How to write a marketing plan. Drawing up a plan for an advertising campaign: the choice of promotion tools and the division of the budget

What are the main marketing plans

Possible different approaches to planning. Traditional planning usually involves dividing plans according to the time period for which they are designed. Including short-term, medium-term or long-term plans. However, there is no universal definition of planning periods.

Medium- and long-term plans are known as "strategic" because they look at business strategies for a long period. Short-term plans are often referred to as "business plans" or "corporate" because they provide guidance for daily activities. The application of a specific plan depends on the scope and objectives of the company, the markets served, the need to plan for future product releases.

Long-range planning is designed to assess general business and economic trends over many years. The company's strategy is aimed at increasing the corresponding long-term objectives of the organization, which is important for the defense industry, pharmaceuticals and aerospace, where the development of new products reaches 5-10 years. Long-term planning in these industries covers 10-20 years. But the timing of the development of most companies is not so significant, with a long-term planning orientation of more than 5-7 years.

Medium-term planning is more practical, designed for a period of not more than 2-5 years (usually three years). Such planning is more tied to life, since it refers to the near future, the probability of reflection in terms of reality is higher. At the heart of a medium-term "strategic" marketing plan, strategies are similar to long-term ones. However, major decisions need to be implemented in a shorter time frame. Such decisions include the need for capital investment, the introduction of new products, the availability and use of resources and personnel.

Short-term planning (and budgeting), as a rule, is focused on a period of up to 1 year, involving the development of business or corporate plans and associated budgets. It is expected that these plans will consider the near future and the details of what the company plans to undertake over a period of 12 months. Short-term plans are considered the most detailed. They can be adjusted if necessary.

How to Make a 1 Page Marketing Plan: The Allan Dib Technique

Fast and easy write a marketing plan, even if you are a marketing pro, you can with the help of this article electronic journal"Commercial Director".

Why You Need a Marketing Plan

Lack of a marketing plan leads to the following problems:

• there is a spontaneous development of the company without a specific plan of action;
• there is a constant conflict of possible schemes, existing development options; there is a dispersion of means, efforts, time;
• the target audience is not defined, which periodically leads to the above problems;
• chaotic purchases of products, attempts to diversify the product offer at a time when you need to concentrate on the main product offer.

The marketing plan accomplishes the following goals:

• systematize, formally describe the ideas of the leaders of the organization, conveying them to employees;
• concentration of company resources with their reasonable distribution;
• set marketing goals, providing control in achieving them.

What sections are included in the marketing plan

• grocery plan;
• sales plan - increasing sales efficiency;
• advertising and sales promotion plan;
• research and development of new products;
• distribution channel operation plan;
• price plan, including price changes in the future;
• marketing research plan;
• plan for the operation of the physical distribution system;
• marketing organization plan.

Structure and content of the marketing plan

Executive Summary (Summary) – This initial section of the marketing plan presents brief annotation main recommendations and goals in the plan. This section allows management to quickly understand the focus of this plan. This section is usually followed by a table of contents for the plan.

Current marketing situation - this section describes the target market, the position of the organization in it. These sections include:

• market description;
• product overview;
• competition;
• distribution.

Hazards and Opportunities - This section lists the main opportunities and dangers for the product on the market. An assessment of the potential harm of each hazard is expected.

Marketing goals - this section characterizes the direction of the drawn up plan, initially formulating the desired results of activities in specific markets.

Marketing strategies - main directions marketing activities. By following them, organizations strive to achieve marketing goals. The marketing strategy includes specific strategies for operating in target markets, the marketing mix used, relevant marketing costs. In the strategies that are developed for each market segment, it is necessary to consider new and manufactured products, prices, promotion of products, bringing products to consumers, it is necessary to indicate how the strategy reacts to the opportunities and dangers of the market.

Action Program - a detailed program showing what needs to be done, when and by whom the accepted tasks should be carried out, how much it will cost, what decisions need to be coordinated in order to fulfill the marketing plan.

The program, as a rule, briefly characterizes the goals for the achievement of which the activities of the program are oriented. Therefore, the program is a set of specific activities that must be carried out by the marketing and other services of the organization in order to achieve the goals of the marketing plan. The course will help you reach them faster."

Marketing budget - this section reflects projected revenues, profits and costs. The amount of income from the forecast position on sales and prices is substantiated. Costs are determined as the sum of production, marketing and distribution costs. At the same time, marketing costs will have to be detailed in this budget.

Section "Control" - it reflects the methods and procedures for control, which are required in assessing the level of success of the plan. For this purpose, criteria (standards) are established, on the basis of which the progress of the implementation of marketing plans is measured.

Stages of developing a marketing plan

Stage 1. Determination of the initial goals of the development and activities of the company.

Stage 2. Analysis of marketing activities. It is divided into three parts:

1) Analysis external environment marketing:

• analysis of the economic and business environment - the state of the economy, socio-cultural conditions, financial policy, technological conditions, socio-economic conditions in the company;
• market environment: general state market; its development; distribution channels, communications, the state of the industry;
• competitor environment.

2) Detailed analysis marketing activity involves the analysis sales volume, market share, profit, marketing organization, marketing procedures, analysis of all elements of the marketing mix, control of marketing activities.

3) Analysis of the marketing system involves an analysis of marketing goals, marketing strategies, duties and rights of managers in the field of marketing, information system, planning and control systems, interaction with other management functions, as well as profitability analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis.

Stage 3. Formulation of assumptions, hypotheses regarding certain factors external to the company that may have an impact on its activities. It is worth classifying and presenting assumptions explicitly. Classification of assumptions can be made in the following areas - the organization itself, a specific industry and the country of operation.

Stage 4. Setting marketing goals. Defining and organizing goals is an important aspect of marketing activities. Almost any planning and management document on marketing now contains in one of its initial sections at least a simple verbal list of goals, upon receipt of which no special approaches and methods are used. But in order to strengthen the focus on final results in planning and management activities, with the intensification of the use of special management methods, the need to increase the quality of individual management to build a system of goals, it is necessary to apply special approaches and methods.

Marketing has the following goals:

1. Satisfy the needs of consumers.
2. Provide yourself with a competitive advantage.
3. Raise the level of sales.
4. Get some profit.
5. Increase market share.

The core of marketing goals should be the specifics of the product or the need for it. If possible, goals should be focused not on consumer groups, but on their needs. After all, buyers are a fickle group.

Stage 5. Alternative strategies are developed that are aimed at achieving marketing goals. These strategies are detailed in relation to the elements of the marketing mix.

You can create strategies in the field of pricing in the following way:

• setting the price of products according to the market position;
• conducting a different pricing policy, depending on the markets;
• development of a pricing policy, taking into account the pricing policy of its competitors.

In the field of product promotion, strategies can be noted that characterize communications with consumers, means and methods of organizing the actions of sales department employees in new markets.

The strategy in the field of bringing the product to consumers includes:

• channels used to bring the product to the consumer;
• level of after-sales customer service;
• activities aimed at achieving delivery costs;
• sales in small lots or wholesale.

After these stages of marketing planning are completed, you need to re-confirm the ability to achieve your goals and strategies using various evaluation criteria, including sales, market share, resource costs, profit margins and other estimates of the planned results and the ability to achieve them.

Stage 6. The set of marketing strategies, goals and activities to achieve is a strategic marketing plan, which at the next planning stage should be brought to working planning documents. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out operational-calendar planning.

Stage 7. At the stage of operational calendar planning or development of detailed action plans, it is required to specify marketing strategies into detailed plans, programs in the context of each of the 4 elements of the marketing complex.

We are talking about the development of action plans for each unit of the organization, aimed at achieving the specified goals based on the selected strategies. It is necessary that they contain answers to questions - what, who, where and when, how and with what resources should be done to implement marketing programs and plans.

As a rule, written instructions for drawing up action plans are also being developed, which are accompanied by forms and sample filling.

Stage 8. A marketing budget is being developed. Its compilation helps correct definition priorities between strategies and goals of marketing activities, in making decisions on the allocation of resources, in exercising effective control.

The budget is usually developed using a profit-based planning approach.

In this case, the marketing budget is developed in the following sequence: predictive estimates of market capacity, market share, price, sales revenue, variable and fixed costs are determined; the gross profit is calculated, covering all costs, including marketing costs, and providing a given value of the target profit.

Variables are then subtracted from the gross profit and fixed costs, as well as the value of the target profit. In this way, marketing costs are determined. They are detailed by individual elements of the marketing mix.

• Marketing and sales: how to establish effective interaction

Budgeting is always a problem.

Roman Tkachev,

promotion project manager trademark MDV, group of companies "AYAK"

Marketing expenses are not always perceived as an investment in customer acquisition or retention. Some view marketing spending as a fashion statement rather than an investment to increase profit margins. The reason is that the marketing department is often unable to present a system for evaluating its performance in the form of a mathematical model to management.

Determining the size of the marketing budget is an issue strategic planning in the work of the company. Therefore, the budget includes not only an estimate of the costs of promotion and advertising, but also costs for market research, the development of external brand attributes, with customer relationship management, distribution channels, BTL and other related activities.

It is worth considering that marketing planning is intended to determine the position of the organization at the current moment, areas of activity, means of achieving its goals. The marketing plan is central from the standpoint of conducting activities to receive a certain income. It is the basis for all other activities of the organization.

You don't need to reinvent the wheel to create a marketing plan

Anton Uskov,

General Director of PR agency Media_Act, Moscow

Companies do not have to reinvent the wheel to plan their marketing policy. If you do not know how to write a marketing plan, it is better to turn to the advice of professionals.

The most effective and simple option is to put yourself in the place of a potential buyer or client, discarding your habits and addictions, ceasing to use stamps and templates.

How is the implementation of the marketing plan carried out?

To control the work of the enterprise as a whole, it is necessary to develop a multi-level procedure for management calculation, with the formulation of a development strategy, supported by a set of tactical measures. It is on the solution of the last task in the activities of marketing and commercial services that the marketing plan is oriented.

The head provides control over the results in the activities of his subordinate units:

• according to the criteria in the marketing plan;
• in terms of management accounting;
• on the performance of the department.

An analysis of the implementation of the marketing plan also involves a comparison of the actual development of the situation and the planned or expected indicators for the reporting period. If the actual state is recognized as unsatisfactory, it is necessary to make appropriate changes. Sometimes it is necessary to revise the relevant plans due to the influence of uncontrollable factors.

Analysis of the marketing plan can be carried out by 3 methods:

1. Analysis of marketing costs;
2. Implementation analysis;
3. Marketing revision.

As part of the analysis of marketing costs, an assessment of the effectiveness of various marketing factors is given. It is necessary to find out which costs are effective and which are not, and make the necessary adjustments. Sales performance analysis is a detailed study of sales performance to assess the correctness of a particular strategy.

A marketing audit is a systematized, objective and critical assessment, a review of the main goals and policies of the organization's marketing functions in the implementation of this policy, with the achievement of the set goals. Marketing audit involves 6 stages:

1. It is determined by whom the audit will be carried out.
2. The frequency of the revision is determined.
3. Forms for revision are being developed.
4. The revision is carried out immediately.
5. Presentation of the results to the management of the organization, decision-making.

A prerequisite in this direction is the dependence of wages on the performance of duties. The share of real payments, depending on the results, should be quite significant (at least one third of the employee's total earnings).

• How to Determine Your Marketing Budget: Calculation Methods and Expert Advice

Information about authors and companies

PR agency Media_Act specializes in advertising and PR campaigns in the regions. It has branches in almost all major cities of the country. Among the main clients are the Finam investment holding, the Japanese tire manufacturer Yokohama, the distributor of roofing materials Diana-Trade, and MTS. The agency has subsidiaries engaged in the provision of advertising production and printing services.

Roman Tkachev, project manager for the promotion of the MDV trademark, the group of companies "AYAK". Graduated from the Altai State University(specialist in the field international relations, orientalist) and Yanshan University (PRC) ( Chinese, international marketing). He was engaged in the development and implementation of a supply planning system and a system for accounting and analyzing commercial offers for the MDV brand.

Group of companies "AYAK"- Founded in 1996. Distributor of well-known global manufacturers of air conditioning equipment. It has about 50 regional offices, more than 2,000 dealer companies in the Russian Federation and the CIS countries. Official website - www.jac.ru

Step 1. PAY ATTENTION!

When determining how to promote your products, there are four main factors to consider: the size of your target market, its characteristics, the type of your product or service, and such an important detail as the size of the budget allocated for promotion.

Target market size. If the size of the target market is large enough (many target consumers) and / or they live far enough from each other, it is more appropriate to use advertising (mostly) to promote your product or service. If there are few consumers, and they are concentrated within the same area (city, region - depending on the scale of the business), which is most often the case in the business goods market, then personal sales can be successfully used.

Target market features. Learning about the characteristics of your customers can tell you the best way to connect with them.

For example, if it turns out that the majority of your dry cleaner's customers are residents of the neighborhood, the most logical way to promote it would be to send flyers to their addresses or advertise on cable TV.

Product type. To promote consumer goods, as a rule, advertising is used; personal selling is better for promoting complex and expensive products.

The size of the allocated budget. It is quite logical that the set of ways to promote your product should be determined in such a way as to make the most efficient use of the allocated funds. For example, it makes sense to consider the expediency of using expensive means of promotion - advertising on television and radio, only with a sufficiently large budget for promotion. If you think you can't allocate a lot of money for promotion, it is better to opt for more cost-effective ways to promote your products: press advertising, mail advertising, etc.

Consider the size and characteristics of the target market, the type of your product and the amount of budget you can allocate for promotion.

Step 2: SET GOALS

The goals of promotion can be divided into two main areas: stimulating demand and improving the image of the company (which, again, is ultimately done to increase sales). The demand for your product consists of three main parts:

The number of people who bought your product at least once (so-called initial market penetration);

Shares of those who buy your product again (percentage of repeat purchases);

The intensity of consumption (consumption ratio) of your product (i.e. how often consumers purchase your product on average).

In order to maximize the volume of demand in each of the listed areas, a model of the impact hierarchy was developed (See Fig.).

Rice. Hierarchy of impact and promotion goals

According to this model, each buyer, before purchasing your product, goes through six stages, from realizing the need for it to buying it. In the first two stages (comprehension - knowledge), the main goal of promotion is to provide information about your company or product. At the third and fourth stages (attitude - preference), it is necessary to form a positive attitude towards your company / product in the consumer. In the fifth and sixth stages (persuasion - purchase), you need to convince the consumer that your product better goods competitors and he should buy your product.

However, this customer-specific model is easy to implement only if you work with large customers, each of whom you know personally and can provide information to each in accordance with the stage at which he is. If you are selling your product to many small buyers, then there will be people at different stages of the buying decision who will need different information. However, the same model can be applied to the stages of bringing your product to market, starting from the assumption that at each stage your customers will be dominated by people who are at the same stages of this model.

1. The first stage (comprehension - knowledge). At the first stage, when you are just starting to sell your product (or introducing an old product to a new market - you start selling it in another region or another group of consumers), most people do not know anything about it and have never bought it, and your task is to form primary demand. To do this, you need to inform as many of your potential buyers as possible about your product, its features, and encourage them to make a trial purchase. In other words, you need to ensure that people know about your offer, i.e. The main goal of promotion at the first stage is INFORMATION.

Tell the market about your new products / services / offers;

Suggest new ways to use your products /

Explain the purpose of goods / services;

Tell your customers about price changes.

2. The second stage (attitude - preference). In the second stage, when most of your potential buyers already know about your product and have made a trial purchase, your main goal is to encourage them to buy your product again, i.e. make them regular customers. To do this, with the help of promotion, it is necessary to ensure that consumers have a positive attitude towards your product, and they begin to give it preference over competitors' products. In other words, the main goal of moving forward in the second stage is to CREATE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE AND PREFERENCE.

Main goals at this stage:

Ensure a good relationship with your company / brand / product / store;

Convince customers to buy the product;

Convince your customers that your products are better than those of your competitors.

3. The third stage (persuasion - purchase). In the third stage, when you have already managed to attract a sufficient number of regular buyers of your product, in order to increase demand, you should ensure that your potential buyers purchase your products more often or in larger quantities. The main goal of the promotion is to STIMULATE MORE PURCHASES AND KEEP THE INTENTION of the buyers to continue to purchase your product.

Main goals at this stage:

Remind your customers of the existence of your company/products/services;

Remind your customers what products they can buy from you;

Remind your customers of the characteristics of your products.

Define promotional goals: Decide whether you will inform,

to convince or remind your customers about the product.

Step 3: IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

The target audience is the group of your real and potential buyers to whom you address your messages.

If your products are bought by several groups of consumers that differ greatly from each other, then you have several target audiences. For each of them, you need to develop your own informational message, focusing on the qualities that are most important to them in your product and the benefits that they want to get from buying it. In other words, we are talking about the different focus of competition for your client groups.

To determine your target audience, answer yourself the question: who uses (will use) your products or services? Find out what they already know about your product, what are the motives for purchasing it (this can be done by surveying your potential and / or actual consumers). If it turns out that when purchasing your goods, different consumers pay attention to different parameters of the product / service (for example, for pensioners important role the price of a haircut at your hairdresser plays a role, and young women are interested in the professionalism of hairdressers and the opportunity to get advice on choosing a hairstyle), divide them into groups and prepare a message for each group.

At the third stage, identify the target audience and determine what they already know about your company, product or service.

Step 4. DEFINE THE CONTENT OF THE MESSAGE The topic of your appeal should correspond to the goals of promotion, your product, service, company, and should be traced in all the activities you take to promote your product. The process of choosing a message subject consists of three steps:

Stage 1. "List of proposals". Make a list of everything you can offer the buyer;

Stage 2. "Motivational analysis". Imagine yourself in the place of a consumer of your product and answer the questions: why would I use (not use) this product, why is it better (worse) than other products, what characteristics of the product convince me to make a purchase, which ones make me doubt buying it. The result of this stage will be a list of the main motives leading to the purchase and preventing it.

Note that it is better to do such an analysis not only on the basis of your own conclusions, but also using the results of a survey of your consumers.

Stage 3. "Market Analysis". Compare the characteristics of your product with the characteristics of competitors' products and market requirements, and highlight the characteristics of your product that are important to your consumers and absent from competitors' products - formulate your unique selling proposition (USP).

After that, you can formulate the main theme of activities to promote your product based on the USP.

Determine what you want to communicate to your consumers.

Step 5. DEFINE THE FORM OF THE MESSAGE

In your message, not only its content is important, but also its form. Of course, each promotional medium has its own characteristics, but there are some general tips for the form of your message:

Speak simply: use everyday words and brief expressions, avoid professional expressions;

Speak interestingly: try to arouse curiosity, focus not on the product, but on the benefits that the buyer will receive with its acquisition;

Speak directly: do not overload the text with unnecessary words;

Speak affirmatively: replace negative

sentences with affirmative statements of a motivational nature;

be guided common sense: try to be convincing and understandable to the average person;

Be brief: small texts read more often because reading them is faster and easier;

Be truthful: false claims may initially attract buyers, but once convinced of the deception, they will no longer believe you;

Be original: express your thoughts in an original way, try not to repeat the messages of other companies in your messages;

Repeat the most important points: focusing on them, you make the consumer remember the main idea of ​​your promotion program. Arguments can be repeated in different ways, in different formulations;

Strive to attract and hold attention: break your text into paragraphs, blocks, add headings;

Avoid mentioning the names of competitors: firstly, comparative advertising is prohibited, and secondly, do not remind your consumers of them once again;

Pay attention to the last phrase: it is she who is remembered;

Address the message not to the void, but to the person: address your consumers;

Offer an action plan: give your customers clear instructions on what exactly they should do after reading this text (contact you for more information, make a purchase, etc.)

Decide what form your message should take.

Step 6. CALCULATE YOUR BUDGET

After you have determined why, to whom, what and how you want to communicate about your product or service, you need to determine how much money you can spend on it - what will be your promotion budget.

The promotion budget is the amount of funds allocated for all activities to promote your product.

To date, there are five main methods for setting a promotion budget, namely: the residual method, the increment method, the parity method, the share of sales method, and the target method.

remainder method. Under this method, the entrepreneur first allocates funds for all elements of marketing, and the balance goes to the promotion budget. This method is sometimes referred to as "whatever you can afford". It is the simplest, but also the weakest of all, but it is the one most often used by small, production-oriented companies. Disadvantages of this method: little attention paid to promotion, lack of connection of expenses with the set goals, the danger of a "zero" budget for promotion in case there are no funds left.

growth method. In case of use this method the company builds its promotion budget, focusing on the budgets of previous years, increasing or decreasing them by a certain percentage. The advantages of this method: the presence of a reference point, the ease of determining the budget, the use of past experience of the company. Disadvantages of the method: the size of the budget is determined largely intuitively and is rarely linked to goals.

Method of parity with competitors. The promotion budget in this case is determined on the basis of estimates of the budgets of competing firms. This method is used by both large and small companies. The advantages of this method: it provides a starting point, is market-oriented and quite conservative, sets clear limits on promotion costs. However, it is quite difficult to determine the costs of competitors for promotion. If there are significant differences between your firm, goods and services from firms, goods and services of competitors, this method is not applicable.

share of sales method. When using this method, a certain percentage of the income from the sale of goods is allocated for promotion. The advantages of this method: the relationship between sales and promotion, the use of a clear base, and, as a result, the simplicity of budgeting. Weaknesses of the method: promotion follows sales, and not vice versa; promotion costs are automatically reduced during periods of poor sales (when their growth can be beneficial). Therefore, when opening a company, releasing a new product, or during a losing streak, it is better not to use this method.

target method. When using this method, the company first determines what goals need to be achieved with the help of promotion, then formulates the tasks that need to be solved for this, and only then determines how much it will cost to complete these tasks. This amount is included in the promotion budget. This is the best of the five methods. Its advantages: a clear definition of goals, linking costs with the implementation of tasks, adaptability, the ability to relatively easily evaluate success or failure. The weak side is the difficulty of calculating the budget using this method: you need to set goals and objectives, determine the means of promotion, the use of which will allow you to solve these problems, find out how much it will cost you to use these funds.

Calculate the budget you need to allocate for promotion.

Step 7: MAKE A PROGRAM

A promotion program is a set of promotional tools used by a firm (advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, and public relations).

In order not to experience disappointment, having implemented a promotion program that seems to have been developed according to all the rules, first draw up a work schedule, clearly defining who, what and when should be done. With such a plan in hand, you will drastically reduce the likelihood of running into a situation where a new product that has already been announced flyers residents of all nearby houses will appear at your place only in two weeks.

In addition, the work plan will help you not only implement the promotion program without any problems, but also evaluate the results of its implementation.

Determine which promotional tools will be most effective for promoting your product, and draw up a work schedule.

Step 8. DEFINE HOW TO EVALUATE RESULTS

The issue of measuring the effectiveness of promotion is quite complicated. On the one hand, without knowing how effective your promotion program is, you can neither improve it nor correct errors. From this point of view, the measurement of efficiency is simply necessary, it will fully pay off and bring undoubted benefits.

On the other hand, the methods used to measure performance (for example, measuring your market share before and after a promotion program) tend to be expensive and time-consuming, and the cost of evaluating performance can be comparable to the amount spent on the promotion program itself.

Therefore, if your budget is limited, then use the simplest and cheapest methods for evaluating effectiveness. The easiest way, used almost everywhere, is to contact customers with the question “How did you hear about us?”. You can also compare the volume of sales of your products / services (let's say per week) before and after the release of advertising, sales promotion campaigns. Another way to evaluate the effectiveness of promotion is to conduct a simple telephone survey of consumers, which will allow you to find out how the attitude of buyers towards your company, product or service has changed.

So, to develop a program to promote your company, product or service, you need to:

Take into account the size of your target market, its features, features of your product or service, as well as the size of the budget allocated for promotion;

Set promotion goals;

Determine the target audience;

Select the subject of the message and determine its form;

Draw up a promotion program and work schedule;

Evaluate the results of the promotion program.

More on the topic PROMOTION PLAN:

1. The purpose and objectives of forecasting the company's activities. Business plan. Financial plan as part of a business plan
2. Factors influencing the formation of promotion programs
3. Factors influencing the formation of promotion programs

- Copyright - Advocacy - Administrative law - Administrative process - Antimonopoly and competition law - Arbitration (economic) process - Audit - Banking system - Banking law -

The marketing plan of the company is the key to planning activities, along with the budget, production plan, sales plan. The annual plan of the enterprise, respectively, establishes common goals enterprises, however, to work in a competitive environment, marketing - efforts in the market - are the main function of the enterprise. In this regard, the marketing plan dominates in importance over other sections of the annual plan, because:

1. the targets of the marketing plan have a direct impact on the performance of other sections of the annual plan;
2. decisions recorded in the marketing plan determine what exactly the enterprise will produce, at what price and where to sell, how to advertise;

The marketing plan serves as a key guide for the work of personnel involved in the firm's marketing activities.

A marketing plan is like a map: it shows where the business is located in this moment where it's going and how it's going to get there.

Marketing plan goals

Systematization, formal description of the ideas of the company's leaders, reporting them to employees;
setting marketing goals, ensuring control over their achievement;
concentration and reasonable distribution of the firm's resources.

The main directions of the marketing plan

Based on a specific strategy for the development of the enterprise and the intended market (marketing) goals in terms of marketing, it is first necessary to determine the key task of the current moment (for example, conducting a situational analysis of the current situation in the marketing of the holding).

Measures to enhance sales of products;
measures to focus the enterprise on the consumer;
activities to collect commercial information;
activities for the preparation of analytical materials for the analysis of the most promising market segments;
proposals for;
proposals for the range of products;

It is more convenient to present the marketing plan in tabular form. Moreover, it is advisable to divide the activities planned for implementation into two sections - regular (in this case, the period is the frequency) and one-time (key date, reporting).

The result can be expressed both in quantitative and qualitative indicators of the enterprise.

Key task current moment - to provide the consumer with the most favorable conditions of service.

Undoubtedly, before embarking on the development of a marketing plan, you want to finally understand how it can be useful for your enterprise.

To find out why a marketing plan is needed, consider the problems that arise in an enterprise in the absence of a marketing plan, as well as the results that an enterprise receives after developing it.

Systematizes and conveys to all employees of the enterprise those ideas that, before its compilation, were exclusively in the head of the head;
allows you to clearly set goals and monitor their achievement;
is a document that organizes the work of the entire enterprise;
allows you to avoid unnecessary actions that do not lead to the intended goals;
allows you to clearly allocate time and other resources;
having a plan mobilizes the company's employees.

The need for marketing. A marketing plan is like a traveler's itinerary, being both a map and a compass. The marketing plan captures the current position (location) of the enterprise, the vectors of movement, target points, and, most importantly, fixes the actions that the company must take to get to the intended points. To find out why a marketing plan is needed, consider the problems that arise in an enterprise in the absence of a marketing plan, as well as the results that an enterprise receives after developing it.

Problems of not having a marketing plan.

1. The company develops spontaneously, from success to failure;
2. Possible schemes constantly conflict, existing options development. As a reason - the dispersion of efforts, funds, loss of time;
3. The target audience is not defined, discrepancies in its estimates from time to time lead to the problems described in the paragraph above;
4. The enterprise randomly purchases products, tries to diversify the product offer at the moment when concentration on the main product offer is required;

Marketing Plan Structure

Coordination of the efforts of a large number of persons whose activities are interconnected in time and space;
determination of the expected development of events;
readiness to respond to changes when they occur in the external environment;
minimizing irrational actions in the event of unexpected situations;
ensuring clear interaction between performers;
minimizing conflicts caused by misunderstanding (or different) understanding of the firm's goals.

Note that this list does not include a requirement to "ensure that the plan is executed", although planning is the essence of marketing: the execution of the plan must automatically follow when the goals in the list are achieved with the help of the marketing plan. Thus, in marketing, planning is by no means limited to putting down desirable prices on paper. Planning in marketing is a continuous cyclical process aimed at bringing the firm's capabilities in the best possible alignment with the market opportunities formed as a result of the following directed actions of the firm, as well as bringing the firm's capabilities into the best alignment with such market factors that are beyond the control of the firm.

The marketing plan usually includes:

Short-term and long-term goals of the firm;
market forecasting results;
marketing strategies of the firm in each market;
tools for the implementation of marketing activities;
procedures for monitoring the implementation of the marketing plan.

The plan must ensure that the firm operates in today's dynamic, constantly changing and highly innovative world.

Since many of the initial data (in particular, the result of forecasting) are probabilistic, the marketing plan is not a "law", but a flexible program of actions, for which it has not one "hard" option, but at least three: minimum, optimal and maximum . The minimum - determines the activity in the most unfavorable development of events, the optimal - in "normal", the maximum - in the most favorable. At the stage of preliminary preparation, the number of plans may be more, it is important to be able to choose from these three.

The multivariance of the plan differs significantly in marketing from the usual directive-distribution strategy for us, and therefore the development of this kind of plans requires breaking the established stereotypes of thinking and behavior - an extremely difficult circumstance, but extremely important for successful work in the foreign market. A multivariate plan allows you to flexibly respond to changes in the external environment, both amenable to our control and beyond, and accustoms staff to the most important marketing idea: you should not go ahead where you can and should find a workaround. It is a multi-variant plan that minimizes the wrong actions of personnel in the event of a sharp deterioration or improvement in the situation, especially in emergency situations.

Marketing guides recommend always remembering that usually 20% of buyers (individuals, firms, segments, markets) provide about 80% of total sales and profits. It is desirable that these key 20% are highlighted in the marketing plan and that maximum attention is paid to them. "Concentrate, not spray" - a slogan that brings the maximum.

Structurally, the marketing plan consists of the following sections of the document:

Main results of activities for the previous period;
analysis and forecast of the development of the economy and the target market;
put forward goals, mainly in quantitative terms, highlighting the main goal;
strategies of enterprise behavior in market segments;
measures of commodity, price, marketing and communication policies, indicating the responsible executors and deadlines;
budget marketing pan (marketing budget).

Development of a marketing plan

After researching regional markets, formulate a policy of interaction “representative office - dealer”

Head of the Marketing Department

Measures to focus the enterprise on the consumer.

The number of repeat orders from Consumers.

If possible, analyze the unmet demand and the reasons why it was not met. Superimpose the structure of demand on the structure of production

Head of the Marketing Department.

Recruiting staff for commercial services on a competitive basis

HR Director

Creation of an effective technology of customer service

Commercial Director

Improving the organization of shipment of products to customers. Even if the shipment time cannot be reduced (although there are also reserves here - in departments interacting with Consumers, you can introduce a rolling schedule), then you can accept the Consumer by taking on the “rough” work - registration.

Commercial Director

Activities to collect commercial information

CEO, Head of Marketing Department

Creation of the structure and operational maintenance of the computer database “Competitors”, “Consumers”, “Suppliers”

Once a quarter

Head of the Marketing Department

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Work in advertising agency implies a large number of various projects and subprojects that need to be prepared and implemented in a fairly short period of time. Another feature is that today you are preparing an advertising campaign for the store household appliances, tomorrow for a recreation center, the day after tomorrow you need to hand over a website for cosmetics, etc. (therefore, I know such terrible words as polycarbonate, and that greenhouses are built from it, that my whim is not a spoiled girl, but TM cosmetics, and that rest in the village. Resort on the seashore costs from 40 USD per day).

And despite the fact that all projects are different in nature, as a rule, they pursue the same global goals(increase in sales, increase brand awareness, increase consumer loyalty, launch a new product on the market). In this article, I will try to describe the process of creating a standard Internet promotion project, which later turns into a commercial proposal, and ideally, into a work plan.

This scheme is used for almost all types of work, including for our own projects, and for creating or promoting client sites, and for any advertising campaign in general. So, let's start everything in order.

1. Finding out all the details of the task.

Those who worked directly with clients have probably come across a situation when a request comes in, such as: “How much does advertising cost for you?”, Or “I want a website, what is the cost and terms?”. This can apply to any other area: I want mobile phone, I want a car, I want to rent an apartment… It doesn’t matter what the client is interested in, often they don’t know what exactly they want. Moreover, they do not know what, in principle, can be there and what cannot be. And if, when creating a site, this can still be understood (technical aspects can be really complex and optional), then regarding the promotion of a product or service, the new ones are simply amazing.

Just the other day, a request came in to conduct an advertising campaign, where the budget was indicated with a run-up twice, there were no deadlines, and when I called to clarify the purpose of the advertising campaign, I realized that my question had stumped the customer's marketers. And really, what else could be the purpose? You just need to spend money on advertising! Alas, these are not scary tales, but the realities of modern business.

So, where does the preparation of a promotion project begin? From clarification of all aspects of the task. First of all, you must find out:
- goals and objectives of the advertising campaign;
- timing;
- the budget of the event;
– possible changes deviations (by budget, by deadlines);
– promotion region;
- description of the target audience.

In addition, ideally, it would be nice to get some information about previous advertising campaigns, their effectiveness, statistics, sources, etc. (but in practice this is extremely rare. If such information exists, then it is considered confidential. But in fact, usually it simply does not exist).

I want to note that the customer sends replies to the questions posed with reluctance, and most often it looks like a reply. But still, such data is necessary. Usually I send a letter with clarifying questions and call back with a request to answer as soon as possible (most often, such requests for promotions come with a note - answer as soon as possible, there is very little time left before the start of the advertising campaign).
This correspondence and clarification of all the nuances usually takes 1-2 days. And only now, when you know about everything, you can begin to proceed directly to your work on drawing up an advertising campaign plan.

2. Definition of advertising campaign tools.

The second step is to decide How exactly are we going to achieve our goals?. We know exactly what the customer wants, we have the experience and knowledge of our tools (speaking of the Internet, this is context, media, media context, portals, blogs, mailing lists, forums ...). If we are talking about offline, then these are Bigboards, TV, Radio, newspapers and magazines (both general and specialized), perhaps some kind of handout, etc. In any case, we know the pros and cons of each of them, the approximate cost and effectiveness for each task. Well, I will continue about Internet advertising, but I think everyone can translate this into their own direction.

So, in a particular case, we had the task of bringing a new product model to the market. We have decided to split the entire advertising campaign into four stages, each of which had its own term, its purpose and its tools:
- initial information about a new product;
- attracting interest;
– attraction to the primary purchase;
- consolidation in the market.

This approach is the most reasonable and logical, since each promotion tool has its own function. I write all this briefly on a piece of paper in order to receive overall structure advertising campaign. It turns out, albeit not very beautiful, but understandable enough (I still blurred out the names and numbers)

The next step is to determine the timing and budget for each of the stages, so far approximately and in general, by large categories. Now we have a general plan for all promotional activities, broken down by weeks and an approximate budget for each of the stages.

3. Budgeting for an advertising campaign.

So, now we know what and when to use. It remains to allocate the budget. in such a way that it corresponds to each specific instrument in each specific period of time. To do this, a table is built, where all the tools are recorded in stages. Then, in accordance with each goal, a budget is put down (you can immediately in money, you can as a percentage). Of course, it turns out in total something like 115% (or vice versa, 97%), so you have to recalculate several times and see what comes out. It looks something like this:

Well, when by common efforts you get a total of 100% (taking into account 2-3% reserve fund), we can assume that the backbone is already ready.

4. Calculation of the expected effect from the company.

Now that we have a budget for each specific promotion tool, we can easily calculate what effect should be expected. For example, we plan to spend on contextual advertising in Direct 100,000 rubles at the second stage, 150,000 at the third and 200,000 at the fourth.
At the same time, we keep in mind the peculiarities of the goals at each stage (and, therefore, keywords and ads will have their own weight and value). Knowing approximately the average cost of one click in a given topic (and if you don’t know, you can always look), we calculate the number of clicks. For example, in the second step average price will be 4.5 rubles, on the third - 7, on the fourth - 5 rubles.

As a result, we get that the number of clicks for the entire advertising campaign via Direct will be: 100,000/4.5+150,000/7+200,000/5=22,700+21,500+40,000=84,200 clicks.

If everything is more or less clear with transitions, then with sales it is much harder. The conversion of a visitor into a buyer depends on many factors. and can vary by orders of magnitude: from 0.05% to 5-7%. You can determine the conversion only by studying competitors, or having experience and data on working in this topic in the past (therefore, data on past promotions is simply necessary).

But still, it is necessary to make such a calculation. It is clear that the conversion at the third stage will be higher than at the second and fourth, because. advertising will be made specifically to sell... Etc.
In a similar way, calculations are made for each instrument at each stage, then a general final table (the form is free, for whom it is more convenient to display this data, and what goals are you pursuing in the first place).
Well, that's about all.

I want to note that sometimes the calculation is done from the opposite, i.e. specific sales are set as goals, and based on them, the budget for each instrument is determined. Alas, this approach does not always justify itself, mainly due to the approximate calculations (it is impossible to say exactly the conversion, CTR and cost of the transition). And it turns out that by making a mistake at the very beginning, as a result, we get huge discrepancies between the planned indicators and the real ones. But still, it should be recognized that sometimes this approach is more correct. It all depends on the specific situation. In this example, the main goal was not sales, so this approach was completely redundant.

5. Making an action plan.

On last step all these pieces of paper, notes and stickers should be organized and a normal, readable document should be prepared, according to which absolutely all aspects can be understood. The degree of registration depends on who the document is directed to. and who will work with him in the future (this may be a commercial offer of another campaign, and therefore everything should be painted as much as possible, or it will be your boss who can clarify something, or just you). In any case, you should not leave everything at this level. Now, when you have just finished working on the project plan, it seems to you that everything is obvious here, and no additional explanations are needed - these drafts are enough for you. But believe me, after 2-3 days, marginal notes will cause you confusion ... Of course, if this is an internal document that only you will work with, the design may be minimal, but it should still be. Written by hand, or typed in Word / Excel is already your own business, but it should be a self-sufficient document that contains all the necessary data for further work.
If it is planned that someone else will work with this document, then it must be made on letterhead. All terms should be disclosed, and the columns in the tables should be deciphered ...
Such a design usually takes from several hours to several days.