Strategy - Do you have a marketing plan?

Here are some of the important points to consider in a marketing plan:

• Set out your marketing goals and objectives then align them with your overall business goals and strategy
• Set out a time frame for achieving those goals
• Identify a target market and segmentation strategy
• Define how you will position and differentiate your product
• Use competitor and industry analysis
• Identify current and proposed marketing methods
• Include marketing reports (historical and forecasts)
• Set the criteria against which the plan will be assessed for success or failure

The most important thing to remember about a marketing plan is that it is a work in progress, always needing to be reassessed and changed to adapt to the dynamic business environment.