A marketing plan is an actionable report defining the problem, proposing a product/service as a solution targeted to a specific segment of consumers, and providing strategies and actions about how the proposed product will be marketed.
1. The first task in a marketing plan is to find a problem. You have identified a problem in Assessment 1 and based on the comments provided by the marker in Assignment 1, you will further refine and provide a clearly defined problem and solution. Please note since the second assignment is built upon the first assignment, you cannot change your product without the unit coordinator’s approval.
2. To develop an appropriate marketing plan for the intended product/service/solution, it is important to understand the situation of the business environment. You will need to do your research to find information that will help you understand the business environment. Therefore, in assessment 1 you were required to reflect upon what kind of information you would need to improve the product so that you will have some preliminary understanding of the kind of sources you should be looking for. You will use tools, for example, SWOT, PESTEL, and competitor analysis to analyse and understand favourable and unfavourable conditions in the environment and the implications of those to the marketing of the intended product/service.
3. Based on the problems, potential solutions you have thought about, and the situational analysis, you will propose a targeted customer segment. Please note the targeted customer segments should be accessible, and profitable.
4. You will then set growth goals for a year. Both qualitative and quantitative goals are required. For example, increasing product/service awareness (qualitative), and enhancing awareness Marketing Strategies (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) Target market Situational Analysis Problem Identification Figure 1 Marketing plan flowchart by 20%, and awareness could be measured by conducting a customer survey. The survey could include questions asking whether customers can recall your product or not, and how often they can recall. Or the goal could be focused on sales, for example, 1000 units sold during the first year, increased awareness of the product, and so on. Try to make goals SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound). Also, what actions are you going to take to achieve those goals?
5. Once you have set goals, you need to propose marketing strategies to help achieve those goals. First, you will need to tease out the product/service’s values, types, features specifications and so on.
6. Mention the pricing strategy you will adopt for the product/service and why. For example, if you are looking to attract new users, and gain some market, you may go for sales-based pricing, if you are looking to generate profit, you may choose profit-based pricing. There are various ways, for example, cost-based pricing, and value-based pricing. Discuss which fits with the product depending on its values and use, customer segment’s affordability, and pricing objectives.
7. Similarly, you will need to propose a distribution strategy including the level and intensity of distribution, the kind of distribution network, and what values this distribution adds to the product/services to the customers. And so on. A well-developed distribution network facilitates efficient delivery of the value of the product to the end customers. It helps to reach out to the targeted customer segment and enhance the availability of the product/services. However, depending on the product characteristics, the distribution strategy will vary. For example, fuel is a commodity and extensively distributed, whereas gold is a precious material and exclusively distributed.
8. Finally, you should choose appropriate promotion strategies and channels. The channels of promotion should effectively deliver the product message (depending upon the targeted goals, and kinds of customers) to the intended customers. You need to know where your customers are mostly found and display your message just right there using the appropriate channels.
9. Finally, an estimation of expenses (budgeting) is required.
10. Provide a list of references and appendices. You will need to provide references for all the information that you have used in your analysis such as in PESTEL, SWOT, and your discussion. This allows us to verify that you have done your research and that the work is original. Answers without references will not get more than a pass mark or may even fail. Also, in the appendices, you will need to provide a screenshot of the feedback you received in Assignment 1. We will need this to verify whether you have incorporated feedback from assignment 1 or not, and if there has been improvement in your idea or not.