Strategic Marketing Plan.

ACTIVITY	PRIORITY	START DATE	COMPLETION DATE
To organise lunch for our top ten customers.	Medium	1^st of March.	By end of February
To produce a new brochure for them.	High priority.	Middle of January.	End of March
To update mailing list for new the brochure.	? Students set priority	December 2005	End of February.
To mail new brochure.	High Priority.	? Students set date	? Students set date

Then Ask Yourself the Following Questions.

1 Is there anyone else I should really have included in my team?

2 Will we need to report to anyone higher up the ladder such as the chief executive?

3 Would it be helpful to engage an external marketing expert to facilitate implementation?

Do a SWOT Analysis to Answer the following Questions.

1 Do you use your strengths and company strengths to full advantage? Could more be done?

2 Are the current or future opportunities you could exploit, new markets, customers etc?

3 What threats do your competitors pose; the market, new legislation, environment, etc?

4 What are your weaknesses, what lets you down, are your competitors better than you?

Stepping Stones to Marketing Success.

All marketing strategies comprise THREE main stages: First determine what you want to achieve; Next, adopt the right approach or method to achieve that aim; Finally, use performance indicators to measure gauge the level of your success.

Create your Vision by: Aiming what to do; then Doing what you should do; and Assessing or Measuring what you have done.

Effecting the Strategy

After completing the strategic marketing plan you should assign tasks to staff who have the time knowledge, expertise, skill and provide necessary support during implementation; measure performance, and periodically revise the your objectives. Avoid SPOTS. (Strategic Plans on the shelf).

YES Checking Implementation Progress of Objectives. NO

Carry on Implementation	Are objectives still relevant?	Do they need revision?
Should we consider adding new objectives?	Have you achieved any of your objectives?	Should we carry on implementation?
Should we devise new objectives?	Have new objectives arisen that require new objectives?	Should we carry on implementation?

After implementation of the strategic marketing plan you need to measure its impact by asking the following questions.

1 Have profits increased since the strategy was implemented?

2 Have we seen an increase in our customer base?

3 Have we attracted a greater number of orders or larger individual orders?

4 Has the number of product/service enquiries risen?

5 Has awareness of our organisation and its products/services increased?

Marketing is not the concern of only the marketing department of an organisation but the concern of the organisation as a whole. Therefore make the whole staff organisation aware of the strategy and cultivate support from all your colleagues from all the departments.

The organisation should become A Marketing Organisation. If all staff across the organisation can see the relevance and benefits of marketing, their cooperation will follow naturally. The can offer sales leads, provide constructive feedback on marketing materials or the can come up with workable ideas for improving customer service.

Tips for Marketing Managers.

1 Explain to everyone in the organisation how marketing can support their work.

2 Inform everyone aware of the marketing strategy and its importance to the organisation.

3 Be prepared to justify the existence of the marketing strategy to the organisation.

4 Explain that the marketing department cannot work separately from other departments.

5 Find out what other departments can contribute to the organisations’ marketing strategy.

Handling Scepticism about the marketing Department. 342

It is usual for other employees to criticise the marketing department saying: “We don’t know what the marketing department does in this organisation”; or “The marketing Department does not understand what we do in this organisation”. If you hear such statements, there is compartmentalization in your organisation. “One hand does not know what the other hand is doing.”

In a true “Marketing Organisation” all members of the organisation are able to see the benefits of marketing and are fully aware of how the marketing team contributes to the overall success of the organisation.

Points to Remember about Marketing. 342

1 Cross-organisation support is required for effective marketing.

2 Colleagues should be given full clarification of the role and value of the marketing department.

3 You must be ready and prepared to justify the existence of the marketing department.

4 Find out what colleagues in different departments do and show them your marketing plans.

Marketing has a vital role to play in every organisation, but its contribution is not always recgnised. You should explain to colleagues how marketing techniques can use the marketing department to support them in their work. Involve them in planning and make them your partners. Assess your marketing Ability 344.

Project Management and Project Definition of Project.

A project is series of activities designed to achieve a specific outcome within a time scale and a set budget. It has clear start and end points, defined objectives and a sequence of activities in between. Painting a staff restaurant can be a project just building a bridge can be a project.

Starting a business can be project if you decide to begin trading at a set time such as in six months or ten months. Routine work such as managing a business is not considered a project because it has no future starting date or end date, but certain specific task like establishing a marketing department can be a project of a business organisation.

In today’s competitive business environment knowledge and skills of running a project is very important. Project management knowledge and skills will enable you to focus on priorities. To track performance, overcome difficulties and adapt to ever changing business environment.

Project management teaches you the skills to control business and also provides you with the know-how tools and techniques to help you lead teams to reach objectives on time and within set budgets. Organising activities in project form can be time-consuming initially, but in the long term it will save you time, effort and will reduce the risk of failure.

Questions to Ask Yourself about Project Management.

1 What projects am I involved in at the moment?

2 Has my organisation been striving to make changes that might be more likely to happen if tackled as a project?

3 Would I work more effectively if I regarded certain tasks as part of a project?

4 Could project management techniques help to make me more efficient?