Marketing Planning Guide

Marketing Planning Guide

Santina Wood

M1-A3/MKT230

06/25/2015

Instructor Kehres

Abstract

 One of the most important roles within a company is the role of the marketing team. It is of the essential to have an already established and well-functioning department of marketing within the company so as to implement proper, ground breaking competitive marketing strategies. Such an established and well-functioning marketing department could potentially result in the company getting a better position in the market, and could very well increase the company’s market share while satisfying the customer’s needs and meeting their demands. The implementation of a successful marketing strategy in the business world is essential.  

The Marketing Planning Guide

Marketing is a process. A process of planning, and executing all aspects of an idea-- pricing, promotion, and distribution of goods and services-- to create exchanges that satisfy the individual, as well as organizational needs. The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself. Some say it’s an art, I say it’s a science but whatever anyone thinks it is, one thing is for sure—it’s a necessity for any business owner. When marketing products businesses need to create a successful mix of:

• the right product,
• sold for the right price,
• in the right place,
• with the most suitable promotion.

This mix is known as The Marketing Mix—(price, place, promotion, and product). SBDCNets’ F. Salazar, (2014) states that in order for us to create the right marketing mix, we, as a business have to meet the following conditions:

• The product must have the correct features.
• The price must be cost effective. Consumer needs to buy in bulk to produce a healthy profit.
• The goods must be in the right place at the right time. The goods must be where they should be when they should be.
• The target group needs to know of the existence and availability of the product through promotion. Successful promotion helps a business spread costs over a larger output. (Salazar, 2014)

Marketing Mix

Today’s Marketing Mix is not the same as it was in previous years; depending on the market you’re focusing on. When marketing to the consumer, and not a business, the 4 P’s then becomes the 7 P’s. You have your original 4 P’s and the addition of 3 more:

• Physical Layout
• Provision of Customer Service
• Processes

The extra Ps are added because today’s marketing is focused more on the customer. This is strictly because the economy’s service sector has come to dominate economic activity in this country. They are particularly relevant to this new extended service mix. (Gordon, 2015)