between the two, the key differences between a marketing strategy and a marketing plan are as follows:

• A marketing strategy refers to the various steps and actions that one needs to do in order to achieve a marketing objective, which is part of a marketing plan. A marketing plan, on the other hand, involves thorough research and planning to be able to develop a marketing strategy and how to achieve it.
• The marketing strategy relies on the marketing objective that you want to achieve in the business including what needs to be done while a marketing plan determines how a marketing strategy will be implemented and promoted to achieve a specific action in your marketing strategy.

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How to Write a Marketing Plan

Understanding the different elements that need to be included in your marketing plan is important, especially if you need to write one for your business. Following these steps will ensure that you have an effective and useful marketing plan. The steps to create one are as follows:

• First, you have to create an outline or a format of the marketing plan that you will be creating. You can also download our well-made marketing plan templates and samples available in this article.
• Gather all the information and data necessary for creating a marketing plan. This can be done through research and surveys.
• To start your marketing plan, write an executive summary. The executive summary includes information about your company and the products and services that you are offering.
• Write a description of your target market by specifying the gender, location, occupation, and other relevant data.
• Create a list of the objectives and goals that you want to achieve. Ensure that you specify these goals when writing your marketing plan.
• Develop a marketing strategy based on the information and data that you have collected. When creating a marketing strategy, focus on the mediums that you will be using to market your brand, whether it is through radio advertisements, television commercials, billboards, or through social media.
• In your marketing plan, outline the budget that you will need when implementing your marketing plan. This will include the total amount needed per month that you will need to spend in order to effectively market your products and services.

 

Once you have finished creating your marketing plan, it is best that you revise and improve your marketing strategies every year to ensure that these methods still fit with what your company or business may need in the future. Additionally, we also have a business plan template available for you to download should you need to create one specifically.

Easy Tips to Create a Marketing Plan

Creating a marketing plan doesn’t just involve gathering all the information that you need and putting it in a paper. It involves thorough analysis and research. To help you write your marketing plan, we have selected a number of easy tips that you can refer to. Here are some tips to guide you when creating your document:

• When creating a marketing plan, ensure that you have allocated all the resources and have a clear budget in order to accomplish your goals and objectives.
• Always do a pre-planning before you create your marketing plan. This will help you identify all the resources and materials that you will need to ensure that your marketing plan will be implemented.
• Remember to keep your marketing plan simple and easy to read since everyone involved will be looking at the plan.
• Always determine the demographic that you are targeting. This way, you will be able to plan methods that will fit your target audience.
• After you have created your marketing plan, conduct a test to understand which strategy is effective.
• Remember to be creative in your marketing plan. Include graphics, visuals, etc. This will enable you to grab the attention of your target audience.