Download Developing a Marketing Plan

Agribusiness Library
LESSON L060037: DEVELOPING A MARKETING PLAN
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Objectives
1. Define the purpose for developing a marketing
plan.
2. Identify the process of developing a marketing
plan.
3. Explain the three essential elements of a
marketing program.
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Key Terms
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advertise
market research
market segment
marketing plan
profit
sales forecast
target market
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Why are marketing plans developed?
For a business to remain operable, it needs to be
profitable.
 To make a profit is to make money beyond the
expenses required to operate the business. The
marketing and sales of a business are the
responsibility of its sales department or sales
manager. This person may play other roles in the
business, depending on the business size.
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Why are marketing plans developed?
A marketing plan is a document that outlines
each of the necessary steps to achieve the
business’s marketing goals. The plan includes
strategies for marketing each of the products and
services a business offers.
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Why are marketing plans developed?
A. The marketing plan generally fits into the larger
business plan and covers at least one year, often
more. The marketing plan should be updated
annually.
B. A marketing plan can be formal or informal. To
determine which is more appropriate, a business
must first do market research.
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Why are marketing plans developed?
B. A marketing plan
1. Market research consists of gathering, recording,
and analyzing data related to products/services and
consumers. It is used to discover what people want,
need, and believe as well as how they act. The
questions market research can help answer include:
What is happening in the market already? What
trends are there? Who is the competition?
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Why are marketing plans developed?
B. A marketing plan
2. A marketing plan and market research help ensure
that consumers in a target market are offered the
products or services they want or need. A target
market is the market segment most likely to
purchase a product or service.
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Why are marketing plans developed?
C. A marketing plan is developed for each of a
business’s market segments.
1. A market segment is a group of customers
(companies or individuals) that share comparable
characteristics that cause them to have similar
product or service needs.
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Why are marketing plans developed?
C. A marketing plan is developed (cont’d)
2. Factors that may segment businesses as customers
include size (total revenues, number of
employees, and number of locations), job
positions, status in the industry, access to other
offerings, and need for custom products or
services. Factors that may segment individuals as
customers include age, gender, language, culture,
religion, and special interests (e.g., cats, cars,
nature, or jazz).
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Why are marketing plans developed?
C. A marketing plan is developed (cont’d)
3. Each market segment requires a
different method of advertisement.
To advertise is to present the
positive qualities of a product or
service to the public.
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How is a marketing plan developed?
Before a company can reach out to
a target market, a marketing plan
must be developed. Information
in a marketing plan is much like a
road map. Like a map guides a trip,
a marketing plan provides managers
direction for running their businesses
and helps them make sales forecasts.
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How is a marketing plan developed?
A sales forecast is a prediction of a company’s
attainable sales over a defined period. Marketing
plans vary from simple to complex and informal to
formal. No matter the style, the following
elements must be accounted for while creating a
marketing plan.
A. Objectives—What does the company
wish to accomplish through marketing?
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How is a marketing plan developed?
Creating a marketing plan (cont’d)
B. Situation analysis—What does the company offer
that is different from anyone else (or how is what
the company offers different)? What are the
company’s strengths and weaknesses?
C. Marketplace issues—What are trends among the
company’s customers and competition? What
threats exist to the company? What opportunities
does the company have?
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How is a marketing plan developed?
Creating a marketing plan (cont’d)
D. Strategies—What strategies (or campaigns) will the
company put in place to market its products? How
will these strategies support the company’s
marketing objectives?
E. Implementation plans—How will the company bring
its strategies to the market place? How will the
company meet its marketing goals through
promotions, advertising, sales, and budgets? How
long will the plan take? When will each step of the
plan occur?
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How is a marketing plan developed?
Creating a marketing plan (cont’d)
F. Measures—What will the marketing plan
accomplish? How can the plan’s effectiveness be
measured? How will the company know it has
been successful?
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Explain the three essential elements
of a marketing program.
Once all of the necessary questions have been
answered and the information has been gathered,
the marketing plan can be assembled. The three
essential pieces of the marketing
program include a definition of
the business, a definition of the
customer, and a plan definition
that includes a budget.
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Explain the three essential elements
of a marketing program.
A. Business definition—This section of the marketing
plan includes information on the following:
1. The offered products or services
2. The geographic area where the business markets
3. The competition and how the products or services
differ
4. The promotional methods
5. The ways in which products are distributed
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Explain the three essential elements
of a marketing program.
B. Customer definition—This section of the marketing
plan includes:
1. The make-up of the business’s current customer base:
a. Age
b. Gender
c. Income
d. Geographic area
2. The method by which customers
hear about the business and its products
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Explain the three essential elements
of a marketing program.
B. Customer definition (cont’d)
3. The customers’ purchasing habits
4. Information on what the customer base values about
the product or service
5. Details on what customers like least about the offered
product or service
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Explain the three essential elements
of a marketing program.
C. Plan definition with budget—This section of the
marketing plan includes:
1. The types of marketing methods the business has
employed in the past, especially those that have been
most effective
2. Details on the business’s costs as compared to sales
3. The amount the business spends per customer
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Explain the three essential elements
of a marketing program.
C. Plan definition with budget (cont’d)
4. Marketing plans to attract new customers
5. Money that is available for the marketing campaign
and what tools can be used within that budget
6. The way in which the marketing campaign’s
effectiveness will be measured
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Review
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What are the two main components of a
Marketing plan?
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What are the six measures in a Marketing plan?
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What are the three essential parts to a Marketing
program?
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