MKT/574 v2
This week you will complete your strategic marketing plan for your selected business by identifying customer segments, developing an implementation plan, evaluating communication channels, and determining metrics. You will submit all 3 parts of your strategic marketing plan you have worked on in this course in 1 document.
Access the Strategic Marketing Plan Template that you submitted in Week 4 that contains your completed information for Parts A and B.
Review your faculty member’s feedback on your Wk 4 – Apply: Summative Assessment: Part B: Strategic Marketing Plan assignment and incorporate feedback into your plan.
Complete Wk 6 – Part C: Market Strategy, Marketing Channels, Implementation, and Monitoring of the Strategic Marketing Plan in the same document that contains your completed Parts A and B.
Submit your Strategic Marketing Plan Template that contains completed information for Parts A, B, and C.
Strategic Marketing Plan Template
Use the business you selected in Week 1 and complete the prompts provided for Parts A, B, and C in the weeks they correspond to. Delete the provided prompts from each section when you finish each part.
Complete the References section as you progress through Parts A, B, and C.
Get custom essay samples and course-specific study resources via course hero homework for you service – Include your name in the document’s file name when you submit it.
Wk 2 – Part A: Environmental Analysis and SWOT Analysis
Use the information you researched in your Week 1 assignment for the sections they correspond to in this part.
For additional resources that may be helpful with components in Part A, refer to the resources provided on the Week 2 University Library page.
Business Description
Describe the business you are designing the plan for. Get custom essay samples and course-specific study resources via course hero homework for you service – Include the mission statement, vision statement, product line description, and business information (such as the size of the business).
Environmental Analysis
Analyze the forces that affect the business and marketing efforts.
Competitive Forces
Analyze the business’s key competitors. You may choose to use a BCG matrix or attribute checklist to compare your selected business against its competitors. Describe any strategic moves the competition has recently made. Estimate the business’s market share. Identify key competitive advantages against your selected business’s competitors.
Economic Forces
Analyze the economic environment in the areas affecting your selected business. Consider differences within their 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 a county that would affect your selected business.
Legal, Regulatory, and Ethical Issues
Analyze the legal, regulatory, and ethical issues that may affect your selected 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 selected business will be affected by emerging technologies or trends in hardware and software industries.
Social Forces
Analyze social trends and how they may affect your selected business. Considerations may include if the business will be affected by demographic trends or 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 business’s current target markets. Describe the demographic, geographic region, psychographics, and product usage of these targets.
Current Marketing Tactics
Review their current marketing tactics. Assignment Help – Summarize 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 selected business is a start-up, describe their competitors’ current marketing.
SWOT Analysis
Assess your selected business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Then, evaluate how to address these in your marketing plan.
Strengths
Assess your selected business’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 selected business may have in its current marketing strategy. Consider if the business has a 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 business’s ability to meet its objectives or interfere with marketing plans.
Converting Weaknesses and Threats to Strengths & Converting Strengths to Opportunities
Convert weaknesses and threats to strengths; then, convert 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 business’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 business 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 2024 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 2025. Customer loyalty (i.e., willingness to recommend the product) will increase by 30%.
Wk 4 – Part B: Marketing Data Analysis
Internal Data
Evaluate internal data sources for information that would be available to you if you were employed by the business and what information you will receive from each source.
Identify 3 to 6 sources of internal data and list them in the Source column of the Internal Data Table. For each source, input what it measures, data, and potential data usage in the respective columns. Insert or remove rows, as needed. Row 1 contains a completed example for reference.
Internal Data Table
Source What it Measures Data Type Potential Data Usage
Example: Sales data Example: Monthly sales by specific product Example: Average sales that month in US dollars for each of 10 products; data can be segmented by business and consumer markets Example: Can be used for trend analysis, projections, and to measure effectiveness of promotions
Primary Data
Evaluate primary data needs to create and evaluate the marketing plan.
Identify 3 to 6 sources of primary data and list them in the Source column of the Primary Data Table. For each source, input what it measures, data, and potential data usage in the respective columns. Insert or remove rows, as needed. Row 1 contains a completed example for reference.
Primary Data Table
Source What it Measures Data Type Potential Data Usage
Example: Focus group Example: Product usage, motives, identify group level satisfaction, decision process, etc. Example: Qualitative Example: Identify different reactions of market segments to product. Identify marketing opportunities, product/service flaws and opportunities.
Secondary Data
Evaluate secondary data sources and the specific information you need from each source.
Identify 3 to 6 sources of secondary data and list them in the Source column of the Secondary Data Table. For each source, input what it measures, data, and potential data usage in the respective columns. Insert or remove rows, as needed. Row 1 contains a completed example for reference.
Secondary Data Table
Source What it Measures Data Type Potential Data Usage
Example: U.S. Census Bureau Example: Income over the last 4 years by family structure Example: Household structures with the highest income capacity Examples: Market share analysis and
customer segments
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Establish customer touchpoints and develop appropriate CRM events for customer acquisition, retention, and profitability.
Identify 3 to 6 sources of CRM data and list them in the CRM Touchpoint column of the CRM Touchpoint Table. For each CRM touchpoint, input purpose and CRM objective, data, and potential data usage in the respective columns. Insert or remove rows, as needed. Row 1 contains a completed example for reference.
CRM Touchpoint Table
CRM Touchpoint Purpose and CRM Objective Data Type Potential Data Usage
Example: Customer profile information on website Example: Starts the account for visitors: name, geography, email address (customer acquisition)
Examples: Presale: geographic location, customer id, source of reference, email address
Post-sale: address, product purchased, quantity, price. Examples: 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
Wk 6 – Part C: Market Strategy, Marketing Channels, Implementation, and Monitoring
Use the information you researched in your Week 5 assignment for the sections they correspond to in this section.
New Customer Segments
Determine any new customer segments for your strategy and describe how you will provide value to each segment.
Marketing Mix for New Customer Segments
Determine adaptations for each new customer segment. Get custom essay samples and course-specific study resources via course hero homework for you service – Include :
• Products
• Price
• Distribution
• Traditional promotion
• Online promotion
Marketing Implementation
Create the implementation for your marketing strategy plan. Describe how you will organize and implement the plan, such as whether it will be organized by market or geography, and who is responsible for marketing decisions.
Marketing Communication Channels
Evaluate the digital and traditional marketing communication channels you will use to reach selected audiences.
Identify 3 or 4 channels to convey key messages and list them in the Channel column of the Marketing Communication Channels Table. For each channel, input target market, advantages, and disadvantages in the respective columns. Insert or remove rows, as needed. Row 1 contains a completed example for reference.
Marketing Communication Channels Table
Channel Target Market Advantages Disadvantages
Example: Direct mail Example: Middle class residential Example: Can include coupons Example: Expense and low return rate for given product
Strategic Actions
Develop strategic actions required to implement the marketing plan and list them in the Strategic Action column of the Strategic Actions Table. For each strategic action, provide the date for completion, person/role responsible, and standard or metric to indicate the action is complete in the respective columns. Insert or remove rows, as needed. Row 1 contains a completed example for reference.
Strategic Actions Table
Strategic Action Date for Completion Person/Role Responsible Standard or Metric to Indicate the Action is Complete
Example: Design flyer for direct mail campaign Example: 1/1/2024 Example: J. Smith, graphic designer Example: Approval by senior marketing team and legal
Strategic Action 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.
For each action listed in the Action column of the Strategic Action Monitoring Table, provide the overall target, person responsible, and inter-measurement in the respective columns. Insert or remove rows as needed. Row 1 contains a completed example for reference.
Strategic Action Monitoring Table
Action Overall Target Person Responsible Inter-measurement
Example: Direct mail flyer Example: Generate 1,100 new inquiries. Example: Western regional manager Example: Generate 500 new inquiries during the first month of campaign.
References
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Creating a strategic marketing plan is a crucial step for any business to map out goals and tactics for attracting new customers, retaining existing clients, and growing market share over time. This paper will discuss key components to include when developing a comprehensive strategic plan, drawing from the case of a university student completing an assignment on this topic. Specifically, it will cover analyzing internal and external factors, identifying target customer segments, designing tailored marketing mixes, selecting appropriate communication channels, creating an implementation schedule, and establishing metrics for monitoring success.
Environmental Analysis
The first step in strategic planning is to gain a thorough understanding of the business environment. Both internal and external forces must be evaluated to understand strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). Internally, the student should analyze available data sources like sales records, customer profiles, and CRM systems to glean insights. Externally, factors like competitors, economic conditions, technology trends, political/legal landscapes, and social changes impacting target markets require consideration. Competitive intelligence is also important, such as comparing the business’s attributes and strategic moves against key rivals (BCG matrix). This environmental scan lays the groundwork for objective setting aligned with available resources.
Customer Segmentation
With situational awareness established, the next phase involves segmenting current and potential customers. The student’s assignment specifies examining demographics, geography, psychographics, and product usage of existing targets. But identifying new, underserved segments presents opportunities. Research into segment needs, values, and purchase behaviors must then inform tailored marketing mixes for each group. For example, if data shows a growing young professional demographic, a specialized product and targeted digital promotion strategy could attract this new customer base. Proper segmentation allows businesses to focus efforts on groups most likely to purchase.
Marketing Mix Development
For new segments identified, adaptations across the “4Ps” of marketing – product, price, placement, and promotion – require definition. Product strategies may involve customizing existing offerings or developing new SKUs to better meet segment demands. Pricing should consider segments’ willingness and ability to pay. Placement decisions cover sales channels for optimal segment access. Promotion blends mass communication with targeted messaging across appropriate digital and traditional channels. The student’s assignment also specifies incorporating online promotion tactics into mix strategies. Tailoring the marketing mix in this manner helps deliver optimal customer value for each segment.
Implementation Planning
To transition from planning to action, a structured implementation schedule with assigned accountabilities represents the next critical deliverable. The student’s assignment asks for organizing implementation by market or geography, in addition to designating marketing decision-makers. Timelines with interim deadlines keep complex rollouts on track while dividing large projects into manageable phases. Clearly communicating responsibilities prevents role confusion. Regular progress meetings then maintain accountability and surface issues requiring remediation to realize objectives according to plan.
Performance Measurement
No strategic plan proves effective without a means to evaluate results. The student’s case specifies developing standard reports and metrics to gauge performance against goals for each strategic action. Key performance indicators (KPIs) like website traffic, leads generated, customer retention, and sales revenue provide objective success measures. Tracking interim targets along with final outcomes allows for course corrections as needed. Regular reporting keeps stakeholders apprised of progress while identifying underperforming tactics for improvement. With the right metrics established upfront, management gains insights for continually refining the strategy over time.
Conclusion
In summary, a strategic marketing plan provides the framework to maximize returns from any business’s efforts. The components discussed – environmental analysis, customer segmentation, tailored marketing mixes, implementation planning, and performance tracking – represent best practices for developing a comprehensive, actionable strategy. Incorporating these elements as outlined in the university assignment equips students with the systematic approach required to both complete the project and, more importantly, guide real-world marketing activities. With a well-researched, meticulously organized strategic plan in place, any organization gains the direction needed to thrive in its competitive landscape.
