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Marketing

Every how-to book on the market has a different take on the essential elements of a marketing plan. Those geared toward the big corporate crowd communicate in a language few human beings understand. However, the words you use are much less important than how seriously you approach the task.
This section outlines the key elements you need to include in your marketing plan. No matter how it's ultimately organized, your marketing plan should be a straightforward, easily understood company document. It should provide you with a clear direction for your marketing efforts for the coming year, and it should give an incisive look into your company for all readers.
Preparing to Write
Before you begin to write, pull together some information you'll need. Getting the information first avoids interruptions in the thinking and writing process. Have on hand:
· Your company's latest financial reports (profit and loss, operating budgets and so on) and latest sales figures by product and region for the current and the past three years or, if less, for however long you've been in business.
· A listing of each product or service in the current line, along with target markets
· An organization table (If you can count your employees on one hand, you can probably omit this.)
· Your understanding of your marketplace: your competitors, geographical boundaries, types of customers you sell to, existing distribution channels, latest and most useful demographic data, any information on trends in your markets (both demographic and product-related)
· Ask each of your salespeople and/or customer-relations people to list the most crucial points, in their opinion, that need to be included in the coming year's marketing plan. You don't have to include all of them, but you do have to take them into account.
Market Situation
The "market situation" section should contain your best and most clear-headed description of the current state of the marketplace (this is no place for hunches)....