1. The Marketing Plan
Strategy Workshop Part 1

2. What is a marketing plan?
A marketing strategy must be built on a clear, stated objective. The strategy should not be a long list of tactics, but rather a detailed and cohesive action plan to achieve the objective.
Help structure your work
It’s a framework

3. Characteristics of effective marketing plans
Actionable – Presents a practical course of action to achieve a specific goal. 1
Clear – Informs about the action in a systematic and logical way. Cannot be redundant, dense or unstructured. 2
Succinct – Limits information covered to the most important topics.
Longer plans are not always more thorough or higher quality. 3

4. What is in a marketing plan?
Situation analysis
Goal
Strategy
Tactics
Implementation
Control
The situation analysis examines the environment in which the company currently operates, and identifies the target market in which it currently competes.
Action Plan
The action plan is the central component of the marketing plan, guiding the company’s actions in the future.
The main components – this is the framework
Everything should be included. If it’s not, why? You must have a good reason.
Applies to annual plans and strategic plans for individual tactics.

5. The marketing plan checklist:
Situation Analysis
Goal
Strategy
Current client business and performance
Client goals
Client resources (employees, products, etc.)
Size and growth of potential markets
Competitor analysis
Other market trends
A specific goal / definition of success
Benchmarks to support your goal / track success
Profiles for each target market and target customer
The value proposition for each target
The positioning statement for each target
Tactics
Implementation
Control
Defined attributes & benefits for your product and service
Defined brand identity
Defined price and incentives
Outbound / inbound marketing tactics to communicate defined value
Distribution channels
Identification of what client needs to change internally
Breakdown of actions needed to execute the strategy and tactics
Time frame for all actions
Budget and potential partners
KPIs to track monthly
Reporting template and process

6. The situation analysis
Internal - Discovery
External – Market Research
Long terms company goals
Current performance
Strategic assets
Core competencies
Business portfolio mix
Current customers
Collaborators and partners
Competitors
Market trends, obstacles and other considerations

7. The goal of the marketing plan
1) Types of goals
Customers
(ex: increase sales from current clients)
Context
(ex: achieve technological innovation)
Collaborators
(ex: develop new partnerships)
Company
(ex: optimize costs for X department)
Competitive
(ex: establish market leadership)
2) Benchmarks
Quantitative
(ex: # of customers by 5%)
Temporal
(ex: optimize costs by 2016)
A well-defined goal with specific benchmarks is necessary to complete an effective marketing strategy and measure the success of your efforts.
Can’t just pick a goal upfront (or let the client choose)
Need the situation analysis first – what is the size of the market first? Is your client trying to achieve 1% market share or 100%? This is necessary to help you understand whether or not your goal is realistic.
Keep in mind that the objective of a presentation is not necessarily the objective of the marketing plan or the client engagement!

8. Identify your target market(s)
The strategy
Define your value
proposition(s)
Identify your target market(s)
Based on the internal and external situation analysis, you should be able to hypothesize where there is opportunity.
The target market is defined by five key aspects:
Customers within the target market
Company with an offering for the market
Collaborators of the company on the offering
Competitors with offerings that provide similar benefits
Context of the market including the economy, technology, socio-culture, regulation, etc.
The value proposition describes the ability of an offering to create value for customers, the company and collaborators within the target market(s)
The value proposition is different than positioning, because it includes all the benefits of an offering
Positioning includes only the most important benefits to better resonate with customers

9. Your target market: Customer Company Collaborators Customer
Define the need(s) to be fulfilled by the offering and the profile of customers with such needs
Customer
Define the company or business unit responsible for the offering, including key personnel and stakeholders
Company
Collaborators
Customer
Identify key collaborators such as suppliers, channel members and/or communication partners
Identify the competitive offerings that provide similar benefits for customer needs (note: offerings do not need to be similar)
Competitors
Evaluate the economic, technological, socio-cultural, regulatory and physical factors at play in the market
Context

10. Your value proposition
Define the value of the offering to target customers, and the positioning of the offering to them
Customer value
Collaborator value
Company value
Optimal value proposition
Define the value of the offering to collaborators, and the positioning of the offering to them
- One value proposition for every offering – you may have more than one in your plan
Define the value of the offering to company stakeholders

11. Writing a positioning statement based on your value proposition:
Non-comparative (to competitors):
Comparative (to competitors):
……………………... is the best………………………
(offering) (service category)
for…………………………………………………………………
(target customers)
because……………………………………………………(primary reason)
………………………. is a better…………………………
(offering) (service category)
than……………………………………………………………….
(competitive offering)
for…………………………………………………………………
(target customers)
because……………………………………………………… (primary reason)
- One positioning statement for each offering too, like a value proposition
Once you know your value proposition for each offering, you should develop a positioning statement to print your main differentiator(s) in customers’ minds.

12. The tactics Deliver value (Channels) Communicate value (Inform)
Design value (Define)
Product: key functional aspects of the offering, separable from the provider
Service: key functional aspects of the offering, inseparable from the provider
Brand: marketing tool for differentiation from competition
Price: monetary value, what the provider charges
Incentive: short-term solutions aimed at providing value / reducing costs
Communicate: inform target customers about the availability of the offering and highlight its characteristics.
Outbound - This information is conveyed through various media (web, advertisements, calls, etc.)
Inbound – indirectly conveys your value proposition through content and demonstrated expertise.
Distribute: channels through which the product is delivered to customers
The tactical section translates your strategy into specific, concrete actions. Every offering needs a unique tactical plan.

13. The implementation
Implementation outlines the timeline and logistics for implementing your strategic and tactical plans.

14. Components of implementation
Business Infrastructure:
Infrastructure necessary from client and collaborators to implement
Implementation Schedule:
Sequence and time frame of tasks to ensure effectiveness and efficiency
Implementation Processes:
Actions needed to execute, including management of all components of designed value
For each deliverable, define:
Time to complete each deliverable
The content calendar (for inbound)
The potential partner
The budget / partner cost

15. The control - how will you measure your performance?
Performance Evaluation
External Evaluation
Identify how you will measure the client’s progress by defining KPIs that you will report on each month.
KPIs measure either adequate goal progress, or gaps in performance.
Identify any changes in the market and change goals as needed.
Changes include opportunities, threats or neutral changes.

16. Return to your checklist
Situation Analysis
Goal
Strategy
Current client business and performance
Client goals
Client resources (employees, products, etc.)
Size and growth of potential markets
Competitor analysis
Other market trends
A specific goal / definition of success
Benchmarks to support your goal / track success
Profiles for each target market and target customer
The value proposition for each target
The positioning statement for each target
Tactics
Implementation
Control
Defined attributes & benefits for your product and service
Defined brand identity
Defined price and incentives
Outbound / inbound marketing tactics to communicate defined value
Distribution channels
Identification of what client needs to change internally
Breakdown of actions needed to execute the strategy and tactics
Time frame for all actions
Budget and potential partners
KPIs to track monthly
Reporting template and process

17. What’s the timeline for this?
Discovery 19
01/05/15
01/09/15
Pre-discovery 14
01/08/15
Post-discovery 5
Executive Summary 7
02/12/15
Pre-analyses 2
Post-analyses
02/02/15
Situation Analysis 15
01/12/15
01/16/15
Company Overview
Current and potential market overview 6
Target customers Selection
Goal(s)
01/23/15
Ultimate goal - Definition of success
Market objectives 4
01/19/15
Strategy 10
Identifying the target market
Offering's value proposition and positioning

18. What’s the timeline for this?
Tactics 21
01/26/15
01/29/15
Design value 10
Communicate value 8
Deliver value 3
Implementation 18
02/02/15
02/06/15
Business infrastructure 4
Implementation processes 9
Implementation schedule 5
Control 6
02/09/15
02/12/15
Performance evaluation
Environmental analysis 2
Exhibits
01/06/15
Tables, charts and appendixes
Client Meetings 42
01/08/15
02/13/15
Project kick-off 30
Steering committee 1
01/30/15
Steering committee 2

19. Next steps Case studies and examples 1 Additional workshops 2
More frameworks 3

20. Agenda
Appendix - examples

21. Example: Internal Situation Analysis
Online sales are steady at 12% of total sales but growing and with different product mix
Sum of Sales
Year
Products
2013
2014
Grand Total
% of 2013
Total Sales
% of 2014
% of All
Recessed light
$88,090
$63,532
$151,622
26%
33%
28%
Outdoor LED flood light
$43,338
$40,139
$83,477
27%
20%
23%
Other - Kit & fixtures
$26,377
$47,053
$73,430 9%
42%
19%
LED light bar & strip
$21,283
$20,333
$41,616 5% 8%
Other - Power supply
$15,097
$17,891
$32,988
12%
LED light bulb
$17,283
$13,111
$30,394
22%
98%
Tube light replacement
$15,169
$336
$15,505
47%
10%
43%
Other - Misc.
$5,496
$5,401
$10,897 2% 6% 3%
Highbay LED retrofit
$5,045 0%
13%
LED panel light
$1,096
$274
$1,370
17%
14%
$238,273
$208,070
$446,343
Source: NetSuite, team analysis

22. More details in annexes
Example: Internal Situation Analysis
Homepage comes off as a general ecommerce site without much soul beyond the products
The biggest issue with the website (and with LED Waves marketing strategy) is that it wants to be everything to everyone. This is significantly limiting growth. There should be a clear separation between markets with similar expectations and behaviors (for ex. large B2B vs small B2B /residential)
More details in annexes

23. Lighting reseller in need for projects support
Example: External Situation Analysis
Lighting reseller in need for projects support
Question
Frederick Taggert (Lighting Breakthroughs)
What is your chief complaint about your industry? Your clients? Other vendors?
- Lack of Energy Star & DCL certified products - Unresponsive suppliers, lack of respect for business constraints
If you could do it easily, what would you change about your industry? Your clients? Other vendors?
- Clients want ES and DCL certified products: should be more available - Clients want rebates, and it is not possible to give them now because of high prices - Products and information on products should be more easily and rapidly available
What is your biggest challenge right now?
- Processing proposals: for buildings for instance, there are many needs to meet, many products to choose, various assortments to make, all of this abiding by tight deadlines => all this information is treated manually, but we are currently looking for a software that would helps us keep a catalog of products, evaluate time needed for projects, and track various technologies available - Preparing surveys for clients (to understand their needs): we need people with enough knowledge to approach clients and guide them
What would need to change so you could finish work an hour earlier every day?
See above
What would you like to accomplish in the near future?
Manage to craft highly customized proposals in a limited time with limited resources
What frustrastes you about vendors in the LED industry? What do you wish vendors in the LED industry would do differently?
- Make more efficient and cost-effective products. Progress has really been made over the past 5 years: price, technology, lifetime, easy installation… - Stop say lights last 5 to 10 years… none believes it!
If you could tweak the products or services the LED industry provides to better suit your needs, what would you change?
- Problem with high-powered lights (parking lots, galleries…): if there is a problem, you need to replace the whole thing because you can't replace the fixtures (it's like a box > you have to replace the box, including radiators, instead of just screwing a fixture into it) - Need smaller and easier-to-install products
What is most confusing about the LED industry?
Nothing, we are experts, and able to pass the knowledge on to our clients provided we find the right people to do that
Source: LED Waves customers interviews

24. Example: External Situation Analysis
The LED market is expected to explode in the next 15 years to reach 75% penetration on all fronts
Source: Energy Savings Potential of Solid-State Lighting in General Illumination Applications, USDOE, 2012

25. Nematron Example: External Situation Analysis General information
Key figures
Sector
Products and Services
Clients – Partners (SI, distr, supl)
Message
Embedded Industrial PCs
Industrial PC with keypads
Fanless Industrial PCs
Industrial PCs with PCI Expansion
Industrial PCs without Displays
Industrial Monitors
HMI Graphical Operator Interfaces
Operator Interface Panels
Contract Manufacturing
Equipment Repairs
Mechanical Design and Assembly
On-site Support and Training
Prototyping
Software Integration
Test
Website:
Geographic coverage: US, Europe
Independance level: stand-alone
Country of origin: US
Nematron has been pioneering innovative computer and visualization solutions for the manufacturing and process industries for nearly 30 years. During that time we developed the first human machine interface (HMI) and Industrial PC.
Number of FTEs: 16 employees
Turnover: $5M (2014)
Operating profit: N/A
N/A
N/A

26. Example: External Situation Analysis
Information on partnerships with SI is not available online, but relationship exists
Business Strategies
Nematron’s mission is to supply industrial computer based hardware products with the quality, agency approvals, and reliability.
In early 2007 Nematron replaced foreign outsourced products with designed, manufactured, and marketed industrial computer products that are made and supported in USA.
Nematron also provide custom design, application, and integration services
Customers benefit from reduced life-cycle costs, improved machine or process flexibility, and improved integration of manufacturing-generated information into enterprise level systems.
Sales managers plan and carry out sales activities to OEMs, End Users, System Integrators, and Distributors in their assigned territories to achieve agreed to budgets, sales volume, values, product mix, and timescales.

27. Executive summary of strategic recommendations
Example: Good Goal!
Executive summary of strategic recommendations
A US manufacturing renaissance is currently under way and will be generating large demand for industrial computers as well as custom automation products and services with strong connections to end users in the local US market.
We expect the productivity imperative, increased competition among end users  (resulting in shorter product development cycle), and a growing US talent GAP to increase the need for customization and R&D among US firms. As a result, those potential customers will be looking to outsource or complement their R&D function to ODM firms in order to keep up with the above trends.
In order to secure its ticket to the US market without taking on too much risk, SyncusTech should create US sales assets and market its ODM products track record via a content and outreach strategy as a way to attract partners interested in securing test projects. We recommend to test the market for 4 months to validate the strategy before embarking into a full-scale inbound marketing effort.
Our goal is to generate $100k in next 6 months, $500 in 2015 and $1M in 2016

28. Example: Bad Goal…
Strategic Objectives
Outline new messaging for the consumer audience, and necessary collateral to distribute Fit2Walk messaging 1
Highlight key marketing channels to begin direct-to-consumer outreach for the Fit2Walk kit 2
Develop key partnerships for Fit2Walk through partner-directed marketing channels 3
These goals are not specific enough, and are lacking benchmarks to evaluate the success of the engagement.

29. Strategy
LED Waves should focus on large projects via partners and transition out of residential
Opportunity considerations:
Avoid residential market as we don’t have capabilities to compete with mass marketers
Outdoor, Commercial and Industrial are attractive provided we can add value to a market channel that will do the heavy lifting for us
> Let’s find that market channel and service them like they’ve never been serviced before to make a name for ourselves in that segment !
Source: Energy Savings Potential of Solid-State Lighting in General Illumination Applications, USDOE, 2012

30. Sending a clearer and stronger message
Value proposition
Sending a clearer and stronger message
Customers Needs
Competitor/Substitutes Strengths
LED Waves Differentiators
Custom samples availability
Speed of quotes and samples delivery
Shorter proposal lead time
Solution to face online threat
Smaller items also in the mix
Improve relationship with their customers
Price
Marketing dollars
Brand names
Capacity and willingness to share risk in developing new solutions
Agility of a small structure
Strong suppliers network
Dedication to the account relationship
Project-based custom value
Positioning statement
LED Waves project management approach to LED solutions provides large energy efficiency projects partners with custom LED products delivery & performance

31. Tactics
Tactics should focus on B2B Marketing channels to help Sales team guide the customer’s decision journey
NON EXHAUSTIVE
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Engage
Negotiate / Nurture
Close
Light communication, recurring touchpoints
Frequent communication and increased engagement
Hard sell and final project proposal
LinkedIn
Website / PR / PPC
Sales Teasers
Offer (PPP*)
Website (login for PPP*)
Spec Sheets
Tradeshows
Proposal
Sales Sheets
Each recommended marketing channel will serve a specific purpose to guide the customer through their decision journey
*Preferred Partner Program – Special treatment in all fronts under specific conditions (min sales = 1 of them…)

32. Sales time allocation should be revised to focus on larger accounts…
Tactics
Sales time allocation should be revised to focus on larger accounts…
Time Today*
Revised Time Allocation
A deep dive should be conducted on current priorities and time allocations…
…in order to determine how new priorities should be structured to meet sales goals
* Within sales, 50%/50% big/small, and within small, 50%/50% residential/non residential

33. Proposed action plan for the next 4 months
Implementation
Proposed action plan for the next 4 months

34. TribalVision’s objectives
Control
Goal is to generate $100k in US sales in 6 months, $500k in 2015 and $1M in 2016
TribalVision’s objectives
# of $100k project equivalent 1
Targets 2
Contacts 3
Sales qualified* # 5
33%
20%
2015
300
100 20
IOV**
$500k 10
33%
20%
2016
600
200 40
IOV**
$1M
* Have a project that needs our products and fits SyncusTech requirements ** Initial Objective Value (IOV), assuming an average project value of $100k

35. Sales and marketing KPIs will be reviewed on a monthly basis
Control
Sales and marketing KPIs will be reviewed on a monthly basis