A marketing plan is a very useful tool for business organizations seeking to solidify their market positions. A good marketing plan is obtained from a strategic marketing study focused on a particular organization. In this essay we focus on a company's hypothetical marketing plan which contains a situation analysis, marketing objectives, strategies, tactics, financial considerations and a timetable for implementation.
A situation analysis involves the understanding an organization's internal and external environments (Brown Ph D & Brown, 2008). This is the analysis of the company, customers, collaborators, competitors and the climate. The company's goal is to attract and retain its customers. The collaborators of the company which include suppliers provide quality services and the customer base has potential growth capacity. The company faces fierce competition but its external conditions such as technology changes have been favorable (NetMBA.com, 2010).
The marketing objectives of the company are; to increase its customer base by 10% annually, to meet its set target sales and to raise its service awareness by 80% at the end of the year (Mullin & Cummins, 2008). The strategies to be used include; aggressive advertisement, market segmentation and service differentiation. The best tactic to be used is pricing of its services to ensure that their prices are competitive across the industry (Berry & Wilson, 2000).
The financial budget for the company's marketing plan is limited therefore the cost benefit analysis should be carried out to ensure the appropriateness of these strategies. The timetable for implementation begins immediately and the evaluation process will be ongoing. The final report will be given at the end of the financial period and used as a basis for the preparation of the next period's marketing plan. In conclusion, a marketing plan is an important management tool that is used by organizations to achieve their management objectives.
