The success of a company depends largely on its ability to promote itself and reach its target audience. 

Have you been chosen by the company you work for to handle marketing? Or do you want to promote your own business? 

In this case, you will need a marketing plan and know everything you need to create a successful one.

A well-structured marketing plan is a fundamental tool for achieving the objectives that the company has set for itself . The mobile number list reason is simple: it allows you to identify the most effective strategies to promote your products or services and best communicate the company’s values . 

It is a sort of map that indicates the direction to take to achieve the established marketing objectives!

Who is your audience? What is your goal? What do you offer that is unique? How will you reach your audience? How much will you spend?

Thanks to these questions, key elements of a marketing plan , you will be sure to push your products and/or services on the market you belong to.

With this article, I want to explain in detail how to create a marketing plan , what the strengths of this document are and suggest some valuable tools to operate in a professional and effective manner.

Let’s go!

What is a Marketing Plan?

The marketing plan is a document that defines the marketing objectives of the company and the strategies that it will adopt to achieve them. It is generally written by the marketing department , with contributions from the sales department, the communications department and the production department.

We will see later what its content will be…

For now we can say that it includes a detailed description of the target market, competitors and growth opportunities for the company . In addition, the marketing plan establishes the budget and resources needed to implement the planned strategies. 

It is therefore your roadmap , the overall scheme of all the strategies that you intend to implement to achieve your goal and it can change based on the type of company and the focus :

• Marketing plan for a start-up : in this case you could set up a marketing plan for rapid growth, working a lot with projections and data to get results in the shortest time possible; 
• B2C Marketing Plan : in this case you will collect all the strategies that you have decided to implement towards the company’s customers;
• B2B Marketing Plan : here the focus changes, the document will in fact be more focused on stakeholders ; 
• E-commerce marketing plan : in this case you may need a document that contains strategies for launching new products. 

But not only that, the marketing plan can focus only on digital activities (social media, content, etc.), or concern offline activities. And again, it could contain all the strategies for a semester or even the whole year . 

What I want to tell you is that depending on why you decide to create the marketing plan, you have many options to choose from. 

Difference between marketing strategy and marketing plan

There is a substantial difference between marketing strategy and marketing plan and it lies in the nature and approach of each concept within business planning. Both fall within strategic marketing consulting , but we are talking about two concepts that should not be confused. 

Marketing strategy = conceptual and strategic framework that guides all of a company’s marketing activities . 

It therefore defines the general long-term objectives, the main directions to achieve them and the basic methodologies to compete effectively in the target market. In other words, the marketing strategy establishes the “what” and the “why” of marketing actions .

Marketing plan = detailed operational document that derives directly from the marketing strategy . 

It focuses on the “how” and “when” marketing strategies and tactics will be implemented to achieve the established objectives . The marketing plan transforms the abstract guidelines of the strategy into concrete actions , providing a detailed timeline, allocated resources, assigned responsibilities and success measurements.

In the business context, marketing strategy takes into account macroeconomic factors , the company’s competitive position , market trends and competitive advantages to establish a distinctive position in the market.

The marketing plan , on the other hand, translates strategic decisions into detailed actions , considering specific marketing channels, promotional activities, budgets, calendars and other performance metrics . It is, therefore, the means that executors and decision makers use on a daily basis to achieve the defined strategic objectives.

Who needs a marketing plan and why?

At this point you may be wondering business sale lead if it might be a good idea for you to create a marketing plan. 

Well, let’s clarify the fact that a marketing plan is primarily for businesses and organizations . Of any size and industry, of course!

It is essential, therefore, for executives uae phone number and business leaders , to define the strategic direction of the company. The plan provides them with a detailed roadmap on how to allocate resources, manage the budget and coordinate activities to maximize the return on investment.