Essential Components of a Marketing Plan

From the Small Business Administration

The Executive Summary

The Executive Summary section of your marketing plan allows you to introduce your company and explain the major points of your plan "in a nutshell." A number of people lack the time and interest to read your entire marketing plan; nonetheless, they need to be "on board." The Executive Summary is for them.

You'll need to write it after the other sections have been written, since it's a summary of their major points. Some of the key points to cover are listed below:

1. Introduce your company by briefly describing the nature of your business and the products or services you offer.

• If your business is already in operation, state how long you've been in business and how long you've been at your current location. Describe your business activities including sales and customers. Highlight your accomplishments and successes.
• If your business is not yet in operation, describe the experience and training you have that qualifies you to operate this type of business. Include similar information for business partners or key managers of the company.

2. State your founding philosophy-often called a mission statement-and company objectives.

• Mission statements are relatively abstract, such as "to provide quality day care for children."
• Company objectives are more specific, such as "to be the child care provider of choice in the Tri-County area and to increase enrollment by 25 percent in 12 months."

3. Introduce your management team. (This may be you — wearing many hats!)

• Describe the organizational structure of your business. Is it a sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation?
• List key management. Include copies of their resumes in the supporting documents section.
• Disclose management salaries and ownership, management assistance and training needs, and supporting professionals (such as a bookkeeper or lawyer).
• List the board of directors.

4. Close the executive summary with a brief statement of the main marketing objectives and strategies contained in the plan.

A Snapshot of Your Current Situation

In the Current Situation section of your marketing plan, you'll provide information about your location, target market and competitive environment. You'll briefly describe the competitive environment and key issues your company faces in this section; more detail is provided in the Competitor and Issue Analysis section.

Location

Describe your current or planned business location.

If you do not yet have a business location, name areas or properties under consideration and the criteria you will use in selecting a location. Consider customer proximity, parking availability, accessibility by public transportation employee availability, inventory storage and movement, compliance with federal, state and local laws and codes (such as those for zoning, safety or health), security, and site expansion potential.

List any negative aspects of your location that would affect sales (such as a lack of sufficient parking) and try to list solutions for such problems. Remember that no location is perfect- try to turn every negative around and make it work for you.

Describe any plans for the future expansion of your business. Do you intend to move? Will you offer additional goods or services as you grow? Will you hire employees?

If you offer or plan to offer a service or product in a manner that does not require customers to visit a location, include a description of how you and your customers will meet or interact- how services and products will be exchanged. This may be the case if your product is a consulting service you provide from home or at a client location. Also, if your products are offered through catalog sales or on the Internet, you would describe how your services and/or products would be exchanged with customers.

Target Market Description

Critical to your success in marketing any product is aiming all your marketing efforts at a target market. Planning your marketing strategy without knowing to whom you're trying to appeal is like planning a party without knowing anything about the people attending.

Describe the size of your target market. Remember, a market is people with something in common, not a place or a thing. Be specific and include statistics about the size of your target market. Include information on whether the size of your target marketing is growing, shrinking, or staying the same. If the size of your target market is changing, explain why.

Describe your target market in the following terms:

• Characteristics they share such as age, income level, sex, race, number of children, marital status, where they live, etc.
• Habits or hobbies they exhibit. For example, your target audience may tend to be workaholics, which makes them good candidates for meals delivered to their homes or offices.
• Wants and needs they have and how your product fulfills them. For example, most single, working mothers often need affordable, quality daycare for children.

Describe your market's buying habits For example, how do they spend their disposable income? When do they buy? How much? How often?

Note: You may have more than one target market. Identify your primary market — the customers who buy your products or services most often. Then, include secondary groups if you feel they will provide significant business.