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Complete Part B of the Strategic Marketing Plan. MKT/574 v1 Strategic Marketing Plan MKT/574 v1 Page 2 of 2 Strategic Marketing Plan Part A: Environmental Analysis and SWOT Analysis (Due in Wk 2) Company Description Describe the company you are designing the plan for. Include: · Mission Statement · Vision Statement · Product line description · Company information, such as the size of the company Environmental Analysis Analyze the forces that affect the company and marketing efforts. Competitive Forces Analyze the company’s key competitors. You may choose to use a BCG Matrix or attribute checklist to compare your company against its competitors. Describe any strategic moves the competition has recently made. Estimate your market share. Identify key competitive advantages against your competitors. Economic Forces Analyze the economic environment in the areas affecting your business. Consider differences within your industry and the economic impact on suppliers. Political Forces Analyze relevant political forces. Examples may include an election year or a law to drastically reduce or eliminate plastic waste in your county. Legal, Regulatory, and Ethical Issues Analyze the legal, regulatory, and ethical issues that may affect your business. Considerations may include local laws such as a ban on the use of plastic bags, the ability to post billboards, or a possible increased regulation on direct mail. Technological Forces Analyze whether your company will be affected by emerging technologies or trends in hardware and software industries Social Forces Analyze social trends and how they may affect your business. Considerations may include if your business will be affected by demographic trends, a growing dependence on computers, or whether interest in your product might be affected by growing preferences in the way things are done or changing social values. Current Target Markets Define the company’s current target markets. Describe the demographic, geographic, psychographic, and product usage of these targets. Review Current Marketing Review the company’s current marketing tactics. Consider how people find out about the product, how they get information about the product or service, what might be involved in the buying process, and what money is available for marketing. If your company is a start-up, describe your competitors’ current marketing. SWOT Analysis Assess your company’s strengths, weaknesses, threats, opportunities, and then evaluate how to address these in your marketing plan. Strengths Assess your company’s competitive advantage. Consider core competencies, assets, location, practices, etc. that are distinct in the way the organization meets the needs of its customers. Weaknesses Assess what limits the company may have in its current marketing strategy. Consider if there is a company weakness that needs to be addressed through Public Relations or Marketing. Opportunities Assess the opportunities you see based on trends or environmental conditions. Threats Assess the threats or limitations that may interfere with the company’s ability to meet its objectives or interfere with marketing plans. Strengths to Opportunities & Converting Weaknesses and Threats Convert weaknesses and threats to strengths, then strengths to opportunities in the marketing plan. Consider the implications for addressing supplier relationships, implementing new technologies, or changing the product line or addressing new markets. Marketing Objectives Establish marketing objectives based on the results from the SWOT analysis. Marketing objectives must align with corporate objectives, modified by the company’s resources. Objectives should include a date for the completion of the objective and the way in which success will be measured. For example: The company will expand its marketing efforts to include a new market segment of 21- to 29-year-olds. This will entail the development of a customized product by June 2020 that will address the specific psychographic and technological needs of this age group. This strategy is expected to attain a 20\% growth in overall sales by January 2020. Customer loyalty (willingness to recommend the product) will increase by 30\%. Part B: Marketing Data Analysis (Due in Wk 4) Internal Data Evaluate internal sources of information available to you inside the organization and what information you will receive from each source. Identify 3-6 sources of internal data. Insert or remove rows as needed. Source What it Measures Data Potential Usage Example: Sales data Monthly sales by specific product Average sales that month in US dollars for each of 10 products. Data can be segmented by business and consumer markets. Can be used for trend analysis, projections, and to measure effectiveness of promotions. Secondary Data Evaluate secondary data sources and the specific information you need from each source. Insert or remove rows as needed. Source What it Measures Data Potential Usage Example: retail store analytics Dollar value of sales by quarter by major product categories Total sales of major players Market Share Analysis Seasonal patterns Primary Data Evaluate primary data needs to create and evaluate the marketing plan. Insert or remove rows as needed. Source What it Measures Data Potential Usage Example: Focus group Product usage, motives, identify group level satisfaction, decision process, etc. Qualitative Identify different reactions of market segments to product. Identify marketing opportunities, product/service flaws and opportunities Customer Relationship Management Establish customer touchpoints and develop appropriate CRM events for customer acquisition, retention, and profitability. Insert or remove rows as needed. CRM Touchpoint Purpose & CRM Objective Data Potential Data Usage Example: Customer profile information on website Starts the account for visitors: name, geography, email address (Customer acquisition) Presale: geographic location; customer id, source of reference Email address Post sales: address, product purchased, quantity, price. Track new and returning customer counts, total period purchases by customer ID, geographic sales data. Can be used for loyalty rewards, retention, and targeted marketing. Part C: Market Strategy, Marketing Channels, Implementation, and Monitoring (Due in Wk 6) New Target Markets Determine any new markets for your strategy and describe how you will provide value to each target market. Marketing Mix for New Target Markets Determine adaptions for each new target market. · Products · Price · Distribution · Traditional Promotion · Online Promotion Marketing Implementation Create the implementation for your marketing plan. Describe how you will organize and implement the plan, such as whether it will be organized by market, geography, and who is responsible for marketing decisions. Marketing Communication Channels Evaluate the marketing communication channels you will use to reach selected audiences. Include Internet and traditional communication channels to convey key messages. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of each channel you select. Insert or remove rows as needed. Channel Target Market Advantages Disadvantages Example: Direct mail Middle class residential Can include coupons Expense and low return rate for given product Strategic Actions Develop specific activities required to implement the marketing plan. Identify the person or role who will be responsible for each action, when it will be complete, and what standard or metric indicate that the activity is complete. Insert or remove rows as needed. Action Date for Completion Person/Role Responsible Standard/Metric Example: Design flyer for direct mail campaign 1/1/2021 J. Smith, graphic designer Approval by senior marketing team and legal Monitoring Develop the measurement to identify how you know you have been successful for each strategic action. Specify the measures to track performance against goals. Identify standard reports from your online and traditional marketing efforts. Insert or remove rows as needed. Action Target Person Responsible Inter-measurement Example: Direct mail flyer 1100 new inquiries Western regional manager 500 new inquiries first month of campaign Copyright 2020 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. Copyright 2020 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. MKT/574 WK1 Assignment: Concepts and Applications Worksheet Worksheet Name: Question Answer Application Citation What is marketing? Marketing is a process through which an organization engages the target market to build strong relationships and, in return, get sales. It involves the promotion and selling of products or services and will involve much research and then advertising. The marketing department in the company implements this. Several strategies can be applied: social media marketing, email marketing, conversational marketing, TV advertising, and direct selling. (Blythe & Martin, 2019) What are common misconceptions of marketing? Marketing misconceptions are wrong thoughts that people have about how to approach marketing. The following are some examples: 1. Small businesses do not need marketing-this misconception leads many small businesses to fail. 2. The marketing plan only involves advertising-this is not true because marketing plans do not only use the traditional advertising strategies today. 3. A business does not need to market to existing customers-this is a severe misconception because keeping customers involves keeping them engaged or through. Having marketing misconceptions costs the business because it fails to fully take advantage of marketing strategies that can help to bring in more customers and keep the loyalty of the existing customers. An example will be a scenario where the business fails to advertise because it feels that it has enough customers. (Pride & Ferrell, 2021) What role do value and exchange play in marketing? Value is the difference between what the customer perceives to be the products benefit and the products cost compared with other products. It plays a critical role in determining the worth of the product being provided in the market. Exchange is what happens when people trade products or services. The role of the exchange is to provide utility which means that the product the company is selling should be less in value than the benefits. Value and exchange result in profit for the business. Value and exchange provide a means for a company to determine the best marketing strategies and set the correct prices. The goal is to ensure that the company can gain profits throughout the whole process. (Wood, 2016) What is the marketing mix? [Hint: 4Ps] The marketing mix can be considered the tactics that any business uses to promote its product(s) or service(s) in the market. It is centered around the 4Ps: price, place and promotion of the product or service. These 4Ps interact significantly with each other and, they are usually limited in different ways by both internal and external issues. The marketing mix is necessary to help companies identify what the customers want, how the product or service they are producing meets that need, how it is perceived in the market, and the competitive advantage compared to competitors. The marketing mix is a marketing tool that determines the specific aspects that will have to be considered in promoting a product and the brands growth. It is, therefore, a critical part of decision-making and strategizing in the marketing department. (Blythe & Martin, 2019) What are two trends impacting the future of marketing, and how might they impact your organization? 1. Social media marketing-this trend has quickly become an essential part of the marketing discipline, and it continues to grow stronger into the future. More people are using social channels and social media platforms today, and therefore, marketing has to focus on that. 2. Mobile devices- these devices, including smartphones, tablets, and different kinds of wearable gadgets, are revolutionizing how companies are marketing. They are providing a way for companies to create personalized relationships with their customers. An application of social media marketing strategies will allow the organization to grow by reaching out to more customers. Focusing on social media channels is a critical strategy. At the same time, marketing messages should focus on personalized relationships with the target customers by using advertisements that fit on mobile devices. One of the main principles is transparency because it will dictate the relationship that customers have with the brand. (Pride & Ferrell, 2021) Identify four activities in the Marketing Communications mix 1. Advertising-it involves informing customers about products or services. For example, through TV. 2. Sales and promotion-these include incentives to persuade customers to try out products or services. Examples include giving discounts and paybacks. 3. Personal selling-this is a direct approach where the salesperson explains a product or service to a specific customer or group of customers. It can be done through email or face-to-face. 4. Public relations-this impacts the way that customers speak about the brand. It is an essential influence on perception. The use of specific advertising strategies that apply to the company products is necessary. The sales and promotion strategies should involve giving valid rebates and discounts. The use of promotional products also helps to create loyalty. The company can apply personal selling by hiring different salespeople and focusing on email marketing. Social media channels can help to improve the public perception that customers have about the company. (Blythe & Martin, 2019) What is a value proposition? This refers to the value that the business promises to give the customers if they purchase the product or service. When properly applied, value proposition helps to increase the understanding that engagement of the customer. The customer can see what the business is going to give them. (Wood, 2016) What role should ethics play in defining your value proposition? In creating the value proposition, ethics ensures that a company correctly evaluates the value that its product or service will give the customer. Ethics dictate that the value proposition has to be honest and transparent. Being honest and transparent in creating the value proposition means that the customer will build trust because they can get what the company promises them. This understanding is critical in determining if the customer will purchase the product or service or not. (Blythe & Martin, 2019) What is the value chain? The value chain takes a product from the development of the idea/concept to the distribution. It involves multiple stages, including research and development, production and eventually, sales. Every stage from the procuring of materials to marketing adds value to the product and eventually determines the pricing. Understanding the value chain ensures production efficiency to provide the highest level of value from the product at the lowest possible cost. This will involve determining which marketing strategy can provide the highest value at the lowest marketing expense. (Pride & Ferrell, 2021) What is marketing planning? This is a process of determining which advertising and marketing strategies the company will use to sell the product or service. It is a systematic process for developing the goals, strategies and tactics for the implementation of the marketing methods. In practice, the marketing plan will involve looking at the product, determining which marketing strategy the company will use, and coordinating all the activities to achieve the marketing objectives. (Wood, 2016) What are the elements of a marketing plan? There are several critical elements of the marketing plan. 1. Market research-it involves identifying the buying habits of the consumers, the size of the market, the growth or decline and even the trends. 2. The target market-it involves defining who the target customers are. 3. Positioning- involves creating the correct perception of the product. Developing compelling marketing messages that communicate the correct perception is necessary. 4. Competitive analysis-this provides an understanding of who the competitors are and how different the products they offer are. 5. Market strategy-this involves the identification of which strategies will be used. Examples include social media and direct mail. 6. Budget-it involves defining how much the business is willing to spend on marketing. 7. Metrics-it involves measuring the performance of the implemented marketing methods. A practical implementation of the marketing plan will make sure that the sales pipeline will always be full. This means that the company will continuously be able to sell its products to customers. It will also increase the market share. The marketing department in the organization is responsible for creating an effective marketing plan. (Wood, 2016) References Blythe, J., & Martin, J. (2019). Essentials of marketing. Pearson UK. Pride, W. M., & Ferrell, O. C. (2021). Foundations of marketing. Cengage Learning. Wood, M. B. (2016). The marketing plan handbook (p. 224). Pearson. MKT574 WK1 Strategic Marketing Concepts Worksheet bdphd AUG21