Developing and implementing marketing plans

components of a marketing plan

• a SWOT analysis
• forecasting sales and amrket analysis
• setting SMART marketing objectives
• agreeing marketing strategies
• allocating marketing budget
• implementing marketing tactics through marketing mix
• control and review

internal influences on the marketing plan

• operational issues - if the marketing plan is aiming to create up marketqualtiy image, it is vital the operations department can manufacture products of a high enough quality to meet this requirment
• finance - it may be necessary to curtain marketing activities if insufficient funding
• HRM- successful marketing strategies need people to deliver them. consequently, HRM and amrketing need to coordinate their activites

external influences on the marketing plan

• marketing factors
• competitors actions
• technologial change
• suppliers
• political factors
• social factors
• legal facors
• environmental factors

methods of setting marketing budget:

• budgeting according to marketing objectives
• budgeting according to competitors spending
• marketing budget as a % of sales revenue
• zero budgeting/budgeting based on expected outcomes
• budgeting according to last years budget allocation

factors influencing size of marketing budget - the overall size of the budget depends on:

• marketing objectives
• actions of competitors
• benefits to be gained from spending last years allocation
• the organisations financial situation
• the cost of advertising in particular media
• the nature of the market
• consumer expectation
• level of change in the amrket
• the potential return compared with other activities

benefits of amrketing planning

• it provides a clear sense of direction
• motivates staff if they are given responsibility for an element of the plan
• decisions are based on bus logic, involving comparison between alternative strategic approaches
• it is possible that more than one person will be involved in the process
• the plan arises from consideration of all functions of a bus
• departmental plans such as the marketing plan allows senior managers to compare alternative demands for resources
• managers can assess efficiently by comparing actual outcomes with the plan and discovering the reasons for any differences

issues implementing marketing plans

• it takes excessive time in the planning and reviewing stages
• there are constant changes in the market, leading to an inability yo assess the effectiveness of the planning process
• there is a lack of coordination between the different functional plans and the corporate plans
• plans are too ambitious or complicated
• review of progress against the plan seldom takes place or lacks regularity
• the plan remains rigid despite significant changes in circumstances, such as a recession or a high turnover of staff