An Effective Marketing Plan

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Let's take a closer look at these interesting questions by illustrative examples and discussion.

1. What are the key considerations to an effective marketing plan

The marketing plan should only contain the key information that needs to be communicated - it should be clear and concise, and excessive or irrelevant detail should be excluded. The bulk of the internal and external market research information collected in the course of the preparation of the plan should not be included in the written plan since this would only confuse the reader. The detail of all the individual action plans would also be excluded from the main document - although a summary of very important actions plans may be included. Other key information that you want to include should be put in appendices and not in the main document.

ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE:

The following list outlines the sections which should be included in the Marketing Plan.

1. INTRODUCTION

This gives the background to the plan, and the reasons for its preparation, and outlines its purposes and uses.

2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The summary should present the key points of the plan in a clear and concise form. It should not be too long or verbose. All personnel reading this plan should be able to understand the essence of the plan from this summary.
The summary should include:
* The underlying assumptions on which the plan is based
* The objectives of the plan
* The timescale over which the plan will be implemented

Although you can draft out an executive summary at any time, you cannot finalise it until the plan is complete.

3. SITUATION ANALYSIS

In the written plan, the situation analysis should include only the summaries of the external and internal marketing research and the key resulting SWOT analysis. These are included under the headings:

* Assumptions
* A summary of historical and budgeted sales
* A review of strategic markets
* A review of key products
There will be some overlap between the reviews of strategic markets, key products and key sales areas, because it is possible ...