How to Write a Marketing Plan for the First Time
A marketing plan outlines the activities and strategies an organization will take to promote its products or services and defines the target audiences. When writing a marketing plan for the first time, it is important to be thorough. By including more detail than you need, you will be able to learn what items are needed and what items can be discarded. In the end, it is easier to remove text than to create it.
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Instructions
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Write a project overview. In one or two paragraphs, summarize the project, why it is needed, who the audiences are, what activities will take place, and what the end goals are. After reading this section, the reviewer should have a basic understanding of the full marketing plan. For a first marketing plan, go into detail.
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Define your primary and secondary audiences. Use demographic information such as age, gender and income to create overarching categories, then create a comprehensive profile of each group that includes factors relevant to your product or service. For example, a target audience group for an opera festival might be professionals in their 30s who have shown some interest in other theatrical or musical performances.
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Explain why these market sectors were selected. Why are are the members of your target audience good candidates for your marketing activities? Lay out the audience's current relationship to your product or service and how the marketing plan will improve that relationship. List the reasons why they might be open to your marketing strategies.
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Provide a brief market analysis. In this section, write a description of the market in which your product or service operates. For your first marketing plan, be attentive to details to ensure that you have a complete understanding of the market. Who are the competitors? What marketing strategies have they used successfully? What strategies failed?
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Describe your product or service. In this section, list each service or product you offer and include a paragraph that provides background information and details. Include prices, benefits to customers and items that give you a competitive advantage.
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Write about the marketing strategies. For a first marketing plan, be very specific about the marketing activities you will employ to reach the target audiences. Include details about print or web campaigns, direct marketing, associated costs, personnel needs and approximate production numbers. As you refine your plan, you can remove items to match the needs of the reviewer.
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List the end goals of the marketing plan. Create a list of major goals that are achievable by your marketing strategies. The goals of a first marketing plan will be somewhat arbitrary and can be updated once you have more experience predicting realistic outcomes.
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