Marketing
& Sales: Business Plan Basics
Every good marketing plan should include
two major parts - a definition of your target market and a
specific outline to market, promote and sell your product
or service.
Target Market
It's critical to clearly define your target market
in your business plan - investors expect it. Tell your business
plan reader about your customers and describe their defining
characteristics in detail. Include information such as age,
gender, geographic location, income bracket, buying similarities,
and more.
The goal of this section is to build a demographic
profile of your typical customer. The more clearly you pinpoint
the defining traits of your customer, the easier it is to
construct a marketing program to reach them effectively.
The information and research included in
your target market section should originate from primary and
secondary sources. Primary sources includes information that
you discover or conclude from personal observation and research,
such as personal studies, results of questionnaires, site
visits, and conversations with experts in your industry. Secondary
sources include such sources as journals, books, published
reports, government statistics, or internet findings.
Marketing Program
After you define your target market, you need to determine
specifically how you will reach them. Outline the details
and steps necessary to reach potential customers and convert
them from prospects to paying customers. It is important to
demonstrate to investors that you have identified specific
marketing avenues and procedures to effectively sell your
product or service. Answer questions such as the following
in your marketing program section:
- What specific marketing mediums will
you use to reach your customer?
- How often will each be used? What will
they cost? Why did you choose these marketing avenues over
others?
- What marketing materials will you need?Ê
(brochures, website, etc)
- Who will design your marketing materials?
What will they cost?
- What is the cost of marketing materials
per prospect or client?Ê (You may choose to include marketing
pieces in the appendix of your business plan)
- Will your company be able to attract
PR? Why will they run your story? What's the "angle"? Which
publications and mediums will you target?
For more information about preparing the marketing and sales
section of your business plan, check out:
Email
us at BizPlanIt if you have comments or suggestions about
our Virtual Business Plan.
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