WHAT IS MARKETING? Too often, a marketing function is misunderstood, because many people don't understand what "Marketing" means. As shown in Figure 1, there are many different definitions of Marketing. The key is that they all share a common theme, marketing is: “Satisfying needs and wants and providing benefits to customers”. But before being able to satisfy the needs and desires of customers as well as providing them with benefits. We need to understand: • who our customers are • which customer to target • how to reach and acquire new customers • how to keep existing customers happy. Figure 1: Marketing Definitions Source: www.learnmarketing.net And most importantly, we must keep reviewing and improving everything we do to stay ahead of the competition. Marketing should be a long-term investment in your business and not just something that is turned on and off as needed. WHAT IS MARKETING PLANNING? Having an effective marketing plan is invaluable to all businesses. Even so, it's surprising how many companies think they can operate and succeed without formal plans! A marketing plan helps focus your company on the vital task of growing the business. It provides the structure on which to build new information. “What is a marketing plan? The written document that describes your advertising and marketing activities for the coming year; includes a marketing situation statement, a discussion of your target markets and company positioning, and a description of the marketing mix you intend to use to achieve your marketing objectives. (Source: www.entreprenaur.com) relationships and cement old ones. But the most important part of the marketing plan is not the document itself, but the creation process. By taking the time to think deeply about your company's commitment to marketing, going through the necessary self-examination process, and uncovering the true feelings of your customers, you will have a much clearer vision of the future. Where do we start “There are many different approaches to the marketing planning process. The most widely recognized is the SOSTAC model developed in the 1990s by PR Smith. The template is simple and walks you through the process of building a marketing plan, ensuring that all relevant factors are taken into account, without excessive and expensive detail. Finally, a look at the practical issues related to the implementation of the plan. PHASES OF THE MARKETING PLANNING PROCESS: THE SOSTAC MODELS Situation Where are we now? O Objectives Where we want to go?