Marketing Plans – Why do you need them?

If a business is to succeed, it needs to have a clear objective, and if it is to achieve that objective, it needs to have a plan of necessary actions. If there is not a satisfactory plan it is unlikely that the objectives will be achieved. But what constitutes a satisfactory plan?

Unfortunately, many executives tend to see business and marketing plans as annual rituals, rather than working documents. For the commercial manager, responsible for producing profitable income for the long term, the marketing plan sets out the financial objectives in terms of the expected level of revenue,  the return on investment,  the marketing strategy to be employed, the sales actions and sales support that are required. If marketing plans are set out properly, they will have clear achievement requirements at regular points throughout the year, so that progress may be assessed and verified

. How much income the marketing function produces, depends in part on the state of the market, in terms of the level of demand, as well as the customers’ ability and desire to purchase.  In addition, the suitability of the product or service to meet the requirements of customers, the strength and activity of competitors, as well as the ability of the marketing organization to find potential customers, and complete profitable sales, are all fundamental in achieving the financial and marketing objectives.

While the commercial manager must continually measure performance against the marketing plan, it is also important to consider the plan in relation to developments in the market. It is especially important to understand how market conditions and financial constraint affect customers and their ability and willingness to continue to buy. . In the current business climate, commercial managers must expect business conditions to be changing, perhaps quite rapidly, and therefore they need to be continually revising their action plans or if necessary, enacting pre prepared contingency actions.

In these circumstances, the commercial manager should consider:

  •  Are the planned marketing objectives still valid in the present market situation?
  • Is the desired level of profitable income, still possible with the existing plan?
  • Are sales targets likely to be achieved from the principal customers, or have their requirements been deferred or no longer needed?
  • Is the money coming in as planned? If not, – why?
  • Are the principal orders likely to be confirmed as planned? How do you know?
  • Are customers intentions still valid, – how do you  know?
  • Will the contingency plan need to be enacted or is it already in operation?

Marketing plans should not be just annual rituals, but working documents in constant use, defining how the income is to be generated. The only elements of the marketing plan  that should be fixed are those of the financial objectives, and possibly the business and marketing strategies to be employed it. But  the plan must be constantly updated, in the light of market conditions and business success. The actions necessary, which produce sustainable business income, may be subject to frequent change.

Ignoring the marketing plan, especially in times of market volatility, means that resources are unlikely to be used efficiently, and objectives, especially in terms of financial revenue are less likely to be achieved.

Thus, the most important activities for the commercial manager are the establishment of marketing objectives, a plan for their achievement, a budget to support the plan, and the management of assets and resources to achieve the objectives.

When preparing a marketing plan, setting objectives is the first priority, because it defines what is to be achieved  These objectives should be largely quantifiable   and thus measurable., because “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” There are a number of components that are essential for a marketing plan.

A marketing plan should include a description of the market and economic situation in which the plan will operate.  Commercial managers need to ensure that the assumptions made about the prevailing economic and market environment are clearly stated, and the potential risks highlighted.  As both the market and economic situations are dynamic and evolving, so it must be expected that plans, especially those for the longer term will need to be adapted to meet those changes.

Having set out the objectives, the most important part of the planning process is the listing of the actions necessary for their achievement. To be effective, each action needs to have a completion date, together with the identity of those delegated with the responsibility for the action.  Setting completion dates for actions helps to concentrate the mind, because their successful competition may have a profound effect on other important actions and the achievement of objectives. For instance, achieving a major contract may be a major part of the revenue objective. Thus, knowing when that contract needs to be confirmed is of major significance, especially if things go wrong and the expected income has to be found from elsewhere.

Preparing alternative actions to be used when the unexpected happens or the contracts fail to materialize, is an important planning process that is frequently forgotten. Commercial managers must be able to change tack or divert resources into other alternative actions, and to do it quickly, if the primary actions fail to produce the results; being able to do this effectively is the art of good planning and successful management.

Complacency in business, especially in consumer markets is potentially a recipe for disaster. Good planning does not eliminate risk, neither can it cover every eventuality, but it should cover the most obvious ones as well as some of the improbable ones.

© N.C.Watkis, Contract Marketing Service 30 Mar 26

March 31, 2026   Posted in: business development, business efficiency, Business Marketing, business performance improvement, business performance indicators, business performance measurement, marketing development, marketing management, marketing metrics, marketing performance measurement, marketing ROI, performance management, performance measurement indicators, Uncategorized