Why do I need a Marketing Plan?

A marketing plan helps you establish strategic direction and positioning.

As you put together your marketing plan, you start thinking through your business and gain a better understanding of your customers, competitors and your market. This puts you in a better position to manage risks and capitalise on opportunities in the market. You will gain insights on how to innovate and meet your customers’ needs on a deeper level. With a concrete plan to grow your business, you can win confidence from potential investors, partners and financial institutions.

It also guides you in resource and budget planning. It can even help you manage implementation of marketing activities to gain a competitive advantage.

Before developing a marketing plan, read the Market Assessment module to find out how to evaluate your plans before you enter a new market, develop a new product, pursue a new business idea or even invest in another company. Once you have made your decision to continue, develop a Marketing Plan to identify and plan the activities you need to implement to succeed.

Tip

Building Flexibility

It is important to note that some flexibility is needed in your plan to respond to market changes. Making appropriate adjustments to what you can control in your plan will allow you to meet your goals despite changes in the market.

Therefore it is critical that you continuously evaluate what you have done, study the result and determine how far you are from your objectives.