QUESTION ONE

Strategic planning in marketing is the continuous process of developing and

implementing marketing strategies to achieve specific marketing objectives, which in
turn lead to the achievement of an organization’s overall objectives.

Key Components of Strategic Marketing Planning

Management and operations teams collaborate to define the goal, map out the steps,
assign tasks, and assess the effort's performance. They may change their approaches
over time, but they always start with a research-based, actionable plan.

Company Positioning
The management team examines the financial performance of your firm over the
previous year to discover which marketing techniques were successful and which did
not produce the intended revenue outcomes.

 The company's strengths and shortcomings in comparison to its competitors are

also examined in order to establish how the company's marketing message should
be positioned in the following year.
 The company's competitive strengths, as well as anticipated competition flaws,
will be underlined in all means of contact with potential consumers.
You should try to sell to the market segments that will bring you the most profit. It is
critical that your product matches the needs of the market you've chosen. Create a
marketing strategy that capitalizes on your assets and aligns them with the demands of
the clients you want to reach.

For example, if a specific set of clients’ values quality above all else, any marketing
effort directed at them should emphasize the high quality of your products or services.

Opportunity Assessment
Develop a marketing strategy that capitalizes on your capabilities while also matching
them to the demands of the clients you want to reach. For example, if a specific set
of clients prioritizes quality, every marketing effort focused at them should emphasize
the excellent quality of your products or services.

Marketing Audit
To create a framework that will help you achieve your objectives, you must first
examine your existing situation as a company.

 Your existing market study will include a comprehensive review of previous

marketing tactics (if any) and their results in terms of KPIs. Before you begin
preparing, you must assess what went well and what did not. This will advise you
which methods to use in the future and which to avoid.
 Using tools like Hubspot or Google Analytics to collect data is the quickest option.
These tools can help you answer important questions about your digital marketing
activities, such as how much your website traffic increased after you launched a
campaign.
 The impact of traditional marketing methods, on the other hand, can be difficult
to track. One approach to do this is to track the incremental gain in revenue
following the launch of the campaign.
Identify Target Audience
The people who are most likely to associate with your brand and use your products or
services are referred to as your target audience. It is critical that you firmly define your
ideal audience in order to convert leads and, of course, make money.

There are brands that use mass marketing ( that is, they target anybody and everyone ),
but mass marketing is often only possible for enterprises that sell widely needed items.
As a result, most brands cater to a variety of audiences or focus on specialized, niche
demographics.

Marketing Budget
The techniques' implementation necessitates marketing expenses. Companies with
stringent budgetary constraints are frequently forced to reduce their initial marketing
budgets due to a lack of finances. This necessitates difficult decisions, as each budget
cut may jeopardize the company's ability to meet its marketing objectives.

Steps in Strategic Planning Process

Strategic planning is an essential component of every company's long-term success.

Following steps are involved in a Strategic Planning Process −

Analysis
Gathering, organizing, and evaluating data is the focus of this step. It's also a method
for surveying and analyzing pertinent data in order to find opportunities and dangers.
The purpose of this stage is to obtain a thorough understanding of your industry's
present landscape so that you may make better judgments in the future and realize
your long-term goals.

Factors, like long-term objectives and scale, influence how a corporation approaches
this process. A major firm may choose to form a smaller committee made up of cross-
functional team members, whereas a small company may prefer to keep it to the
executive team. This may require obtaining internal and/or external data, depending on
the company's goals.

Planning
Based on the information acquired during the analysis process, you should have a good
idea of what needs to be addressed in order to achieve your company objectives. You
can also build on what has worked effectively in the past. After that, you can start
prioritizing your goals and devising particular tactics to achieve them. This is also a
good opportunity to figure out what internal resources and/or money you have, as well
as what resources you'll need to budget and prepare for in the future.

By the end of this process, you must have a list of quantifiable goals and objectives, as
well as a sequence of steps to achieve each one. In simple words, strategic planning is
the process by which an organization determines the most appropriate and realistic
plan of action for achieving its objectives.
Implementation
To begin with, the most crucial aspect of implementing a strategy may be effectively
expressing it. The entire organization should be involved and informed about the
company's long-term goals. Each person should be aware of how their function fits into
the greater vision.

When everyone in the organization − especially stakeholders and owners of specific

action items − is on the same page, it's time to "do a little less talking and a little more
doing." During the implementation stage, all of the steps mentioned during the
planning process should be put into action.

Control
Every organization should strive for ongoing development, so taking time to evaluate
and change as needed is an important element of the strategic planning process.
Business executives can discover what's working and what isn't by including control
measures into the overall plan and pivoting accordingly. Setting and updating
standards as appropriate, obtaining input, and assessing performance are all part of
this process. The findings may aid in the development of best practices and the
development of future plans.

Consumer Market

The consumer market is the one in which the buyers of the product are the
consumers themselves. It may seem obvious, but the reality is that not everyone
who buys an item does so for their own use. 

Types of consumer markets

Currently the consumer market is divided into several types depending on the type of
customer you are targeting in your project. Some of them are: 
1. B2B
First of all, there is the famous Business to Business.
This is a model in which companies sell to companies, not to individual customers.
But of course, since we are in a consumer market, that company will use what you sell,
and not ever resell it. 
This model is characterized by obtaining larger orders from fewer customers,
which helps you eliminate costs and operate on a large scale, which translates into
greater profitability.
An example would be raw material wholesalers, who market those elements needed to
create a product from scratch. 
2. Professional services
Businesses need not only raw materials, they also need training or consulting in
multiple areas to achieve their goals. 
This is where professional services come in. We are talking about companies that
provide services to other companies in interesting areas such as marketing,
technology, sales, human resources training and more. 
In most cases, this is done in a consulting format, although nowadays there are also
training programs, group lectures, masters… 
3. Industrial sales
These are the sales of all the equipment that is permanent over time and has a
fairly long useful life. 
This includes working machinery, chemical products, raw materials, office equipment,
plastic materials and much more. 
4. B2C
B2C is the model called Business to Consumer. As you can guess, these are companies
that sell their products and services to individuals, not to companies.
In most cases it’s made up of businesses such as supermarkets, department
stores, pharmacy chains, franchises, among others.
The growth potential is very interesting, but the profit margin is usually low per product
sold. However, its potential lies in the volumes you can move, since that’s where the
big revenues come from. 
5. Consumer products
Consumer products are used on a massive scale. They are characterized by fairly
voracious competition, so you must constantly work to gain the loyalty of your
customers.
Business Market

A business market is a method a company uses to sell products or services to a specific
group of consumers. Typically, business markets facilitate sales from one business to
another in cases where one business plans to reuse or resell another company's
products or services.

Types of business markets

The four main types of business markets are producer markets, reseller markets,
government markets and institutional markets.

Producer markets are markets in which companies buy goods and services, i.e. raw
materials, which they transform into sellable products to be then retailed to the
consumer with the purpose of making profit. Producers include manufacturers and
farmers.

Reseller markets consist of companies that purchase finished products and resell
them to other companies or the consumer without altering the products. Resellers
include brokers, wholesalers and retailers.

Government markets businesses sell goods and services to the government.

Governments are in most countries the biggest buyers of goods and services therefore
transactions are bulky. Governments however often require sellers to submit bulky bids
and to provide proof of the companies’ cooperate status.

Institutional markets consist of schools, hospitals, prisons and other institutions that
offer goods and services to the persons in their care. These markets are characterised
by low budgets and confined patrons. The lower the cost of the products or services the
more people they serve.
Advantages of strategic planning in marketing

A well-researched strategic marketing plan provides the framework for sustained

growth, resilience to sudden external changes, and it defines the organization’s future.
The strategic marketing plan helps organizations to make better business
decisions through understanding of the market and the placethey operate. The
situational analysis is part of the strategic marketing planning process, this stage the
organization makes and in-depth analysis of the micro and the macro environmental
factors that have major or minor influences on its operations. Better decisions are being
made in other to take advantage or take precautions of their influences on the
organization’s survival. Tools used to analyse the situational analyses includes, SWOT,
PESTLE and many more.
Greater customer satisfaction by sympathizing with the clients and really
evaluate their needs. Using the insight in your strategic plan will take your service to
another level.
A strategic marketing plan gives you an in-depth understanding of your targeted
markets and customers.This information acts as the foundation for better services and
producing quality products to suit their specific needs. The micro environmental factors
where customers are analysed helps the organization with all the information needed
about customers.
Organizations enjoy competitive advantage through the proper practice of SMP.
Being better than the others is easy when you’re prepared for the future, and everyone
in your organisation knows what to do. The porters 5 competitive forces helps
organizations to analyse their competitive environment and to take advantages of
factors that will benefit them.
A strategic marketing plan helps the organization to identify where they want the
business to go. It involves establishing solid, tangible goals that pin your business down
to specifics (time periods, cost, profit, products, and customer-related goals). It gives a
proper framework of the organizational directions.
And lastly, strategic marketing planning aids in removing unproductive initiatives
and enhances focus on important factors, proper allocation of resources that helps to
increase productivity.

Disadvantages of strategic planning in marketing

Application difficulties
Strategic planning includes various types of continuous processes that check all the
major critical components of a business. Being a complex process, it requires a lot of
patience, discipline, and persistence. And that, for some, can be a great disadvantage.

Time-consuming process
The implementation of strategic planning is not an overnight process. The management
team of the company must take a long time to get the new processes correct.

Because it is a long process, weighing the advantages and disadvantages of strategic

planning, immediate companies end up rushing. This type of thinking ends up sidelining
the strategy, which can hurt the business much more soon. 

High cost for small and medium enterprises

A good strategic plan can be expensive for small and medium-sized businesses or those
just starting out. This is because additional efforts are needed, for example, to analyze
indoor and outdoor environments.

In addition, some specific tools are needed to implement strategic planning accordingly,
as well as the possible recruitment of competent personnel.
Question 1b. Contents of a typical marketing plan

A marketing plan is a formally prepared and written document detailing the activities
necessary to implement the marketing strategies.

A marketing plan examines the current marketing situation of the organization,

assesses the opportunities and problems facing the organization, establishes the
marketing strategies and action programs needed to achieve these objectives, and
specifies the controls needed to monitor the plan.

a) The contents of a typical marketing plan are as shown in the table

below;

Contents of a typical Marketing Plan

No Description
1 Executive Summary A brief summary of the marketing plan.
2 Analysis of current marketing An analysis of trends and changes in the marketing
situation environment, the market situation, customers and
competitors.
3 Assessment of opportunities The major opportunities and threats (both inside and
and problems outside the organization) facing the product for which the
plan is being developed.
4 Marketing Objectives The goals to be achieved through the marketing plan in
such areas as customer satisfaction, sales volume, or
market share.
5 Marketing strategies The overall marketing strategy-market segmentation and
product, price, promotion, and distribution activities-that
will be used to achieve the objectives.
6 Action programs Pinpoints who is responsible for the marketing activities and
establishes budgets and timetables for executing the
marketing strategies.
 7 Projected profit and loss This summarizes the excepted financial pay off from the
statements plan.
8 Controls Details the procedures for monitoring the plan over time
and for taking corrective action if needed.

b) Developing marketing plans is not a one-time exercise. Plans must be

changed as forces in the organization or the marketing environment
change. For example, as new competitors enter the market, a firm may
need to alter some of its marketing activities.

c) The best marketing plans are those that are updated continuously to reflect
changing conditions in the marketing environment.

d) Marketing plans may vary in duration. Short-range plans cover a period of

one or less; medium range plans usually encompass two to five years. Long
range marketing plans generally extend for more than five years. Long
range plans are relatively rare. However, as the marketing environment
continues to change and business decisions grow in complexity, profitability
and survival will be more and more dependent on the development of long
range plans.

2a)
Management of Total marketing effort is a term used to describe the critical
decision factors that affect demand: Price, advertising, distribution, and product quality.
Let the variable x represent total marketing effort. A typical model that is used to
predict demand as a function of total marketing effort is D=axb D = a x b.

It refers to how how firms organize, implement, evaluate, and control marketing

activities.
Marketing management is centered on creating, planning, and implementing strategies
that will help achieve wider business objectives. These business objectives can involve
increasing brand awareness, boosting profits, or entering previously untapped markets.

In conclusion, the importance of strategic planning in marketing for every

organization cannot be undermined. It is the backbone to organizational survival as its
being discussed above.
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