Worksheet for Marketing Plan Template, Exercises of Marketing

Download Worksheet for Marketing Plan Template and more Exercises Marketing in PDF only on Docsity! Separate marketing plans should be developed for each product/service to be promoted or for each product/service family to be promoted. The marketing plan can be a few pages, with each section containing a couple of paragraphs, or each section can have a few pages. TABLE OF CONTENTS This section is recommended to ensure ease of review. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This section presents a summary of the proposed plan for quick skimming by management. SECTION I Introduction (See chapter 4.) Describe the existing or envisioned service in detail and explain how it fits into the market: 1. What are the benefits of the service? a. What is the core benefit being offered? (What is the customer really seeking? What need is the service really satisfying?) ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ b. What benefits accrue to the community/campus when members of the target market use this service? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. How are the characteristics of the service managed? a. What tangible item(s) does the customer see, feel, hear, touch, or receive as a result of receiving this service? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ b. What library personnel does the customer come in contact with to obtain this service? What technology does the staff person use to provide this service? How does the ser- vice function? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ WORKSHEET 4 Marketing Plan Template 2 c. What steps are being taken to decrease the variability and ensure consistent quality when this service is delivered to the customer? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ d. What measures are being taken to balance supply and demand for the service? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ e. What do customers have to do or know to have the best “experience” in seeking the benefits of the service? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. What resources are needed to deliver the service? a. What existing or additional hardware, software, electronic databases, print sources, etc., will be used or must be purchased to deliver the service? What staff reallocations or hir- ing is required? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ b. What partnerships with other organizations should be forged to supplement or complement capabilities? (Identify areas to be complemented or supplemented here. Identify potential partners to target and strategies in Sections VI and VII, below.) ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Where does the service fall in the service family hierarchy? __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. What stage of the life cycle is the service in? __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ WORKSHEET 4 Marketing Plan Template (cont.) Lifestyle 4: ______________________________________________________________________________________ Narrative description: __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ Lifestyle 5: ______________________________________________________________________________________ Narrative description: __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. What are the significant lifestyle trends? __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ 8. What benefits of this service are valued most by members of this target market? What needs and wants are satisfied by the benefits of this service? __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ 9. Why is there a demand for this service in the target market? How much demand is anticipated? __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ 10. What are the media habits of the target market? What type (or specific outlet) of medium is viewed (e.g., conservative radio talk show; CNN on cable TV)? Medium Hours/Week Type (category) Television _____________ ___________________ Radio _____________ ___________________ Magazines _____________ ___________________ Newspapers _____________ ___________________ SECTION III Current Market Situation (See chapter 6.) 1. Describe the competition. What alternatives can members of the target market obtain to satisfy their needs or wants? Or, what alternatives do members of the target have for spending their time? Desire Alternative Assessment of competing alternative ________________________________________ __________________________________________ Generic Alternative Assessment of competing alternative ________________________________________ _________________________________________ 5 WORKSHEET 4 Marketing Plan Template (cont.) 6 Form Alternative Assessment of competing alternative ________________________________________ _________________________________________ Enterprise Alternative Assessment of competing alternative ________________________________________ _________________________________________ 2. Describe the library’s current position in the mind of members of your target market by answering one or more of the following questions: a. How do members of the target market currently perceive your library? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ b. What is your library’s image compared to the image of a provider of a competing alternative? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ c. What is your library’s image compared to the image of an ideal provider of a competing service? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ d. What is your current positioning statement for the service? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Describe the place (library’s outlets) where the service can be obtained: (In narrative format, provide answers to applicable questions below.) a. How many physical outlets (main library, branches, bookmobiles, kiosks)? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ b. What are the dimensions of the physical outlets (square footage)? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ c. What are the virtual outlets (telephone, website)? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ WORKSHEET 4 Marketing Plan Template (cont.) d. Are there barriers to use associated with your service? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ e. Describe the atmospherics of the physical or virtual outlet (look, feel of exterior and interior). ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ f. How many librarians, support staff, and volunteers are available to deliver the service? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ g. What level of customer service do you provide? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ h. What special training has been given to staff to deliver the service? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ i. What customer service training has been given to staff? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ j. Will you need to forge partnerships to make this service available? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. What nonmonetary or monetary price does the customer have to pay to obtain your service? What is burdensome about obtaining your service? a. Time (waiting time, frustration) b. Convenience c. Transportation costs: public transportation, automobile costs, gas, parking d. Fees e. Other 7 WORKSHEET 4 Marketing Plan Template (cont.) 10 5. Other: _________________________________ Goal: __________________________________________________________________________________________ Objective(s): ____________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Other: _________________________________ Goal: __________________________________________________________________________________________ Objective(s): ____________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ SECTION VI Marketing Strategies (See chapter 7.) 1. Core Marketing Strategy: __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Positioning Strategy: a. What position, in the minds of your target market, will your library claim versus providers of competitive alternatives? ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ b. Is there a dimension on which you can claim to be the best? ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ c. Write your service’s positioning statement. ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Marketing Mix Strategies: How will the goals and objectives be accomplished? a. Service (Product) Strategies: ________________________________________________________________________________________ b. Price: ________________________________________________________________________________________ c. Place (can include partnerships): ________________________________________________________________________________________ d. Partnerships: ________________________________________________________________________________________ e. Promotion: ________________________________________________________________________________________ WORKSHEET 4 Marketing Plan Template (cont.) SECTION VII Marketing Tactics / Action Plan (see chapter 9) This section states what will be done, who will do it, when it will be done, and how much it will cost. The chart can also be used to monitor the implementation (status) of these tac- tics (actions): R (for red) indicates not on schedule, could put other tasks in jeopardy; Y (yel- low) indicates a possibility that the schedule will not be met; G (green) indicates that the action is on schedule; completed actions are indicated with C. 11 WORKSHEET 4 Marketing Plan Template (cont.) When Status Start End R/Y/G Product Price Place Promotion How will budgets be established? Which strategy will you use? Explain. 1. Affordable method _______________________________________________________________________________ 2. Percentage of overall budget method ______________________________________________________________ 3. Competitive-parity method _______________________________________________________________________ 4. Objective-and-task method ________________________________________________________________________________ What Who How much 12 SECTION VIII Implementation and Controls (See chapter 9.) This section states how the plan will be monitored. You may choose to incorporate the chart developed in Section VII into your plans. SECTION IX Summary (See chapter 10.) This section summarizes why the plan will succeed. Restate the advantages your plan for the product/service has over the competitive alternatives. SECTION X Appendixes This section includes all supporting information you consider relevant. WORKSHEET 4 Marketing Plan Template (cont.)