Marketing planning

This month, we're going to be talking about marketing planning.

Isn't marketing planning the whole thing we do here at Let'sTalk Strategy? Isn't a marketing plan basically a strategy? Well, no. A marketing plan is part of a strategy, but it's not the whole thing.

A marketing plan, rather than being a road map, is an assessment of the terrain you'll be covering. Tiffany (2021)

Building on what we have discovered from the Scenario stage of STRATEGY is crucial to marketing planning. Rather than peering at the internal and external contexts of your organisation, marketing planning focuses on the wider market context.

What is marketing planning?

Marketing planning is all about creating a blueprint for implementing your strategy. It involves surveying the marketing terrain ahead and building a step-by-step plan for laying your strategy down on that terrain. A marketing plan pays close attention to solidly practical details, such as the resources needed for each stage of your strategy, and team member responsibilities.

Why is marketing planning important?

Here's why marketing planning is crucial to a successful strategy:

• It provides a comprehensive and accessible structure for assessing marketplace dynamics.
• It gives all team members, including managers, a sense of direction and ownership of the plan.
• It identifies important areas of focus, and the resources those areas may need.
• It defines communication channels and protocols.

Most of all, a marketing plan clearly defines the role of each team member.

How do you make a marketing plan?

Each marketing plan will be highly specific to the individual brand, team and campaign. That being said, all marketing plans will need to be aware of the 7Ps and the 4Cs.

The 7Ps

The 7Ps are also known as the marketing mix. The marketing mix is a set of controllable variables that brands can tweak and manoeuvre to both meet and influence the needs of consumers. It's been around as a concept since the 1960s, when it comprised 4Ps: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.

Since then, the marketing landscape has changed and grown, and the economy has become a lot more services-based. So, to accommodate those changes, there are now 7Ps: Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, and Physical Evidence.

Product

The focus for your marketing plan should be on creating a product that will satisfy, or even influence, the needs of your target consumers. A model such as the Augmented Product Model, created by Kotler and Armstrong in 2010, is a very useful tool for adding further depth and detail about your product. It breaks the product down into three levels:

1. Core product. The basic benefits and purposes of the product. The core of a vacuum cleaner would be a machine that sucks up dust. Net benefit: a clean house.
2. Actual product. This level focuses on the physicality of the product: how it looks, what it feels like to handle, the branding, the colour scheme, its lifespan, the materials it's made of.
3. Augmented product. The non-physical, added-value elements a customer might pay extra for, such as free delivery, regular free servicing or a generous breakdown policy.

Also consider your product's lifecycle. How long is it likely to last, both physically and in terms of trends? What can you do to keep your product relevant and needed?

Price

Price is one of the most important considerations for any customer, so think about your pricing strategy very carefully. A lot of external factors act on the price you need to set, including:

• Perceived quality. People will pay more for a higher quality product.
• Overhead costs. Manufacture, storage and shipping all cost money. Only use loss-leaders if they're going to lead to sales that cover your other costs.
• The going rate. If your product is priced much higher or much lower than average, you risk losing trade to competitors.

There's a big psychological factor at play too. If you lower the price too far, people will wonder why. They'll be suspicious that the product isn't as high quality as you say, and will go for a more expensive product on the assumption that it's better.

Place

This is all about how and where your product is bought. Consider how your product gets from the production line to your customers. Do you sell directly to consumers? Or via intermediaries such as agents, wholesalers, distributors and retailers? Or a mixture? While selling directly may be easier for you, it's not always easier for customers, so consider which places are most convenient for them.

Promotion

Promotion is all about how you advertise your product. Avenues of promotion tend to be divided into two categories:

• Above The Line (ATL). Mass media methods, including television advertising, leafleting, billboards, newspaper and magazine ads.
• Below The Line (BTL). More company-controlled and targeted: trade marketing, sampling, door-to-door sales, social media ads, email ads, PR and content marketing.

People

Your people are one of the most important resources available to you. Think about how approachable your people are, the skills they have, the impression of your brand they give, the training they may need, and how you can acquire people to fill skill gaps.

Process

This P is all about the systems and processes that bring your product or service to the consumer: the process of making transactions on your website, how a customer reaches your buying page from an advert, how your customer support system works, and how you manage queues during busy times. Ultimately, Process is about mapping the customer experience and identifying ways to improve it.

Physical evidence

Physical evidence is important for both product-based and service-based brands. When considering this final P, the following matter:

• Environment. Digital or physical. What do your premises look like? Does your website look good and work well?
• Ambience. How does your space feel? Does the ambience match the product or service you're aiming to provide?
• Layout. Spatial or web layout has a big influence on purchasing behaviour. Think of IKEA, deliberately designed with a circular floor plan that draws customers further in than they intended.
• Signage. Not just shelf signs and offers, but nameplates for team members and how recognisable your branding is.

The 4Cs

The 4Cs are designed to tighten focus on the consumer. It's all about drilling right down into the niche needs and features of the consumer, enabling a more detailed and strategic form of marketing.

Customer

The focus is on the customer, who they are, what they want, and how you can cater to their needs. This C should be considered in conjunction with the first P, Product.

Cost

Considered alongside Price. Where Price looks broadly at a pricing strategy, Cost drills down into the cost, both literal and emotional, for the consumer of buying your product. That includes the time spent browsing, the cost to the conscience of buying a product that may not align with the customer's ethics, and the cost to convenience of switching to your brand from another.

Communication

This C is all about the relationship between us as marketers and the consumers we're trying to reach. Consider how you open and sustain a dialogue with customers, how you nurture them, meet their needs, and nudge them towards conversion. While conversion may be the ultimate goal, this C is about building relationships.

Convenience

Convenience is a huge factor in purchasing decisions. Think carefully about how convenient it is for customers to access your offering. Could you make it more convenient? If it's not particularly convenient, how can you justify this?

Use the marketing mix to build the perfect marketing plan

The marketing mix is as relevant today as it was in the 1960s, albeit with a few adjustments. It's a great framework for marketing planning, and can be a huge help to the Awareness stage of your strategy.