Marketing Strategy For Your Business Plan

How Will Your Marketing Strategy Contribute To The SUCCESS Of Your Business?

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Writing a Business Plan

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Business Plan Guidelines

Business Plan Outline

Executive Summary

Company Summary

Product Summary

Market Analysis Summary

Marketing Strategy

Management Summary

Financial Statements

Business Plan Software

Now that readers understand your industry, they will want to know how your business will fit in. Writing this section of the business plan will help fill-in the blanks.

In particular, your marketing strategy will:

define your target markets;
describe your competitors and your competitive position; and
outline your pricing, promotional and distribution strategies.

What Are Your Target Markets?

In the last section you described the key market segments within your industry. Which of these customer groups or market segments will your business specifically target?

You can define your target markets both by type of customer and by geographic region.

Explain how your target markets may change during the term of the business plan.

Who Are Your Key Competitors?

There will be other businesses or competitors who are also competing for these target markets.

List your key competitors and provide a brief description of their businesses in terms of...

location,

products and services,

marketing strategies, and

market position.

What's Your Competitive Position?

Now you want to compare your business to your competitors. In what ways will you have an advantage over your competitors and in what ways will you be at a competitive disadvantage?

In which markets will you have the greatest competitive advantage?

Do You Have A Pricing Strategy?

Briefly discuss how you will price your products and services. How will the pricing of your products and services compare to that of your competitors?

For example, will you follow a penetration pricing policy (where you offer low prices in order to generate higher sales volumes)?

Do You Have A Promotion Strategy?

Having a good product and/or service is no guarantee of success. You have to make potential customers aware of your products and tell them how and where they can buy them

Describe how you will create awareness of your products and services.

Highlight the types of promotional activities you will undertake such as Internet sales, media advertising, trade shows, direct mail, sales calls and any other means of promotion that you will use to reach your target markets.

What About Your Distribution Strategy?

How will you distribute your products and/or services to your target markets?

Discuss where your customers will be able to buy your product and/or service, and how you will provide customer service and after sales support.

Do You Have An Implementation Plan?

In your business plan, you have identified a series of things that you are going to do. What is your plan for implementation?

It is useful to the reader to summarize these, and to identify who will do them and when they will be done.

Use ONLY what you need -- disregard the rest!

Your MARKETING STRATEGY does not have to include ALL of the elements listed above. Again, the level of detail presented is dictated by WHO will be reading your plan.

If possible, determine in advance from your prospective lending institution or backer how much DETAIL is required.

Since your Management Team could be a deciding factor in securing capital for your business, the next section discusses what goes into the Management Summary. Click here to continue...