Anatomy of a Marketing Plan

A marketing plan is a request for funds in return for a promised level of incremental revenues, unit sales, market share or profits. One can develop marketing plans for products, services, market segments or brands. The critical components of a marketing plan includes the following:

• Summary
• Objectives (attract new consumers, create new uses, increase share of requirements, incent trial, encourage repeat purchase, encourage add-on purchase, increase awareness, increase loyalty, change value perception, increase emotional bond, extend into new product and service categories, etc.)
• Situation Analysis
• Market analysis
• Competitive context
• Customer profile (segments, needs, attitudes, behaviors, insights, etc.)
• Strategies and tactics (touching upon all key marketing components that will be used: product, packaging, pricing, distribution, advertising, publicity, sales promotion, social media, selling, etc.). Be specific.
• Operations considerations (impact on plant capacity, need for new assets, etc.)
• Financial projections
• Pro forma profit and loss statements, balance sheets, cash flows, etc.
• Including funds required to execute plan
• Supporting customer research (qualitative research, concept testing, volumetric modeling, market test results, etc.)
• Risks and contingency plans

Objectives and Strategies First, Please

At a recent marketing committee meeting for a local not-for-profit organization, we immediately dove into what to do regarding a number of marketing tactics from website, newsletter and Facebook page to brochures, videos and member database. The intent was to prioritize the tactics as a part of the organization's marketing plan. The problem was not the act of prioritizing. The problem was that we were looking at the tactics as a group independent of specific target audiences or marketing objectives. We immediately jumped to the tactics without discussing or linking them to the objectives, strategies or target audiences. 

One should organize marketing plans starting with marketing objectives and target audiences. The strategies and tactics are then selected in support of those specific marketing objectives and target audiences. 

For instance, for this organization, the marketing objectives might include:

• Build general community awareness of the organization, its mission and its programs
• Build awareness among specific target groups
• Recruit more members
• Retain existing members
• Create an emotional connection with members
• Recruit volunteers
• Recruit board members
• Recruit board committee members
• Identify high potential donors
• Develop members as donors
• Seek more grants
• Seek more sponsorships
• Promote specific programs
• Promote specific events

Target audiences might include:

• Conservation/ecology oriented citizens
• Conservation organizations
• Kayakers
• Canoeists
• Bicyclists
• Hikers
• Bird watchers
• Boaters
• Fishermen
• Organizations focused on the above mentioned activities
• Yacht club members
• Community philanthropists
• Local university biology departments
• High school science departments
• The City of Rochester
• The Rochester City School District
• Businesses and residents along the Genesee River
• Farmers with farms adjacent to the river
• Local municipalities
• Soil & water conservation entities
• National, state and local funding sources

One must prioritize the audiences and objectives before one can prioritize the tactics. Prioritizing the tactics independent of the audiences and objectives just doesn't make sense.

I hope any time someone asks you what should be done about a specific marketing tactic or tool, your immediate response is to ask about the marketing objective and target audience so that you can offer a meaningful response.  

A marketing plan should have the following hierarchy: organization objective -> marketing objective -> marketing strategy -> marketing tactic. Target audiences are often articulated as part of an objective, but they could also be articulated as a part of a strategy or tactic. The important point is to prioritize marketing tools or tactics in support of specific target audiences in your marketing plan.

The Power of Focus In Branding

I have had the opportunity more than once to focus an organization's marketing efforts and the results have been extraordinary. I have done this as vice president of marketing for an e-learning company, as the volunteer chair of two not-for-profit organizations' marketing committees and in helping multiple clients craft their brand plans.

It has been my observation that organizations spread their marketing budgets too thin. They invest in too many marketing activities which result in diminished impact and ROI. I worked with one not-for-profit organization that outlined dozens of disparate products and services targeted at as many or more target audiences. Their marketing budget was minuscule and they were trying to spend something for each of these products for each of these markets. I had them perform an analysis of participation, revenues, profits and alignment with core mission (and brand promise) for each product/customer bucket of marketing activities. This process made it clear where they should focus their resources. 

At the e-learning company, I reduced the number of trade shows we participated in from dozens and dozens to three or four key ones. I also focused our marketing efforts on two trade publications and two industry experts along with three industry analysts. We discovered each of these information sources to be the most influential in our customers' decision making in our category. This process helped us to move from one of hundreds of e-learning companies to one of the top five e-learning companies in less than two years. 

The scatter-gun approach to marketing spending demonstrates a lack of strategic thinking and a lack of discipline. 

As you are developing your brand management and marketing plans and budget requests for the upcoming year, consider cutting back on many activities so that you can become the industry leader in other more important activities. And focus on those marketing activities that produce the highest ROI. There is power in focus, not only for brand positioning and messaging, but also for customer targets and marketing activities. 

I wish you great success in unleashing the power of focus for your brand.