Marketing Plan Outline

Part 6:

1. Executive Summary (due ___)
Give a brief summary of what your marketing plan is all about. (Write last, but put first.) If you do not know how to write an executive summary, look for advice in the book or online. There are many websites out there to guide you in addition to information on the class website.

Part 1:

1. Company Description
a. Legal name and form (sole proprietorship? corporation?)
b. History
c. Company’s mission
d. Management (Build credibility. What is their expertise/background?)
e. Location
f. Development stage (introduction, growth, maturity, or decline?)
g. Products or services offered

Part 2 - The Environment

b. Industry Analysis
a. What is the size of the industry and the growth trends?
b. Explain how your product is vulnerable to particular environmental factors: (address each one):
i. technology ii. sociocultural iii. economic iv. political/legal

c. Competitor Analysis
a. Who is the competition and what are they doing? Be sure to cover all 4 Ps.
b. What differentiates your company from the competition?

Part 3 - Consumer Market

1. Who is your Target Market? (The more detail you can come up with, the better your mix will be!) Describe the following: a. Demographics (age, sex, income, education, family life cycle, religion, etc.)
b. Geographics (what area do you serve?)
c. Psychographics (attitudes, interest, beliefs, lifestyle, behaviors)

2. Consumer Purchase Process
a. What process do your customers go through in deciding to purchase your product?
b. Is purchase an impulse decision or does it takes months to make a commitment?
c. How do consumers gather information? What sources do they use? How are they influenced?
d. How do they buy? (phone, in person, with credit card?)

3. Nature of Relationship with Customers
a. Is there an on-going relationship with customers?
b. How often do they repeat purchase?
c. How much support do they need?

Part 3 - Business-to-Business Market

1. Demographics a. Industry - NAICS code b. Size of Organizations (number of employees or sales volume) c. Age of Companies targeted d. Type of Organization: producer, reseller, government, nonprofit, private

2. Geographics - Physical market area served

3. Psychographics a. What is the buying process for most organizations in this industry b. Who is involved in the process (identify the roles of those in the buyer center and what their needs and wants are, i.e.