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What to Include in the Marketing Section of a Business Plan

Internet, E-commerce and Social Media

Your marketing section outlines your overall marketing plan, which includes three key areas:

  • Pricing
  • sales strategies
  • advertising and promotion

Pricing. Carefully determine your pricing to be in line with the market you are trying to reach. Various factors will influence your pricing strategies, including:

  • Costs of purchasing or manufacturing goods
  • Time involved in performing a service and/or making a sale
  • Economic factors and market conditions
  • Location
  • Competition
  • Consumer needs
  • Availability of a product

    • Sales. Sales includes all ways of reaching your target audience. In this section, outline your means of selling, using methods such as:

  • The Internet
  • Catalogs
  • Retail outlets
  • Trade shows
  • E-mail marketing
  • Search engine marketing (SEM)

    • This section can include charts or graphs to represent potential sales growth patterns. Support your projections using reasoning parallel to your sales plan.

    Service providers should explain the means in which they will promote themselves to the public and how products, if any, are connected to their businesses.

    Advertising and Promotion. The final part of your marketing section centers on the methods you will use to reach your target audience. Based on demographics, which areas of the media do you plan to use to advertise and promote your business?

    Some examples are:

    • Print media
    • Television
    • Radio
    • The Internet
    • Direct mail

    Additionally, what type of promotional campaign will you use?

    Examples include:

    • Product giveaways or demonstrations
    • Contests
    • Trade shows
    • Special events
    • Point of purchase displays
    • Coupons and discounts
    • Sponsoring local activities
    • Viral marketing

    You should explain your advertising and promotional plans. Why have you selected a specific medium? What angle will you use to grab the attention of your target market? How much of your budget is allocated for advertising and promotion?

    Throughout your marketing section, connect the benefits of your product or service to the consumer. Customers buy based on the value the product or service brings to them.