Marketing Strategy

This section of the business plan gets very specific about how you will represent yourself to the market, and what activities you will undertake to make yourself known and sell your product. This section of the business plan lets financers know how serious you are about establishing a brand in the marketplace that will last.

The marketing section of your business plan should outline your strategy for how yours will be recognized as a business that has something of value to sell to its customers. The fully developed marketing section will include the following:

• Marketing Strategy (including image, product, pricing, distribution)
• Marketing Activities (including promotional efforts, and a calendar of marketing events with a budget)
• Sales Strategy
• Sales Forecasts – The Expected Results of the Marketing Effort

The tough questions that have to be answered in this section: Can you get your message across to the people who need your product? Can you price your product to be competitive in the market and still make a profit? Will potential customers, once they know you exist, actually buy? Where will your revenue come from?

The key to this section is to be able to demonstrate that you have the skill to introduce your product or service to potential customers, induce them to buy, and get them to return for more.

While the bulleted items above comprise the marketing portion of the business plan, a business owner should consider creating a stand-alone marketing plan as well. Marketing is generally more costly and more time-consuming than a business owner expects. And it often takes longer than you think to see the results of your efforts.