Marketing plans usually have three basic purposes.
1. They can be used as a record of the types of analysis you have used and the logic of the plan.
2. They are a guide for directing actions to accomplish your goal.
3. They are often necessary to help obtain funding to implement your plan. Funding may come from internal sources, such as having a budget request authorized by an executive. External sources, such as banks and investors, also may require a marketing plan before they will contribute funds for a project.
The first step is to decide on a product on which to base your plan. It should be something with which you are familiar. You may use the information from the first paper as input to this paper, but it should NOT be a copy-and-paste. The idea is to spend your time developing your plan, not doing lengthy research on an unfamiliar topic.
Discuss your topic with your instructor early in the course to obtain approval and make sure you are on the right path.
As a guide, 14 –18 pages are adequate for the entire paper.
The marketing plan is a road map for the marketing activities of an organization for a specific period of time.
* Use a direct, professional writing style
* Present and future tenses
* Active voice
* Be positive and specific – don’t exaggerate
* Be succinct
* Use visuals when appropriate
* Professional layout
* Include a table of contents, in-text reference citations, and reference list
