Any marketing plan consists of five key elements : A statement of goals and objectives A marketing strategy A set of marketing

mix decisions Financial projections Arrangements for monitoring the plan's implementation 1. Goals and objectives The maekeitnf plam should begin with a statement of goals and objectives. Market ers typically use the word "goals" to refer to desired long rage statres of prof it,growth and market position. In contrast, objectives refer to short term perfo rmance targets. Of course, objectives and goals should be related: the accomplis hment of releveant short term objectives shouldd improve the firm's prospects of achieving its long term goals. 2. Strategic Decisions A marketing strategy consists of four key elements: market definition, segmentat ion, targeting and positioning. Market definition is the act of identifying a s pecific consumer need or a want and describibng the consumers who share that nee d or want. This description should include estimates of market size and growth. Segmentation consists of dividing the defined market into groups of consumers wh o require distinct set of marketing tactics. Targeting is the selection of the s egments that will be the focus of the firm's marketing effort. Finally, position ing is the process of eastablishing in the minds of the target customers the des ired perception of the firm's product or service relative to competitors. 3. Marketing Mix The marketing mix referes to a srt of marketing tactics. the firm's desired mark eting mix is the set of marketing tactics that eastablieshes a product od servic e's desired position in the minds of the target customers. The simplest categori sation of the marketing mix elemnents consists of 4 P's: product, price, place a nd promotion. Some of these categories are very general. Product decisions addre ss product design, packaging, product line width, complemantary products, replac ement products, guarantees and customer service. Price decisions embrace not onl y the list prices on individual products and services but also temporary price p romotions and discounts for performance. Place decisions addresss the way or way s in which a firm's product or services will reach the end user, as well as the support needed to help any channel intermediaries ( such as wholesalers and ret ailers) market the firm's product or service. Promotion is a very broad category that embraces advertising, saleforce, direct marketing and public relations dec isions. 4. Financial Projections Any marketing strategy must be evaluated in light of the goals and the objective s specified at the beginnig of the plan.To this end, a complete markting plan mu st include financial projections that answer the following questions: a)Given the proposed pricing plan , what is the product's unit margin (defined a s the unit revenue minus unit variable cost)? b)What fixed costs need to be recovered? c)Given this information, what unit sales are needed over what period to achieve the firm's objectives for this product or service? d)Is it reasonable to expect that the product or service can achieve the require d unit sales in the specified time period?