Marketing plans are vital for the success of any business because they help get everyone on the same page about marketing decisions. They define the strategy behind past marketing campaigns, the market factors that affect success, and the logical direction for future goals and initiatives while preventing budget waste.

The scope of a marketing plan can span your entire company or focus on a single product line. By creating a marketing plan, you can ensure that every member of your company understands and works together to achieve vital business goals.

What should be included in your marketing plan

Marketing plans can be customised for different companies and different types of business. Generally, the following topics should be included:

1. Who you are, and where you're going

In the first step of creating a marketing plan, you want to define where your business currently stands and what you hope to accomplish with it. What are your biggest strengths? How do others in your industry view you? What do your customers say about you? What is your mission statement?

2. The current market situation

Your second step is to define the outside forces that will affect your business' success. Who are your direct competitors? What are their greatest strengths? What is the overall size of the market? What factors outside the market influence growth?

3. Who buys your products

Next, you'll want to determine which people are most likely to buy your products. Who is your average customer? Is it a business or a consumer? Man or woman? What age group? What common interests and activities do they share? Where do they spend time, both online and offline?

4. Your marketing goals and how you'll accomplish them

Now you'll want to define some reasonable and quantifiable goals and then decide the best means of accomplishing them. What is a reasonable rate of growth? What message do you want to convey? What is the best marketing medium to convey that message? How will you measure the effectiveness of your selected marketing activities?

5. How much you'll spend

Finally, you'll outline your marketing budget. To do this, you'll want to start by prioritising your marketing goals. Which target audience looks like it will be most profitable? Where can you put your marketing spend to get the most reach for the least money? How much can you realistically allocate to marketing?

When to write a marketing plan