Marketing Plan
Product or Service Concept | Target Market Analysis | Evidence of Market Need | Competitive Analysis |
Pricing Strategy | Marketing Communications | Sales/Marketing Channel
Welcome Marketers! This is an exciting piece of your plan. Here, you will explain how you intend to "get the
message out" to prospective customers. You'll provide details of the why's, how's, and how much's of your
marketing plan--and you will back it up with primary research and secondary research, which will bolster your
case to gain financial support. Remember that throughout all of your Business Plan, your audience to this plan is the
people who you are asking for money to help you finance the new business. So, you need to convince either your
Venture Capitalists or your lenders that you have done your homework on your customers' wants, needs, and ability
to pay. And then you must show them in this part of your plan what you've learned. The parts of your plan are
explained below! Have fun with this!
Product or Service Concept
Your product or service concept will be explained here. This is your "project topic!" You will want to go into
enough detail to explain how your product and service will appear to customers--as well as include your "hook" or
specialty that makes your business truly "yours." Every new business should have a special "something" which
delineates it from all the rest...that is your "hook." Whether it is wifi in a car-wash, free coffee and biscuits in the
lobby of your shoe store, or pet-friendly areas in your bar or restaurant--you should explain that here clearly,
concisely and persuasively. Most lenders and Venture Capitalists will read this first, and this piece will help them
decide if they should read on or throw the plan in the can.
Some things you may want to consider while you are working on this are:
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Do you understand your own product or service?
Will others understand it?
What are the features and benefits of your product or service?
What methods will you use to market it? Online? Word of mouth? Traditional advertising?
Why will people want to use your product or service?
How will people use your product or service?
How is your product or service different from all the rest?
Target Market Analysis
You need to provide information to your investors about the market in which you plan to operate your new business.
You may use some primary research for this, as well as secondary research, about demographic information in your
new business's home. Here, you will provide:
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Where is the new business going to be located? (Provide explicit details.)
How big is the market? What is the growth rate (historically and projected?)
Why is THIS market the best place for you to place your new business?
Does your market have unique features or dynamics that you plan to capitalize on?
When you write this section, provide real numbers along with your narrative. Utilize good solid demographic
research and provide the latest information you can find. If you quote Census figures or information from
a government or trade website, include the web link information directly in your narrative.
Be sure to triangulate your information. For example, 2000 Census figures are 8 years out of date; using them for
New Orleans would be silly (2000 Census data shows the population of 484,674. Today's figures are closer to
273,000 according to population expert Greg Rigamer.) Failing to follow up on real life changes to information will
make you look "out of touch" with the current business climate. Triangulating your information means to do
followup research on your sources and find other places where the same information is provided. This helps ensure
your material is correct and current.
Evidence of Market Need
Your "Market Need" evidence will hinge on your primary research. Please review the tutorial included in the
Marketing section of this course where ideas on how to accomplish primary research are provided. Secondary
research can also bolster this, but you MUST include some primary research in this section! Failing to do so will
result in very low (to no) points for the "Market Need" section of your plan. Some secondary resources may include:
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industry association reports
trade publication information
trade show documents
publicly traded company websites and annual reports
Include your findings from your research in the body of the plan, and place the details into the appendix. If you use a
survey, include a copy of that (along with the results) in your appendix. If you do interviews, attach transcripts of
those, along with time, date, and information about who was present in the appendix. Focus group information
should be written into a short report and included in the appendix, including who was there, what happened or was
asked, how it was conducted, when and where it took place, and how you selected the participantsand copies of any
written materials used with the focus group.
Your "hook"
Remember that each new business needs some sort of "hook" where you pull in your new customers! A hook need not be
which is flamboyant, although sometimes they are, but it needs to be something "different" from the competition, and it sho
something memorable and good for your customers!
Some "hook" examples are:
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A car wash which offers wi-fi and a nice, clean lounge, while people wait.
Gas station where full-service costs the same as self service, and you even get your windows washed.
A pet food store which also offers boarding for all customers
Hooks aren't necessarily "discount" programs--they are really something which makes your business uniquely competitive. Make sure
don't get so carried away with your "hook" however, that you give away the store, or rely too much on it that you lose sight of the foun
business. If your business is already a unique one, then it is already the "hook."
Feel free to discuss this further with your faculty member, if you have questions.
Focus on explaining to your investors why you feel your customers will buy or use your product or service.
Remember your audience is the group of people you plan to ask for the money to put your business into
place...persuade them.
Competitive Analysis
Describe your competition here! Include your SWOT analysis, show why you will be better than your competitors,
and convince your investors of the same! Don't forget your "indirect" competitors: for example, grocery store direct
competitors are other grocery stores; indirect competitors are restaurants, Schwan's home delivery trucks, and
Omaha Steaks!
Questions you may address in your Competitive analysis:
Who are the key competitors?
What are their strengths and weaknesses?
What is their approximate market share?
How will you take share away from them?
How will they most likely try to stop you if you are successful?
How can you react to these competitors’ actions?
Who are your indirect competitors?
What do they offer your prospects?
Pricing Strategy
This section is KEY to whether you will make money, lose money, enjoy customers or run them away! This is a
very tricky piece of having a business. Along with avoiding "price-fixing," you also want to ensure you don't price
yourselves out of the market! Under-selling yourself, too, will be a sure-fire way to lose your shirt. Just like
Goldilocks and her quest for the "right" temperature of soup, softness of chair and bed, your customer wants the
right blend of service, product quality and price.
In this section, describe and JUSTIFY your pricing strategy and your specific prices. Show actual pricing for your
product and service lines, not simply theoretical concepts and ranges. Provide hourly rates for your consulting
business, along with some actual "typical engagement" costs and billings. Ensure that your pricing strategy shows:
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How and why you arrived at your pricing? (Perhaps your survey/primary research touched on this--if so,
include your results here!)
Do these prices compare to your competitor's prices?
If so, are you "price-fixing?" (No!!) If not, are yours lower? Higher? Why?
Have you realistically related your prices to your own costs? In other words, have you factored in a profit?
Show how your pricing changes over the 5 year period.
Use good sound business judgment when setting your pricing. Visit some of your competitors and "shop around."
Take a good hard look at your vendors and your own wholesale costs. Make sure you can cover your own inventory
costs, pay your employees and walk home with some profits before you price yourself into money troubles. Perhaps
you'll offer a "loss-leader" and make it up somewhere else--if so, explain.
Marketing Communications Plan
In the Marketing Communications plan, you will describe the role, the strategy, and the execution of your total
Communications plan. This should include advertising, literature, promotions, public relations, trade shows,
brochures, the Internet, etc. Describe your message, your specific communications vehicles, and your timing on
advertising.
You must show a budget by year and type of expense. Total these to show the complete investment you will be
making in communications. Use the financial templates to assist in building this budget.
Sales and Marketing Channel Plan
In this section, you should be describing how you are going to “sell” your product or service. This plan may be
simple—with the founders doing all of the selling. Or it may be complex—with a complete sales force in place. In
any case, describe your overall sales plan. Some questions to ask yourselves and answer in your plan are:
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What is the structure of your sales force (if you have one)?
What marketing/sales channels will you use? Why?
What is your access to these channels?
How and how much do you pay them?
Understand what a sales channel is: other people or organizations selling your product for you. This is different from
advertising and promoting your product (marketing channels). Sales channels may be at the wholesale or retail
levels. You will want to break down the cost and budget for this operation. Research specific channels to be sure
they are accessible to you. For example, many new businesses discover that Wal-Mart will not sell new
manufacturer's products right away. Further, their "conditions" are often so onerous that missing one of them can
cost a new company all of their profits, plus more. Sometimes, direct selling is the best way for young companies to
get their product to the public. Along with competing for customers, companies also compete to get their products
on store shelves.