|
eMarketing InformationThe E-marketing Plan - Brief Summary
And Working Scheme
by:
Otilia Otlacan
I. Summary of a marketing plan
The marketing planning (concretized in the marketing plan) is an essential structure
activity, considering the hostile and complex competitive business environment. Our ability and skills to perform profitable sales are affected by hundreds of internal and external factors that move
in a difficult way to evaluate. A marketing manager must understand and build an pictures upon these variables and their interactions, and must take rational decisions.
Let us see what do we call a "marketing plan"? It is the result of the planning activity, a document that includes a review of the organization's place in the market, an analysis of the STEP factors as well as a SWOT analysis. A complete plan would-be as well formulate several presumptions on why we think the past marketing strategy was eminent or not. The next phase shall present the objectives we set, together with the strategies to attain these objectives. In a logical sequence, we wish further need to appraise the results and formulate alternative plans of action. A plan would-be consist in details of responsibilities, costs, sales prognosis and budgeting issues.
In the end, we should not forget to specify how the plan (or plans) wish be controlled, by what means we wish measure its results.
We wish see how to build the marketing plan, what is its structure: after we wish see how to build the traditional marketing plan, we wish take a look at the e-marketing plan and see how the unique features of the cyberspace wish require several changes in the approach of writing a marketing plan.
But, before we continue, we must understand and accept that steps of the marketing plan are universal. It is a logical approach of the planning activity, no matter wherever
we apply it. The differences you meet from a plan to another consist in the degree of formality accorded to each phase, depending on the size and nature of the organization involved. For example, a small and not heterogeneous institution would-be adopt less formal procedures, because the managers in these cases have much experience and functional noesis than the subordinates, and they are able to attain direct control upon most factors. On the different hand, in a institution with heterogeneous activity, it is less likely that top managers have functional information in a higher degree than the subordinate managers. Therefore, the planning process must be developed
to ensure a strict discipline for everyone involved in the decisional chain.
II. The general marketing plan
The classical marketing plan would-be follow the following scheme of 8 stages:
1. Declaring the mission: this is the planning stage once
we establish the structure
orientations and intentions, thus providing a sense of direction. In most cases, this is a general presentation of the company's intentions and all but has a philosophic character.
2. Establishing current objectives: it is essential for the organization to try to determine with preciseness the objectives to be reached. These objectives, in order to be viable, must be SMART. SMART is an descriptor and stands for "Specific", "Measurable", "Attainable", "Realistic" and "Timed". The objectives must as well convey the general structure
mission.
3. Gathering information: this stage is based on the construct of marketing audit. After activity the audit of the macro-environment by analyzing the STEP factors (social, technologic, economic and politic), we should turn the focus upon the immediate doc environment (the micro-environment) and analyze the competitive environment, the cost and the market. Finally, we wish conclude with the SWOT analysis, by this way we wish have a general view upon the internal environment compared to the external one. The SWOT analysis combine the two perspectives, from the inside and from the outside, because the Strengths and the Weaknesses are internal issues of an organization, patch the Opportunities and Threads move from the outside.
4. Re-formulating objectives: after the close examination of data gathered in the previous stage, sometimes it is necessary to re-formulate the initial objectives, in order to address all the issues that power have move up from the previous stage. The distance between the initial objective and the re-formulated objective wish be covered by appropriate strategies. We must ensure the re-formulated objective is SMART as well.
5. Establishing strategies: several strategies are to be formulated, in order to cover the distance between what we want to attain and what is possible to achieve, with the resources at our disposal. As we would-be commonly have several options, we should analyze them and chose the one with much chances to attain the marketing objectives.
6. Plan of actions: consists in a really careful description of the procedures and means to implement the actions we want to take. For example, if the strategy implies a raise in advertising volume, the plan of actions should establish wherever
the advertisements wish be placed, the dates and frequency of the advertising campaigns, a set of procedures to appraise their effectiveness. The actions we plan to take must be clearly formulated, measurable, and the results must be monitored and evaluated.
7. Implementation and control: consist in the series of activities that must be performed in order to run the marketing plan in accordance to the objectives set by the marketer. At this stage, it is critical to gain the keep of all members if the organization, especially once
the marketing plan is due to affect the organization from its grounds.
8. Performance measurement: constitutes the last but not the less important stage of the marketing plan, since we can attain only what we can measure. In order to measure the performances achieved through the marketing plan, we need to perpetually
monitor each previous stage of the plan.
The marketing plan that has a feedback cycle, from 8th stage back to the 4th. That is because sometimes during the planning process, we power need to perform stages 4 to 8 several times before the final plan can be written.
III. The e-marketing plan
The e-marketing plan is built exactly on the same principles as the classical plan. There is no several approach, but there power be several formal differences given by the individualism of the cyberspace environment. Many a of these differences move from the necessity to ensure a high rate of responsiveness from the customers, since the e-world is moving quicker
and requires quicker
reaction from its companies, compared to the traditional offline marketplace.
Even tho'
it is dead acceptable and is a common practice to use the 8-stage classic model for the e-marketing plan as well, you power want to consider the simplified version planned
by Chaffey, who identifies four major steps to build the e-marketing plan:
1. Strategic analysis: consists in ceaseless scanning of the macro- and micro-environment. The accent should fall on the consumers' necessarily that change really apace in the online market, as well as on measure the competitors' actions and evaluating the opportunities offered by new technologies.
2. Process
strategic objectives: the organization must have a clean vision and establish if the media channels wish complement the traditional ones, or wish replace them. We must define specific objectives (don't forget to check if they are SMART!) and we must as well specify the contribution of the online activities to the organization’s turnover.
3. Formulating strategies - we do that by addressing the following essential issues:
- develop strategies towards the target markets;
- positioning and differentiating strategies;
- establish priorities of online activities;
- focus attention and efforts on CRM and business control;
- formulate strategies for product development;
- develop business models with well-established strategies for new products or services, as well as rating policies;
- necessity for several structure
restructuring;
- changes in the structure of communication channels.
4. Implementing strategies: includes careful execution of all necessary steps to attain established objectives. It could refer re-launching of a website, promo campaigns for a new or rewritten site, observance website efficiency and many a more.
Note: a common strategy to attain e-marketing objectives is the communication strategy. The steps to built a coherent communication plan wish be conferred inside
a further article.
IV. The e-marketing plan (sample titles)
1. Executive Summary
a. summary
upon present conjuncture;
b. key aspects of the strategic e-marketing plan.
2. Situational Analysis
a. characteristics of the e-market;
b. possible factors of success;
c. competitors’ analysis;
d. technological factors;
e. legal factors;
f. societal factors;
g. possible problems and opportunities.
3. The e-Marketing Objectives
a. product profile;
b. target market;
c. sales objectives.
4. The e-Marketing Strategies
a. product strategies;
b. cost strategies;
c. promotion strategies;
d. distribution strategies.
5. Technical Issues
a. website content;
b. website "searcheability";
c. work
safety (for customers and staff);
d. consumer
registration procedure;
e. multimedia;
f. autoresponders;
g. order forms and feedback forms;
h. access levels to online resources;
i. credit card transactions;
j. website hosting;
k. website publishing;
l. technical staff (size, requirements)
6. Appendix
7. Listing
Just about the author:
Otilia is a certified Marketing advisor with skillfulness
in e-Marketing and e-Business. She developed and teach her own online course in Principles of Marketing (http://class.universalclass.com/emarketing). You can contact Otilia through her Marketing resources portal at http://www.teawithedge.com
Circulated by Article Emporium
| |
