1.1 Explain how organisations develop marketing strategies.

Over the past few years, strategic marketing has becoming increasingly popular within organisations. Yet, as some confusion still exists with regards to what exactly strategic marketing is and the role it plays in organisations, this blog will explain all you need to know.

What is strategic marketing?

Strategic marketing is a method through which an organisation differentiates itself from its competition by focusing on its strengths to provide better service and value to its customers. In a nutshell, the goal of strategic marketing is to make the most of an organisation’s positive differentiation over its competition through the consumers’ perspective.

The implementation of strategic marketing involves three questions, which include:

• Where to compete;
• How to compete;
• When to compete.

Once these questions have been answered, then the strategic marketing planning phase can begin.

Phases involved in the strategic marketing planning process:

• Planning phase: In this phase, the various aspects of an organisation, such as its strenghts, weaknesses and technology are assessed. The overall state of the organisation is also presented to the management. This phase comprises of four components, which include:
• SWOT analysis: This method analyses the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats related to the organisation. The results of this analysis help in developing a strategic marketing proposal for the organisation.
• Marketing mix strategy: Once the SWOT analysis has been conducted, a proper marketing mix strategy is then prepared. Marketing mix strategy consists of combining and analysing a variety of components that help in strengthening a company’s brand and in selling its products or services. Take a look at a sample marketing mix strategy table:

Product	Place	Promotion	Price	People
FeaturesQualityPackagingWarrantyBrandingAfter sales services	ChannelExposureLocationsTransitStorageCoverage	TrainingIncentivesType of adsPublicityTargetsBrand strategy	Price levelFlexibilityDiscountAllowancePrice termsPerceived value	RecruitingTrainingMotivationRewardsTeamworkResearch

• Set product and marketing goals: Setting product goals is one of the best methods for obtaining success with new products. The product should be marketed in such a way that it becomes indispensable for the consumers.
• Four P’s of marketing: Once the product goals are set, the four P’s of marketing; price, place, product and promotion strategy, come into the picture.
• Implementation phase: The strategic marketing plan is implemented in this phase, and it consists of four components:
• Collecting resources: raising the capital required to develop and promote new products;
• Marketing hierarchy: A marketing hierarchy should be put in place to ensure the proper implementation of plans;
• Formulating schedules: Preparing schedules in which specific time periods are allocated to tasks;
• Executing the plan: this needs to be in an extremely efficient manner.
• Evaluation phase: In this phase, the plan is crosschecked with the product goals to determine if they are aligned. If that is not the case, the marketing team will have to edit and improve the plan until there are no deviations between the plan and the goals.

Some of the guidelines that will help in ensuring your strategic marketing planning process is a success include:

• Set goals that are achievable and can be measured;
• Prepare the plan after conducting a thorough market and competitor analysis;
• The prepared plans must be concise and easy to understand;
• Ensure that the plan and set goals are in sync with the requirements of the consumers.

While preparing a strategic marketing plan, it is important to be aware of some of the issues that may arise. These include:

• Lack of skilled workforce;
• Assuming the requirements of the consumers without conducting a thorough research;
• Changing demographic of the consumers;
• Management issues;
• Coordination problems;
• Incorrect SWOT analysis;
• Issues in conducting marketing research;
• Confusing marketing feedback obtained;
• Budgeting issues.

The importance of strategic marketing in an organisation:

• Helps in evaluating the current environment: Strategic marketing helps in assessing the positioning and performance of an organisation. It is important to know what resources are at the disposal of an organisation at any given time. The data that is collected helps in understanding how well an organisation is performing within the overall competitive environment. This will also help the organisation in planning for future strategic marketing activities or plans.
• Helps in establishing clear marketing objectives: Having a strategic marketing plan in place helps in establishing achievable marketing objectives. The objectives should have a specific time-frame and should be measurable.
• Streamlines product development: Strategic marketing helps in creating products and services that provide the organisation with high profits. This is because strategic marketing starts off by conducting a SWOT analysis of the organisation, a market analysis of the consumers and the existing trends in the market. This information is then used to create the optimal products and services for the consumers.

Difference between strategic marketing and a marketing strategy

Although people sometimes use these two terms interchangeably, they are in fact very different and mean different things. To understand this better, here are some of the differences between strategic marketing and a marketing strategy:

Strategic marketing	Marketing strategy
Strategic marketing is a method through which an organisation differentiates itself from its competition by focusing on its strengths to provide better service and value to its customers	This is an organisation’s plan to target people and convert them into consumers of the organisation’s products and services.
This is a planning process and it involves three phases	This plan is an implementation of a predefined strategy
This is related to the management level as it involves determining budgets, allocation of resources and improving product quality.	This strategy does not involve the higher management, as it only includes creating marketing strategies for a particular product or service. The strategies could consist of a promotional plan, distribution and price of the product.
This covers the marketing goals of the organisation as a whole and includes all products.	This is restricted to the marketing goals and strategy of a single product or service.
This a process that is put in place to achieve organisational goals.	This is a part of one of the functional strategies that help in achieving organisational goals.
Strategic marketing analyses various factors such as organisation performance, competition environment, competitors and demographic behaviour of customers in order to achieve organisational goals.	A marketing strategy focuses on the products and services of an organisation and their positioning in relation to attracting customers.

1.1 Explain how organisations develop marketing strategies.

Effective marketing starts with a considered, well-informed marketing strategy. A good marketing strategy helps you define your vision, mission and business goals, and outlines the steps you need to take to achieve these goals.

Your marketing strategy affects the way you run your entire business, so it should be planned and developed in consultation with your team. It is a wide-reaching and comprehensive strategic planning tool that:

• describes your business and its products and services
• explains the position and role of your products and services in the market
• profiles your customers and your competition
• identifies the marketing tactics you will use
• allows you to build a marketing plan and measure its effectiveness.

A marketing strategy sets the overall direction and goals for your marketing, and is therefore different from a marketing plan, which outlines the specific actions you will take to implement your marketing strategy. Your marketing strategy could be developed for the next few years, while your marketing plan usually describes tactics to be achieved in the current year.

Write a successful marketing strategy

Your well-developed marketing strategy will help you realise your business’s goals and build a strong reputation for your products. A good marketing strategy helps you target your products and services to the people most likely to buy them. It usually involves you creating one or two powerful ideas to raise awareness and sell your products.

Developing a marketing strategy that includes the components listed below will help you make the most of your marketing investment, keep your marketing focused, and measure and improve your sales results.

Identify your business goals

To develop your marketing strategy, identify your overarching business goals, so that you can then define a set of marketing goals to support them. Your business goals might include:

• increasing awareness of your products and services
• selling more products from a certain supplier
• reaching a new customer segment.

When setting goals it’s critical to be as targeted as possible so you can effectively measure the outcomes against what you set out to achieve. A simple criteria for goal-setting is the SMART method:

• Specific – state clearly what you want to achieve
• Measurable – set tangible measures so you can measure your results
• Achievable – set objectives that are within your capacity and budget
• Relevant – set objectives that will help you improve particular aspects of your business
• Time-bound – set objectives you can achieve within the time you need them.

State your marketing goals

Define a set of specific marketing goals based on the business goals you listed above. These goals will motivate you and your team and help you benchmark your success.

Examples of marketing goals include increased market penetration (selling more existing products to existing customers) or market development (selling existing products to new target markets). These marketing goals could be long-term and might take a few years to successfully achieve. However, they should be clear and measurable and have time frames for achievement.

Make sure your overall strategies are also practical and measurable. A good marketing strategy will not be changed every year, but revised when your strategies have been achieved or your marketing goals have been met. Also, you may need to amend your strategy if your external market changes due to a new competitor or new technology, or if your products substantially change.

Research your market

Research is an essential part of your marketing strategy. You need to gather information about your market, such as its size, growth, social trends and demographics (population statistics such as age, gender and family type). It is important to keep an eye on your market so you are aware of any changes over time, so your strategy remains relevant and targeted.

Profile your potential customers

Use your market research to develop a profile of the customers you are targeting and identify their needs.

The profile will reveal their buying patterns, including how they buy, where they buy and what they buy. Again, regularly review trends so you don’t miss out on new opportunities or become irrelevant with your marketing message.

While you try to find new customers, make sure your marketing strategy also allows you to maintain relationships with your existing customers.

Profile your competitors

Similarly, as part of your marketing strategy you should develop a profile of your competitors by identifying their products, supply chains, pricing and marketing tactics.

Use this to identify your competitive advantage – what sets your business apart from your competitors. You may also want to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your own internal processes to help improve your performance compared with your competition.

Develop strategies to support your marketing goals

List your target markets and devise a set of strategies to attract and retain them. An example goal could be to increase young people’s awareness of your products. Your corresponding strategies could be to increase your online social media presence by posting regular updates about your product on Twitter and Facebook; advertising in local magazines targeted to young people; and offering discounts for students.

Use the ‘7 Ps of marketing’

Identify your tactical marketing mix using the 7 Ps of marketing. If you can choose the right combination of marketing across product, price, promotion, place, people, process and physical evidence, your marketing strategy is more likely to be a success.

Test your ideas

In deciding your tactics, do some online research, test some ideas and approaches on your customers and your staff, and review what works. You will need to choose a number of tactics in order to meet your customers’ needs, reach the customers within your target market and improve your sales results.

1.2 Explain the key factors which influence marketing decision making.

In this article, we consider what challenges are being faced by today’s marketer, and how CIM can help you to recognise and overcome them.

1) Demonstrating ROI

Both proving and communicating the ROI of marketing activities has been a long-debated topic within the profession. With many senior marketers still missing out on a seat at board level, if the industry cannot make the value of marketing obvious, it risks being viewed as a cost centre and missing out on future buy-in.

However, this couldn’t be further from reality. CIM’s recent research with PwC found that the UK marketing industry generates £36.5 billion in annual Gross Value Added – but communicating this internally can be a challenge. Marketers must speak the same language as the board and bring numbers to the table that demonstrate exactly what marketing is delivering to the business. Communicating how much pipeline marketing brings to the business, and how your campaigns have contributed to business growth is crucial for getting further buy in, but gathering the best data and sharing this in an effective way is undoubtedly an obstacle for many marketers.

It can be difficult for marketers at any level to prove the impact of their activities, so learn how to develop a metric-orientated approach and show measurable outcomes for your marketing strategies and tactics.

2) Lack of fundamental marketing knowledge

With the rise of marketing specialisms and non-linear career paths, Target Internet’s recent Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark found that marketers in junior roles generally lack knowledge of core marketing principals. With enhanced technical and digital knowledge, addressing the shortage of core marketing knowledge is a challenge for marketers today more than ever.

Furthermore, marketing’s widened remit, with a focus on customer experience, data, digital and sales, has blurred the lines between departments and organisational structures. With non-marketing focused departments often being those that directly interact with the customer, and controlling key marketing channels, it is an increasing challenge for marketing to work across function and fulfil its remit.

Maximise the impact you can make to your organisation, and ensure your skills are up to date with an introduction to the core marketing principles, skills and best practice.

3) Understanding customer behaviour

Research from CIM has found that consumer trust is decreasing year by year. The survey of consumers found that four in ten don’t trust any organisations to use their data responsibly, despite the arrival of the General Data Protection Regulations, which aim to bring greater clarity to how organisations can use consumer data. Whilst this is an industry-wide issue, some sectors are affected more than others, with even more people (73%), not trusting technology platforms like Facebook and Twitter with their personal data.

A decline in brand loyalty has also put marketers under strain. Consumers in both the B2B and B2C world are now led by choice, experience and price, spelling trouble for marketers who cannot deliver all three. With marketers increasingly tasked with interpreting and predicting consumer behaviour, keeping a finger on the pulse of changing customer trends and expectations has always been a priority – but anticipating these in a fast-changing world is harder than ever.

Understanding these new and emerging behavioural patterns is crucial to marketing success, so learn more about how to engage, acquire and retain your customers.

4) Keeping up-to-date with digital

In a world where digital technologies are moving faster than many businesses can keep pace with, organisations must evaluate what skills and technologies are required to reach, engage and add value to your customer, with the ultimate goal to deliver growth and stay relevant. Target Internet’s recent Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark, in association with CIM, highlights some worrying trends about how up-to-date marketers are with the latest technology.

The research revealed skills gaps in analytics and content marketing across all seniority levels and industries. Furthermore, it found that those marketers in senior roles lacked working knowledge of SEO, social media and programmatic advertising, posing questions for how effectively strategies would incorporate these key channels for digital marketers. Whilst these skills gaps may not be surprising to many, the level at which they still exist in the industry should be concerning. Furthermore, the growth of digital channels means that making an impact online is a challenge facing marketers across the industry.

Digital disruption has spelt trouble for both large corporations and SMEs, so gain access to digital marketing e-learning modules and maximise the impact of your digital activities, with a minimum impact on your time.

5) The changing role of product management

Marketers across the industry know that the customer journey has changed significantly over the last decade, but this has caused a particular challenge for product management, which sits at the centre of customer experience, technology and business growth. In many organisations, product management has moved to a solution-based approach, with product lifecycles changing all the time.

Product management has evolved into a crucial competitive advantage for organisations, but in a time of industry-wide disruption, product marketers must ensure they can align maximising the implementation of their products with a clear strategic vision. More than ever, it is the job of project management to lead their organisation with new product development and compelling value propositions that meet rising customer expectations.

1.3 Assess the risk of competitors to organisational achievement.

All trading activities involve some level of risk, so risk management is a vital part of knowing how to trade. There are three steps to risk management:1

Identify the risks associated with your trading activity

The risks associated with trading can usually be divided into four categories: financial, marketing, operations and people. You need to identify the specific risks you face in each category. Here are some examples:

Financial

• Inaccurate financial forecasts
• Inaccurate cost estimates
• Changes in cost of finance, taxation or other external factors
• Changes to the implementation timetable

Marketing

• Changes in demand for products or services
• New sources of competition
• Changes in customer needs or expectations
• Adverse impact on organisational reputation

Operations

• Problems achieving consistent quality standards
• Difficulties with suppliers
• Problems with equipment or machinery

People

• Over-reliant on key personnel
• Difficulties acquiring and developing new skills
• Problems recruiting and retaining additional employees and/or volunteers.

2

Assess the likelihood and potential impact of these risks

Once you have identified the risks associated with your trading activities the next step is to assess these risks, and to decide which risks require special attention. One way of doing this is to assess each risk against two criteria:

• Likelihood of the risk occurring (high, medium or low)
• Impact on the organisation if the risk occurs (high, medium or low).

So, for example, if the likelihood and impact are both high then you need to attach a high priority to managing the risk, whereas if the likelihood and impact are both low, you might decide the risk requires no immediate attention.3

Manage the risks

There are four main approaches you can take towards the risks you have identified:

1. Risk avoidance: This means deciding not to undertake the chosen activity, and usually only applies to situations where the likelihood and impact are both considered to be high.
   
2. Risk reduction: This involves taking actions to reduce the likelihood and/or impact of the potential risk. For instance, it may involve staff training to ensure you have enough people capable of performing a key role in the event of absence or illness.
3. Transfer the risk: It may be possible to transfer the risk to another party, either by purchasing an insurance policy or getting someone else to accept the risk. For instance, rather than employing more staff to meet an increase in demand for services, you might choose to use freelance workers until you are sure the increase in demand is long term. 
4. Accept the risk: This means you acknowledge the risk and decide to accept the consequences should it occur. You may even decide to build this level of risk into operational plans. For instance, if you are running a shop you might plan for a certain level of shoplifting, which is built into your cost projections for that area of trading.

1.4 Explain the impact of industry dynamics on an organisation

Market Dynamics Definition
Market dynamics, defined as the factors which effect the supply and demand of products in a market, are as important to economics as they are to practical business application. Many economists established market dynamics. Arguably, they are most developed in Porter’s five forces of competition.

Market Dynamics Meaning
Market dynamics means the factors that effect a market. From the theory of economics they would be supply, demand, price, quantity, and other specific terms. From a business standpoint, market dynamics are the factors that effect the business model which involves the applying party. In comparison, the dynamics may be the price of a barrel of crude, total oil production, total national or international stockpiles of oil, the price of other energy commodities, and more for an oil firm. Whereas for a web 2.0 business, a social network for example, market dynamics analytics may be the total amount of free time spent online for both national and international users, amount of money spent online each year, growth of online advertising, and more.

For a prudent business, market dynamics are included in the market analysis of their business plan. Furthermore, these factors affect the business so much that it would be neglectful to exclude them. In conclusion, market dynamics play an important role in the marketing plan of a business. They may also play an important role in other areas such as cost of goods sold, distribution, logistics, and more.

Market Dynamics Example
Charlotte is writing a marketing plan for her new business. Charlotte sees a real need in the fashion industry for high quality accessories like purses and necklaces. Her experience in retail gives her a strong base to refer back to.

To complete the marketing plan she must complete a competitive and industry analysis. Essentially, she needs to assemble a market dynamics analysis for the fashion industry, with respect to accessories. Then she needs to understand them so she can fill a space for customers not being served.

Charlotte starts with the industry analysis. She looks at a number of statistics: consumer spending rate, retail growth, growth of the fashion industry, growth of brick and mortar business sales, and the competencies of wholesalers. Here, she is assembling market dynamics in order to find whether the market can support her business. She knows this an important foundation for her idea.

Next, Charlotte performs a competitive analysis. She finds all competitors and similar businesses. Then, she analyzes their strengths, weaknesses, and the perception of these companies to the average consumer. From this she realizes a matter of key importance: though clothing, cosmetics, and other stores exist there is no provider for the accessories which complete an outfit. She is satisfied and resolves to continue research to keep up to pace with her industry.

1.5 Evaluate the risks to implementation of a marketing plan

The key to evaluating risk factors in your plan means you must take an honest look at each section to determine its potential impact on your business. Start by learning the potential risk factors most companies must review to stay competitive. Then, implement a risk-assessment process that helps you identify problems in your marketing plan to more quickly respond to change and to prevent losses for your company.

Target Market

Miscalculating your target market or not completing enough market research presents a risk factor. Minimal surveying of customers to find out what they really need and want may result in too few facts or erroneous conclusions. A complete survey of potential or current customers should uncover the real challenges your market faces that your product or service needs to solve. That way, you can create marketing message that appeals to new prospects with similar problems. Another possible problem related to your target market is that prospects may require more time to convert into paying customers, possibly causing a cash flow if you estimated higher sales than actually occur.

Branding

If you’re a new company, you probably haven’t had much time to build your branding. People need to recognize and trust your brand, and that process can take years. If your marketing plan overestimates the effect of your brand or believes your brand is more relevant than it currently is, the plan likely does not account for the extra time or marketing and promotional efforts needed to build value and trust with prospects.

Trends and Regulations

Keeping on top of industry trends is vital to staying competitive, but if your plan does not include a method for identifying and assessing trends, your company’s bottom line may be at risk. Your plan needs to include a schedule for carefully reviewing your competitors to uncover any new pricing strategies, new products and services or shifts in their marketing messages. You also need to look at trends in technology, such as new automation processes that may mean less of a market for your product or service. Consumer preferences may also change, especially in the health and food industries.

Lack of Tracking

Your plan needs to include methods for tracking the success of your marketing strategies. Otherwise, you do not know which of your marketing attempts work or are failing. Your tracking system needs to assess why sales go up or down and which strategies and promotions work best. You also need to keep track of economic factors that may affect your company. Whether you sell locally or globally, keeping on top of economic changes helps you to determine the marketing and promotional activities you need to implement to counter negative conditions.

1.6 Explain how to set key performance indicators (KPIs).

Every key performance indicator (KPI) you define must have a target or goal associated with it. Setting actionable KPI targets is a bit like chemistry: you start with the right ingredients, then add them in the precise quantities to facilitate the chemical reaction you desire.

A well-defined KPI acts like a guidepost. As you travel the winding roads of your business’s growth, your KPIs will help you navigate crossroads and keep you on the path to success.

adly, this isn’t the road most traveled. Many KPIs fail because they lack proper definition, an internal champion, or, as I’ll discuss here, actionable targets.

Your KPIs should never be seen as a single guidepost. If you were on a big road trip, you’d check your map every few hours to make sure you’re on the right path. Likewise with KPIs, the frequency of review often illuminates new and possibly more efficient paths to the same destination.

KPI targets are the guideposts (plural) your team should use to stay on track. Smart targets can help you dictate your pace, too. Like running a race, you want to pick a pace that is challenging and will help you reach your goal time, but that won’t burn you out by the halfway point.

How to set actionable KPI targets

The operative word is actionable. You want to establish actionable KPI targets that are tangible and immediately relevant. Aim too high with your targets, and you risk deflating your team before you start. Aim at a target that doesn’t exist today, and you’ve created noise without any signal.

Here’s a process for setting actionable KPI targets:

• Review business objectives
• Analyze your current performance
• Set short and long term KPI targets
• Review targets with your team
• Review progress and readjust

Review your business objectives

A KPI is a metric with a target that is core to your business’s performance. Every business has objectives, which are typically goals in regards to revenue, customer success, marketing mindshare, and productivity.

I suggest making a pit stop and learning a bit more about how to define your KPIs.

Now, I believe that most of us aren’t C-level executives plotting the big strategic moves for our business. My role, and yours, is likely more operational. We work for a specific department, be it sales, marketing, finance, or customer success.

Which means our goal is to reverse engineer the big strategic move and understand how our department plays a role in achieving that business objective.

As a customer support leader, you may not be able to directly impact annual revenue targets. However, you can focus on maintaining a healthy, happy customer base by hitting your support team’s Service-Level Agreements (SLAs).

I believe that one of the biggest failings in defining KPIs is ignoring the human element. We naturally assume data speaks for itself, but it’s merely the messenger. Do yourself a favour: check your assumptions with stakeholders, particularly department heads and managers.

Review your business objectives

A KPI is a metric with a target that is core to your business’s performance. Every business has objectives, which are typically goals in regards to revenue, customer success, marketing mindshare, and productivity.

I suggest making a pit stop and learning a bit more about how to define your KPIs.

Now, I believe that most of us aren’t C-level executives plotting the big strategic moves for our business. My role, and yours, is likely more operational. We work for a specific department, be it sales, marketing, finance, or customer success.

Which means our goal is to reverse engineer the big strategic move and understand how our department plays a role in achieving that business objective.

As a customer support leader, you may not be able to directly impact annual revenue targets. However, you can focus on maintaining a healthy, happy customer base by hitting your support team’s Service-Level Agreements (SLAs).

I believe that one of the biggest failings in defining KPIs is ignoring the human element. We naturally assume data speaks for itself, but it’s merely the messenger. Do yourself a favour: check your assumptions with stakeholders, particularly department heads and managers.

Set short and long term targets

You’ve interrogated the data, and now know the truth behind your numbers. It’s time to start plotting your way forward. I like to start by setting a long term KPI target. This gives an overall vision to your strategy, and a goal to work backwards from.

So let’s say your long term marketing KPI target is 2500 monthly MQLs, and you’re aiming to achieve that by Q1 2018. Great. That’s specific, time-bound, and relevant. More MQLs = more revenue, which is good for business.

From here, you can start to figure out short term KPI targets. Based on your data analysis, let’s say you currently generate 1500 MQLs a month. You have 6 months to achieve your target. That means you need to figure out how to generate an additional 166 MQLs each month.

Right away, you’ll have a sense if this is possible or not. By setting a short-term goal to increase your monthly MQLs, you can start to work your way to achieving a big KPI target.

The real benefit of setting short term KPI targets is that it gives you almost immediate feedback on your processes and ability to execute. Unachievable objectives deflate teams and drain morale. KPI targets must motivate and reward hard work.

So let’s say that you set out to generate those additional 166 MQLs in July, but come up short, only generating 100. It doesn’t mean you should scrap your long term objective, though it is cause for discussion.

As a general rule, I reevaluate long term targets if I miss 3 months or 1 quarter’s worth of short term KPI targets.

Review targets with your team

Success is not created in a vacuum. Leading businesses and growth experts are democratic in the way they rally their team. Data transparency is a success factor.

In other words, take your KPI targets to your team and review them in an open, honest environment. Encourage feedback and act on it. If you’re a sales director, and your frontline team is telling you that there’s no way they can hit your new targets, then you must listen to them.

Does that mean acquiescence? Not necessarily. KPI targets ought to be challenging and, as a wise executive once told me, they ought to make you a bit uncomfortable.

We aspire to achieve KPI targets because we want to push ourselves to do better and improve. If the targets you’ve suggested instantly deflate your team, identify root causes. Are they feeling a crunch because you’re using an outdated CRM? Or maybe you need better Salesforce dashboards? Are they lacking visibility into the processes that influence positive outcomes?

The journey towards achieving KPI targets will have you innovating and auditing current processes. You can be firm on your targets, yet still empathize with the challenges in execution. As a manager, your job is to remove obstacles.

1.7 Explain how marketing plans are monitored and evaluated.

Marketing plans serve as the blueprints for your company’s sales strategy. They lay out every detail of what’s to come over the next year and may be subject to alteration or evaluation because of changes in the market. Marketing should not be set in motion and left alone, but constantly reviewed, evaluated and adjusted to suit the needs of the company and the wants of the consumer. Understanding how to judge whether your marketing plan is delivering the best possible results can save you time and money and help ensure the success of your business.

Return on Investment

Return on investment is always a major concern when it comes to marketing or any other business expense. The idea is to check whether the money you put into your marketing plan has resulted in a profit. You must measure the amount spent on each campaign, versus the amount of sales each campaign brought in specifically. You can calculate an overall measurement, but a more specific breakdown by each marketing initiative will tell you exactly which campaigns worked and which fell short.

Reviewing Sales Numbers

Reading the numbers can be the fastest and most basic way to determine whether your plan is working. For example, if your overall sales for last year from June 1 to September 1 totaled $100,000 and your total sales for this year totaled $150,000, you can deduce that your current marketing plan is having some sort of positive effect. Take into account any rise in prices or expansion of the business, but when all is said and done, in raw numbers, you are selling more than you did a year ago.

Customer Response and Reactions

Customer response in all its varied forms can help you to determine what type of reactions your marketing creates. Surveys online and in person, general customer service feedback and online commentary can all reveal what your customers think of your marketing and which campaigns have the greatest impact. Simple questions like “How did you find out about our seasonal sale?” can reveal which initiatives are reaching the customer and which market segments are making purchases.

Marketing Reach Expansion

If your marketing reach is expanding, the effectiveness of your plan is the probable cause. Marketing that makes its way into new regions either by customer recommendation or natural growth indicates both a successful and popular product or experience and an effective marketing message. The expansion of your marketing budget is another sign that your plan is working well and has gained more support from the company.

Marketing Partner Response

Your marketing partners will offer feedback about whether your marketing plan is working. Partner feedback reveals the effectiveness of your efforts in relation to associated brands, suppliers and vendors. These outside members of the team might feel the effects of a successful campaign before you do because they are often on the front lines and might have more direct customer interaction.

The same goes for a negative report. If your partners are asking when you will be releasing new marketing efforts, it might be time to revamp the marketing plan.

Outside Salespeople Feedback

Outside salespeople are a great barometer for the measurement of marketing effectiveness. Ask for feedback from your soldiers in the field to determine whether the message you are providing and the ways you are providing it are effective. You are sure to get advice in any case, but if the feedback is overwhelmingly negative or customers are completely unaware of your latest marketing efforts, your plan should be revised to better address existing clients and to suit the needs of your sales team.

Actions of Competitors

The actions of your competitors can often be very telling when it comes to the success or failure of your marketing plan. If competitors rush to copy what you’ve done or try their best to one-up your initiatives, the plan is working. If your campaigns go largely ignored or there is an immediate negative response, there may be an issue or at least a question about what you’ve set in motion.

1.8 Specify monitoring arrangements that are capable of identifying variances from targets and expectations.

Monitoring and measurement of performance is the longest phase in the performance management cycle. During this phase the manager/ evaluator is supposed to keep an eye on the performance related to the set targets and constantly monitor it in order to be able to keep it on the right track. In that direction the purpose of this phase is not only to measure and evaluate the end results but to control the overall performance throughout the whole period between target setting and evaluation. This gives the true meaning to the performance management system for it is a system for management and not just for evaluation of the performance.

Performance management system is a tool for management not for evaluation of performance

Unfortunately, many organizations neglect this part of the cycle and simply do nothing or very little in the period between the target setting and target evaluation. Excuses vary from not having time to do it, to leaving it to the managers to do it in their own way and time etc. In any case they are just excuses. Not monitoring the evaluation will lose the whole meaning of the performance management since then you are not managing the performance throughout the year but only evaluating the end result.

Reasons for Performance Measurement

Aside of the very obvious reason that it is a part of any performance management system and that without it we cannot evaluate the achievement of the targets, there are also other reasons why we need to measure the performance.

From company side

• The whole performance management system including the monitoring and measurement process is designed to support the company strategy and achievement of corporate goals
• If we don’t monitor the performance of the targets we will not be able to see if we will achieve the company strategy
• Monitoring and measurement gives us valuable inputs for any further development and adjustment of the strategy as well as for the targets of the years to follow

From employees and managers side

• If we don’t measure the performance we won’t be able to show if we are doing a good job
• If we don’t measure the performance we won’t be able to make difference between successful and unsuccessful execution, between outstanding performance and underachievement
• By not making difference between outstanding performance and underachievement we won’t be able to recognize and reward the overachievement, nor to correct and develop the underachievement
• This can lead to rewarding and recognizing the wrong people and not rewarding the ones who really deserve it which will ultimately create dissatisfaction and drop of motivation
• The managers who don’t measure the performance cannot see where they should improve the work of their teams etc.

Setting Targets and Making Monitoring and Measurement Plan

Performance measurement starts with the target setting! Although many may think that the monitoring and measurement phase starts after the targets are set, it actually starts with the setting of the targets because this is the phase when the KPIs are set and when the measurement methods and tools are foreseen.

When setting the goals and the specific targets (KPIs) for each goal it is important to foresee how the achievement of the target will be monitored and measured. If a certain target cannot be measured, or is very difficult to measure, then such target shouldn’t be set.

The next step in the monitoring and measurement process would be to define a monitoring and measurement plan. But let’s go step by step.

What is Monitoring?

Technically performance monitoring is systematical gathering and analysis of information in parallel with the accomplishment of the task or job. In other words it means that as the work is being done, someone has the task to gather information and make the necessary analysis from which we can get a clear picture on the actual performance and make necessary decisions. This means that in order to be able to monitor the performance first we need to know what are the goal and the KPI for that goal. Then we need to establish monitoring and measurement tools and methods. At the end we need to foresee the needed resources as well as the people that will be assigned to monitor the performance.

The goal of the monitoring is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the performance through constantly keeping track on the actual performance. It also helps keep performance on the right track.

Planning the Monitoring and Measurement

It is difficult to go back and establish the monitoring and measurement systems, methods and measures once the achievement of a certain target has started. For example, try to measure and evaluate the achievement of a certain task or project without defining a monitoring and evaluation plan prior to the start of that task or project. What will you measure? What will you evaluate? How will you do it? Based on what?

It is difficult to go back and establish the monitoring and measurement systems, methods and measures once the achievement of a certain target has started

Monitoring and measurement should be part of the performance management system and should be well planned at the time of target setting. This plan should comprise the following:

1. Defining Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

KPIs are measurable, traceable and visible signs / indicators that something has been achieved or not. They are an important part of any performance management system because they are what you actually monitor and measure. In order to be measured the KPIs are set at the beginning of the process, i.e. during the target setting so that assigned employees can immediately start with gathering information.

A simple guidance on how to set KPIs is to see if the ones that we have set justify the term Key Performance Indicator. This means that it should be a key contributor to the success of the goal. The contributors are key only when they make significant impact on the goal. The indicator should be a performance measure that can be measured, quantified, adjusted and controlled. The measure must be controllable in order to be able to adjust and improve the performance if needed. And finally it should be an indicator, a pointer of what we have defined to be successful accomplishment of the specific goal.

Some examples of KPIs are revenue ($), income ($), market share (%), number of new products on market (number), customer churn (%), employee fluctuation (%), employee satisfaction (index) etc.

2. Defining Tools and Methods for Monitoring, Measuring and Evaluation

Next step after the definition of the KPIs is to define the methods, measures and tools for gathering the necessary information for the analysis. These directly depend on the nature of the goal and the KPI.

For example, information can be gathered from activities reports, meeting notes, financial reports, or by surveys, interviews etc.

3. Defining Activities Plan

Now it’s time to define the activities plan and schedule for monitoring. Again it will depend on the nature of the goal and the KPI how often we will need to gather information and make analysis. The achievement of some goals may be measured monthly or quarterly, while other goals may require daily measuring and monitoring.

4. Defining Resources

After the methods and tools have been defined and the activities plan has been set we need to foresee the resources that we’ll need to perform the monitoring and measurement. This includes material, financial resources and people.

5. Assigning People

The last step is to assign people who will perform the measurement and monitoring.

Elements of Monitoring

The whole monitoring and measurement process is consisted of the following elements:

1. Setting KPIs
2. Setting up monitoring and measurement systems
3. Collecting and recording data
4. Data analysis
5. Use of information for reporting, improvement and adjustment

1.9 Devise a marketing plan that aligns with a marketing strategy.

Marketing is the bridge between the product and the customer. A marketer uses the four P’s — product, price, place, and promotion — to communicate with the consumer. Promotion is a combination of all forms of communication to the customer, including advertising and public relations.

The marketer must choose which is the best form of promotion for the target audience, so he or she will develop a marketing plan.

Marketing Plan

A business must have a marketing plan in order to produce, communicate, and sell products and services. Using research on segments of the target audience, a marketing plan is written. Once the plan has been developed, a budget is set for the promotional campaign.

Promotion 

Promotion is when a business decides which forms of communication it wants to use in their marketing plan. Research is done that details market research, segmentation, and budget. Large companies might choose to do a national campaign, especially if the brand is already familiar to the consumer. Smaller businesses, with fewer resources, might use direct selling until they have a larger budget for advertising.

The first step for the marketer is to develop a marketing communications strategy. The strategy will define the consumer, the best way to reach them, and what the message should be. This process is called the marketing mix. The process goes through the following steps:

1. Segmentation
2. Targeting
3. Positioning
4. Messaging

1. Segmentation

By dividing consumers into segments, the marketer is better able to meet consumer needs, and increase positive response. During the promotion process, the marketing team will decide which segments to target, and why. Market research will be able to ascertain all of this information for the team.

Think! 

What segment would you choose if you were a seller of baseball gloves?

Keywords! 

Segmentation

Targeting

Positioning

Messaging

Once the target audience has been identified, they should be further segmented. The marketing team should know their age, gender, buying patterns, as well as income. This information can also be ascertained during the research period. The most typically used research methods are:

• Sales Analysis
• Buying Patterns and History
• Questionnaires
• Online statistics, including Social Media
• Focus groups
• Interviews
• Hiring a Market Research Firm

Once the audience has been clearly defined, it is time to get their attention.

2. Targeting

Targeting is the best way to communicate with the chosen segments. The marketer will want to ensure the best possible customer response. The marketing plan must detail how to target the intended audience, and define any marketing objectives.Want to learn more? Take an online course in Marketing.

Marketing Communications

Advertising is just one method of marketing communications, which is the umbrella for many methods.

TYPES OF ADVERTISING – MASS MEDIA 

• Outdoor Ads
• Business Directories
• Magazines and/or Newspapers
• Television and/or Movies
• Radio
• Infomercials

SALES PROMOTION

• Coupons
• Discounts
• Referral Programs
• Loyalty Incentives

PUBLIC RELATIONS – How to use the media

• Media Introductions
• PR Events
• News/Media Releases

PERSONAL SELLING

• Salesmen
• Showrooms
• Exhibitions
• Trade shows

DIRECT MARKETING

• Mail Order Catalogues
• Bulk Mailers
• E-mail
• Telemarketing
• Point of Sale Displays and Signs
• Packaging

DIGITAL MARKETING – The Internet is here to stay!

• Company Websites
• Social Media – Facebook or Twitter
• Blogging
• Mobile Phone Promotions
• YouTube

Every one of these promotional avenues has intense competition, so it is imperative the marketer choose their promotional avenue carefully. Remember, a television ad buy is different now than it was 20 years ago. Now we have hundreds of channels, all of which sell advertising. With the addition of streaming television and digital recorders, consumers can skip commercials or fast-forward through them.

Because of this, companies are finding newer ways to promote their businesses. There are new media channels, such as online choices, which add to the choices a company has to choose from. This is why segmentation is so important. The marketer doesn’t want to choose a promotional avenue if their target audience doesn’t use that method. For example, a product geared towards elderly women shouldn’t be promoted on Twitter, since elderly women are not big users of the site.

The better the target, the better the response. Normal response rates are less than 1 percent for a general mass mailing promotion. Think about that! What a waste of a promotion. But if the target is well defined, it gives the marketer a better chance at reaching the customer.

Integrated Marketing Communications

Ok, you have targeted your general audience, and then what do you do? The marketer must guide the consumer through the buying process. This involves knowing the stages each consumer goes through when deciding to purchase a product, and designing a promotion that will capture the attention of the customer.

Once the marketer has decided on the method of promotion, he must decide which approach to take. If multiple methods are used, it is essential all methods work together to give a single message. A funny television commercial and a somber radio ad won’t work together and would be a terrible way to define a brand. So the overall approach must consider each media method and ensure they all work together to promote the brand.

3. Positioning

Positioning is the process of defining an image for the company, or developing the “brand.” Positioning is key to this process, but all aspects of the marketing mix help define the brand. To position a business successfully, the company must meet or exceed all expectations and look good in the eyes of the consumer.

Positioning will also take competitors into account, and will give the company an opportunity to set itself apart from other similar products.

Branding

Branding is a central theme in promotions, and key to positioning a product. Branding is a part of all aspects of a product — from its packaging to its website. The more consistent the branding, the more likely the customer will remember the brand.

Having a successful brand means a customer will pay more than for brands it doesn’t know or trust. This trust is referred to as “brand equity” and is incredibly valuable to the marketer. It is also essential the brand take into account all unique selling points (USPs), as these are the easily recognized parts of a message.

If possible, using corporate identity is a great way to promote a product, especially if it is used consistently. Think of the Kellogg’s logo. You see the logo on a new box of cereal, and since you are familiar with the brand, you are more likely to trust it. This is the ideal situation.

A corporation can use certain colors, logos, or taglines to keep their brand consistent.

Think again of Tide laundry detergent. Quick — what color is the packaging? It is orange, and it has been ingrained in your memory, probably since you were a child. Do you understand why it is so valuable? The color alone defines the corporate identity of the Tide brand.

4. Developing the Message

The marketer has the segments, the target, and the position; what is next? He needs the message. What does he want to say to influence his potential customers? The marketer’s objectives should be aligned with the marketing strategy, and will fit into one of the following categories:

1. Inform – Increase awareness of the product and brand, and try to gain an advantage.

2. Persuade – Attempt to gain an immediate response to drive sales.

3. Remind – To maintain an interest in the product or brand.

The best results come from clear and distinctive promotions, so it is important the marketing works together to formulate a clear message for the targeted audience. The best message won’t work if it doesn’t get to the proper audience.

Advertising

Advertising is the act of communicating directly to an audience using media sources, such as television, print, radio, and online. A successful campaign will keep the customer insight in mind, while communicating the business’s mission and brand. Ads can be directed toward certain demographics, improving the chance of a successful campaign.

A successful ad makes the viewer want to learn more about the product, and gives the viewer means to purchase the product. The best ad techniques will ensure a valuable campaign, which will return value to the company.

The following techniques are the most popular for ad campaigns.

Repetition 

Repetition is exactly what it sounds like, and it is a very effective method. It is a means of getting a message into the memory of a customer. This method will always name the product or company name, and ideally more than once. This is particularly helpful in television campaigns, because it gives the opportunity to see and hear the message.

Claims

Another successful method is the promotion of features of the product, and making claims about what the product can do for the consumer. An ad can state that its product is “the best,” even if the product is the same as other products. Claims can often be misleading, so it’s important to use this method carefully. Many ads use the words “helps” or “virtually” to describe their products.Bandwagon This method works by creating the image that everyone is using this product, and the consumer must jump on the bandwagon so they are not left out. Many of these types of ads are patriotic, making the consumer feel bad if they are not purchasing a patriotic product. 

Association

This method associates a product with a person, song, or emotion. Sporting goods companies use athletes, car companies show their cars driving on beautiful winding mountain roads, and others use jingles. Think of the jingle for Folgers Coffee. Can you remember it? Of course you can — it is ingrained in our memory. It results in an emotional response, and therefore is a successful ad. 

Promotions

This method uses coupons or sweepstakes to win over customers. By participating in the promotion, he customer enters a relationship with the company. This generates excitement, especially if the consumer thinks they could possibly win something. Everyone likes free products.

Public Relations

Public relations is the act of communicating a positive image to the target audience. PR can include press releases, discussions, and presentations to the community, as well as targeting television and radio programs to discuss the brand.

Small companies that cannot afford large advertising budgets can use public relations to get their name out there. It is important to establish a brand as soon as possible.

As a part of the marketing plan, a marketer must develop a public relations strategy. This can be done in three phases.

Phase One: Research

• Step 1: Analyze the Situation
• Step 2: Analyze the Company
• Step 3: Analyze the Market

Phase Two: Strategy

• Step 4: Set Goals and Objectives
• Step 5: Formulate Action and Response Strategies
• Step 6: Design Valuable Communication

Phase Three: Tactics

• Step 7: Decide on Communication Tactics
• Step 8: Implement the PR Plan

Phase Four: Evaluative Research

• Step 9: Evaluate the PR Plan

1.10 Evaluate the implementation of a marketing plan.

During this phase, the marketer must focus on the initial planning of what he wants to convey in his message, and whom he wants to get the message to. At this point the marketer will research the product and market, and prepare for the marketing strategy.

Step 1: Analyze the Situation.

All members of the advertising team and management must work together to analyze the current marketing situation, set goals, and address any problems or obstacles.

Step 2: Analyze the Organization.

This step requires the company to look at its mission, performance, and resources. It also requires them to look at their reputation, as well as the external environment, such as its competitors.

Step 3: Analyze the Market.

This step requires the company to analyze the markets it wants to target. This involves extensive market research about the needs and wants of the target audience, especially demographics and behavioral needs.

Strategy

This phase involves planning the strategy, and making decisions about how to communicate to the target audience. It’s also when the message and means of communication are decided.

Step 4: Set Goals and Objectives.

This step defines the ideal position for the company and the product. This is the best way to set goals and clear objectives.

Step 5: Formulate Action and Response Strategies.

A company can take many actions, and in this step the company must consider which actions are best, and most appropriate, for the campaign.

Step 6: Design Valuable Communication.

This step involves the various types of messages that can be relayed to the customer. It also includes the tone and style of the message.

Tactics

During the Tactics phase, the type of communication is chosen.

Step 7: Select Communication Tactics.

This step deals with all the types of communication that can be chosen. A company can choose news media, face-to-face communication, advertising, or public relations.

Step 8: Implement the Strategic Plan.

In this step, the plan is implemented. If all previous seven steps have been followed, then the company should have a successful PR campaign.

Evaluative Research

The final phase assesses the success of the campaign, and whether any change could be made to improve it.

Step 9: Evaluating the Strategic Plan.

This is the last step, which uses specific methods to measure how effective the campaign was and whether it met the desired objectives.