How to Write a Marketing Plan

Whether you are launching your own product, wooing investors or promoting a product for a client, it is important to have a marketing plan in hand to refer to.

Unlike a sales pitch, the marketing plan is a back-office document that outlines the following:

• Introduction to your product
• Features and Benefits
• Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
• Target Demographic
• Market Analysis
• Competition
• Marketing

Introduction

Briefly describe your product. What is it? How does it work? What are the components? If it has a trendy angle, like being “green”, mention it here.

Features and Benefits

List the features of your product. If it’s an e-book or course, list the chapters or outline. Now, tell us how each of these areas can benefit a buyer. What do they stand to gain from purchasing your product or service?

USP

What’s so special about your product? Why should a consumer choose yours over any one of the myriad choices out there? For example, if you are teaching a PR course, and you come from a strong PR background, including having won awards or got a candidate elected, mention this here.

Target Demographic

Who are you aiming to sell this to? Will it be yummy mummies or hipsters? Students or established entrepreneurs? Stockbrokers or recent grads? Knowing who your ideal customer really is and how he thinks is key to being able to pitch to him. Get inside his mind. List his hobbies, his income, his leisure spending. Knowing how he speaks is also a great way to know what keywords he will use to search for a product like yours.

Market Analysis

Find out how much money people are spending on products similar to yours. For example, the weight loss industry is worth over $6B every year. If you are pitching a new pill or diet plan, you need to outline how much money is out there for the taking. Then expand: Gym memberships, exercise DVDs, membership sites… these are all related to the weight loss industry in some way. Include this information.

Competition

Direct and indirect. If you are selling a diet, other diets (Atkins, South Beach etc) are direct competition. Membership sites (Biggest Loser, Self.com etc) are indirect competition. List them all in order of popularity.

Marketing

This can be broken up into many subheadings, depending on the scope of your marketing. This is where you list your overall marketing budget, and break it up accordingly (a pie chart can really help). Subheadings might include Online Marketing (website), Social Media, Event Sponsorship, Contests and Give-aways, and Traditional Advertising.

Especially in your initial drafts, be as detailed as possible. Brainstorm. List everything that comes to mind. Nothing is too far fetched or too distantly related in the initial stage. Then use subsequent drafts to narrow down your playing field and target your exact niche.