Marketing Tips, Tactics and Secrets





«« Back

Marketing Plan Vs. Business Plan

Time and again, it’s been said that in order for you to succeed in your business, you need to have a plan. The next question now is what kind of plan? A business plan or a marketing one? But isn’t the two plans the same?

With time, people just made them seem interchangeable. But in reality, a business plan is so different from a marketing plan. So you need to really understand each one of them in order for you to be successful in your business.

Marketing Plan
A marketing plan is usually a detailed set up or design that you create so you can accomplish the goals you’ve set for your marketing campaigns. The plan normally has a list of marketing tactics and details that allows you to set up your sales, additional marketing strategy, market analysis, budget, sales forecast, as well as your projected milestones for your strategies such as your print catalogs or invitation printing.
 
Your marketing plan therefore can be utilized for your promotional materials so you can effectively market your products, your brand, and even your line of services. Your marketing plan can determine and map out how you can make your invitation printing for example to work for your goals.

Your marketing plan can also have an annual plan or even up to 15 years. Nonetheless, most companies prefer designing their marketing activities a year ahead. This would mean an annual marketing planning session for these companies. Still some have 3 to 4 years of practical planning for their marketing.

How do you create an effective marketing plan? Write it down. A written document can help you measure the results of your marketing activities for the year. A detailed and more specific action plan can help you provide a strong program that will be able to accomplish your objectives for your business.

Business Plan
A business plan, on the one hand, is your overall plan to operate your business. This then would include your marketing plan. Your business plan then covers your marketing strategy, marketing analysis, your cash flow, finances, and goals, to mention a few. These activities then allow your people to see where you’re company is headed. It lets you find out your company’s real cash flow as well as the balance sheets and ratios.

Your business plan also positions your goals for your organization. This is where you see the mission-vision statements. It allows you to plan the why’s and how’s of your goals. And it provides your company background as well as the teams and staff working for each activity within your company. In a nutshell, your business plan tells you of who you are; where you want to go; and how do you get there.

Both the business and marketing plans are different from each other. Nevertheless, they are both important in making sure that you reach the goals that you’ve set out to do when you started your business.
 
Author: Chelsea Nicole