What's the structure and content of a marketing plan?

A strategic marketing plan is a bit like a jigsaw puzzle. There's a lot of little pieces that have to be found and put together to make a coherent big picture. It can take a while to get all those pieces identified and in position, but when it's done, the final picture will look compelling.

A Marketing plan focusses on getting and keeping customers and the marketing programs for doing it. It still answers the three fundamental questions of strategic planning, which we've already explored:

1. Where are we now?
2. Where do we want to be?
3. How will we get there?

These overlay the underlying structure of a marketing plan which is built around the marketing process of:

* Analysis - of marketing opportunities and the attendant researching of target markets.
* Planning - of marketing objectives and programs or strategies.
* Implementation - the organizing and putting into action the marketing programs.
* Control - the monitoring, measuring and evaluating of the success or otherwise of the marketing programs

Here's the basic structure and content which we will explore in more detail in future posts.

Where are we now?

ANALYSIS

1. Executive summary – Presents a brief overview of the plan. This appears first in the plan but is actually prepared last, after all of the following.

2. Background – Presents brief history/description of the library (including KPIs and financial situation), its mission, vision and values statements and the reasons for producing the plan.

3. Current marketing situation analysis– presents relevant background data on current external and internal environments.

External environment - external forces and trends that pose opportunities and threats to your library including:

• demographic
• economic
• political/legal
• environmental
• social/cultural
• technological

Internal environment - internal marketing skills and knowledge and industry trends in those capabilities that highlight strengths and weaknesses in your library in the following areas:

• customers (including size and growth of market; customer characteristics, perceptions, behaviours, needs)
• products/services (including their pricing)
• promotion
• distribution channels
• competition (including competitor characteristics, comparison, strengths and weaknesses, objectives, strategies, evaluation)
• publics (including any group that has an actual or potential interest in, or impact on, your library's ability to achieve its objectives - financial, media, government, citizen action, local, general and internal publics.)

4. SWOT and issues analysis – identifies, with relevance to your library service, the main

• strengths/weaknesses
• opportunities/threats
• issues identified from the SWOT's matching of strengths and weaknesses to opportunities and threats
• key planning assumptions
• critical success factors
• key result areas

Where do we want to be?

PLANNING

5. Goals and objectives – Defines the plan’s financial and marketing goals,
• linked to the broader organizational mission statement,
• expressed as measurable objectives in terms of- usage volume,- market share,- cost/revenue,- consumer awareness,- consumer satisfaction etc.

How will we get there?

6. Marketing strategy – Presents the broad marketing approach that will be used to achieve the plan’s objectives, i.e.
• the 4Ps of marketing
- Product/Service,
- Price,
- Place (or distribution)
- Promotion (or marketing communication)
• and other strategic options that serve the 4Ps, e.g.
- segmenting, targetting, positioning,
- market research, etc.

IMPLEMENTATION

7. Action programs – Presents the special marketing programs designed to achieve the business objectives.

8. Projected budget – Forecasts the plan’s expected budget inputs and financial outcomes.

CONTROL

9. Controls – Indicates how the plan will be monitored, measured and evaluated.

The model for the plan is based on the work of American marketing guru Philip Kotler, SC Johnson and Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, from the following books:

Kotler, Philip; Brown, Linden; Adam, Stewart and Armstrong, Gary, Marketing 6th ed. Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest NSW, 2004, pp 120-159

Andreasen, Alan R. and Kotler, Philip, Strategic Marketing for Non-Profit Organizations, 5th ed., Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River NJ, 1996, pp 100-101

There are many sites that can help you with marketing planning. Have a look at my del.icio.us bookmarks on planning to get you started. It's mostly about asking the right questions and then providing convincing, evidence based answers to them.