Marketing is a word that´s commonly misused by many people. For some, marketing means the same thing as advertising. For others, marketing is interchangeable with communications. In fact, marketing does include both advertising and communications, but it also touches on research and product development, targeting, positioning, distribution, pricing, customer service and many other things.

It’s not unusual for people to confuse marketing strategy with communications tactics, what some marketers call “brand juice.” That’s the more visual side of marketing – catchy taglines, flashy web sites, publicity “stunts,” promotional giveaways, multi-piece direct mail campaigns and all the rest. While these are elements of marketing, they play a supporting role.

What ought to come first is a marketing plan. This document should do more than determine how to spend a company’s advertising dollars and how to communicate a message. A marketing plan should address company goals, breaking them down into smaller, more attainable steps.

“The marketing plan gathers and analyzes all the information possible about the organization and reports it in one document that recommends strategies and tactics to achieve the organization’s business objectives,” said Brian Miller, a partner in Miller White, LLC.

Miller says the information gathering portion of the process looks to the business for answers to questions like:
• What is the economic and business environment?
• What opportunities and problems is the business facing?
• What exactly do you sell?
• Who are your customers?
• What makes your product/service uniquely better than your competitors’?
• How do you communicate your product/service to your customers?
• How do you measure your progress?

With answers to these questions, the first part of the marketing plan, called the situational analysis, can be written. This is a factual document that analyzes the information and addresses the current business environment and the opportunities/problems facing the business.

The situational analysis examines every aspect of the business including the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats it faces. This analysis will provide the rationale for the recommendations being made in the marketing plan. Once this information has been compiled, the marketing plan’s objectives can be written, along with strategies and tactics to carry out the objectives.

The objectives are the quantifiable results that you expect your marketing plan to achieve, such as “To increase sales by X percent in 2003.” Strategies address specific aspects of the objectives, such as “To promote Product X to the target audience: males ages 18-25.” Tactics are even more detailed: “To spend X dollars on a given radio station during a given month.”

With the objectives, strategies and tactics defined, a clear picture develops of where the company is headed and how it will get there. This is the core purpose of a marketing plan.

Bill White, a partner in MillerWhite, LLC, cautioned that writing a marketing plan does take time and considerable effort. He recommends finding an integrated marketing company to help.

“Any true integrated marketing company will offer you marketing solutions, not just advertising strategies,” White said. “Those firms have experience in helping companies gather information for the situational analysis and in developing strategies and tactics to support goals and objectives. After all, you’re making complex decisions that affect your company’s bottom line. It’s well worth the time to get it right.”

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