Marketing Plan
Focus Your Marketing Efforts and Boost Sales
A marketing plan allows your business to put its goals and the
objectives for accomplishing those goals on paper.
A marketing plan acts as the game plan for how you will communicate the
value of your company's product or service to other businesses. This
document is often confused with a business plan, although a marketing plan
may be developed as part of an overall business plan. Marketing plans are
executed over a specified period of time, typically between one and five
years.
Even if your company produces an outstanding product or service, this
fact in itself does not generate sales. Marketing is the art of letting the
right people know just what it is you have to offer, and effectively
persuading them to get out their wallets. Once the sale is made, you then
have to keep them coming back for more. All of these goals can be met by
following the guidelines of a savvy marketing plan.
Within your business plan, a marketing plan explains how you will
persuade your prospects to buy your product or service. Here are some topics
which your marketing plan should address.
- Product or service description. Here you describe the advantages
of a product or service and how your company can benefit its
customers. Explain how your offering differs from those of your
competitors. Here you can use your unique value proposition to
outline why other companies should buy from you.
- Pricing and positioning. Using market research, establish the
price you will charge companies for your product or service. This
will be determined by taking the total cost of production and adding
to this number a reasonable profit. Explain how the final price
compares to the pricing of your competitors. If it is less, how did
you accomplish this? If is more, why should a business choose your
company over the competition?
- Sales and distribution. Detail the methods your company will use
to sell its product to other companies. How will you get it to the
customer?
- Marketing strategies. Outline the strategies you will use to
market and promote your company's product. What methods will you
employ to deliver your unique value proposition to your prospects?
The most popular marketing strategies for B2B companies include
networking, personal selling, trade shows, websites, advertising,
publicity and direct marketing materials.