Mobinnet

Marketing plan Template Guide

September 2021
Table of Content

What Is a Marketing Plan?.....................................................................................................................3

How to Write a Marketing Plan (and What’s Included)..................................................................... 3
Step 1: Build Your Marketing Plan Outline..................................................................................3
Step 2: Write Your Mission and Vision Statement..................................................................... 6
What Is a Mission Statement of a Company?.................................................................... 6
What Is a Vision Statement?................................................................................................. 6
What Is the Difference Between a Mission Statement and a Vision Statement?......... 6
Should Mission and Vision Statements Ever Change?.................................................... 7
What Needs to Be in a Mission Statement?....................................................................... 7
How Do You Create an Effective Mission Statement?......................................................7
What to Include in a Vision Statement?.............................................................................. 8
How Do You Create a Compelling Vision Statement?......................................................9
Step 3: Perform a Situational Analysis...................................................................................... 10
Internal and External Factors in SWOT Analysis............................................................ 10
Step 4: Pinpoint Your Organization’s Core Capabilities......................................................... 13
Step 5: Define Your Goals...........................................................................................................14
Step 6: Identify Your Target Market........................................................................................... 16
The Difference Between Buyer Profiles and Buyer Personas....................................... 16
What Is a Persona?.............................................................................................................. 17
Step 7: Develop Your Marketing Strategy................................................................................ 18
Step 8: Create a Value-Complexity Matrix................................................................................20
Step 9: Conduct Financial Projections...................................................................................... 21
Step 10: Identify Standards of Performance and Results Tracking Methods..................... 22
Step 11: Write the Executive Summary.................................................................................... 23
How to Write an Executive Summary................................................................................ 23
What Is the Format of an Executive Summary?.............................................................. 24
What to Include in an Executive Summary....................................................................... 25
How Do You End An Executive Summary?......................................................................27
Best Practices for Creating a Strategic Marketing Plan..................................................................27
What Is a Marketing Plan?

A marketing plan is a document that outlines your marketing strategy. It serves as a roadmap
for how your organization aims to raise awareness about a product or service and how it plans
to deliver that product or service to target customers. The fundamental purpose of a marketing
plan is to align marketing goals with overall business objectives to improve the success of your
business or organization.
What your marketing plan looks like will depend on the size and type of your business, but
even small businesses and nonprofits can benefit from careful planning.

How to Write a Marketing Plan (and What’s

Included)

In this section, you’ll find a comprehensive guide for creating a marketing plan, including an
example of a marketing plan outline and links to pages containing free strategic marketing
templates.

Step 1: Build Your Marketing Plan Outline

A marketing plan outline allows you to structure your plan in a way that makes sense with the
product or service you are delivering, and can also serve as a table of contents for your
finalized plan. Whether you are a business-to-consumer (B2C) or business-to-business (B2B)
company, a small business, or a large enterprise, the details of your plan will vary based on
the nature of your business and relative marketing position.

Below, you’ll find an example of a basic marketing plan outline that you can modify to suit your
organization’s needs:
● Title Page

● Table of Contents

● Executive Summary

● Mission and Vision Statement

● Situational Analysis
 ■ 5C Analysis

■ SWOT Analysis

■ Porter’s Five Forces Analysis

● Core Capabilities

● Goals

■ Business

■ Sales

■ Financial

■ Marketing

● Target Market

■ Audience Persona

■ Information Collection

■ Pain Points and Solutions

● Marketing Strategy

■ Buyers’ Buying Cycle

■ Unique Selling Proposition

■ Branding

■ 4Ps

◆ Product

◆ Place
 ◆ Price

◆ Promotion

■ Marketing Channels

■ Budgets

● Standards of Performance and Measurement Methods

■ Performance Standards

■ Benchmarks

■ Marketing Metrics

■ Measurement Methods

■ Schedules

● Financial Summary

■ Financial Forecasts

■ Breakeven Analysis

■ Assumptions

● Appendix

■ Research Results

■ Product Specs and Images

Step 2: Write Your Mission and Vision Statement

A mission statement is a brief summary of your company’s main purpose, and how your
company provides value to its customers. In other words, it should convey your company’s
reason for existence, and serve as a point of reference for future planning initiatives.
A vision statement details the future aspirations of a company or entity, and should serve as a
framework for short-term and long-term strategic planning. The purpose of a vision statement
is to guide internal decision-making for future courses of action. Create a compelling vision
statement by using a free vision statement worksheet.

What Is a Mission Statement of a Company?

A mission statement is a quick, succinct, memorable way of communicating a business or

nonprofit’s unique purpose, function, and day-to-day goals to employees, clients, and other
stakeholders. Mission statements are usually part of the business plan and often form part of
the executive summary. Functioning in such capacities, mission statements can become the
summation of a business strategy.

What Is a Vision Statement?

A vision statement describes the ultimate goals and overarching purpose of a for-profit or
nonprofit organization. A vision statement can serve as the cornerstone of strategic planning,
providing an organization with direction and a general destination as well as defining its
aspirations and values. Some say that the vision statement is what would remain if an
organization could no longer produce a particular product or service.

What Is the Difference Between a Mission Statement and a

Vision Statement?

A mission statement describes the purpose and day-to-day effort of an organization. A vision
statement describes an organization’s ultimate goal or future outcome. But the two work in
tandem: A vision statement expresses what you ultimately want to achieve; a mission
statement articulates what you will do to get there.

Together, the mission and vision statements provide direction and destination. (You outline the
actual specifics of how to achieve a mission or vision when discussing goals and objectives.)
The terms mission statement and vision statement are sometimes used interchangeably. In
addition, people sometimes substitute the word mantra for the term mission statement.
However, strictly speaking, a mantra refers to a value-loaded slogan.
Senior managers usually craft mission and vision statements for an organization. Managers at
other levels may prepare mission or vision statements for specific departments or programs.

Should Mission and Vision Statements Ever Change?

Opinions vary widely on whether you should ever change mission or vision statements.
Because both of these statements define an organization’s purpose, goals, culture, ethics, and
decision-making framework, some experts say they should never change — they believe that
although goals may change as you achieve them, mission and vision statements (if written
properly) should remain the same. Other sources suggest that a mission statement should
cover a limited time (two to 10 years), but that a vision statement, capturing the values of an
organization, should remain the same. Still, others feel that a vision statement should change
because, ideally, a company should ultimately achieve its long-term goals. Of course, if your
organization undergoes radical changes, you will, undoubtedly, want to update either or both
statements.

What Needs to Be in a Mission Statement?

A mission statement should include a description of what your organization does, who your
clients are, how you fulfill the company’s purpose, and what that purpose is. Ideally, in 30
seconds or less, your readers should understand what the organization offers customers,
clients, employees, managers, owners, and potentially even the community and the planet.
The statement should also communicate how the company achieves this.

When crafting a mission statement, consider focusing on one or two key functions that can
define the organization for employees, external stakeholders, and the public. A mission
statement must be as short as possible while still being memorable and lucid in
communicating your organization’s purpose. Some experts advise creating a two to six-word
tagline, along with mission statements that are longer than 15 words. You may have a longer
version for internal use and a shorter, customer-facing version. You may also have bullet
points for each area of focus.

Once you’ve created a draft, ask yourself if it could apply to any business or non-profit or if it
successfully captures your organization’s uniqueness. Define the essence of your organization
and what makes it distinctive.

How Do You Create an Effective Mission Statement?

Depending on the nature of your organization, you may start researching and drafting a
mission statement on your own or with a small group of team members. Remember that if you
begin on your own, the development process should not continue in isolation. You’ll get the
best result if you both include at least a few stakeholders in the drafting and review process
and get buy-in from all those concerned. Here are steps for creating an effective mission
statement:
1. Consider reviewing mission statements from organizations similar to yours to see what
you like and what approaches are relevant for you.

2. Sit down and write or brainstorm as a group. Make a list of keywords and phrases that
describe your organization. Or, you can do the following:
a) Write down your organization’s main purpose and function as well as its unique
strengths. What is it that we do? What do we create? Why does it matter? How does
it make a difference?
b) List by type your organization’s main clients, or target buyer personas, internal or
external. Detail what good the organization provides for each type of client.
c) Describe how the organization treats employees, but only if you intend to pursue
respectful and unique treatment.
d) Describe the returns and advantages for business owners or non-profit managers
and directors. What do you want to gain from the organization? Profits? A happy,
productive workforce?
3. List these characteristics in order of importance to your organization.
4. Use these characteristics to create a short paragraph of no more than five or six
sentences.
5. Get feedback on this paragraph, not only from employees and other internal stakeholders,
but from suppliers, clients, and customers. Will your employees support this statement?
Do outsiders believe it accurately reflects your organization?
6. Consolidate your paragraphs into one concise statement. Although the ideal mission
statement is 20 or fewer words, keep in mind that a longer message (anywhere from 50 to
250 words) is perfectly acceptable as long as it is impactful. Remember that you can
always make it shorter and punchier at some point in the future.
7. Share the final product with everyone. Post it on the wall in the lobby. Tweet it. Add it to
your webpage. Consider all the ways you can publish your new mission statement.
As one final step, consider noting every place that your mission statement is published. That
way, if you have to update your message, you can disseminate it everywhere simultaneously
and include an explanation as to why.

What to Include in a Vision Statement?

Vision statements should be short (usually no longer than two sentences), memorable,
aspirational, and compelling. The average length ranges from 10 to 15 words (a vision
statement of 30 words would be considered long). Aim for fewer than 20 words, and then see if
you can pare down the statement even further.

A vision statement should describe your organization’s unique aspirations and should,
therefore, be precise. It should also align with your values. Because a vision statement depicts
the broad, long-term vision, it should present optimistic, but realistic expectations — that is,
ones that your employees can reasonably work with. Above all, the values that you convey
must be relatable for your employees, directors, investors, and customers. Here’s what to
include in a vision statement:

● Focus on the Future: Describe your aspirations for how the organization should look and
feel in the future and what it should accomplish.
● Specify a Clear Vision: Provide direction that’s clear and focused enough to shape
decision making. Make the statement concise and easy to read and remember. Some
sources suggest focusing on one objective. If you must elaborate, do it in an additional
document.
● Make the Scope Broad: At the same time, a vision should be general enough to
encompass changing possibilities.
● Make It Achievable: A vision shouldn’t be so abstract and lofty as to never be attainable.
● Make It Inspiring: Members of your organization and outside stakeholders should be
inspired to extend themselves and organization resources in order to achieve a greater
goal.
● Find Something Stable: Your vision statement should define a goal that has a
reasonable expectation of success despite economic, technological, or other shifts.
● Pinpoint a Date: Specify the future date by which the company should have achieved the
goal.
● Include Relevant Goals and Values: Ensure that the statement applies to current and
foreseeable efforts and challenges.
What Makes Your Organization Unique? Define what differentiates your company from all
other organizations and why that quality is crucial to both internal stakeholders and clients.

How Do You Create a Compelling Vision Statement?

Just as you might collaborate to create a mission statement, consider working as a group to
research and draft a vision statement. And, ask your internal and external stakeholders to
review the draft statement before you commit to a final version. Here are the steps to creating
a compelling vision statement:

1. Write down your organization’s main purpose and function. Convey how you help clients
or customers.
2. List keywords and phrases that describe your vision for your organization.

3. Describe what is unique about your organization’s approach to its primary purpose.

4. Send your draft out for review.

5. Publish the final version.

Step 3: Perform a Situational Analysis

Your marketing strategy will not be as effective without a clear picture of the overall health of
your business. Gaining deeper insight into your organization’s internal and external
environment will allow you to develop a plan that capitalizes on opportunities and reduces risk,
and enables you to position your business in the market in a way that sets you apart from
competitors.

Three methods you can use to analyze the elements that impact the health of your business
are a SWOT analysis, Porter’s Five Forces Analysis, and 5C Analysis.

Internal and External Factors in SWOT Analysis

No matter which template you choose, your analysis will include the four SWOT categories.
Let’s take a closer look at what constitutes strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
● Strengths and Weaknesses - These are internal factors, which in a business context
may include financial resources, human resources, facilities, equipment, processes and
systems. They may include elements such as business culture, certifications, reputation,
and leadership. It’s important to remember that what constitutes a strength or weakness
will depend on the objective you are assessing. An element of your business could be a
strength in one instance and a weakness in another context depending on how it affects
your objectives. In general, you are looking for what characteristics give your business an
advantage or disadvantage over others in achieving the objective.
● Opportunities and Threats - The external elements influencing your business may
include market trends, outside funding, customer demographics, suppliers, the economic
climate, political and environmental issues, and other factors. The analysis can help
identify new business opportunities and areas for growth as well as issues that could
hinder a project or business endeavor. External factors are typically outside of your
control - even weather and seasonal changes can influence business goals. Anticipating
 these factors early can help your team plan ahead and stay flexible when they occur. Part
of the analysis is to examine how external opportunities and threats relate to internal
strengths and weaknesses in order to determine whether an objective is even attainable
and create a strategy for moving forward.
The SWOT framework is effective for analyzing and creating a simplified picture of a complex
situation. But it’s possible for it to be an oversimplification, which is one of the limitations of
SWOT analysis. Another is that it is primarily a summary tool and doesn’t provide a clear plan
of action. Taking SWOT issues and translating them into actions is a critical part of the process,
but it relies on the ability of whoever is conducting the analysis to identify key factors and use
them to develop an effective strategy. This is a subjective process with inherent limitations,
but there is no question that SWOT analysis can provide valuable insight for any business,
project or individual.

SWOT Analysis

This method is one of the most commonly used tools for analyzing the internal strengths and
weaknesses of a business, as well as the external opportunities and threats. When detailing
the internal strengths and weaknesses of a business, keep in mind that these are the factors
that your company has control over. By contrast, when defining external opportunities and
threats, recognize that these are factors that impact your business from the outside, and that
you cannot control.
The main purpose of the of a SWOT analysis is to identify weaknesses that can be turned into
strengths, and then to leverage strengths in order to take advantage of opportunities and
mitigate threats in the market.

Porter’s 5 Forces

This framework is used to evaluate your competitive landscape and to identify factors in your
industry that may strengthen or weaken your position. The five forces include the following
components:

● Industry Rivalry
● Threat of New Entrants
● Bargaining Power of Buyers
● Threat of Substitute Products
● Bargaining Power of Suppliers

Once you have assessed each of the five forces and rated them from low to high, you will be
better equipped to pinpoint and enhance your organization’s competitive position within the
industry.

5C Analysis
This marketing framework is used to assess the five key drivers of marketing decisions for a
business. The five Cs of the marketing mix include the following:
● Company: Identify the unique value proposition (UVP), or the sustainable competitive
advantage that the focal business possesses. Some examples include economies of
scale, cost leadership, and differentiation. This component of the assessment involves
evaluating the products, services, culture, and brand perception of the business to
determine if it’s in the best position to satisfy customer needs.
● Customers: Having keen insight into who your customers are and what motivates them
to purchase is essential before determining how you will meet their needs. Conduct
research on who is buying your products, how customers interact with your business
(including online), seasonal trends, and customer feedback to gain an understanding of
the behaviors and preferences of your customer base.
● Competitors: Analyzing your competitors and learning about how they conduct business
will enable you to strategize a plan that will beat them at their own game. Learn about
your competitor’s strengths, weaknesses, and market position by researching what
differentiates them, what kind of content they’re producing, and how their customers
interact with and review them.
● Collaborators: Leveraging relationships with people, partners, and distributors that
support your daily business operations is key. Since you rely on these collaborators in
order to get your product in front of customers, they can be highly beneficial for helping
your business run more efficiently. Create a list of all the key players that your business
works with — from investors and stakeholders to shippers and photographers — to create
strong relations and uncover opportunities.
● Climate: Getting a sense of societal, legal, and industry trends that could affect your
business will allow you to make decisions proactively. Get an idea of where the market is
heading by keeping a watchful eye on social and economic trends that could impact the
way customers are buying, or new technologies that could change the way businesses
operate.
Performing a situational analysis by utilizing these methods will allow you to critically analyze
your organization and industry landscape, identify opportunities, establish goals, and create a
plan of action to take steps toward achieving those goals.

Step 4: Pinpoint Your Organization’s Core Capabilities

Once you’ve conducted your situational analysis and have a clear understanding of the
internal and external factors impacting your business, identify the core capabilities of your
organization that you can capitalize on to gain a competitive foothold.
One way to home in on your core competencies is to gather feedback from your team by
asking the following questions:

● What are our greatest strengths as a company?

● What are our greatest strengths as a team?
● What makes our product offerings better than that of our competitors?
● What makes us the best in our industry?
Your core competencies should be a reflection of your mission and vision statement, and
these statements should be modified as core competencies change.

Step 5: Define Your Goals

Are you trying to raise brand awareness? Meet a sales quota? Achieve growth within a specific
timeframe? Whatever your primary business, financial, or marketing goals may be, you must
ensure they are detailed and data-driven, and that you have the resources needed to achieve
them. In other words, you need to establish S.M.A.R.T. goals, which are defined as the
following:
S – Specific
When setting a goal, be specific about what you want to accomplish. Think about this as the
mission statement for your goal. This isn’t a detailed list of how you’re going to meet a goal, but
it should include an answer to the popular ‘w’ questions:
● Who – Consider who needs to be involved to achieve the goal (this is especially important
when you’re working on a group project).
● What – Think about exactly what you are trying to accomplish and don’t be afraid to get
very detailed.
● When – You’ll get more specific about this question under the “time-bound” section of
defining SMART goals, but you should at least set a time frame.
● Where – This question may not always apply, especially if you’re setting personal goals,
but if there’s a location or relevant event, identify it here.
● Which – Determine any related obstacles or requirements. This question can be
beneficial in deciding if your goal is realistic. For example, if the goal is to open a baking
business, but you’ve never baked anything before, that might be an issue. As a result, you
may refine the specifics of the goal to be “Learn how to bake in order to open a baking
business."
● Why – What is the reason for the goal? When it comes to using this method for
employees, the answer will likely be along the lines of company advancement or career
development.
M – Measurable
What metrics are you going to use to determine if you meet the goal? This makes a goal more
tangible because it provides a way to measure progress. If it’s a project that’s going to take a
few months to complete, then set some milestones by considering specific tasks to
accomplish.

A – Achievable
This focuses on how important a goal is to you and what you can do to make it attainable and
may require developing new skills and changing attitudes. The goal is meant to inspire
motivation, not discouragement. Think about how to accomplish the goal and if you have the
tools/skills needed. If you don’t currently possess those tools/skills, consider what it would take
to attain them.

R – Relevant
Relevance refers focusing on something that makes sense with the broader business goals.
For example, if the goal is to launch a new product, it should be something that’s in alignment
with the overall business objectives. Your team may be able to launch a new consumer
product, but if your company is a B2B that is not expanding into the consumer market, then the
goal wouldn’t be relevant.

T – Time-Bound
Anyone can set goals, but if it lacks realistic timing, chances are you’re not going to succeed.
Providing a target date for deliverables is imperative. Ask specific questions about the goal
deadline and what can be accomplished within that time period. If the goal will take three
months to complete, it’s useful to define what should be achieved half-way through the
process. Providing time constraints also creates a sense of urgency.

If you’re feeling uncertain about the main goals you are trying to achieve, here are some
questions you can ask yourself to get started on developing them:

1. How do we want potential customers to feel about our brand?

2. What key elements of our product or service should potential customers know about?
3. What will motivate potential customers to choose us over our competitors?
4. How is our business positioned in the industry?
5. What is our year-to-date (YTD) growth?
6. How can we best align our marketing plan with our overall business objectives so they
support each other?
Step 6: Identify Your Target Market

Once you’ve identified your main goals, the next step is to identify target customers that your
business will direct its marketing resources to in order to achieve those goals. Since it isn’t
efficient or practical to target everyone, the idea is to focus in on customers that are more likely
to choose you over competitors, and to stay loyal to your brand. Read below for tips to help
you define your target market.

● Look at the customers you already have: Find out who is already buying your products,
and look for mutual interests, preferences, and pain points among those buyers to build
customer profiles. Dive in deeper on returning customers, and those that are bringing in
the most business, so you can strategize ways to target more buyers with shared
characteristics. Another effective way to gain insight into your customer base is to collect
information from them by way of focus groups, surveys, research, or simply asking for
feedback.
● Look at the customers your competitors have: Learn about the customers your
competitors are targeting, and figure out what motivates them to choose the competition’s
products over yours. Use this information to find niche markets or opportunities your
competitor may be missing out on.
● Examine your products and services: Take each product or service offering and list out
the key benefits they provide, and then detail how each of those benefits solve a specific
problem. Use that information to identify who is most likely to have the problem those
benefits provide a solution for, and then create a list of those people.
● Create a target persona: Once you’ve identified the types of people who will most likely
benefit from your product, you’ll need to home in on those that are also more likely to
purchase it — and choose your brand over the competition. Figure out what the
demographics of each buyer looks like (e.g. age, gender, occupation), as well as the
characteristics of said buyer (e.g. personality, preferences, lifestyle). Then, identify how
your target persona will find your product, what will motivate them to buy it, how they will
use it, and how it fits in with his or her lifestyle.

The Difference Between Buyer Profiles and Buyer Personas

Although some overlap of usage occurs between the terms persona and profile, the difference
can be thought of this way: you build a profile by analyzing data which can show you
quantitative patterns for group behavior; you create a persona to describe a typical
representative of those groups with specific qualitative characteristics. A profile may focus
more on buying behavior, whereas a person investigates the motivations for buying.
You may have more personas than profiles. Profiles should also inform your personas. The
advantage of personas is that personal characteristics, such as job titles, education, likes and
dislikes, and problems and needs, can be more memorable and engaging than numbers. For
B2B purposes in particular, a profile finds the types of companies that form your ideal target
market. The buyer persona then focuses on the type of individuals or workplace roles most
likely to contact your company about products, and on their motivations.

Some marketers believe a profile provides the complete understanding of a customer. They
consider personas to be semi-fictional generalizations, based not on direct contact with real
customers but on market research of online sources and surveys. From this perspective, the
persona focuses on what the business wants to offer, not on actual customer pain points,
goals, and needs.

What Is a Persona?

A customer persona, also called a customer avatar, a buyer persona, or in product

development, a user persona, is an agglomeration of characteristics of your ideal customer to
form a portrait of your customer. Although the persona may contain descriptions and numbers,
it tends to focus more on motivations and goals.
You may have more than one ideal customer, especially if certain characteristics appear
frequently and yet, the customers have distinct goals, obstacles, and backstories. Most
organizations benefit by starting with three to five personas.
Some people wrongly conflate buyer personas with customer segmentation, which studies
buyer behavior when making a purchase. By contrast, a persona explores a customer’s goals
and the problems they must solve. Similarly, a persona cannot be based on a real individual
because it can be misleading to generalize from the experience of one person.
Personas should be regularly updated as your product and the product and marketing
landscape change. You’ll also need to create new personas for each new product you
introduce.

Personas are considered essential for high conversion. Yet, why don’t all businesses and
marketers use personas?
“They're using very biased information to build personas,” Revella explains. “They're talking to
a few customers, asking their sales people for input, or building surveys, which merely
recycles their internal limited information into a new template.”

So, what is the point of a persona and how do you create a good one?

According to Revella, “First, personas require in-depth interviews with recent buyers, including
those who aren't customers. Marketers must get outside of their internal thinking and biases or
there is not much to gain from personas. Second, personas must do more than profile the
buyer — they must reveal the persona's experience of their buying journey. The purpose of
buyer personas is to help marketers understand the buyer's attitudes, questions, and concerns
at each of the defining moments in their journey. Without this focus, marketers build too many
personas that deliver almost no value.”

Step 7: Develop Your Marketing Strategy

Once you’ve established who you are targeting, you need to create a plan for how you will
reach them and ultimately convert them into a customer. Ask yourself how you will get in front
of your target audience to bring awareness to your product, and how you will convince them to
purchase from you. Read below for effective concepts you can use to develop your strategy.

Identify your buyer’s buying cycle.

Now that you’ve pinpointed your target buyer, the next step is to develop a content strategy to
encourage the buyer through each stage of the customer’s journey. Understanding how your
customers make purchase decisions will allow you to align your content strategy accordingly.
The stages of the customer’s buying cycle include the following:
1. Awareness: Prospective buyers have a problem and begin searching for solutions. This
is the stage where a business invests its resources to make potential customers aware of
the products and services it offers.
2. Consideration: Prospective buyers are considering the various solutions available to
solve their problem, and need to be convinced that they need to make a purchase in order
to solve it. This is the stage where a business conveys in great detail the benefits the
customer will receive after using the product, and how it is better than what the
competition is offering.
3. Intent: Prospective buyers are convinced that they need to make a purchase to solve
their problem, and begin to compare alternatives. This is the stage where a business
reassures the customer that the product offered makes the most sense out of all the
alternatives from an emotional, financial, or lifestyle perspective.
4. Purchase: Prospective buyers have made their decision on which company they will
purchase the product from. Even if the buyer chooses your product, the process does not
end here. The goal of your business is to develop a relationship with the customer to
increase brand loyalty, and to find upsell opportunities based on purchase history.
5. Repurchase: Buyers need to renew a perishable product (e.g. a supply of contact lenses)
or a product subscription. The goal of your business is to foster the relationship with the
 customer by offering incentives to repurchase and to increase brand evangelism. An
effective way to use content to retain customers is through email marketing campaigns.

Before creating content for each stage of the buying cycle, you must first establish your
content goals for each stage, strategies to implement to meet those objectives, and the key
metrics to measure results.

Determine the 4Ps of your marketing mix.

In order to effectively guide potential customers through each phase of the buyer’s lifecycle,
you need to create a strategy to get your brand in front of them, and then motivate them to
purchase your product. As you develop your strategy, refer to the following 4Ps of your
marketing mix:
● Product: This refers to the tangible good (or intangible service) that you are offering as a
solution to meet the needs of the customer. Emphasizing the UVP and differentiating your
product in the market are the first steps to setting yourself apart and positioning your
brand.
● Price: This refers to the price your customer is expected to pay for the product.
Understanding the perceived value (e.g. high quality versus low quality) of your product in
the eyes of the customer is imperative before you can effectively set a price. Researching
the price competitors are offering for similar products or alternatives is a great place to
start.
● Promotion: This refers to the communication aspect of your marketing strategy. Getting
the word out about your product is the best way to raise awareness about your brand, with
methods including press releases, trade shows, event marketing, and advertising.
● Place: This refers to the place where customers can purchase your product. Will you sell
exclusively online? Will customers need to come to a physical location? The marketing
channels you will use to get the product from producer to customer (e.g. direct selling,
mail order, online) are a part of your distribution strategy.
Some key marketing channels to use to raise awareness about your brand include the
following:
● Relevant blogs
● Publicity
● Unconventional PR
● SEM/SEO
● Paid Ads/Remarketing
● Offline Ads
● Content Marketing
● Email Marketing
● Trade Shows
● Speaking Engagements
● Marketing Events
● Community Events

Create your budget.

Setting a budget will give you parameters to work within as you are implementing your plan. It
also enables you to prioritize your needs before your wants so you can dictate resources (e.g.
talent acquired) toward high priority goals first. Here are some helpful tips you can use to
create your marketing budget:
● Build your budget plan based on last year’s numbers, or build from scratch according to
priority.
● Make a list of action items, and then come up with an estimated budget for each item
based on marketing, distribution, and promotional expenses.
● Prioritize your needs before your wants. Whatever is leftover after your needs are fulfilled,
funnel those funds toward your wants.
● Invest in areas with higher return on investment (ROI) (e.g., content marketing, email
marketing) to increase your buying power.

Step 8: Create a Value-Complexity Matrix

Once you have established your marketing tactics and set out a budget to work within, you’ll
need to prioritize your plan of attack by going after low hanging fruit. In other words, you need
to act on the high value items that don’t require as much effort to complete, or the “easy wins.”

Take each initiative and assign it to a quadrant within the following matrix to determine if the
time and resources needed to complete the initiative are worth the value it will return.
Step 9: Conduct Financial Projections

This segment of the plan shows the financial projections you have determined to be relevant to
the project based on the research you have completed for your marketing plan. This
component of the marketing plan is critical in order to gain buy-in from stakeholders and
investors, and to guide your decisions throughout the duration of the project.

Common financial data to add to your marketing plan include the following:
Forecasts (sales and expenses)

● Break even analysis

● Financial requirements

● 3 year financial projections

◆ Income statement

◆ Cash flow statement

◆ Balance sheet
Step 10: Identify Standards of Performance and
Results Tracking Methods

The primary purpose of setting performance standards is to communicate clear expectations

and desired results for an organization’s marketing efforts. For example, a performance
standard might be that the total budget for X will equal a specific percentage of the yearly
promotional budget for the coming year.

Before you can adequately measure the outcome of marketing initiatives, there are some
steps you must take to lay the groundwork.
1. Determine your key performance indicators (KPIs): Define measurable marketing
metrics and connect them to your established goals in order to track progress.
2. Establish a baseline: Understand and document how your business is currently
performing so you have something to compare future performance results to.
3. Define your benchmarks: Acquire data about your competition and industry to develop
standard measurements that indicate how you stack up against the competition.
4. Decide which tools and platforms to implement: The results you analyze are only as
good as the methods you use to track them. Find a work management platform that
provides real-time visibility into project status and performance so you have the ability to
make timely, data-driven decisions.
Once you’ve completed these steps, you can begin the process of tracking performance by
doing the following:

● Establish guidelines on results tracking (e.g. what to track and how often), and determine
who is responsible.
● Schedule meetings to evaluate results and determine where opportunities lie.
● Take inventory of your content and compile a list of the top performers. Compare the
results of that content to your standards of performance to see if they align, and to identify
what can be improved upon.
● When performance improves, identify what contributed to it and allocate resources
accordingly.
Once you’ve identified the standards to use to measure the effectiveness of your marketing
strategy, the next course of action is to implement your plan, measure performance, and adjust
accordingly.
Step 11: Write the Executive Summary

Although the executive summary is placed at the beginning of your marketing plan, it is the
final step to be completed. This section summarizes all the key takeaways from each segment
of the marketing plan, and should ultimately answer each of the following questions:

● What are the overall business objectives?

● How do your marketing goals align with the business objectives?
● Which products or services will you market?
● Who is your target audience?
● What resources will you leverage (e.g. partnerships) to get your products in front of
prospects?
● What gives you a competitive advantage?
● What problems are you solving?
● What solutions are you providing?
● What are the short and long-term goals of the company?

It’s important to remember that a marketing plan is not static, but rather a living document
that should be referenced regularly, and updated as changes occur within your business and
the larger business climate.

How to Write an Executive Summary

Crafting a useful executive summary requires more than simply cutting and pasting vital
information from the body of your report or proposal. The executive summary may be the only
part of the report your target audience reads, so you should spend the time to make it
valuable.

It doesn’t have to be an intimidating process, but before you begin writing, you should ask the
following critical questions:
● Who depends on the information? When you write the executive summary, decide who
you are targeting and the critical information that audience needs. What do they need to
know to make a decision? What would they already know? Do you have a specific
customer you want to reach with your message or story? Writing the executive summary
with that audience in mind will make it useful because the story you’re telling about your
business, project, or proposal will resonate.

● What is the objective? While it’s true that an executive summary recaps essential
information from the body of the content it summarizes, that is its function, not its purpose.
 Write the summary to your intended audience and include the crucial information that
supports your objective for creating the document. What do you need the reader to
understand? Is the aim to recommend change based on the results of your research?
What needs to happen for the project plan to succeed based on your proposal? Let your
objectives determine the content and context of your summary.

● What are you recommending? Use the executive summary to draw conclusions and
make recommendations to the reader. If your report presents the need for change,
recommend the actions that the body of your document supports in the summary. State
the benefits of your product or service, or the solutions you provide more detail on in the
proposal. Ultimately, don’t make the reader work to find out what action they need to take:
Make your recommendations clear in the executive summary.

● How will you make an impression? The “executive” summary earned its name from the
need to get the upper management’s attention. Executives did not have the time to read
every word of every document. The summary had to make an impression because it
might be the only part of the material that would be read. Regardless of its origins, the
principle of using the summary to make an impression on the reader is sound, as that
impression might encourage the reader to keep reading or take action. Consider how you
shape the message, organize the sections of your summary, or present research to stand
out in a brief space.

What Is the Format of an Executive Summary?

Every executive summary intends to distill information to the reader upfront, so it is typically
placed first in the document. (Sometimes it is a separate section of a formal business
document listed in the table of contents.)

When used in a less formal manner, the executive summary is an opening paragraph, a
separate one-page summary memo, or the first page of a report. For example, if your goal is to
raise capital, use the executive summary like an investor profile that provides the reader the
information necessary to land the meeting or get the funding, without further reading.

The format and length vary based on the purpose of the content that you are summarizing;
there is no set structure to follow. Here are some formatting tips that you can use for any
executive summary, regardless of the style:
● Order of Appearance: Beyond the introduction, decide what sections of the summary
are most important to the purpose of the document. Organize your subheadings or
sections in that order. Use bullet points and plenty of spacing between the different parts
of the summary to make the content more accessible to scanning eyes. By doing so, you
 naturally discard information better left to the body of the document, and you honor the
reader’s time by prioritizing the message, recommendations, conclusions, or solutions in
the longer document.

● How Much Is Too Much: Executive summaries vary in length based on the type of
content they summarize or their purpose. Some recommend keeping the summary to a
specific percentage of the overall document, while others advocate a set number of pages.
Focus on keeping the summary brief but comprehensive, with the most important
information available to the reader.

● Audience Aim: The tone and language of the executive summary should match that of
the target audience. Avoid using technical jargon that requires definitions, and present the
information in an accessible manner based on the knowledge and expertise of your
intended audience. Do not include acronyms or highlight data that need an extensive
background for context, and avoid using casual, informal tones. That said, an executive
summary used in internal communications will have a different tone and style than one
used in external communication tools.

What to Include in an Executive Summary

You will determine the components of each executive summary you write based on the reason
for writing it and your target audience.

For example, a business plan for an external audience includes financial information and
details on the size and scale of a company; startups seeking funding and investors will
highlight specific financial requirements and how they impact the business strategy. Executive
summaries vary in the content they cover, but here is a common framework:
● Introduction: This opening statement, paragraph, or section should clearly state the
document’s purpose and the content to follow. How you will use this section depends on
the desired outcome for the reader or audience, who should immediately find value in the
information you present. Therefore, the details included in the introduction should grab
and hold the reader’s attention.

● Company Information: When writing an executive summary for an external audience,

include your company name, a description of your mission or purpose, contact
information, location, and the size and scale of your operations. In some cases, the
summary introduces the founders, investors, and corporate leadership. It might include
background information of each that outlines previous industry or startup experience, or
 historical context on the current state of the company. When used in a presentation or
research report, introduce the team presenting or responsible for the report’s findings.

● Products and Services: The executive summary is the place to highlight the problem
you solve or the need you fulfill. For a report, this is where you might highlight what you
researched and what the reader should know about your findings. For a project proposal,
include what you’re planning to accomplish and what you need to make it successful. For
marketing plans or product launch presentations, tell the reader why your service or
product is relevant at this particular moment in time.

● Market Analysis: The executive summary of a business plan might profile the target
customer and explain the market opportunity for a product or service. Consider answering
questions like: Is there a five year plan for this market? How do you anticipate growing the
customer base and improving market share? What stands out from your research about
your customers that the reader should know?

● Competition Analysis: This section should include answers to the following questions:

■ What is the competitive advantage of your proposed solution or product and who or
what do you compete with in this market?

■ What are the opportunities now and in the future?

■ What are the risks in your market and your product or service?

■ Do you have relevant experience with major competitors?

■ What are the future plans for growth and what obstacles do you anticipate
addressing?

● Financials: The executive summary might summarize key financial data that is relevant
to the reader or data that supports your research. If the purpose is to secure funding,
include the specific amount you are requesting. Be sure to provide context for the
financial data or any number you highlight in the executive summary. This section is a
great way to highlight growth, or to use metrics to provide perspective on the company.

● Conclusions: Recap your findings, the problem and solution discussed, or the project
and work proposed. If there is a decision the reader needs to make, be direct about it.
Make the outcomes obvious, but leave enough intrigue for the rest of the content to
follow.
How Do You End An Executive Summary?

Although the executive summary begins a document, it concludes so that it can stand alone
from the rest of the content and still be of value. Use the conclusion to recap your findings,
make recommendations, and propose solutions to the problem.

If there is a decision you want the reader to make, ask make a call to action in this section. If
you are summarizing a research report, summarize the findings and the research methods
used to conclude the work. Make the outcomes or recommendations visible, but leave enough
out to incentivize the audience to continue reading. Close the executive summary with a strong
statement or transition that sets up the theme or central message to the story you tell in the
report or proposal.

Best Practices for Creating a Strategic Marketing

Plan

You can elevate the utility of your marketing plan by taking extra time to add elements and
perform in-depth analysis of your audience, brand, and budget. Below are some tactical and
analytical tips that will help you get the most out of your marketing strategy planning:
● Create a dynamic marketing plan. With so much information to cover, your plan might
end up being a long, text-heavy document. Include a table of contents so that your
readers can easily navigate through the plan, use bullet points to break up walls of text,
and include visual illustrations that draw the eye. Also consider creating a one-page
version that captures the most important high-level information.
● Back up your plan with research. All of the information provided in your plan will be
more credible if you can back it up with research and facts. Attach an appendix for any
supporting material, and provide graphics (tables, graphs, pictures, etc.) to substantiate
your statements and analysis.
● Understand your audience. A successful marketing campaign hinges on being able to
connect your message with your target market. Use Google Analytics or another
engagement analysis platform to identify your audience and their behavior, and consider
creating audience personas so that you know who you are producing content for.
● Ensure your brand is strong and stands out. This concept is complex and requires
continual attention and iteration. From a marketing perspective, you can begin building
brand integrity by defining your unique selling proposition, optimizing your website and all
other distribution channels, and creating great content. Be sure to elicit feedback from
other departments so that the marketing material is in line with organizational messaging
and goals.
● Create realistic financial goals. Like all other business concerns, success relies on
sound budgeting. Define your budget early on to set expectations around spending and to
identify any potential financial gaps, and create some metrics and KPIs that are related to
financial success. In addition, make sure you can realistically support any special offers,
discounts, or rewards that you offer.
You can also tap into several accessory activities to strengthen your marketing planning.
These include the following:

● Promotions strategies
● Online marketing strategy
● Joint ventures and partnerships
● Referral strategy
● Strategy for increasing transaction prices
● Retention strategy