Although successful businessmen have always said that one should have zeal to do well in business. However without planning well one cannot expect to do well in business and all this increases the importance of a good marketing plan.

An effective marketing plan should be focused on marketing the brand of the product. All necessary actions should be planned with this basic idea in mind, and one should build upon this basic plan their whole business plan.

A complete marketing plan includes the following sections: Marketing Plan: Identifies the market and your strategy Creative Plan: Similar to the marketing plan, but is limited to the content of your marketing materials Media Plan: Sets forth and details your selected media weapons and media calendar

Your marketing plan identifies the market and your overall position strategy. Its length is up to you and depends on your organizational culture and the audience who will read and use your plan.

Staring with a statement of single paragraph, a marketing plan should have the following points: Strategy purpose Techniques to achieve the purpose Target market Weapons for marketing Positioning with comparison to competitors Identity of the business Budget – It is suggested that the figures should be projected as a percentage of the gross revenues

Developing a creative plan is as important as creating a marketing plan. The creativity used in creative planning should not deter from the reality of your product. Although similar to marketing plan, creative plan deals solely with marketing materials. Simply put creative plan can be broken down into the following points: Creative message purpose Techniques to achieve that purpose Advertising tone, mood or personality

Plan and select the Media and weapon that best suit your product or service. Then you’re ready to schedule your marketing calendar. This will tell you whether you can use your selected marketing methods properly. It forces you to come to terms with the costs and realities of the media you selected.

In some cases, you may need a more in-depth marketing plan.

When faced with a situation where you would need to have a more detailed marketing plan, you can build your plan according to the below mentioned layout. An Executive Summary highlighting the main points of the marketing plan. Challenges, enlisting a short description of the marketed product and related goals. Situation Analysis, that includes a complete analysis of the goals, strengths and weaknesses of your company. Market Segmentation that helps in understanding the segments of the market that is being targeted and corresponding objective. A Selected Marketing Strategy that involves the decisions made with regards to the product, its price and promotion. The Short and Long Term Projections of the business, which should include strategies planned to deal with challenging situations. Conclusion that should summarize points included in the plan and attracts the readers. Appendix including related documentation along with an exhaustive bibliography.

A well developed and thought of marketing plan is the step-stone towards building a good business and attract potential investors and lenders for the success of your business.