Malcolm McDonald on Marketing Planning

Understanding Marketing Plans and Strategy

Malcolm McDonald

• Publisher: Kogan Page
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9780749478223
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Commerce
• Subtopic: Marketing
• Index: Marketing

A primer for marketing professionals and students, the second edition of Malcolm McDonald On Marketing Planning provides a clear guide to marketing planning. Focusing on the practical application of marketing planning, this book will guide readers through the production of a marketing plan that has real world application. Key content includes defining markets and segments, setting marketing objectives and strategies, advertising and sales promotion strategies, and price and sales strategies.With an emphasis on practicality, this fully revised second edition has been thoroughly overhauled to contain new content on the essentials of marketing planning and the strategic marketing process.
Online resources include multiple templates as a practical toolkit for marketing planning.

05

Market segmentation

Crucial to understanding your market and how it works

An important note from the author

I promise you, dear reader, that this is the only difficult chapter in the book. I have tried to make it as simple and practical as possible. Can I please ask you at least to read it, because market segmentation really is the key to commercial success.

If it is not possible to implement these core factors from the first few pages, I strongly recommend trying the ‘Quick Market Segmentation Exercise’ set out in Figures 16–20 at the end of this chapter. Thank you and good luck.

Introduction

We can now proceed to put together the first part of your strategic plan. Firstly, however, let me set out what the contents of your strategic plan should be. This chapter deals with the Market Overview section.

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The contents of a Strategic Marketing Plan (T+3, fewer than 20 pages)

• Financial Summary
• Market Overview
  • how the market works
  • key segments and their needs
• SWOT Analyses of Segments
• Portfolio Summary of SWOTS
• Assumptions
• Objectives and Strategies
• Budget for Three Years

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It is markets, the customers in these markets and their needs that must be focused on initially.

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The first point to make is that it is a strategic plan covering a three-year period. The importance of strategy before tactics was spelled out in Chapter 2. Three years is the most frequent planning horizon for SMEs.

The second point to make is that the total document should be fewer than 20 pages when completed. If it can be reduced to around 10 pages, well and good, but it is important to note that if you can’t spell out who you are selling to, their needs and why they should buy what you are offering rather than someone else’s offer, together with the financial consequences in the strategy document, you are unlikely to achieve your objectives.

As I said in Chapter 1, whilst your products/services are important, it is customers and their needs that must be focused on initially and this is what this chapter is about. Please note, however, that whilst I am going to focus on markets and customers in this chapter, the first heading in the plan says: ‘Financial Summary’. Clearly, this is the last thing you do after completing the plan, but it must be the very first thing that anyone reads (that is, people such as your investors, your board, your financial colleagues, etc). The reason is simple to understand.

Anyone will want to read on if they can instantly see what the plan is about. Just look at Figure 5.1.

Figure 5.1 Financial Summary

The following words, as an example, will entice anyone to want to read on:

‘This plan shows revenue growing from £5 million to £10 million over the next three years and the profit growing from £500,000 to £1 million. The purpose of this strategic plan is to spe...