MKT 105 Principles of Marketing
Spring 2008 Marketing Plan – Group Project
Purpose of the Marketing Plan
Why prepare one? A marketing plan helps you establish, direct and coordinate your marketing efforts. Preparing a marketing plan forces you to assess what's going on in your marketplace and how it affects your business. It also provides a benchmark for later measurement. Often, simply embarking on the process of preparing a marketing plan guides you in developing a successful marketing strategy. Who reads it? Just as a road map guides you on a journey, a marketing plan guides you and your staff to reach your goals; it keeps you from getting off-course. Representatives from organizations that plan to lend you money or invest in your business require a business plan–and your marketing plan is a critical component of that business plan. What is it? A marketing plan contains information about your company and its products, marketing objectives and strategies, as well as how you will measure the success of your marketing activities. It describes all the marketing activities you'll perform during a specified time period (usually one year). You'll also include any background information and research results you used to select those marketing activities. Finally, you'll document the costs associated with your planned marketing activities as well as the measurements you'll use to determine success. You need to have a thorough understanding of the following points to develop a marketing plan: your products or services and their features and benefits the problem, need or desire your product or service solves or meets for your customer your target market and its characteristics and buying habits current and potential competing products or services
Marketing Plan Websites
Primary Website
http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/plan/
Support Websites
http://money.howstuffworks.com/marketing-plan.htm http://www.acoa.ca/e/business/marketing_plan/index.shtml http://www.mplans.com/spm/index.cfm?a=mc http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/manage/marketandprice/SERV_MARKETING PLANS.html
Also Read Carefully!
http://www.entrepreneur.com//marketing/marketingbasics/marketingplan/article43018.ht ml
Read: Textbook, Chapter 21-Developing Innovative Marketing Plans
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