Marketing Plan Definition. Marketing planning. Problems caused by a lack of marketing plan

It is not enough to produce goods, deliver them to shops and wait for the moment when consumers themselves start buying and talking about the product. In modern conditions, when each sphere is full of competitors, you need to literally fight for each client. The tool of this war is marketing knowledge and skillful planning.

Objectives and development of a marketing plan

If the business intends to be successful, then it must move twice as fast as the rest. Something like this is the experience of successful people in the business world. Another rule is to think on paper: diagrams, numbers, and most importantly, timing.

Given the fact that the main driving force the whole activity of the company is the process of selling its goods or services, the marketing plan is perhaps the most important strategic document. It will clearly reflect the current position of the company, the purpose and means of achieving it. After the document has been approved by the management, it should be submitted to other departments that are directly or indirectly related to the strategic activities of the company.

The marketing plan for terms is divided into two types: short-term - from 6 months to 1 year, and long-term - from 3 to 5 years. Depending on the external factors during the implementation of the goal, small changes may be made, but without concessions and changes to the intended plan.

How to make?

The marketing plan should give a detailed description of potential consumers, information about where they can see the product and how they decide to make a purchase. Before proceeding with the preparation of the plan, it is necessary to answer the following questions and clearly indicate the boundaries at the current moment, since this information forms the basis of the plan.

Strategy: what role will the plan play in the context of common business processes?
Mission: what remains to be done and for what purpose?
Target audience: who are marketing measures aimed at?
Competitor analysis: who are the competitors and who have what advantages?
Unique product offer: What are the differences over competitors?
Price factor: what does the consumer get for his money?
Promotion plan: how does the target audience know about the company?
Budget: how much is needed and how much is there?
List of actions: what and in what sequence should be implemented?
Analysis of results: what can be improved, what to discard and what to leave as is?

The answer to these critical questions will help clarify the way forward. Now you should consider each item individually.

Strategy

The marketing strategy plan should reflect the main vector of the company’s movement, and the rest of the sections will tell you how to do it. Suppose an entrepreneur is interested in expanding a network of retail stores selling building materials and wants to reach customers in new regions. Then the goals of the marketing plan will be to present your product in a new market segment. At the next stage, the strategy is divided into short-term and long-term measures.

It is also important to be able to distinguish between two important concepts, often found as a description of one action: marketing plan and strategy. The difference is that the first term describes a list of actions, and the second describes how to implement them.

Mission

It is generally accepted that the formation of a mission and the dissemination of ideas is characteristic of large corporations that have achieved a certain level of fame in their field. That was until recently. New trends in the business world are encouraging business with social components: a company can simultaneously conduct commercial activities and carry an idea from the field of universal values. To this end, companies hold whole events to emphasize their solidarity with the majority opinion: charity exhibitions and other public events.

But successful businessmen differ in that they find innovative solutions. Mission can be used as a marketing tool. Perhaps a marketing plan of this nature will require additional investment in organizing and conducting events, but in the end it can serve as a good promotion tool.

The target audience

At this stage, you have to answer the question: who are the people who will help the business achieve their goals? Target audience - a segment in the society to which advertising should be addressed and which may become real customers in the future.

The company's marketing plan begins with the creation of a psychological and social portrait of the target audience. In this matter, marketing research is of great help. They can be found ready-made or ordered from specialized companies. You can also do it yourself. For this, it is necessary to objectively answer a number of questions:

Who are the potential customers?
Where can I find them?
What is important to them?
What problems do they have?
How will this product help them solve their problems?

It is necessary to create a sketch of the “ideal client” and build further steps with an eye on it. This will help to personalize marketing messages.

Competitors

When developing a marketing plan, you need to study in detail the competitors, their approach and product promotion systems. At the same time, one should not forget that there is a business ethic when rough copying of competitors' materials, open competition and belittling of their product through their promotional materials. In some countries, this aspect is controlled by special laws.

Information obtained during the analysis of competitors is subject to careful analysis, but not to be used in their campaigns. If you look at examples of the marketing plan of other companies, at this stage they answer the following questions:

Strengths of competitors: how do they attract customers?
What additional services do they provide?
How does the “ideal client” perceive them?
What can they improve in their work?
What does your plan look like in the background of their actions?

The purpose of this stage is to compare and objectively evaluate your own capabilities. After the conclusions are made, it is necessary to prepare a plan that allows them to get ahead according to certain criteria.

USP - a unique selling proposition

USP should be implemented in the form of a specific product or service, which is fundamentally different from the proposals of competitors. If there is no such proposal, then the marketing plan of the enterprise has the right to offer the creation of such a product.

But professional marketers know how to isolate USP from the most common product. As an information base, two points are used that have already become known at the previous stages: what problems the client has and how and how this product can help in this.

Examples

How to successfully make UTP? Here it is appropriate to recall the advertisement of chocolates M & M`s. She attracted attention by the fact that the inscription appeared on the wrappers: "It melts in the mouth, not in the hands!" Obviously, in the process of developing the USP, experts noted the concerns of customers when chocolates can get their hands dirty, and proposed a solution.

Another example is Domino's pizza, whose motto reads: "Wait 30 minutes or get it for free!" Here, experts simply put themselves in the shoes of the customer: what is he currently experiencing? Of course, hunger. Every minute of waiting is given to a hungry person very hard. Marketers have shown a human understanding, and this has had its effects.

Price factor

At this stage, competitor prices and own prices are considered. In the process of pricing, the marketing part is taken into account only indirectly, since it is influenced by completely different factors: the cost of raw materials, technology, labor, transportation and expected profit.

But in the end, the price factor can significantly affect sales. It all depends on the type of product. There are goods for which the price cannot be low under any circumstances. Usually they belong to the category of luxury: diamonds, cars, etc. In this area, it makes no sense to bet on low prices.

You can bet on the price factor when it comes to selling clothes, gadgets, appliances or furniture. It must be borne in mind that the consumer regards the product in terms of value for money.

activity

Carrying out events refers to short-term advertising campaigns. Excellent results can be expected if the idea of \u200b\u200bthe event is combined with a socially significant event and the company's own mission. As a rule, such events need to be prepared for a long time.

Examples: holding a tree planting campaign on Environmental Protection Day, flash mobs or recreational activities on Children's Day, etc. Before holding an event, it is not superfluous to send a press release to local media and attract their attention. If the idea finds a universal response, then the company will receive media coverage and advertising in its context.

A marketing research plan will help identify successful ideas and ways to present such events.

Budget

How much money will the implementation of an extensive marketing campaign be able to reach the entire target audience? The budget must be laid for several months in advance.

When planning a budget, there are two options: a solid budget that allows you to buy best sites for advertising or a small budget to get the most out of.

In the second case, the selected sites and advertising channels should be reviewed. Expensive channels are eliminated and more accessible ones are left. Another option is to reduce the amount of advertising with the same amount.

It is also necessary to determine what is beneficial: to have a staff of your own marketer with the skills of a designer, copywriter and video editor or order materials in advertising agencies. In general, the budget of the marketing plan in the business plan should be one of the priority tasks.

Action list

At this stage, you need to paint an action plan. In particular, on what sites will the advertisement be placed. There are many options.

Print advertising: specialized catalogs and magazines.
Advertising on TV: commercials or banner ads.
Web sites.
contextual advertising.
Targeted ads in social networks.
Holding exhibitions and special occasions.
Newsletter by mail or phone.
PR materials and their distribution.

Immediately to cover all the channels not many companies can handle. An example of a marketing plan should choose the most suitable options from this arsenal and proceed with the placement. At the initial stage, it is enough to identify 3-5 channels and work with them.

The role of the work done in business development can only be assessed through continuous analysis. If you do not analyze the results, then we can assume that the resources are thrown to the wind.

After each event, the marketing department should compile statistics that will reflect the basic information: the number of people involved, their opinion, the impact of the campaign on the level of sales and the image of the company.

Not all campaigns will be equally effective: some will have to be discarded, others will need to be adjusted and included in the action plan for the next period. To assess the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, specific tools are used, including research.

In any case, successful campaigns should focus on and expand their budget, ineffective ones are postponed until better times or thrown out of the plan.

Conclusion

Trends in the business world are often changing. Including in Russia. At the stage of formation of the private production and trade sector, the availability of demand was previously relevant. But today, almost all industries are in highly competitive conditions. In order to gain his place, the new player has to make his own way into the hearts and wallets of consumers.

Starting a business, each entrepreneur must clearly imagine in what conditions they will have to work and which ways can lead to the growth of the company. Objectively drawn up business plan, in which they are carefully designed marketing strategies, will give a clear idea of \u200b\u200bwhere to move and how to do it. And already at the planning stage, one can discern the prospects: are there any chances in a particular industry, or is there no point in wasting time and money.

Considering the fact that marketing is a separate branch of the economic sciences and requires special knowledge, it is recommended to involve professional specialists in the process. They will help to see strengths and weaknesses. If mistakes are made, then suggest alternative ways.

A company’s marketing plan is a plan that reflects its full marketing strategy for the coming year. It necessarily indicates for whom you are positioning your products, how you will sell it to the target category of customers, what techniques you will use to attract new customers and increase sales. The purpose of a marketing plan is to outline in detail how to promote your products and services in the target market.

Steps

Part 1

Carrying out a situational analysis

Think about the goals of your company. The purpose of a situational analysis is to understand the current marketing situation in which your company is located. Based on this understanding, you can think through and implement the necessary changes in the business. Start by looking at the mission and goals of the company (if your company does not already have them, you need to determine them first) and check if your current marketing plan helps you achieve these goals.

For example, your company performs snow removal and other related winter activities. You set yourself the goal of increasing revenue by 10% by concluding new contracts. Do you have a marketing plan that describes how you can attract additional contracts? If a plan exists, is it effective?

Explore your current marketing strengths and weaknesses. What is your company attractive for customers at present? Why are competing companies attractive to customers? It is very likely that it is your strengths that attract customers to you. Knowledge of their strengths gives you an important marketing advantage.

Gather information about external opportunities and threats for your company. They will be the external characteristics of the company, depending on competition, fluctuations in market factors, as well as customers and buyers. The goal is to identify various factors that can affect a business. Subsequently, this will allow you to adjust the marketing plan accordingly.

Designate responsible persons. When preparing a marketing plan, you will need to appoint persons responsible for specific aspects of promoting your company in the market. Think about which employees will best be able to perform the specific functions of the marketing policy, and determine their responsibilities. You will also need to consider a system for evaluating the success of these job responsibilities.

Announce your marketing goals. What do you want to achieve with a marketing plan? Do you see the ultimate goal of expanding the customer base, informing existing customers about new services and quality improvements, developing other regions or demographic groups, or something completely different? It is your goals that will constitute the basis for preparing the plan.

Develop marketing strategies to achieve your goals. When you clearly define marketing goals and prospects, you will need to think through specific actions to achieve them. There are many different types of marketing strategies, but the most common ones are listed below.

Approve the budget. You may have great ideas for promoting your business and expanding your customer base, but with a limited budget, you may need to partially review your strategy. The budget should be realistic and reflect both the current state of the business and its potential growth in the future.

Part 4

Preparation of a marketing plan

Start with an explanatory note. This section of the marketing plan should include basic information about your products or services, and briefly describe the general content of the entire document in one or two paragraphs of the text. Priority preparation of an explanatory note will allow you to subsequently expand and describe in more detail certain points in the main text of the document.

Know that it is extremely useful to give a prepared marketing plan to familiarization with both the direct employees of your company and its consultants.

Describe the target market. The second section of the marketing plan will refer to the results of your research and describe the target market of the company. The text should not be written in a complex language, indicating simple key points will be enough. You can start by describing the demographic indicators of your market (including age, gender, place of residence, and customer activity, if applicable), and then go on to indicate the main customer preferences in terms of your products or services.
List the goals. This section should not occupy more than one page of text. It must indicate the marketing objectives of the company for the coming year. Remember that the goals you put forward must meet five qualities: be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely.

Do not forget to include in the marketing plan the needs and ideas for each department of your company (and even the employee, if appropriate). It is also very important that the marketing plan is connected and well integrated with the business plan and mission of the company, its public image and key values.
Include in the marketing plan any tables, graphs and the like that you needed to compile in the process of collecting important information. In addition, it will be useful to include in the plan tables explaining its key points.

Warnings

It is necessary to revise the marketing plan at least once a year in order to verify the success of the strategies used and to redo those components of the plan that were unsuccessful.
Many critical marketing plan factors are dynamic. If they change over time, the marketing plan needs to be reviewed.

Marketing plan - a fundamental document company strategic development planin which market goals are set and methods for their achievement are indicated.

Strategic Marketing Plan, developed for 3 to 5 years, contains long-term goals and defining marketing strategies with an indication of the resources necessary for their implementation. The strategic marketing plan is updated and reviewed annually, based on it annual marketing plan.

Operational marketing plan (annual marketing plan) describes the current marketing situation, the objectives of the market, marketing strategies for the current year. It includes a program of measures, resource, including financial support.

Marketing plan The company is the key when planning activities, along with the budget, production plan, sales plan. The annual plan of the enterprise, respectively, establishes the general objectives of the enterprise, however, for work in competitive environment marketing - efforts in the market - are the main function of the enterprise. In connection with this, the marketing plan dominates in importance over other sections of the overall annual plan, because:

targets of the marketing plan have a direct impact on the performance of other sections of the annual plan;
the decisions recorded in the marketing plan determine what exactly the company will produce, at what price and where to sell, how to advertise;

The marketing plan serves as a key guide for the work of staff involved in the marketing activities of the company.

The need for a marketing plan. A marketing plan is similar to a traveler’s itinerary, it is both a map and a compass. The marketing plan fixes the current position (location) of the enterprise, the vectors moves, target points, and, most importantly, fixes the actions that the company must take to get to the intended points. To find out why you need a marketing plan, consider the problems that arise in the enterprise in the absence of a marketing plan, as well as the results that the company receives after its development.

Problems of the lack of a marketing plan.

The company is developing spontaneously, from luck to failure;
Possible schemes, existing development options constantly conflict. As a reason - dispersion of efforts, means, loss of time;
CA is not defined, discrepancies in its assessments from time to time lead to the problems described in paragraph above;
The company randomly purchases products, tries to diversify the product offer at a time when concentration on the main product offer is required;

Marketing Plan Objectives.

systematization, formal description of the ideas of company leaders, conveying them to employees;
setting marketing goals, ensuring control over their achievement;
concentration and reasonable distribution of company resources.

The process of developing a marketing plan. It is reasonable to propose the following sequential process, as a result of the implementation of the points of which it is formulated marketing plan firms. The process consists of six required steps:

Definition of the mission of the enterprise;
SWOT analysis;
Defining the goals and strategies of the organization as a whole;
Definition of tasks and program of actions for their implementation;
Drawing up a marketing plan and monitoring its implementation;
Budgeting marketing.

More in detail the points:

At the stage of the mission description, the purpose of all subsequent efforts of the company is determined;
SWOT analysis gives a clear idea of \u200b\u200bwhere the company is located (marketing audit or marketing audit) and what it is: an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise, as well as the opportunities and threats emanating from the immediate environment of the enterprise (external environment);
The third section provides the basis for developing a specific marketing action program. This stage of the marketing plan includes forecasting the development of target markets (segments), the dynamics of macro- and microeconomic processes, as well as resource capabilities of the enterprise. Based on the foregoing, the main goals of the activity are formulated, structured in the form of a tree of goals, at the top of which is a global corporate goal.
The fourth stage defines the tasks of the marketing department within general plan enterprises, and an action program is being developed aimed at solving these problems. At this stage, strategic directions of the company’s actions are specified by planning tactical events. For each target market segment, appropriate goods (services) of the required quality and quantity, their prices, points of sale and tactics of their promotion to the consumer should be planned.
The fifth stage allows us to obtain the document itself, with the definition of the values \u200b\u200bof the parameters by which the implementation of the marketing plan will be subsequently monitored, the marketing program (marketing plan) is executed, namely: layout, coordination with all interested parties and approval of the document.
Marketing budget - section of the marketing plan, reflecting the planned values \u200b\u200bof income, costs and profits. The amount of income is justified by the projected sales in value terms. Costs are defined as the sum of all kinds of costs. The approved budget is the basis for ensuring the production of goods and marketing activities.

In the marketing literature there is a description of the process of developing a marketing plan consisting of more points. Understand that the number of points is not important, it is important to understand that the described set of sequential work is available, which allows you to get a document called a "marketing plan". The detail of this set of works can indeed be written down with a large number of points that can be formulated in other words.

Structurally, the marketing plan consists from the following sections of the document:

main results of activities for the previous period;
analysis and forecast of the development of the economy and the target market;
put forward goals mainly in quantitative terms with the highlighting of the main goal;
strategies for enterprise behavior in market segments;
measures of commodity, price, marketing and communication policies indicating responsible executors and deadlines;
budget marketing plan (marketing budget).

Number of impressions: 151701

The management of the company is called upon to fulfill a complex of the most important functions: setting goals, developing plans, policies, methods, strategies and tactics. Managers organize and coordinate, direct and control, serve as a driving force and link. Planning is only one of these functions, but one of the most important: the activity plan, or business plan, of the company directs the activities of the company as a whole.

A marketing plan is an essential part of a company’s plan, and the marketing planning process should be carried out as part of the overall planning and budgeting process of the company.

There are a number of different planning approaches. In traditional planning, plans are usually divided according to what period of time they are designed for, for example:

long-term plans;
medium-term plans;
short term plans. A universal definition of planning periods does not exist. Long- and medium-term plans are often called "strategic" because they consider long-term business strategies, short-term plans are often called "corporate" or "business plans", as they are a guide for everyday activities. The use of a plan depends on what the company does, what markets it serves, and how much planning it needs to produce in the future.
Long-term planning aims to assess general economic and business trends for many years to come. It defines the company's strategies aimed at ensuring growth that correspond to its long-term goals, which is of particular importance for enterprises in industries such as the defense industry, astronautics, and pharmaceuticals (in which the terms of development new products reach 5-10 years). In these sectors, long-term planning covers a period of 10-20 years. However, the majority of companies have less product development times, and long-term planning does not look ahead for more than 5-7 years.
Medium-term planning is more practical and takes a period of no more than 2-5 years (usually 3 years). Medium-term planning is more tied to life, since it concerns the near future; it is more likely that the plan will reflect reality. The medium-term “strategic” plan is based on the same strategies as the long-term, but the main decisions must be implemented in a shorter time. Such decisions include: the introduction of new products, the need for investment, the availability and use of personnel and resources.
Short-term planning (and budgeting) usually covers a period of up to one year and involves the development of "corporate" or "business" company plans and associated budgets. Such plans consider the near future and the details of what the company intends to undertake over a twelve-month period (tied to the financial year of the company). Of all the plans, short-term plans are the most detailed. If necessary, adjustments are made to them throughout the year.
Traditional planning and strategic planning
Until the 1970s The company's traditional strategic planning worked quite well. Business cycles were highly predictable, the situation was stable, competitors were well known, exchange rates were fixed, pricing was stable, and consumer behavior was predictable.
After the oil “shock” of the early 1970s. and the transition to floating exchange rates, enterprises were faced with a radically different, rapidly changing environment. New technologies, new competition, significant changes in prices and other irreversible changes required a different type of strategic planning. The focus of company management has shifted from long-term planning to the implementation of corporate plans, when for a limited time the company gets real results, based on which the necessary adjustments are made to the long-term strategic plan. Planning horizons narrowed to a few years.
The main difference between the two approaches is that in traditional planning it is assumed that all relevant information is available from the very beginning of the process, while the new “strategic” planning uses new data as it becomes available. Currently, experts in the field of marketing planning adopted the method of "strategic" planning.
What is the difference between marketing and corporate plans?
The directors and senior managers of the company establish the goals of its activities. Goals are usually expressed in financial terms and determine what the company will be after a while, say after three years. The goals of a company’s activities usually include indicators such as sales volume, profit before taxes, return on equity, etc. To develop a workable plan of activity, you must first collect information on current operations, that is, analyze the economic activity (audit). Each functional area of \u200b\u200bthe company carries out its own audit. During the audit process, specific goals and strategies on the basis of which for each function of the company a plan will be developed to achieve a separate set of goals and implement specific strategies. Separate plans are developed in detail for the first year of the plan and include quantitative data on estimated costs and revenues.
The marketing plan sets the company's market goals and suggests methods for their implementation. It does not include all the goals and methods of the company. In addition to marketing, production, financial and "personnel" goals are distinguished. None of them can be considered in isolation.
A complete corporate or business plan includes a number of supporting plans, including a company’s general marketing plan. All individual plans must be coordinated and coordinated into a single corporate plan.
The subject of our analysis is a marketing plan, but we need to take into account the difficulties of setting goals and developing strategies within the system as a whole.
The corporate plan is based on the acceptance of orders and the budget of the sales service (part of the marketing plan). None of the plans can be implemented without analysis and accounting for this information. On its basis, the sales volume for the production plan is determined, on the basis of which the procurement plan is developed, the level of stocks and indicators of their turnover are determined, which in turn affects the procedure for issuing invoices, cash flow and consolidation of a commercial loan in the financial plan.
The company's plans are affected by other issues, which are primarily addressed in terms of marketing. Pricing issues affect the financial plan, and the marketing plan can offer a pricing policy and strategy. The introduction of new products is largely determined production plan and strategic stock financing. In order for stocks to facilitate entry into new strategic markets, they must also be provided on a consignment basis. Production and procurement plans determine the decision to manufacture part of the components of the final product by the company itself or its appeal to external sources. If a marketing plan involves replacing or increasing production, and the key to success is price, then it probably makes sense to purchase some product details from other manufacturers. What will be the opportunity costs of production (and the plan) in the case of the introduction of additional production capacities and what consequences will it have for financial plan Need to raise additional funds to purchase components on the side? All these (and many other) issues must be discussed and agreed upon with the functional managers and senior management of the company at the beginning of the marketing planning process.
A marketing plan is like a map: it shows where the company is moving and how it is going to get there. It is both an action plan and a written document. The marketing plan identifies promising business opportunities for the company and outlines ways to penetrate, capture and hold positions in certain markets. It combines all the elements of marketing into an agreed action plan, which details in detail who, what, when, where and how to achieve goals.
The attention of the authors of many marketing planning works is focused on theoretical problems. Perhaps this approach is interesting for scientists and managers who manage the process of the company as a whole, but it is too complicated for ordinary commercial directors. Our approach is practical and affects the theory only to the extent necessary for understanding the planning process. The author hopes that by accepting and sharing the formal structure of the plan described in this book, it will be easier for you to bring your thoughts and facts into a logical order. And then:
employees who will have to familiarize themselves with the plan will understand your arguments and the logic of your conclusions without any problems;
you will present the management with a complete professional document (even in conditions of limited information available to you).
What is marketing and how is it different from marketing?
Successful marketing ensures that the right product is in the right place at the right time and the customer is aware of it.
The purpose of sales, sales is to convince the buyer to purchase the proposed product. But this is only one aspect of marketing.
Even now in large companies, the marketing and sales functions are often completely separated, sometimes they are managed by different directors. In some organizations, sales are seen as a local functional area, and head office or “marketing specialists” is separately involved in marketing. It should not be. Sales and marketing activities need to be combined, or at least they should have the same goals. Between these two areas there should be a constant exchange of information, otherwise it will adversely affect marketing planning.
The separation of sales and marketing functions makes it difficult to engage sales people in marketing activities or marketing planning. Today, especially in small companies, sales managers often do not have formal marketing training. The situation with commercial directors is even worse, and marketing specialists, even in large companies, apparently do not receive any marketing training at all. How will today's sales specialists manage tomorrow the corresponding departments and fulfill the duties of commercial directors? Only having mastered all the secrets of trading on their own. They can learn from those who already have experience, but appropriate training is still necessary.
It is taken for granted that large companies, especially international ones, can afford to train marketing staff or lure specialists from other companies. Ten years ago it was difficult to get training in marketing, but now it is not. Organizations that offer sales-oriented training also offer marketing courses at various levels.
In accordance with the generally accepted definition, marketing is "the provision of goods and services in accordance with the needs of the consumer." In other words, marketing is that, focusing on the needs of customers, the company ensures compliance with its products and make a profit. Long gone are the days when companies first produced a product, and then searched for buyers for it.
Customers purchase only those products in which they are in need. Often the public criticizes intense advertising campaigns for allegedly "forcing" consumers to purchase the goods of the company. This is not entirely true - recall, for example, Coca-Cola's unsuccessful attempts to introduce new soft drinks to the market or the initially negative reaction of consumers to the Ford Sierra car model.
Two-thirds of new products fail even in the first steps of the market. Firms must take into account the requirements of consumers and the market and adapt their products to them (i.e., focus on the market). The company that produced in the 1950s. tube radios, in the 1960-1970s. was forced to reorient to transistor, and in the 1980s. - for the production of stereo receivers. Manufacturers of black and white televisions (in the 1950s and 1960s) in the 1970s. began producing colored ones in the 1980s. - televisions with teletext, and in the 1990s. - high definition televisions. Each of these products meets the same fundamentally customer needs, only at different points in time. If these enterprises continued to produce the same goods that satisfied the consumer in the 1960s, then in the 1970s and 1980s. they would go bankrupt. These are the basic principles of marketing - "in the end, the consumer always gets what he wants," and an entrepreneur who ignores the demands of the market is doomed to fail.
Marketing is a process that combines the capabilities of the enterprise and the needs of the consumer:
the buyer satisfies his needs;
the company receives income from the sale of goods.
To achieve a balance of needs and supply of goods, enterprises must be maneuverable. They must be prepared to modify products, introduce new products and enter new markets. It is vital for them to be able to understand the needs of customers and the market situation. Achieving equilibrium occurs in the "external environment", which is formed by a number of factors significant for the company.
Local and cultural preferences. Buyers' perception of certain products is largely determined by local traditions and conditions, as well as national and cultural beliefs. British black pudding and shepherd's pie are unlikely to catch on with consumers in Italy or Spain, and it is also unlikely that sour cabbage will sell well in Scotland. American refrigerators are too large for Japanese homes.
Government policy. The economic conditions, policies, laws and environmental requirements in the countries in which you intend to sell your products will somehow affect the activities of your company. Changes in exchange rates affect the competitiveness of your product relative to local counterparts and determine the advisability of organizing their production in a selected country. For car and detergent manufacturers, for example, the state’s environmental policy is of great importance. As a rule, national legislation strictly regulates drug sales and pharmaceutical goods; in some countries, certain types of fertilizers and pesticides may be controlled or banned.
Competition. The activities of your company affect your rivals, and the actions they take affect the production of your company. What your competitors do depends on products, pricing, and many other factors. Even the market leader does not have the right to ignore the activities of competitors.
New technologies. Modern technologies, and with them the needs of consumers, change extremely quickly. The advent of electronic digital watches has had a major impact on the wristwatch market. Power windows and sunroofs once seemed to be a costly overkill in the premium car market; Now they are the norm for cars of most manufacturers. The functions of VCRs are constantly changing. A firm cannot count on the fact that its current range of products will always be in demand. In process of technological progress, it is necessary to modify, improve or replace products.
Change in distribution structure. The appearance in Europe of giant supermarkets and suburban shopping centers in the 1970-1980s. changed the distribution structure of literally all goods - from food products to do-it-yourself store products (which was largely driven by an increase in the number of car owners). In Japan, which is at the initial stages of these transformations, the number of stores per capita is much larger than in the US and Europe. The introduction of containerization and the increase in the use and availability of air cargo transportation have also caused significant changes in the distribution structure.
Obviously, the external marketing environment is beyond the control of both individuals and companies. Its conditions are constantly changing and should be continuously monitored.
So, marketing is determined by:
company capabilities;
buyer's needs;
marketing environment.
The marketing organization of the company involves exercising control over the four main elements of the company's operations ("marketing mix"):
sold goods (Product - Product);
pricing policy (Price - Price);
product Promotion (Promotion);
distribution methods (Place - Place).
“Promotion” and “Place” relate primarily to how the company attracts potential buyers, and “Product” and “Price” allow them to satisfy their needs. A marketing mix (also known as four P marketing) defines the company's policy aimed at making a profit and satisfying the needs of customers.
The market usually consists of a number of submarkets, characterized by different sets of consumer needs. The company must create an appropriate marketing structure for each submarket. For example, the automobile market consists of the passenger car market, the official car market, and the private car market, which differ significantly in the set of consumer requirements.
Each element of the marketing mix represents a wide field of activity for a marketing-oriented organization; they should be considered separately and in conjunction with other elements. A satisfactory marketing mix structure at a certain point in time may require revision because:
goods and services are becoming obsolete or being improved;
new products and services appear;
competition leads to lower prices for goods (and, as a result, profit margins);
advertising may be less effective than competitors;
the place of sale or the distribution method may not correspond to emerging alternatives or changes in the business.
Marketing mix management is the key to successful sales organization and the core of marketing planning.
What is marketing planning?
The term "marketing planning" is used to describe the methods of applying marketing resources to achieve marketing goals. It sounds simple, but the real process is quite complicated. Each company has specific resources and pursues certain goals, which also change over time. Marketing planning is used to segment the market, determine its condition, predict its growth and plan a viable market share within each segment.
The process includes:
performance of marketing research inside and outside the company;
analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the company;
assumptions;
forecasts;
setting marketing goals;
development of marketing strategies;
definition of programs;
budgeting;
revision of results and goals, strategies and programs.
The planning process is designed to:
improve the use of company resources to establish marketing opportunities;
strengthen the team spirit and unity of the company;
assist in achieving corporate goals.
And, in addition, marketing research as part of the planning process allows you to create an information base for the implementation of current and future projects.
What is a marketing plan?
A marketing plan is a document that formulates the main goals of marketing products and services of a company and ways to achieve them. Although we are talking about goods in this chapter, they almost always include some component of services, such as after-sales service, consultations with specially trained sellers and (in the case of consumer goods) the art of selling. Marketing plan possesses formal structure, but can be used as an informal, quite flexible tool:
to prepare arguments when introducing a new product;
when changing approaches to marketing company products;
when developing full marketing plans for a department, division or company for inclusion in a corporate or business plan.
In principle, a marketing plan for one product in a separate trading zone can be prepared, but large-scale plans have become more common.
In the future, we will consider examples from various industries (production of investment and consumer goods, services). Despite the significant differences between manufactured goods, the basic principles of marketing apply to each of them. Yes, the ways they are used vary, but the fundamental approach to developing a marketing plan does not change.
There are no insignificant or too large issues for the marketing plan. You can write marketing plans for dairy equipment in any of the country's regions, membrane valves in one of the European countries, and bathroom kits in hotels in the Middle East. With the same success, you can develop a marketing plan for a wide variety of goods and services (from products chemical industry to fast-food restaurants) at the district, country or worldwide level.
When it comes to companies with subsidiaries, marketing plans for each of them are developed either by their employees or by employees of the head office. Each subsidiary's marketing plan is developed on the basis of separate, less ambitious individual plans.
The main condition for the development of plans for units and subsidiaries consists in the fact that they must be aligned with the general plan of the company. This does not mean that you should prepare a plan for each product or trading area. But if they are developed, then they must be consistent with the general marketing plan.
A marketing plan cannot be considered complete if it does not include data from the past period, forecasts for the future, goals and methods or strategies for achieving these goals. If a plan is drawn up for a new product for which historical data are not available, it is possible to use information about the product that it replaces, or estimates for similar products of a competing company.
In his simplest form A marketing plan begins with the collection and evaluation of historical data. Usually it contains detailed information about competitors, their strengths and weaknesses, strengths and weaknesses. Naturally, it should consider the strengths and weaknesses of your company, your successes and failures. But this is not a plan, but only the first step in its development. Then it is supplemented with forecasts for the future, which involves a detailed description of the strategies that will be used to achieve the goals.
The full form of the plan provides an assessment of the resources necessary for its implementation, its effect on profit and loss indicators is examined in detail, or the forecast of the company's financial report is included in the plan.
Why do you and your company need a marketing plan?
Managers of some companies believe that efforts aimed at marketing planning are not paid off by the results of the execution of plans. The time of the manager is supposedly too valuable and it is not practical to spend it on anything other than solving urgent operational tasks. You may think that you do not need a formal marketing plan. Many of the specialists in their entire working lives in the trade or sales service of an organization have never participated in the development of a marketing plan, are they?
It is impossible to manage a trading organization, even if it is of a very small size, or to prepare at least a sales forecast without making some elementary form of a marketing plan. Often, however, managers simply take certain quantitative indicators, to which the statement of facts is then adjusted. These types of actions do not require much effort, but demonstrate a clear lack of understanding of the marketing planning process.
In conditions of fierce competition, it is necessary to be able to use "marketing" in order to direct "sales" in the direction the company needs. A marketing plan is one of the tools to complete the task. As a document with a formal structure, he obliges the person who writes it to express his thoughts, facts and conclusions in a consistent and logical way so that others understand them.
A properly prepared marketing plan should contain a description of company policies and strategies that guide managers in their day-to-day activities. Therefore, the intervention of the organization’s leaders in operational management is required only in complex or unusual situations.
Summary
Planning is one of the main functions of management. A corporate or business plan of a company directs its activities. A marketing plan is only one of the components of a corporate plan, so the planning process should be carried out as part of the company’s master plan and budgeting process.
As a result of significant changes in the economic environment in the 1970-1980s. The focus of company management has shifted from long-term planning to the implementation of action plans, the implementation of which allows you to get results in a short period of time and on the basis of which long-term strategic plans are improved. The new “strategic” planning assumes that management promptly responds to incoming information and uses it. This approach has been adopted by marketing specialists.
In order to prepare a corporate plan, the company must establish the goals of the activity, conduct an audit and prepare separate plans for each functional area of \u200b\u200bthe company’s activities. All of them (including the marketing plan) should be coordinated and coordinated into a single corporate plan.
The purpose of the sales is to convince the buyer to purchase the goods of the company, but this is only one aspect of marketing. Marketing requires that the company identifies the needs of customers and achieve compliance with goods and services, which allows the company to make a profit.
This requires an understanding of:
company capabilities;
customer needs;
marketing environment in which the company operates. The company's capabilities can be controlled by controlling the four main elements of the company's operations (or marketing mix):
goods sold (Goods);
pricing policy (Price);
methods of product promotion (Promotion);
distribution methods (Place).
Marketing planning means analyzing the use of marketing resources to achieve its goals. It requires market segmentation, market positioning, forecasting market size, and planning for a viable market share within each market segment.
The basic principles of marketing are equally applicable for various industries (production of consumer and capital goods and services).
A marketing plan is a document that formulates a plan for marketing goods and / or services. General plan Marketing consists of marketing plans for individual products or shopping areas. The company's marketing plan sets marketing goals and offers strategies for achieving them.

The vast majority of Russian marketers were brought up on Kotler’s books. His contribution to the promotion of marketing is, of course, invaluable. But, perhaps, it is in this role that he will remain in history.

American authors Hibing and Cooper, known worldwide for their books on marketing planning, focused much more on the practical side. Their main contribution was phased marketing planning based on the establishment of quantitative relationship between sales and marketing communications. It is no coincidence that in all business schools in the United States, thousands of students study from their books.

Another American author Schulz has made a great contribution to the development of integrated marketing communications (IMC), - a system based on objectively proven scientific fact that the consumer integrates all the information about the market for a particular product, coming to him from various sources. Therefore, the presence of several communication channels greatly enhances the impact on the consumer. On the other hand, when information coming from one source is not supported by similar information from others, its effect is equally reduced.

The combination of these two techniques, namely prudent conversion of IMC into real sales, is the key and most effective idea in modern marketing. Against the background of "emotional propaganda" books of foreign and domestic authors, this is by far the most rational and practically useful technique for businessmen and marketers.

There are practically no examples of how this works in open press and the web? Mostly common words and academic plans are found. Therefore, it will be especially useful for you to familiarize yourself with our practice.

In the practice of Russian and many foreign companies, marketing and sales plans exist separately and are little related. You will find many similar plans on the network that are more reminiscent of bureaucratic circulars, consisting of bulky paragraphs copied from textbooks and many unnecessary terms and definitions. There is not the most important thing - any plan should give a result. Therefore, we will not talk about the plan “for the sake of the plan” and not about the training case. It's about a marketing plan that can really increase sales.

It should also be remembered that a marketing plan is a key part of an investment plan. Not production or financial, on which many emphasize, namely marketing! The marketing component is the weakest point of investment strategies and plans. A sales plan cannot be reliable without a convincing marketing rationale. This must always be remembered.

In practice, linking sales and marketing plans with each other is really very difficult. It’s easier to make formal plans or otpiski, which are suitable for the role of a “whip” for managers and do not help them in the least.
In reality, this is a rather cumbersome and time-consuming design, if presented in a schematic or tabular form. In addition, it is very difficult to fit into the visual model of the marketing and sales plan numerous preliminary and intermediate studies and chains of conclusions that affect the content and indicators. But one thing sets her apart:

At any moment in time, you understand why sales are growing or falling and what and what intensity of action must be taken to maintain, accelerate or slow down (if you want) these sales by the desired amount.

We took the least voluminous marketing and sales plan of the Moscow representative office of a small producer of household appliances from neighboring countries, recently launched at russian market. Based on the analysis of the market and product portfolio, it was planned to double the current sales volumes excluding Internet sales, which at that time had not yet made a significant contribution and were not so actively practiced. Although products belong to a variety of products that, despite the influence of the Internet, remain committed to traditional distribution channels. Therefore, the relevance of the project remains quite high.

By the time the project started, the customer had in Moscow a small Moscow office of 5 people, selling several hundred units of household appliances per month, and the “pressing” question for him was only in which publication to place an advertisement that would solve all sales problems?
We proposed a research phase, according to the results of which this marketing plan was compiled and started to be implemented, which is presented in full schematic form below:

Complete marketing and sales plan outline

It is important to clarify the following points:

1. Target Markets

At the time of the start of the project, the target markets with which the company worked were limited to customer groups marked in orange. After market analysis and segmentation, other target groups of customers were highlighted in green. In the process of field research, their main characteristics were determined - price segments, decision-making system and decision-makers, basic needs and wishes, dynamics and trends in recent years.

Target markets

Source: Analytical Marketing Agency

2. Positioning

This is the weakest point of the absolute majority. russian companies. Because they underestimate the simple but painstaking procedure for developing this position. In most cases, it is enough to carefully approach this to get a quick and noticeable result. In this case, the product portfolio was analyzed and product positioning was developed, which, with minor variations, was then adapted to different target markets. This is an important point! Different target markets require specific positioning, even if at first glance it cannot be fundamentally different.
In our case, a new positioning was tested in the form commercial offer for small samples of customers. Its results were evaluated according to the system of awareness - the proportion of positive attitude - decision-making on procurement (conclusion of the contract).

3. Communication objectives

The 4A model of consumer behavior, known in Western literature, is deciphered as a sequence of communication with the consumer Awareness - Attitude - Action -Action Again (Awareness - Attitude - First / trial purchase - Repeat purchase). In Russian-language literature, you can find similar AIDA / AIDAS analogues from the field of advertising, but we prefer to measure a specific “Attitude” of a consumer, rather than an abstract “Interest”. The main thing is you must learn to give a quantitative dimension to these qualitative characteristics in order to understand the most productive direction of your communications. If, for example, you reach 100% of the target group with communication, it causes a positive attitude in 25%, 5% make a purchase, of which half make a repeat purchase, then by disseminating this data to a wider audience of consumers with similar characteristics, you can calculate the potential effect of their communications. In order to get these numbers, you need local samples. And your permanent task as a marketer or business owner is to constantly try to reduce the ranges between these indicators. For example, instead of 100% - 25% - 5% - 2.5%, achieve 100% - 30% - 10% - 7% in the first stage. This is the meaning of the quantitative relationship of marketing communications and sales in general case. But this is only one of the crude (but obvious!) Options for interpreting this relationship and it has its drawbacks. Most often, it is necessary to select finer practical tools for each specific case.

Positioning is only one of this series, although it is the most powerful tool for obtaining such results. We will talk about this in detail in special articles.

4. The identification of leading and secondary target markets.

The most promising were recognized target markets, marked green color in the subject "Marketing Goals". "Specialized retail chains" were not previously considered by the customer due to the difficulty of getting there. This problem was solved by consultants during the testing process. It was possible to agree with a large network of M-Video on the placement of products there in the ideal price segment, which turned out to be unfilled with competitive analogues, which was what the attention of decision-makers on purchases was drawn to. Thanks to the well-reasoned proposal, they managed to get their consent almost immediately.

By the way, at the first telephone conversation The head of the procurement department was invited to get acquainted with the results of marketing research on the market of electric kettles in Russia and Moscow, in particular, in which a gap was shown in the price range of the retail network. During the second phone call, the sales manager immediately agreed to a meeting that lasted no more than 10 minutes with the result indicated above. Model 4A in this case looked like 100% (awareness) - 15% (positive attitude) - 7.5% (trial purchase). A positive attitude was expressed in the fact that in addition to the main one, another small network of 13 covered, having familiarized itself with the offer and product positioning, was ready to carry out a trial purchase a little later.

The wholesale companies that previously refused to work with the company's products managed to arouse loyalty with the new positioning of products and move some of them to trial purchases. According to model 4A, 100% - 29% -14%, this allowed to double the base of wholesale buyers - from 7 to 15.
In fact, the consultants worked in these examples as a sales department. Due to the small number of customers in the collected databases, instead of limited samples, these target markets were fully developed. A high degree of efficiency was achieved through verified positioning, which was adjusted after each contact until the proportion of positive attitude increased. If at the beginning of the work it did not exceed 10%, then at the end it reached 29%.
All contacts were handed over to sales managers to work out details and conclude contracts. And this is the main feature in our work, unlike classical consultants. We do not offer solutions that have not been tested with real markets and customers.
Yellow the colors in the "Marketing Goals" section highlight target markets or customer groups that are recognized as secondary.

Marketing goals

Source: Analytical Marketing Agency

5. Secondary target markets for secondary and secondary, in order to limit them in human and financial resources in comparison with priority ones.

You cannot embrace the immensity, or, as we prefer to put it, you cannot do a little of everything! Unfortunately, the reality is that no manager or entrepreneur ever follows this principle. Most often, they act in exactly the opposite way and consider it a boon. Because of this, we have to constantly check the compliance of client decisions with this principle.

"Yellow"target customer groups were recognized as secondary by the results of testing. Some difficulties appeared with them, which were expressed in low shares of positive attitude and potential sales regarding awareness. These were problems associated with identifying and reaching out to decision makers, making them important information about the company and products, with forecasting the level of average purchases and sales in general, price pressure (market traders working with cheap Chinese products), the presence of some seasonality in purchases, with the difficulty of ranking marketing and communications tools, etc.

All this in general increased the costs of promotion in these target markets. Therefore, in accordance with the "golden rule" of business - "don't do a bit of everything" - a decision was made to limit activity in relation to them at this stage and the primary task of communications was their primary awareness of the positioning of the company and products. The main means of communication was the mailing list of a specially designed informative booklet. Therefore, the forecasts of concluded contracts or potential sales in this case were approximate and did not represent much interest, since they did not plan a significant contribution to sales.

Whereas in relation to the main " green“The forecasts of the target markets turned out to be quite reliable, and due to them it was expected to receive more than 80-90% of all planned sales. Contacts with their representatives were completed in full and specific supply agreements were reached.

6. Ranking of means of communication on the basis of "Price - Effect"

Human psychology tends to trust and pay much attention to the most expensive things and means of achieving goals. Therefore, in our case, expensive and other paid types of advertising were deemed inappropriate until available and free marketing tools were exhausted. The goal of sales was doubling current sales, and your marketing plan budget is estimated at $ 1010at the prevailing at that time rate. Significantly, less than half of it allowed to actually achieve sales goals.

We specifically focus on the insignificant amount of the marketing budget to emphasize the fact that not always big money solves the problem of achieving the sales goal. There is always the opportunity to achieve a lot using the simplest and most economical methods based on analytics and market research. In this case, the very fact of being represented in a large network makes the huge advertising costs of promotion unnecessary and allows you to reach numerous secondary groups of customers. Sales to large customers automatically attract small buyers. Another thing is that serving large customers is a special art and requires constant focused efforts. For example, this is manifested in work with, the standards of which, as our practice has shown, are not able to withstand a significant part of Russian producers in the field of light industry or food production. And this is despite the fact that only German retail is able to surpass all Russian sales of an individual company, not to mention the profit margin that is incomparable in comparison with the domestic market.

From the point of view of the IMC demonstration, this project was not very successful due to the described artificial limitations. But the goal of the marketing plan is not to master the budget, but to get a result that is qualitatively different from the current one. Therefore, the set of selected tools for target markets can be further expanded with greater efficiency than at the moment. In general, it can be noted that in a country where one federal channel easily replaces all possible IMCs, it is not so easy to show such examples.

Marketing communication goals, marketing tools and budget

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