Thursday, August 21, 2008
The Purpose of a Marketing Plan
The purpose of a marketing plan is to set the direction your business will go to promote the business, build a customer base and determine any opportunities to make a profit.
When you are writing a marketing plan, you are predicting and deciding how your business will meet your client's needs while generating a profit for your business.
Your marketing plan will need to highlight:
What you will offer
Who you are selling to
Where you will sell your product
Where you will distribute your product
What type of customer service you will offer
Who your competitors are
Where you plan to be in the market
How much you will sell and when
How you will promote your business
What your prices will be
When you are writing a business plan you will want to include a marketing plan because it will help you manage your projected expenses and possible projected income. The marketing plan will help define times of financial outlay so that when those lulls arrive they aren't unexpected.
You may already be involved in different forms of marketing for your business, but having a clear plan, even at this stage, will help lend focus to your path.
Clarity in direction is one of the major benefits of a marketing plan. It will decide not only when you advertise, but how and to whom. Potential venture capitalists will definitely want to see a marketing report, as they will want to know what your plan is for the money they are bringing to the project.
Planning is a key point and a core business principle that will help determine the future of your business and at the core of your business is the marketing plan. It's not just the finished marketing plan that will help you, but the thoughts you will encounter when writing the plan and the obstacles you will overcome in the process will have a major effect on the way you do business. You will understand your customer and their needs on a deeper level and you will be better equipped to meet the needs of your customer.
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