From the Publisher
The Essential Contents of a Marketing Plan
The exact nature of your plan, and your marketing situation, dictates its contents. You add or subtract detail to suit your needs. However, there are some absolutely essential standards components that your plan ought to contain.
Every marketing plan has to fit the needs and situation. Even so, there are standard components you just can't do without. A marketing plan should always have a situation analysis, marketing strategy, sales forecast, and expense budget.
Situation Analysis: Normally this will include a market analysis, a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats), and a competitive analysis. The market analysis will include market forecast, segmentation, customer information, and market needs analysis.
Marketing Strategy: This should include at least a mission statement, objectives, and focused strategy including market segment focus and product positioning.
Sales Forecast: This would include enough detail to track sales month by month and follow up on plan-vs.-actual analysis. Normally a plan will also include specific sales by product, by region or market segment, by channels, by manager responsibilities, and other elements. The forecast alone is a bare minimum.
Expense Budget: This ought to include enough detail to track expenses month by month and follow up on plan-vs.-actual analysis. Normally a plan will also include specific sales tactics, programs, management responsibilities, promotion, and other elements. The expense budget is a bare minimum.
Are They Enough?
These minimum requirements above are not the ideal, just the minimum. In most cases you'll begin a marketing plan with an Executive Summary, and you'll also follow those essentials just described with a review of organizational impact, risks and contingencies, and pending issues.
Include a Specific Action Plan
You should also remember that planning is about the results, not the plan itself. A marketing plan must be measured by the results it produces. The implementation of your plan is much more important than its brilliant ideas or massive market research. You can influence implementation by building a plan full of specific measurable, and concrete plans that can be tracked and followed up. Plan-vs.-actual analysis is critical to the eventual results, and you should build it into your plan.
About the Author
This book is written by Tim Berry and Doug Wilson. Both have MBA degrees, both have run their own companies, and both teach entrepreneuring while running a business.
Tim Berry is president of Palo Alto Software, and the principal author of its software products Business Plan Pro™, Marketing Plan Pro™,Cash Plan Pro™ and Web Strategy Pro™. He is also the author of several other software products, six published books, and magazine articles. He has given seminars on business planning for large and small companies, in more than a dozen countries.
In 1983 he founded Infoplan, which later became Palo Alto Software. During the 1980s and early 1990s he consulted in business planning and marketing planning to companies including Apple Computer, Hewlett Packard, and IBM. Apple Latin America grew from $4 million annual sales to more than $30 million during the four years he did its business planning as a consultant, and Apple Japan grew from less than $200 million per year to $1.5 billion in sales during the four years he worked with that organization as a consultant. In 1983 he was a co-founder of Borland International, one of four members of the board of directors. He resigned that position in 1986 when Borland successfully launched an initial public offering (IPO).
Tim is an Adjunct Professor at the Lundquist School of Business at the University of Oregon. He teaches a 400-level business course titled "Introduction to Entrepreneurship."
Co-author Doug Wilson is vice president of sales and marketing at Palo Alto Software, Inc. He has extensive marketing experience, including marketing management with AT&T and US West Communications as well as work with several high- tech entrepreneuring companies. He is the founder of the consulting firm Strategic Advantage, which worked with a range of large and small businesses. With Strategic Advantage he developed a focus on the business of professional services, including CPAs, attorneys, physicians, consultants, and professional sports organizations. The marketing challenges of selling "intangible products" require unique approaches to optimize client revenues. Doug developed a one-day seminar entitled "Client Development Strategies" that assisted hundreds of people in better understanding and developing customized programs to enhance their client revenues.
Doug has also created business plans and marketing plans for a variety of firms, including nonprofit organizations.
He has an MBA degree from the University of Oregon. Doug is also an Adjunct Professor at the Lundquist School of Business at the University of Oregon. He teaches a 400-level business course titled "Introduction to Entrepreneurship." He has also taught Entrepreneurship, Marketing Strategy, and Marketing Channels.
