July 3, 2019

The question of whether a company needs a marketing plan or not should be a simple one to answer. Yes, they need one. However, many companies in today’s market don’t know where to start when it comes to building one or they don’t realize just how important a marketing plan is for their success and never get one done. They rely on advertisements or word of mouth to build up their business never knowing if they are targeting the right audience for their product with those adverts. In order to better understand why a company would need a marketing plan you must know what goes into one, the objectives and analysis done, and how marketing plans are carried out after they are completed.

What’s in a Marketing Plan

Marketing plans are not as straightforward as one might think. According to Greenly and Bayus (1994), who did a study of the history of literature of marketing planning in both the United States and the United Kingdom, “The process is clearly multidimensional with several different types of dimensions, including information and its analysis, planning frameworks, planning techniques, managerial behavior at the individual level, and managerial behavior at the corporate level.” It is easy to see with all that going into the planning of marketing that the creation of a marketing plan to follow is vital.

When building a marketing plan, it should tell the company, the who, what, when, where, and how of the sale of the company’s product or service in the most efficient and profitable manner. The marketing plan begins with an executive summary in which the mission of the plan itself is laid out for the stakeholders. It briefly touches on the strategies and how the plan will be executed. This section is followed by the meat of the marketing plan: the objectives (what you want to accomplish), the analysis (the why it is important), the budget (how you are going to pay for the plan once it is in action), and the marketing strategies (how you are going to implement it). There should also be a section in the plan for who you are targeting and who will be implementing the plan. Marketing is there to facilitate the exchange between the customer and the company and the plan should show the most effective way to do that.

The Importance of Planning

Simkin (1996) points out in his article “People and Processes in Marketing Planning: The Benefits of Controlling Implementation,” that it isn’t surprising that marketing planning is not well understood or effectively implemented. He also states as a weakness alongside Piercy and Morgan (1994) that “… the "cop out" of analysis instead of planning (procrastination), using information instead of decisions and the often ultimate failure to implement a plan's strategy and marketing programmes in the reality of the business' marketplace.” This seems to lead one to believe that while businesses may not know how to plan effectively to attract markets, they do know that analysis of their target market is needed and often simply rely on this information solely.

Simkin (1996) simplifies the need for a plan and its benefits as internal and external. He extols the benefits that a company has internally when implementing marketing planning, better sales, more communication with the customer, and a broader understanding of the marketplace. While he also says that through the process of planning, companies gain a deeper understanding of marketing and an appreciation for all that it can accomplish. This is an important result of creating a marketing plan because it is far too often that companies just simply do not appreciate or understand how important or beneficial marketing is to them. They associate marketing solely with the advertisements, brochures and copy that is produced by the marketing team or department but fail to see how much research and development goes into creating the copy or to putting it into the hands that will turn into the most customers in the end.

Execution of the Plan

As Gagnon (2016) points out, “marketing is mostly tactical.” The whole reason a company creates a marketing plan is to execute it. Sometimes they fail to do this effectively but the ones who succeed see the results in sales. Gagnon (2016) believes that while there are many types of marketing plans, the best plan is one that can be “put into action immediately” based on the tactical activities discussed at a marketing planning meeting. This concept has merit behind it but there are those who prefer more in-depth and formal plans. Whichever a company chooses to go with they must utilize and put into action the plan they devise.

The how to do that is often wrapped up in smaller deliverables, like creating copy, distribution of that copy to the right places based on the plan’s objectives and research, and the development of other projects that would promote the business like public relations engagements or charity work. Then ongoing measurement of how the deliverables are doing and adjustment of the plan over time must happen. Largely because when a plan is first created and put into action the information done is hypothesis but after the plan is in action the marketer gets real time data and analytics of how well the plan is working and if it is indeed reaching the objectives and goals stated within.

Overall the need for a marketing plan may seem obvious to the marketer or even sometimes to the CEO or owner of a company. However, knowing the need for a plan to gain traction in a desired target market and placing real value on that plan and the execution thereof is still a struggle for marketing managers to express to the companies they serve. Therefore, ongoing measurement and analysis as well as adjustment of the plan is essential. A company can’t just make a plan and that’s it, it has to be fine tuned over time with real time analytics and new incoming information.

Marketing gives companies the ability to not only reach more customers and make more sales but also to have a pulse on their target market constantly. Knowing what your customer wants is more than half the battle and having a plan to gain that information and satisfy those needs effectively at the most profit is tantamount to business success.

Kotler (2012) in his presentation at the Chicago Humanities Festival stated that CMO’s (Chief Marketing Officer) only last a few years in their job. While he did not go into details on the why of it he did give an indication that this was because either they moved into other jobs or because the CEO’s of the companies they worked for did not feel there was enough return on the investment in having a CMO. That thought process is at the core of why there is a need for a marketing plan in a company. Companies know they need a marketing plan, but they don’t fully understand or value the investment put into marketing because they lack the knowledge of what really makes marketing worth doing. Having a measurable plan in place helps communicate to the rest of the company and the CEO that not only is it important but that the results can be seen and measured to their hearts content.

References

Greenley, G. E., & Bayus, B. L. (1994). Marketing planning processes in UK and US companies. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 2(2), 140. doi:10.1080/09652549400000007

Gagnon, E. (2016). The Marketer’s Action Plan (MAP): Six Steps to Developing Effective Marketing Plans in B2B Marketing Programs. International Management Review, 12(2), 56–59. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.portal.lib.fit.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=118409836&site=ehost-live

Kotler, P. (2012). Philip Kotler: Marketing.

Piercy, N. F., & Morgan, N. A. (1994). The Marketing Planning Process: Behavioral Problems Compared to Analytical Techniques in Explaining Marketing Plan Credibility. Journal of Business Research, 29(3), 167–178. doi:10.1016/0148-2963(94)90001-9.

Simkin, L. (1996). People and Processes in Marketing Planning: The Benefits of Controlling Implementation. Journal of Marketing Management, 12(5), 375–390. doi:10.1080/0267257X.1996.9964423.