Download Marketing Plan Guide: Creating a Successful Marketing Strategy and more Summaries Research Methodology in PDF only on Docsity! MARKETING PLAN GUIDE Executive summary The executive summary is a section of your marketing plan that summarizes the key findings from your study. It's a synopsis of the full marketing plan. It provides a high- level overview of your brand's general goals, marketing objectives, and marketing activities. It's short, but it's straightforward. Summarizes the main goals and recommended strategies. Allows reader to grasp the plan’s major thrust. The length of your executive summary should be between 1-2 pages. After you've completed all of the other elements of your marketing strategy, you write the executive summary last. Executive summary is always the first step in any marketing strategy. It is designed to stand out and catch the reader's attention. What to include? 1. A description of your business and the people involved in your team 2. A description of the key market trends and the products/services you are marketing 3. A description of your customer base, where you will find them, and how you will target them via specific marketing activities to reach your goals 4. A summary of the financial planning and projections of the project to manage budgets 5. A summary of the overall objectives of the project and the strategies you will employ to achieve them. Situational Analysis Market Situation section comprises of research and analysis of your target market, competitors, business obstacles, and competitive differentiators. It should include your finest and most concise summary of the present market situation. Describes the relevant background on company, sales, market, competitors, marketing mix and external environment. This part should highlight the strengths and weaknesses of your company, as well as the opportunities and dangers it faces. This "SWOT" (Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats) study might assist you figure out where your marketing efforts should be focused. Allows reader to visualize the current state of the company, its external environment and marketing mix. A sampling of the kinds of questions the Market Situation section should answer are: What are your products/services or product/service lines? How big is your market opportunity? What are your sales and distribution setup? What geographic area do you sell to? a PF ON PR Who is your target audience (in terms of population, demographics, income levels and so on)? 6. What competitors exist in this marketplace? What is your market share relative to them? 7. Historically, how well have your products sold? Objectives Specific, quantitative, and realistic goals are set for the marketing plan for the next 12 months. Types of Marketing Objectives According to Woodruff (2019) marketing objectives fall into the following categories: 1. A profit goal for the amount of income expected from a promotional strategy 2. The market share you hope to gain 3. A promotional goal to achieve a specific level of product awareness 4. A growth target to reach a certain size of your business