What is a marketing plan?

Any company that wants to stand out in today's labour market needs to optimise three essential resources that are studied in any Degree in Marketing or Master in Marketing and that determine whether a business is likely to be successful or not: time, budget and effort.

The way to do this is to establish and follow a specific marketing strategy that will help us to achieve the objectives set through the development of a plan.

The best comparison that can be made to explain a marketing plan is to imagine it as a map. We can interpret it as a tool that shows the path and the destination to which the company is heading and how it is going to get there.

A marketing plan is basically a written plan of action that helps a company to manage its efforts in terms of communication, attention and brand presence in order to achieve certain established objectives.

Benefits of a marketing plan

Although the benefits that a marketing plan can bring to a company are many and varied, the following are some of the most important ones:

• It sets the direction to be followed in all areas of the company by containing the objectives of the commercial strategy and the necessary actions to achieve them.
• It maintains motivation by clearly and simply setting out the action plan, making employees feel more involved and motivated to contribute to the achievement of goals and objectives.
• It generates creativity because the objectives are clear and easy for employees to understand, which encourages them to be more creative, open and innovative.
• Improves cohesion by involving the entire workforce towards a common goal, thus achieving better integration between all areas of the company.
• Maximises resources and the impact of the brand's actions thanks to the observation, benchmarking and data analysis phases implicit in the marketing plan.
• It compares our positioning with that of the competition, helping us to know where we need to improve or differentiate ourselves in order to stand out.
• It measures and controls the results obtained more easily according to the objectives that have been set.
• It allows you to better identify opportunities by being in tune with market developments, adjusting to its evolution and adapting to its needs.
• It enhances reputation and credibility and provides peace of mind and confidence to both employees and customers.

What to include in a marketing plan?

The marketing plan takes the form of a document that facilitates, directs and coordinates a company's efforts. It usually contains the following parts:

• The current state of the company: using the SWOT analysis tool that identifies the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities of the business.
• The marketing objectives linked to the business: as far as possible, these should be measurable, achievable, relevant and specific.
• The most appropriate means and actions to be taken: these vary greatly depending on the type of business and the objectives set.
• Costs and expected results: detail the total budget and investments to be allocated to marketing efforts and study the results achieved with the plan.

What are marketing objectives?

The main objectives of a marketing plan are threefold:

• To establish where the company is: through an analysis that considers the company's current situation (e.g. what its most popular products are, how its audience behaves or who its most loyal customers are).
• Define where you want to go: by setting realistic goals or objectives to be achieved, based on the findings of the business case.
• Investigate how to achieve the goals: once the future objectives have been established, it is necessary to look for the means, strategies and tools to achieve them.

Nowadays, marketing and advertising careers are some of the most in-demand in the labour market. This is thanks to the growth and constant innovation in the world of marketing, especially in the digital sector.

But, to stand out in such a competitive job market, you need to have a deep knowledge of the sector and know how to build a good marketing plan. No matter what programme you choose at Universidad Europea, you will work closely with experienced professionals via work placements and internships, getting real insight into the sector before you’ve even begun your career.