Marketing Plan: Steps of How to Write An Effective One

A business needs to have a marketing plan. Without a plan, the marketing you make will certainly be confusing. All companies that do business need marketing so that their business can be recognized by their intended customers. In the process, many marketing processes are needed.

A marketing plan is part of the required marketing. Therefore, the plan should be well made. This article will discuss what a business needs to create a marketing plan so that the marketing strategy can be executed properly.

Marketing Strategy

Before discussing more about marketing plans, let's discuss marketing strategies. A good marketing plan can be executed if the marketing strategy used is well-made. If these two things work, it is not impossible that the business marketing will be successful.

Marketing strategy is a method used by a company to try to overcome the competition from the competitors they face. In general, marketing strategies are made to get potential customers so they can become loyal servants of your business.

A good marketing strategy is the foundation of an effective marketing plan. Therefore, make sure the marketing strategy undertaken is following company goals and adjusts to the intended target customers. That way, the marketing activities carried out can run well.

Marketing Plan

A marketing plan is a measurable plan made by a company based on the marketing strategy they use. You could say a marketing plan is a plan that a company wants to do to achieve the goals to be achieved from marketing objectives.

The plan is a series of things that the company does to implement the strategy adopted by the company. There are many benefits that a business can get by making this. Therefore, in addition to a well-planned marketing strategy, a good marketing plan also needs to be made well.

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Steps to Make a Marketing Plan

When creating a marketing plan, some steps must be carried out by a business. With these steps, a company is expected to be able to implement an effective marketing strategy for the business. The following are steps that companies can use in creating a marketing plan

1. Knowing the Company's Business Situation
   Every business has a different situation from one another. Therefore, you cannot use the same action. So you need to understand what situation the company is facing. One way you can do to understand it is to use a SWOT analysis.
   By using a SWOT analysis, you can identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and tactics that are happening in your business. This action will help you identify and understand the situation that is happening to your business.
   Such a systematic approach will be much more useful than guessing what is happening to your business. Moreover, the plan you want to make must be based on a situation that happened to your business. From this situation, the plans made will also help understand your business customers.
    
2. Understanding Target Customers
   When carrying out marketing activities, a company must have a target customer. The target customers that are owned also do not go through a haphazard process. A company must determine target customers not only for marketing purposes but also to produce these goods.
   The breadth of the customer pool makes a company need to have certain target customers so that the marketing plan can run well. These companies must collect sufficiently detailed information about their potential customers, ranging from customer demographics to customer behavior when making purchases.
   By knowing potential customer information, it will be easier for a business to determine the marketing plan it wants to use. From this information, understanding customers will be easier because these customer groups usually have similar shopping behavior.
    
3. Identify Unique Selling Propositions
   Currently, competition and business competition are getting tougher. Products and services sold are also not so different from one another. Therefore, a business must have something different and unique. One thing that can be done is to have a unique selling proposition or USP.
   After knowing your target customers, you can identify the advantages of the products and services you can offer that give you plus points compared to your competitors. This is needed by the company to meet customer needs so that they prefer your product over other products.
    
4. Selecting Marketing Channels
   The more advanced technology makes more and more marketing activities that you can do. You can carry out marketing activities both offline and online. Existing marketing channels are also increasingly diverse, with online marketing now increasingly becoming a preference for business owners.
   These marketing channels can also be selected based on the demographics of customers you have. These are related to one another. By choosing the right marketing channel, marketing activities that you can do can run effectively. The right marketing channels will also help product sales.
    
5. Setting the Budget
   One of the final steps that a company must take is setting the budget. Every business must set aside a budget for marketing activities. This can be determined from various things, one of which is choosing the marketing channels that you use in these promotional activities.
   If your business is small, you need to adjust your marketing plan. Make sure the marketing activities carried out can adjust to the budget you have. In addition, the determination of the existing budget must also be following the company's finances. Effective marketing activities do not always require a large budget. Therefore, this one marketing step is very crucial for marketing.

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The marketing plan itself needs to be executed properly so that the marketing strategy can work effectively. Good planning will help companies get optimal results and avoid unnecessary risks. In addition to well-planned marketing activities, don't forget to produce quality products and provide maximum service to customers.

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