A successful business requires a focused marketing plan that is well thought out and more importantly, actionable. You need to be sure that you understand what marketing really means. Then you can start build a marketing plan that has a greater chance of success.

Marketing – A Definition

First, consider the meaning of marketing. We offer the following definition:

Marketing – the establishment and building of business relationships.

This simple definition has a number of inherent elements including:

1. A desired product or service – marketing in the world of business is all about developing a product or service that people want and are willing to pay for.
2. A targeted industry or customer group – it is critical that you have a very clear understanding of who you are marketing to and why your product or service may be of interest and of value to your prospective customer.
3. A business relationship strategy – every product or service begins in isolation. The key challenge is connecting with your prospective customers to understand their needs and how your product or service is able to meet those needs. This requires a communications process that may involve personal visits, referrals or advertising. Then you must decide how you are going to actually deliver that product to your customer.
4. Long term – by definition, this means that your product or service is able to compete and provide value over time. This means that you are responding to your competition as well as pricing your product/service at a level that delivers on going value to your customer.

The Marketing Plan

There are many available pre-designed templates for a marketing plan. For an example, click on the CFBMC format (see Section 2.9 of the Manual).

However, before you subscribe to this template or any other template, review your plan in relationship to the definition of marketing provided above. Your plan needs to address four fundamental elements outlined in the definition. These are:

1. Your Product or Service Strategy – this deals with how you develop your product or service and the needs that you propose to address. Be sure that you understand where your product or service fits within the choice of Marketing Strategies and Tactics. Your choice will determine how you proceed.

2. Your Customer Strategy – it is critical that you understand and define your prospective customers. You need to know who they are, what their needs and interests are, and why your product or service may be of interest and value to them.

3. Your Relationship Strategy – this deals with how you plan to communicate and connect with your prospective customers. Your choice of communications will be determined by your choice of Marketing Strategy and Tactics. For example, this may mean intense personal contact or it may mean extensive advertising in selected media channels. This is also where you assess how you will deliver and sell your product to your customer through choosing the best distribution and retail channels.

4. Your Competitive Strategy – to compete long term you need to be aware of what competitors are offering and what new innovations are being introduced to the market place. Your pricing strategy is also very important. This requires you to constantly monitor customer value relative to your price offering as well as constantly looking for way to enhance or improve your product.