Reference no: EM132838013

Task 1 - Marketing Plan

This Assessment Task requires the development of a Marketing Plan for a business in which you work, have access to or a simulated business.

What you should include in your marketing plan

You marketing plan should illustrate that you have carefully considered how to produce a product or provide a service that is innovative, unique and marketable. Some marketing plan templates may vary but a good marketing plan captures basically the same information. The contents of your plan should include:

A background analysis

Give some background about your business. Detail the opportunities and challenges that your business has come across along the way. This helps you define your business's capabilities and identify opportunities within the market. It will also play a key role in helping you to meet your customers' needs.

Your marketing objectives

What do you want your marketing plan to accomplish? Be specific. Your objectives may be financial, with a goal to increase sales, or marketing focused to build your brand, and increase awareness of your product. The most effective way to define your marketing objectives is to follow the ‘SMART' acronym:

• Specific: have clearly outlines objectives
• Measurable: indicate what you intend to use as a measure of success
• Achievable: are the objectives attainable for the business?
• Realistic: do you have the knowledge of resources to achieve your objectives?
• Timely: be clear about the time-frame in which you intend to achieve your objectives.

A marketing strategy and marketing mix

An effective strategy will help you to define the overall direction for your marketing program. It will also detail how you are going to bring your products and services to market in ways that will satisfy your customers.

The elements that make up your marketing strategy are often referred to as the marketing mix. In this case your mix will include the 7P's of marketing - product (or service), pricing, position, promotion, people, process and physical environment.

Actions plans and budgets

Strategies and marketing goals are theoretical objectives. It's your action plans and budgets that will bring them to life. Your action plans and budgets are your key tools for implementation. To ensure that they are successful they should be detailed, definitive and revisited regularly.

The organisational implications

Organisational implications are often overlooked when business owners tackle a marketing plan. For example, if your goal is to increase your customer base by 15% and therefore your staff by 10% - will you be able to house them in your current offices? Could you outsource some tasks? It's important to consider and document these decisions in your plan.

An evaluation and monitoring plan

To ensure ongoing improvement it's critical to test and measure the results of your marketing activities. Whatever method or technology you choose to use - formal methods of evaluation and monitoring will help you to understand the effectiveness of your marketing and return on investment.

A summary of your plan and supporting documentation

Your marketing plan summary should summarise the key components of your marketing plan. Think of it as a quick reference tool that you can refer to at any time to keep your goals on track.

Use this section of the marketing plan to reference and attach documents supporting the claims or assumptions made within the marketing plan.

The following template may be utilised for this Assessment Task:
Before you complete this marketing plan template and start using it, consider the following:

1. Do your research. You will need to make quite a few decisions about your business including structure, marketing strategies and finances before you can complete the template. By having the right information to hand you also can be more accurate in your forecasts and analysis.

2. Determine who the plan is for. Does it have more than one purpose? Will it be used internally or will third parties be involved? Deciding the purpose of the plan can help you target your answers. If third parties are involved, find out what are they interested in.

3. Do not attempt to fill in the template from start to finish. First decide which sections are relevant for your business and set aside the sections that don't apply. You can always go back to the other sections later.

4. Use the [italicised text]. The italicised text is there to help guide you by providing some more detailed questions you may like to answer when preparing your response. Please note: If a question does not apply to your circumstances it can be ignored.

5. Use the marketing plan guide. The marketing plan guide below contains general advice on marketing planning and a complete overview with details on each question asked in the marketing plan template.

6. Get some help. If you aren't confident in completing the plan yourself, you can enlist the help of a professional (i.e. Business Enterprise Centre, business adviser or accountant) to look through your plan and provide you with advice.

7. Write your summary last. Use as few words as possible. You want to get to the point but not overlook important facts. This is your opportunity to sell yourself. But don't overdo it. You want third parties to quickly read your plan, find it realistic and be motivated by what they read.

8. Review. Review. Review. Your marketing plan is there to make a good impression. Errors will only detract from your professional image. So ask a number of impartial people to proofread your final plan.

9. Print. Before you print a copy of your completed marketing plan, ensure you delete the first section containing the guide as well as the [italicised text]. To print a copy, select the Printer icon on the toolbar, or select File then Print on the main menu.

Task 2 - Marketing Plan Case Study

The business

Working as a corporate lawyer in Melbourne's CBD, Georgia Samuel could never have foreseen the sea change that lay ahead. Now, she is the sole owner of the very successful Salad Bar, Famish'd in Little Collins Street - serving soups, gourmet salads and spuds to up to 800 of Melbourne's busiest corporate crowd a day.

Georgia credits much of her success to her corporate roots. 'The customer I'm targeting is who I was for six years - the corporate customer. I know how precious time is and how long they are prepared to wait, and I know how easy it is for them to go somewhere else if the quality and customer service isn't there.'

Using social media to grow the business

Georgia opened the business with a very clear marketing strategy in mind - she would not engage in paid advertising, which she felt would devalue the brand, but would instead rely on cost-effective social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook to grow the business.

'Melbourne has a very particular culture and the marketing that works for hospitality and food is generally word-of-mouth style marketing. If a business is offering a quality product, it will get people talking so naturally this is the best form of marketing.'

Over the last two years Georgia has stuck to her plan, using social media platforms to engage with different audiences interested in the business. She uses Facebook and Twitter to promote the daily menu to her followers, including industry professionals.

'Social networking is all about generating talk', says Georgia, and for Famish'd it has done just that. Last winter, interest on Twitter led to a double page write-up in the Herald Sun about Famish'd's soups. Since then, Famish'd has been voted best for soups, salads and lamingtons in Melbourne on a number of different blogs.

Recently, Georgia has had the Facebook and Twitter logos printed on all Famish'd packaging. 'Since we added the logos, we've noticed a marked increase in the number of followers on both Twitter and Facebook.'

Does your business need a social media strategy?

Famish'd has never limited its social media engagement by a strategy, and perhaps that's a strategy in itself. Georgia is, however, very aware of her own personal boundaries around tweeting and posting under the company's profiles. 'We are pretty liberal in what we post; that said we rarely post anything about our private lives. I make sure that I reply to most tweets we receive.'

According to Georgia it's also very important to try and make your posts creative and fun to read. 'We often post photos because they generate greater interest from our followers and we try to be creative, we only post what we as customers would like to read.' Georgia and the team at Famish'd are careful to remember too that social media isn't just a marketing tool; it's a way of engaging the public with the business and its staff.

'I see Twitter as a way of creating a personality for the business; it's about letting the customer see behind the scenes.'

Her top tip: be transparent and don't be afraid to let people know about muck-ups; it helps to give them a realistic insight into your business.

'Around 80% of our new followers on Facebook and Twitter are generated from the new social media logos on our packaging.'

The result

Unlike some innovations, it's difficult to measure the level of return generated from social media engagement. 'We do know we're generating talk', says Georgia, 'Which can only be generating sales.' Georgia only spends around five minutes a day updating the company's Facebook profile or sending tweets. 'We only post as many tweets as we would like to see as customers; sometimes it's only one or two a day, and sometimes we don't do any.'

Following the great success Famish'd has experienced with its online presence to date, Georgia has vowed to continue investing the business' resources and increasing its social media activity over the coming months.

Your task:

Reflecting on Georgia's experience, develop a marketing strategy around the use of social media, it's pros and cons for a business you work in, have access to or a simulated business.

Attachment:- Marketing Plan.rar