Marketing planning

Core items

Planning is synonymous with anticipating the future, having vision and betting on the events that will come in the short, medium and long term.

We begin a short series that will seek to show the basic assumptions of business planning, under a didactic approach and without complicated explanations focused on the marketing manager.

1. Definition:

What is planning? (corporate point of view)

Planning is formulating a future state for an organization, defining short, medium and long term goals, proposing verifiable and certain objectives.

Planning involves the use of intelligence in the development of strategies, philosophical objectives, operations and use of specific programs.

2. Basic elements of planning:

Some basic planning elements are:

Mission, Vision and Philosophy of the company. Tactical and strategic objectives. (short-term and long-term objectives) Corporate Policy. (Action guidelines) Assumptions. (Predictions and market and environmental studies) Procedures (Ways of acting, proceeding and responding to different situations) Budgets and predictions (Analysis of resources) Projects. (Development of activities) Evaluation. Feedback (Correct, improve, redirect) Contingency and Exit

Planning: Companies move in dynamic, changing and partially predictable environments, therefore it is "necessary to plan taking into account the various scenarios" that can be faced.

3. Definitions of the elements:

Mission, Vision and Company Philosophy: In terms of the market, the mission, vision and philosophy will be the starting points of any marketing strategy. They are the clear definition of the final objectives that will be sought to be successful in the implementation of market conquest strategies.

Mission: It will be the set of steps or elements of the strategy to be followed.

Vision: It will be the projected future

Philosophy of the company: These will be the guidelines or ethical or procedural elements that will be applied in the company.

Tactical and strategic objectives:

The tactical objectives will be the day-to-day objectives, the strategic objectives will be the great steps in the development of the conquest of markets.

One example. A strategic objective will be to have more than 15% market share, a tactical objective will be the implementation of an advertising campaign through the Internet that collects 15,000 users.

Corporate Policy:

They are the procedural guidelines that delimit the margins of operation of the various agents or elements of the organization, they represent the practical limitations in the definition of strategies. «They are what and what cannot be done»...

Assumptions:

They are the logical bases and the data that are available in the development of strategies, the more information you have, the greater possibility of developing successful marketing strategies, hence the importance of market research and information gathering. As said at the beginning, the future is fairly predictable, the more information it has, the easier it is to predict future behavior.

Procedures:

It is the set of operations and actions that have a logical order and a chronological order and that are related to those responsible for executing and moving the flows of the company's assets.

A procedure is a standard of action that reflects the logistical needs of a company. Generally, companies establish standards or minimum performance indicators, which will guide the work of the members of the organization.

Budgets and predictions:

It is collecting information in order to make financial, social and behavioral predictions on the variables that affect an organization.

Projects:

It consists of evaluating socially, economically and financially the various projects that will be carried out to achieve the goals of the company.

Note: The portal has several series on financial and social evaluation of projects.

Feedback:

It is important to constantly review the procedures and strategies adopted, in this context constant feedback of information and follow-up are essential, otherwise the initial information will be out of date in a short time.

Contingency and Exit:

It will always be important to have a plan B, a contingency plan that works with the various possible scenarios and that can serve as a response in the event of problems or the need for a definitive escape.

Stages of the planning process

Short series on the essential elements in modern marketing planning. Stages.

Any planning activity has certain stages that must be completed in order to achieve an increasingly important objective.

The logical stages (they are not the only ones) of the marketing planning process are:

Diagnostics:

In the case of marketing, it consists of conducting market research, diagnoses or investigations may be:

Internal: They analyze the marketing part or the activities that should correspond to the company, as well as the current situation in terms such as market share, sales force status, brand valuation, profit statements, etc.

External: External analysis that corresponds to elements such as competition, the potential market of the product, the investigation of consumption patterns or consumer preferences, etc.

Projections:

From the information collected and market research, the phase of making projections and starting to forecast, predict, and set or set goals or objectives arrives.

Management Indicators: They are the guide to the behavior of the company, represent the evaluation standards of the company and will serve as a guide for determining the medium and long-term objectives.

Planning: Companies move in dynamic, changing, and partially predictable environments, therefore it is "necessary to plan taking into account the various scenarios" that can be faced.

External Diagnosis:

External diagnosis depends on variables that cannot be controlled by the organization or the environment.

It is important to always be aware of the changes that occur in the business, the industry and the market that the organization faces.

External diagnostics analyzes:

1. Market variables: They have to do with the positioning of the brand, the market share of the company and the variables of relative position.

Market size Customer satisfaction level Potential market size Sales and production price behavior Number of competitors and competitor research

2. State dimension variables: Political, social and legislative environment.

Tax policy and tax schemes Legal security Investment environment generated by law Departments and sectors that affect the organization's industry or market

Variables of economic dimension : Macro and Micro variables.

Production volumes of the sector Gross product of the sector Employment levels and consequently wages Foreign behavior Monetary, fiscal and security security if applicable Energy source Technology and price trends