Market Planning

What Is Market Planning?

The marketing plan describes the outreach and public relations actions that will be undertaken over time. It may be used to launch a new firm or reposition an existing one. 

Most companies alter their marketing plan or budget once a year. The most effective marketing strategies are all-encompassing.

Marketing planning is the process of arranging and delineating a company's marketing objectives, as well as developing strategies and processes to achieve them.

A comprehensive marketing strategy should include the company's value proposition, information about its target market or consumers, a market positioning comparison of its rivals, and a budget for the plan. 

Most businesses fail because they experiment with different marketing methods without a defined plan. Marketing planning is the process of creating actions that will support corporate goals and setting a schedule for completing those efforts. 

The discussion should be based on your marketing strategy; this represents the "why" and keeps the team focused on the most critical issues. 

Marketing planning is an important step in creating a business's marketing strategy. It helps to ensure that all customer-facing teams are on the same page. 

Linking programs and campaigns to the marketing strategy can ensure that actions align with the wider goals. The following are the functions and components of a marketing plan, as well as how you might best implement them.

Product and service advertising can use digital, radio, the Internet, trade publications, or a mix of these media. Market research is also used to help with pricing decisions and new market entries. 

Metrics for monitoring marketing activities' achievements, as well as reporting timelines.

How to Write a Marketing Plan

Let us take a look below as to what are the steps are taken for an effective market planning:

1. Create a realistic plan

You must create realistically and make decisions for the following 18 to 24 months. Within the first six months, increase the number of consumers by 5%. Expand your base to change your population mix.

Improve your practice's image, which may be assessed by the "before" and "after" results on community surveys.

2. Conduct a marketing audit

A marketing audit is a three-year review of all marketing efforts in your firm. To determine the effectiveness of each announcement, advertisement, phonebook ad, open house, brochure, and seminar, be as thorough as possible.

3. Perform market research

Market research is to provide a realistic picture of your profession, the community in which it works, and your current position. 

You may use this study to make relatively accurate predictions about future community growth, uncover competitive characteristics, and analyze unusual potential. 

Your research may identify some problem areas in your field as well as immediate solutions.

4. Examine the research

A strategic marketing plan necessitates the definition of your practice in terms of what it does for patients. The research study will show the strategic benefits of your practice. 

This is also a wonderful moment to reflect on your objectives. Based on the results of your investigation, you may need to revise some of them.

5. Plan the target audience

You should be able to locate your practice's "target audience," or the exact group of patients to whom you want to aim your marketing efforts. 

The key to marketing is identifying and connecting with the audience that your practice can serve better than your competitors.

6. Create a budget

There is no set amount that practice should spend on marketing. Some of the most effective marketing initiatives are free. 

If your practice is new, in a highly competitive market, or has never been advertised previously, you should budget 10% or more of your yearly gross income for the first year.

7. Identify Marketing Techniques

After you've established your budget, you may begin to identify particular marketing techniques. Each strategy should be linked to a specific objective and consist of several steps. 

For hospitals, making the workplace more patient-friendly might be one technique for enhancing patient satisfaction. Remember to concentrate your tactics on aspects of your profession that may be leveraged to add value.

8. Execution

A marketing plan's worth is determined by its execution, which necessitates thoughtful and timely implementation. It is critical to compare your performance to the criteria you established while setting your goals. 

Review your plan regularly (we recommend quarterly) by comparing your progress to the implementation timeline. You may always adjust and attempt new tactics by continuously monitoring and assessing each step.

market planning Considerations

A successful positioning raises a brand above the crowd, causing people to take notice. Increasing exposure necessitates a 50/50 mix of offline (conventional) and online (digital) marketing initiatives. 

Focus on your best and most desirable client categories. Determining your unique selling point and demonstrating it to prospective clients. Marketing experts virtually always get their clients' priorities and requirements incorrect. 

Each of your target groups is interested in a different part of your company. Your plan should indicate whether a new website is required or if modifying your present messaging is adequate.

Determining your target audience's favorite channels and using them to reach them on a variety of different platforms. SEO is all about making your skills more palpable and apparent to your target audience.

Every company that engages in content marketing must have a clear understanding of SEO principles. Developing and honing a competitive edge requires the evolution of your services over time. 

Clarify and improve your service offerings - it's important to stay on top of the latest technology developments.

Top Market Planning Concepts

The different concepts related to market planning are:

1. Target Markets and Market Segmentation

It is critical to understand who the market for your product or service is. Businesses should normally have one primary target market and a few subsidiary markets, if possible. 

A firm that provides colored contacts may have makeup artists as its major target market.

2. Budget 

Budgeting may be the most significant phase in marketing planning when it comes to implementation. It necessitates excellent forecasting of returns from individual advertising expenditures. 

Returns mustn't be exaggerated to prevent overspending and running out of money early on.

3. Marketing mix

The marketing mix is a collection of components that persuade buyers to buy a product. The term "product" refers to either the actual thing that your company provides or the intangible good, which relates to services. 

Customers can contact the firm and purchase its items at the location. Promotion encompasses all marketing communications used by the firm to promote its product.

4. CRM

Customer relationship management (CRM) is an important aspect of retaining customers once a firm has reached a sustainable number of consumers. 

Offering warranties and return policies may help keep consumers pleased and show that the firm cares about their post-purchase use of the goods.

Types of marketing plan

Let us take a look at some of the different types below:

1. Business Strategy

A business strategy is a detailed plan of how you intend to evolve and become more competitive in the future. It must answer the most crucial issue of any business: how do I intend to make my firm successful? 

The ultimate goal is to build a profitable business with clients (or customers).  You must provide three crucial points:

• These include seeking early funding as a new firm or startup

• Considering market growth for an existing business

• Planning a purchase or divesting from a company

2. Marketing Launch Strategy

It directs every part of a launch, from messages and channels to due dates. It is also known as a go-to-market strategy. 

3. Digital Marketing Strategy

This strategy outlines paid marketing activities and online platforms that will help you reach and communicate with your target audience.

4. Social Media Strategy

A social media strategy outlines how you intend to communicate with your target audience on sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. This strategy may comprise a combination of paid advertising (such as sponsored content) and follower engagement strategies. 

5. Content Marketing Strategy

This outlines how you intend to create information that is both relevant and valuable to your target audience. Blog articles, whitepapers, and other sorts of information may help you locate and convert potential consumers.

Marketing Strategy vs. Marketing Plan

A marketing strategy is a set of shared goals and objectives for your product or service. It helps you understand who will gain the most value from your products (the target audience) and how you will approach your ideal customer (the ideal customer).

A marketing plan is an outline and picture for the team of when and how you will achieve your goals. Plans define the schedule and topics of your work - your campaigns and programs - and enable you to prioritize them by your strategy. 

This clarifies how each activity relates to both the marketing goals and the general business goals. A marketing plan is the basis for all of your campaigns and operations. 

If you want to create a meaningful impression, your marketing plan should not vary dramatically in a short amount of time. Instead, assess it quarterly and make improvements as your market, team, and budget evolve. 

Over a year, you may develop several different marketing strategies for various purposes. After you've developed a marketing strategy—a clear understanding of why you're doing the job—you should build a marketing plan.

A marketing plan defines how a company will achieve a certain objective or aim. It covers the campaigns, content, channels, and marketing technologies that will be used to achieve the purpose and measure performance. 

While a larger department may manage social media marketing, you may consider your Facebook effort an individual marketing plan.

Marketing Plan vs. Business Plan

A business plan describes how a company will run and function as a whole. It serves as a road map for a corporation. The plan will outline the company's goals, missions, values, finances, day-to-day operations, and strategies for achieving those goals.

An executive summary, the products and services offered, a marketing analysis, a marketing strategy, financial planning, and a budget are all part of a business plan.

A marketing plan, as previously said, would focus on developing a marketing strategy for boosting public knowledge of the company's product or service, reaching the target market, and producing sales.

A business plan covers the whole corporation, including general strategy, financial planning, target markets, sales, goods and services, operations, and how they all interact with one another.

A marketing plan, on the other hand, is focused on marketing, including marketing strategy, target markets, marketing mix, messaging, and programs. Although cash flow is crucial to a company's strategy, it is rarely addressed in a marketing plan.

Yes, marketing is almost always part of a company's strategy. The focus varies, and I've seen several techniques that prioritize the product or service over marketing. These are, however, unusual.

Because their employment, focus, or concentration is on marketing rather than the overall organization, many employees write marketing plans rather than business plans.

market planning tips

Any modification to your marketing environment needs a modification to your marketing approach. Begin by looking back at how the world has changed since your last marketing strategy session. 

This contextualizes essential changes and prepares your team to explore new ideas in the future. The planning process might be scary, but there are things you can do to make it less so.

Consumers will be uninterested in you and your goods until they realize how much value you can provide them. They are not buying your services; they are buying your solutions. 

Concentrate on their problems and how you may assist them rather than on what you provide. Research should always come first. 

The more you understand about your market, clients, prospects, and competitors, the better you will be able to address them in your marketing strategy. 

But keep in mind that professional services are not the same. Consumer-style research will not be effective for B2B professional services. The best employees want to work for the top companies, especially if your company is considered an expert in its sector. 

Expertise attracts new clients and excellent employees. Making your expertise visible and appealing will guarantee that prospects come to you first. Expertise is best communicated via exposure and making complex issues simple. 

The more prospects who see and hear your firm's expertise, the more they will turn to them for a clear understanding of complicated issues.

market planning Additional tips 

Determine how prospects want to get information, and then include those channels into your marketing strategy. Don't squander time and money on channels that potential customers aren't utilizing. 

Above all, ensure that your website is up to date, easy to browse, and offers quality material. Even the best-laid plans can go wrong if they are under-resourced, underfunded, or poorly executed. 

Ascertain that you have the necessary resources and skills to implement your plan properly. If you can’t implement it in-house, partner with an outside resource. Choose fewer initiatives but fully finance those that you do. 

Focus on the quality of your efforts rather than the quantity. If you want to try a new approach, decide which old one you will abandon (or suspend) in favor of the new one. 

Professional service firms that can attract and retain the appropriate people have a considerable strategic edge. 

Employer branding is a key component of any marketing effort that is often overlooked. Ensure that your professional services firm can recruit the talent it will need to thrive. Monitor the marketing funnel at each level. Don't only look at the short term. 

Your marketing strategy should be consistent with your company's overall business growth strategy. We've seen strong results from marketing strategies that include precise goals, providing a long-term blueprint for your company's growth.

Free Resources

To continue learning and advancing your career, check out these additional helpful WSO resources:

• Market Orientation
• Marketing Plan
• Penetration Pricing
• SWOT Analysis
• Total Addressable Market (TAM)