Marketing Plan Template for Manufacturers

1. Marketing Plan Template for Manufacturers Provided by the Manufacturing Marketing Group Marketing planning, strategy, content marketing and technology services for manufacturing companies. www.mmmatters.com Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

2. Summary This section offers a summary of the 8 parts of a proper marketing plan. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

3. 1.0 Executive Summary The executive summary is written last, but is placed in the front of the document. Do not try to write the executive summary first, before you put the work in on the entire document. The executive summary should outline a compelling argument and hypothesis that is supported by the data in your marketing plan. Tell the reader why your plan will support achievement of the business goals. Tell it straight, no spin. If you did your job with each of the seven steps, writing the executive summary will be natural and easy. There are two main purposes for writing a marketing plan: • To define, clarify, and agree on your marketing strategy and tactics • To convey information to stakeholders If you are presenting your hard work to an investor or senior executive from whom you desire buy-in and/or support, they will likely only read the executive summary before scanning the rest of the marketing plan. You may be thinking to yourself, “Why should I go through the time and effort to write a proper, comprehensive marketing plan when all I really need is a one- or two-page summary?” See number one above. If you consider yourself a professional marketer, you must write your marketing plan. If you think you are a professional marketer and you do not have a written marketing plan, then, Sir or Madam, you are no professional marketer. It is well worth the time investment. It is good for your business, your career, and your reputation. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

4. 2.0 Current Situation Analysis • Now is the time to take stock of where you are at your present situation. You can't create an effective plan to move forward if you don't have a concise understanding of the point where you start. There are 3 sections in this step: • Summarize your market. This is a great place to bring in your cross-functional team together. Market summary should include a definition of market demographics, needs of your target market, trends, and current, past and future growth. Michael Porter's Five Forces framework is an excellent tool for the market assessment. There is also a nice summary here from the Management Study Guide web site. Keep in mind that understanding your market may include primary or secondary research. • SWOT Analysis. Now, you should prepare a summary of what you learned in the previous step using a SWOT framework. One common mistake I see in these summaries is people mixing up the strengths and weaknesses with the opportunities and threats. Strengths and weaknesses are internal to your firm. Opportunities and threats are external from the market. The SWOT should include an analysis of the offering. • Analysis of Competition. In this section, include a SWOT analysis for each of your main competitors. It's important to understand your competitors core competencies, value message, market perception, and why customers choose the competition instead of your firm. • Positioning Statement Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

5. 3.0 Objectives & Critical Issues • In this next step you will be setting objectives for the marketing function and identifying issues that are already apparent or may become apparent as obstacles to achieving the objectives. Objectives will come from the higher level business mission, strategy and goals. Business objectives may center on growth, maintenance or profitability. Each of these drive different marketing objectives. • For example, growth could drive marketing objectives like; increase market share, promote a diversified offering to multiple target markets, or develop more products. Whereas increasing profitability may drive marketing objectives such as increasing efficiency of marketing activities and improving ROI of marketing tactics. It's important to tap the senior managers who agreed to participate in the marketing planning process at this point to ensure the marketing plan is aligned with the business objectives. • As with any proper objective, the marketing objectives must be specific, measurable and have a deadline. The objectives should be realistic and the marketing team must believe the objectives can be achieved. Ideally, there should be an incentive plan in place to encourage individuals to strive to reach the objectives. Some examples of specific objectives: • Grow the number of customers by 25% by the end of 2013 • Increase revenue from existing customers by 30% in 2 years • Reach break-even by end of fiscal. One important objective that should be in every marketing plan, but is often overlooked, is in support of internal marketing. It's very important that all internal stakeholders are aware of the critical strategic and tactical marketing plans. The Marketing Team should be promoting things like the positioning statement, value proposition, messaging, marketing objectives, tactics, activities, results and other issues. Internal marketing helps align the entire revenue team around the objectives which results in a very powerful execution of the plan. The last part of this section is to identify problems or issues. If there are issues that may prevent achieving the objectives or activities that must occur to ensure the successful execution of the plan, they should be identified. For example, if achieving ROI of 75% is an objective, an issue may be it will be necessary to purchase a marketing automation platform to measure and report ROI results. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

6. 4.0 Target Market Analysis It's impossible to have an action plan without knowing your target. Suppose someone handed you a bow and arrows while telling you to go ahead and hit the bulls-eye. You accept what appears to be a highly sophisticated compound bow with a set of precision arrows, but there is no target. The person who gave you the bow continues, "go ahead, just knock the arrow and hit the target." No target in sight, how will you ever succeed? A target market of 'everyone' or 'all industries' is the same thing as having no target at all. Even companies like Pepsi and McDonalds define a target market that is not 'everyone'. It is imperative to identify your target market so you can utilize your resources efficiently and effectively. Markets may be defined in terms of geography, industry, business or consumer, sex, age, income, etc. The target market could be defined as a hierarchy such as total potential, total available, total qualified, and target. Choosing a target market is also referred to as 'segmenting' the market. Your decisions should be based on a combination of feedback from internal stakeholders who have direct dialogue with the target audience and market research. It is a big mistake to omit input from either. Target market analysis should be completed with an open mind and should be reviewed on a regular basis. The final result should be communicated throughout the company. This decision (choosing a target market) will drive the marketing strategy, positioning, messaging and marketing activity. One last note; it is important to consider where or if this market congregates. There must be an efficient way to reach your target audience with your message. For, if a majority of the target market does not congregate virtually or physically, it will be very expensive and most inefficient to get your message in front of them. In the manufacturing world, industry associations are a good example of a potential market because they may get together at and industry trade show, ready a trade journal and regularly visit the association and related web sites. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

7. 5.0 Marketing Strategy At this point, you should have a good understanding of the business situation and associated marketing situation. You should have a clear understanding of the business objectives and critical issues that exist and their effect on the marketing plan going forward. Your target market should be clearly defined and you should have a consummate understanding of the value your firm brings to the target market. Congratulations Manufacturing Marketer, you are now ahead of about 80% of your peers even if you stop right now. But please, DON'T STOP now, we're coming up on the fun part. You are now ready to begin formulating your marketing strategy. Marketing Strategy is quite complex and I can only hope to highlight the major sections in this blog post. This is where you bring in the famous '4 P's of the Marketing Mix'. You'll clearly talk about Product, Pricing, and Place (channel). The fourth P, Promotion will be discussed in the next section Marketing Programs. Product Marketing Strategy. You should be able to articulate a product (or service) strategy and how it aligns with the business strategy. The product strategy should address the current offering, future road map, and how each product fits the positioning and supports the value proposition. Product marketing strategy can become very complex in a short time. I strongly recommend you work with your product managers and business leaders on this section. Pricing Strategy. Every company should have a stated pricing strategy. The pricing strategy must align with the positioning and value proposition. For example, if you position your brand as high value with premium pricing, you should not worry about winning business by being lowest price. It takes a very different infrastructure to compete on low price than it does to compete based on differentiated brand offering. Place. Place means channel. How will your offering make final content with the end user? This decision goes hand-in-hand with the other 4 P's and especially pricing. Should you make the decision to use distributors or resellers, your gross margin requirement may be different than if you choose to sell direct. This decision also affects your marketing programs which we will discuss in the next blog post. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

8. 6.0 Marketing Programs • In this section you will define the 4th P, Promotion. Promotion is where most marketers hit their sweet spot. We love creating and designing. Some of us love the excitement of the measurement. We believe you haven't lived until you experience hitting the 'send' button and then watching how many people click through the email or fill out the form. The Manufacturing Marketer knows that promotion is the culmination of the previous 4 steps. If the previous 4 steps of the marketing plan are the foundation, then Promotion is the house. • As you begin to build your promotion plan, it is critically important to remember your analysis, results and agreements up to this point. Promotion should be designed for the target audience using the positioning statement and value proposition as well as the agreed upon business strategy and marketing strategy. The promotions should support the objectives you have previously agreed to with your stakeholders. A promotion plan designed to generate leads is different than a plan designed to position the brand as a thought leader in the space. • Promotion may include some of these tactics; print advertising, digital advertising, direct mail, public relations outreach, SEO, SEM, direct sales promotion, direct marketing, etc. Naturally, you have a limited budget and limited resources, so it's important to keep those limitations in mind. The most effective promotions include a combination of outbound activities and inbound activities that are integrated around the same message. Outbound activities should be regular and frequent messages to the target audience. Again, your promotions must support your strategy and objectives. Oh, and one last note on promotions, they should be measurable. • I find it helpful to use one of the modern marketing automation tools like HubSpot or Marketo for outbound, inbound and measurement. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

9. 7.0 Financials • Financial metrics come from your CFO. It is beneficial to include some company financial data to help justify and compare the forecast and the marketing budget/contribution. The financial metrics section should include a reference to the latest income statement, cash flow statement and balance sheet. Targets or KPIs such as sales revenue growth, EBITDA, gross margin for example should be specified. • Forecasting is usually a joint exercise with other key stakeholders. The forecast should be based on data and not just on a best guess. The sales forecast may also drive the marketing expenditure as a percent of gross revenue. The forecast can be broken up into myriad types; market or segment sales, product sales, cost of sales, and/or by channel. • The most commonly known financial metric for most marketers is the budget for expenditure. I would guess most Manufacturing Marketers usually get handed or negotiate the amount of money they are allowed to spend on marketing activities. Beware of this all-to-common culture. It only cements your position as a cost center. Include in your forecast amounts that Marketing will contribute to the business objectives and tie the expenditure to these numbers. For example, include the % contribution to revenue as a forecast amount. Use 'net contribution' as a foundational measure of the effectiveness of marketing. Show 'revenue per lead' in place of 'cost per lead'. You'll still need to plan your marketing spend, but we all know how to break that number up, so I won't delve into that concept here. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

10. 8.0 Measurement & Control • What good is all this thought and effort if you don't know how well it's working? Thus the need for measurement. The old, old saying that says "what gets measured gets done" is true for marketing. The marketing plan is typically constructed during a short period of time. The macro as well as the micro environments are going to change. In this modern era of lightning speed of information and globalization, I guarantee you that things change on a regular basis. So, my fellow Manufacturing Marketer, we must be continuously assessing the environment and comparing our results with some type of measurement process. • The first step is to gain agreement on the metrics, sometimes call key performance indicators (KPIs). There are hundreds of metrics you can choose from with the dawn of the myriad marketing automation and web analytic tools currently available. Some of the more common metrics include; page views, conversions, leads, pipeline contribution, clicks, click-through-rate, open rate, form completion rate, ad nauseum. Financial related metrics may include profit, revenue, net contribution or pipeline contribution. • When it comes to metrics is the KPIs you choose will send a strong message to the C-suite executives. The message may even be subliminal making it even more important (or more dangerous). If you choose your KPIs around marketing-speak; CTRs, page views, open rates or if you choose KPIs around cost or expense; cost per lead, cost per attendee, cost per form you are positioning yourself and your entire marketing team as those folks down the hall who do our ads, maintain the website and make our brochures. This is not to say this is a bad thing, until the company decides to cut costs. Surely the company can do with less marketing since they are always talking about obscure metrics and cost of this or that. They suppose that marketing is a necessary expense (evil) but don't appreciate the value of marketing to the business. If your company executives feel this way and you don't like it, it's your own fault. • If you want Marketing to be perceived as a strategic asset and a partner at the business table, make your metrics about revenue! • Don't be one of those marketers who agrees with John Wanamaker's famous saying, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half."  With a proper measurement and control system, you will know what is working and what is wasted. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

11. Create Your Plan Use these slides to create your marketing plan. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

12. 1.0 Executive Summary • Write this section last. • Write it for the busy person who wants a summary. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

13. 2.0 Current Situation Analysis • Be sure to research and include these factors in addition to the rest: • Key Success Factors • Economic environment • Regulatory environment • Socio-cultural trends • Technological trends Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

14. 2.1 Market Summary • Include these topics in your market summary subsection to the Current situation: • Total available market (TAM) • Current share of market (SAM) • Market size & growth • Market needs • Current market position (market perception) • Market trends Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

15. 2.2 S-W-O-T • Strengths (internal, you can control these) Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

16. 2.2 S-W-O-T • Weaknesses (internal, you can control these) Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

17. 2.2 S-W-O-T • Opportunities (external, in the market place, you can anticipate and plan) Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

18. 2.2 S-W-O-T • Threats (external, in the market place, you can anticipate and plan) Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

19. 2.3 Competition • Conduct a SWOT for each major competitor. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

20. 2.3 Competitive Analysis Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

21. 2.4 Critical Issues List issues that could prevent you from accomplishing the goals and plans set out here. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

22. 2.5 Macro-environment • Consider the macro-environment and how it could affect your go-to-market plan. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

23. 3.0 Marketing Strategy • A marketing strategy should lay out the overarching approach for your go-to-market plan. The marketing strategy is your foundation and the tactics will support the strategy. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

24. 3.1 Marketing Mission • Every good marketing strategy should have a mission. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

25. 3.2 Marketing Objectives • Marketing objectives support the business objectives. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

26. 3.3 Target Markets • You can’t be in every market. Choose carefully and gain consensus. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

27. 3.4 Positioning Positioning is an internal facing statement. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

28. 3.4.1 Perceptual Map • A perceptual map is built based on the perception of your brand and offering in the marketplace. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

29. Example Perceptual Map 7 1 = high price sensitivity/low price perception 7 = low price sensitivity/high price perception 1 = low level of service 7 = high level of service Pharma Comp 2 Hospitals Comp 1 Service Med Devices My firm Comp 3 1 7 Price Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

30. 3.5 Value Proposition • The Value Proposition is a market facing statement. It needs to be defined from the market perspective. This could also be expressed as a unique selling proposition (USP). Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

31. 3.6 Marketing Mix – 4Ps • Product • Price • Place • Promotion Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

32. 3.6.1 Offering (Product) • Describe your offering in detail. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

33. 3.6.2 Price • Include your pricing strategy here. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

34. 3.6.3 Distribution (Place) • Describe your sales channel. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

35. 3.6.4 Promotion This is where you delineate the tactics of your marketing plan. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

36. 3.7 Regional Differences • Are there regional differences in tactics and messaging? Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

37. 4.0 Financials Include the financial metrics which will be an important benchmark used to help determine the success or failure of your marketing plan. Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

38. 5.0 Controls & Measurement • Include at least these topics here: • Marketing Activity Benchmarks • Budget tracking • Key Performance Indicators • Planning & Milestones Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com

39. Manufacturing Marketing Group • At MMG, we specialize in helping manufacturers advance the practice of marketing. • MMG offers a free evaluation of your existing marketing plan. • MMG can write your marketing plan for you. • MMG offers tactical marketing services that support your existing marketing plan. • MMG helps you implement technology for measurement and determining ROI. Contact MMG for your free marketing plan evaluation Email: info@mmmatters.com Tel: 303-953-4361 Web: www.mmmatters.com Manufacturing Marketing Group - CC License - www.mmmatters.com