Four Essential Marketing Plan Components

Preparing a Marketing Plan for your product or service is a real eye-opening experience. While we all hope that our product or service will appeal to the masses, the truth is, that may not happen. Assembling a Marketing Plan first and foremost forces you to clearly define what you are selling.

From there, you define the demographics of the market for your product or services. You research on-going or upcoming trends in the industry, your existing and potential competition and whether or not the market is already saturated.

And the time to analyze this valuable information is before you spend money opening the door to your new business venture. A marketing plan is one valuable tool that will help your business survive.

Analyze the Market

This section plays an important role in determining who will purchase your product or service, and why. You need to identify such attributes as gender, age group, where they live, their buying habits and their social values.

This section also has you look at the current economic climate including upcoming changes in laws or technology that might impact the delivery and/or reception of your product or service.

It's also important to take a close look at your competition whether it's around the block or around the globe. The more you know about your competition the better prepared you are to deal with it. Know their hours of operation, their organizational structure, their promotions, their advertising outlets, whatever you can find out.

Identify Marketing Goals and Objectives

With the information about your target market and your competition in hand, you can better outline your marketing goals and the steps to take to achieve these goals.

Identify what you think are your company's strength and weaknesses, and the resources you have available including staff and finances. Committing your goals and the steps to a calendar will help keep your marketing efforts on track and provide you with direction.

Define Marketing Strategies

Before you can determine how you will market your product or service, you've got to put together a features and benefits list, including what it has that the competition lacks. You need a price point, packaging, and you need to decide if and how much you are willing to offer as a discount. All of this will help you properly position it in the marketplace. This information is the foundation upon which all your marketing and promotional materials are created.

Next determine the various sources available for marketing your product or service. Some ideas include print ads, brochures, web banners, your own web site, trade show exhibits, partnership opportunities and promotional flyers.

Implementing and Evaluating Marketing Programs

The final two components are equally important. You've got to define a marketing budget, determine how you want to spend it and evaluate its effectiveness. Besides the marketing avenue, decide whether or not you need to hire employees, and what training they will need. Determine how you will motivate your employees, including your management, so that they share your goals and vision.

Evaluating your marketing programs is just as important as the other steps. You may find you need to revise your marketing efforts including lowering the price, highlighting different features, even selecting different marketing programs. An effective marketing plan is one that is regularly updated.

If the thought of creating a Marketing Plan has you overwhelmed, get yourself marketing plan software. Using software will save you time because the software knows the right questions to ask. You fill in the answers as necessary, push some buttons, and before you know it, you'll be printing a professional-quality Marketing Plan that will chart your company's future!

Copyright © 2004 Cavyl Stewart. Get more software tips, strategies and recommendations to help you create your marketing plan by signing up for my Exclusive 100% free, 100% original content ecourse: "Simple Steps To Creating A Rewarding Marketing Plan." To sign up please visit: http://www.find-small-busi ness-software.com/marketing-ecourse.html

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Google News Updated : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 05:49:35 GMT Paulson Indicates Need to Purchase Bank Equity `Soon as We Can' - Bloomberg Telegraph.co.uk Paulson Indicates Need to Purchase Bank Equity `Soon as We Can' Bloomberg - 1 hour ago By John Brinsley and Rebecca Christie Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson indicated that pumping government funds into banks is a priority and said financial markets will remain volatile. US planning to buy equity in financial institutions Reuters Treasury Weighs Investing In Banks Washington Post International Herald Tribune - MarketWatch - CNNMoney.com - Bizjournals.com all 1,783 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:21:05 GMT McCain Lauds and Attacks Obama in Same Day - New York Times CBS News McCain Lauds and Attacks Obama in Same Day New York Times - 41 minutes ago Senator John McCain of Arizona and his supporters at a rally on Friday in La Crosse, Wis. By ELISABETH BUMILLER LAKEVILLE, Minn. - After a week of trying to portray Senator Barack Obama as a friend of terrorists who would drive the country into ... McCain Moves to Soften the Tone at Rallies Washington Post John McCain, speaking to supporters, tries to defuse an anti ... Los Angeles Times Reuters - DetNews.com - Austin American-Statesman - The Miami Herald all 304 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 05:08:14 GMT Democrats Are Gaining, Registration Data Shows - New York Times Los Angeles Times Democrats Are Gaining, Registration Data Shows New York Times - 2 hours ago By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE and GRIFF PALMER Some longtime Republican strongholds in New York are becoming increasingly Democratic, a striking change driven by demographic shifts, intense voter registration drives by Democrats and allied groups and sagging ... Campus registration drives in full swing KARE Ott, Hook face off for open county office St. Joseph News-Press The News-Press - Winston-Salem Journal - Tampabay.com - Beaufort Gazette all 739 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 03:20:33 GMT G-7 Commit to `All Necessary Steps' to Stem Global Meltdown - Bloomberg Voice of America G-7 Commit to `All Necessary Steps' to Stem Global Meltdown Bloomberg - 1 hour ago By Simon Kennedy Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Group of Seven finance chiefs, meeting after stocks plunged and as a global recession looms, vowed to prevent the failure of vital banks while failing to unveil new initiatives for thawing credit markets. Group of 7 Nations Seek Coordination in Rescue New York Times In latest bold step, Treasury will buy bank stakes The Miami Herald CNNMoney.com - The Associated Press - Boston Globe - FN Arena News all 890 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:03:42 GMT Bush: US authority able to solve financial crisis - People's Daily Online Telegraph.co.uk Bush: US authority able to solve financial crisis People's Daily Online - 1 hour ago US President George W. Bush arrives in the Rose Garden at the White House to makes a statement on the economy in Washington, October 10, 2008. President Bush vows action on financial crisis Los Angeles Times Bush's Lullaby to the Markets Washington Post Birmingham Star - Wall Street Journal - CNN - Bloomberg all 1,302 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:12:49 GMT Genomics project unites four Wisconsin research institutions - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Genomics project unites four Wisconsin research institutions Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - 19 minutes ago By KATHLEEN GALLAGHER Wisconsin’s four biggest academic research institutions will collaborate on an initiative aimed at giving the state national stature in the fast-emerging field of individualized medicine, Gov. Marshfield Clinic gets biggest donation yet Chicago Tribune Wis. governor unveils gene research triangle Forbes Bizjournals.com - GenomeWeb News (subscription) - WJFW-TV - WISN.com all 51 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 05:29:44 GMT US Near Changing Stance on North Korea as Terrorist - Wall Street Journal BBC News US Near Changing Stance on North Korea as Terrorist Wall Street Journal - 1 hour ago By JAY SOLOMON WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is hoping to announce as soon as Saturday that it is tentatively removing North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, in a bid to kick-start a stalled nuclear disarmament agreement, ... AP: US to remove North Korea from terror blacklist The Associated Press US May Remove North Korea From Terrorism List, AP Reports Bloomberg Los Angeles Times - Voice of America - Financial Times - The Miami Herald all 1,714 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:02:40 GMT RSS to Blog RSS Software

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