For a Marketing Plan to be effective, it must be sustained by a sound marketing mix. That mix derives from a set of tools that supports the company’s actions. So, what is a Marketing Plan and how can it be set up? To answer that question, yous will learn how to use a SWOT analysis, with special emphasis on the Strengths and Weaknesses, how to establish SMART objectives, how to identify PEST variables, and how to define a Unique Selling Proposition (USP).
As the Marketing Plan will be product/service specific, after applying these tools you will be able to have a broader picture of the market and the product/service your team would like to launch. That brings us to an explanation of the marketing mix: product, price, place and promotion. The balance of these four aspects may dictate the success or failure of the business.
For the purpose of the course, topics on the Marketing Plan will be based on the five stages of SMART technique: analyse situation, set marketing objectives, meet objectives, define tactics and implement control.
The concepts of segmentation, targeting and positioning are introduced at this point. To understand how the market can be divided into customer subsets is an important step: which potential customers the company will focus on. You will learn specific terminology on common market segments and consider different variables that contribute to this division: demographic, geographic, psychological factors are among the most relevant. Based on the knowledge your team already has on ‘your’ brand, you will be able to have an idea on the market segments that should be targeted, characterizing them according to the variables commonly used for this purpose.
The four main elements of the marketing mix are then addressed: product, price, place and promotion. Product and service types, together with terminology on classification of tangible goods, will be discussed. You will also be familiar with the widespread concept of BCGM and conscious that products have life cycles.
Exercises will include: writing down important questions before starting planning the marketing plan, filling in a SWOT analysis worksheet and a USP analysis worksheet, consider PEST variables, define market segments, identify trends in segmentation, combine words, classify products, identify BCGM concepts.