What Are Some of the Difficulties in Creating a Marketing Plan?

What are some of the difficulties in creating a marketing plan?

Creating a well written and thoroughly researched marketing plan can be a daunting task. One of the biggest difficulties with any marketing plan is simply just getting started. There are many concepts that need to be addressed and planned when creating a marketing plan.In your marketing plan you must have strategies for pricing, distribution, promotion, advertising and market segmentation. You have to consider and prepare for factors such as market penetration, market share, profit margins, budgets, financial analysis, capital investment, government actions, demographic changes, emerging technology and cultural trends. The research and planning that goes into all of these strategies and concepts can be extremely difficult and time consuming. When you create your marketing plan one of the most important and sometimes most difficult tasks is understanding and planning the four P's. The four P's of marketing: Product, Price, Promotion and Placement are the building block to any marketing plan.

Product- You must decide what it is you are representing. You will also need to become thoroughly familiar with the factors that establish products/services as strong contenders in the marketplace.

Price- What will you charge for your service or product? What price is the market around you willing to sustain? What pricing strategy will give you long term market control?

Placement-Where will you do your business? What is the cost to enter the market? Is there any competition in your area?

Promotion- What offerings and strategies will you use to promote and advertise? Will it be direct mail, cable TV, word of mouth? What budget do you have for advertising?

These are just a few of the questions you have to ask yourself when creating a marketing plan. Writing a marketing plan can be a very difficult and daunting task and progress may seem slow but it is critical for success to understand all of these factors.

Reference:

The Difficulty of Creating a Business Plan. Retrieved March 13, 2011. http://www.wahm.com/articles/the-difficulty-of-creating-a-business-plan.html

Why are Objectives so Important and How do we Define and Refine Them?

Marketing plans are typically created in order to meet an organization's objectives. "The ultimate purpose is to help your organization achieve a number of objectives - short-term performance targets - that will in turn, bring you closer to achieving goals, long-term performance targets tied to the mission" (Wood, 2011). Objectives allow organizations to see the bigger picture in terms of their productivity and to have measurable goals in place in order to become profitable.

Objectives are defined as "an end that can be reasonably achieved within an expected timeframe and with available resources. In general, an objective is broader in scope than a goal, and may consist of several individual goals. Objectives are a basic tools that underlying all planning and strategic activities" (businessdictionary.com, 2011). Our text further separates objectives into three distinct types: marketing, financial, and societal. Marketing objectives are primarily focused on the relationship with the customers. Financial objectives refer to the numbers (i.e. profits, sales, market share). Societal objectives look at what the company is doing for society (i.e. environmental concerns, giving back to the community).

Once an organization defines its objectives, they should ensure that they are specific, measurable, and consistent with the organization's overall priorities. In addition, "if you have multiple objectives, make sure they are consistent and not in conflict with each other" smallbusinessnotes.com, 2011).

Conclusion

Organizations use objectives to manage relationships and achieve goals. Because our environment (business and societal) is always changing, objectives will often have to be refined. Increasing competition, new products, and changing target markets are just a few reasons that organizations will need to regularly review and adjust their objectives in order to meet ever-changing consumer needs.

References

BusinessDictionary.com. Retrieved on 3/14/2011 from: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/objective.html.

Kotler, Philip and Keller, Kevin (2009). A Framework for Marketing Management, 4th ed. 80-93.

Small Business Notes. Marketing Plan: Marketing Objectives and Strategies. Retrieved on 3/14/2011 from: http://www.smallbusinessnotes.com/starting-a-business/marketing-plan-marketing-objectives-and-strategies.html.

**With regard to satisfying customers and marketing, tell me about the concept of relationship marketing and lifetime value of a customer with regard to this discussion

Relationship Marketing is building mutually satisfying long-term relationships with key parties, in order to earn and retain their business.

Some businesses form relationships by offering incentives to loyal customers. A good example is car dealerships. Most dealerships have an "Owner Loyalty" program. If the customer previously bought a new car of the same brand, they are eligible for cash back rewards. At one time, Cadillac offered medallions. They fit in the grill of the Cadillac and had a number for how many new Cadillacs that person has owned. Every time they bought a new Cadillac, they would receive another medallion. Having worked at a dealership I got to see firsthand how important the medallions were to some customers.

Another example of relationship marketing is a fairly new program that Macy's has implemented to better their relationship with customers and increase their sales. They started a "My Macy's localization" program that tailors the merchandise in each store to the customers who shop there. The new program takes an individual store approach instead of stocking the same items for every region. The program has paid off for Macy's. Their sales numbers are increasing and they have received positive feedback from their customers.

Social Media has become a huge tool in relationship marketing. Companies are reaching out to their customers on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and many other outlets. These outlets help companies contact their target market directly, by organizing a page or group that customers