Create marketing plan in 4 steps

Read here how to create a marketing plan in only 4 steps, which points have to be recorded and why a marketing plan is so important .

Every company needs a marketing plan to plan the market situation and thus the strategic future. Creating a meaningful marketing plan means analyzing the current market situation as well as the future market development (strategic analysis). Such a plan also serves to define the company goals (objective) and to translate these goals into reality with the help of good strategies and marketing tools (strategy and strategy implementation), it also allows you to decide on 4p's of marketing and help in you on how to build customer persona. Of course, it is also very important to regularly check the action strategies specified in the marketing plan (success control). A marketing plan is then the basis for a business plan.

Read more : What is marketing concept and its importance in marketing plan

Step 1 - Strategic Analysis within a Marketing Plan

A company is only successful if it is on

» Each current market 
» the buying behavior of customers 
» and the competition oriented.

It should also be able to adjust promptly to changes in the marketplace, competition and customer behavior. A very important point in a marketing plan is the competition analysis, because it analyzes the goals, strengths and weaknesses of the competition (strengths-weaknesses-profile). Based on such a competitive analysis, one can recognize competitive advantage and use it for one's own company, because through the weaknesses of the competition one can place one's own product permanently on the market by working out one's own strengths.

Read more on to understand the importance of marketing plan

Step 2 - Objectives in a Marketing Plan

Of course every company sets goals. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to keep track of different, economically relevant indicators and to consider them in the marketing plan. For example, typical key figures for a company are:

• the market share,
• the sales growth
• or expected profits.

However, these figures are so-called late indicators, on whose negative changes a company can not react adequately in the rule. So, if you want to create a good marketing plan, it's important to focus on metrics that are considered leading indicators. In addition to the customer orientation of the company and customer satisfaction, these include the ability to innovate, the satisfaction and commitment of one's own employees as well as the image (external impact) of the company. Anyone who takes these metrics into account in their marketing plan and follows them will be and remain successful.

Step 3 - Strategies and their implementation

Successful companies excel in developing innovative strategies to achieve their goals. As the market changes, the competition does not sleep, and customer behavior changes again and again due to a variety of conditions, a marketing plan should contain as many strategies as possible to achieve the company's goals and cover the individual areas (market, competition, customers). Of course, the implementation of such strategies requires financial and human resources, which must be included in the marketing budget within the marketing budget.

Step 4 - Performance review as part of the marketing plan

» Success control
If you want to create a good marketing plan, you should also plan a success check so that the progress and, of course, the profitability of the marketing strategies can be checked over and over again. Therefore, the marketing plan should establish a regular review of the marketing tools for the implementation of the company goals. Because only with constant testing can the company make timely corrections.

» Personnel control
In addition to checking the instruments, it is also necessary to check those who implement the marketing plan (personnel control). In addition, the relevant key figures must be checked. Their regular review allows an early response to any problematic changes and countermeasures through improvements and adjustments. The success control recorded in the marketing plan is a basic element for successful corporate management.

Extra tip : 

» Marketing plan free template : Especially for new companies (start-up companies) a good marketing plan is indispensable. An overview of the elementary contents of a marketing plan can be found in the free template on microsoft.com . This service provides a good overview of what to look for when creating a marketing plan. The download is free for you and can be changed according to your own needs.