TAG: Business plan

Marketing plan: An introduction

Writing a marketing plan involves five steps, roughly following the marketing strategy framework by Robert Dolan.

Marketing plan step 1: Initial business idea, determining your value proposition

As an entrepreneur you want to provide value in a particular market (e.g. laptop market), for a specific customer group (e.g. digital nomads).

Marketing plan step 2: Market analysis, mapping the internal and external environment

Step 2 is about checking your assumptions with a more structured analysis of trends, competitors and your company's strengths and weaknesses.

Marketing plan step 3: Marketing strategy, determining the target market and positioning

On a strategic level you have to decide what specific target customer you want to “attack”  and what value you would like to offer them.

Marketing plan step 4: Marketing tactics

What you are going to offer in practical terms. How can you translate the value proposition in tangible actions with the help of the marketing mix?

Marketing plan step 5: Implementation and result measurement

Here the entrepreneur looks into the implementation by forecasting the costs and benefits as well as coming up with a detailed planning.