A market plan is a very important part of marketing success. It helps stabilize the ideas of companies and marketing teams when they are in the process of marketing something. A market plan defines a solid picture of marketing intentions and how these intentions are achieved. There are a lot of strategies in making an effective market plan but I am going to talk about one of the early stages of its development. It is the assessment of the current marketing environment and how it will affect the actions you will take in your market plan.
The market environment is a term used to refer to all stimuli that are not part of marketing itself but affect the entirety of a marketing management’s ability to develop strong ties with intended customers. It is divided into two specifications, the micro-environment, and the macro-environment. The first consists of the different factors that affect the company directly and its efficiency in serving its customers. These include the issues in the company itself, their immediate suppliers, their competitors, and their distribution intermediaries. In short, the micro-environment is the internal environment of the company and its processes. It is the company in its entirety.
The other one, the macro environment, refers to the factors that are bounded by the containing society and which are continuously affecting the micro-environment. This includes, but is not limited to, economy, natural events, current technology, politics, demography, religion, and culture. This summarizes all the forces that are outside of the company. How humans adapt to changes, the current economic situation and the growth of the target customers and their preferences are one of the issues that are being dealt in this level. All of these things are the basis for making a strategic market plan. How you are able to address these issues will reflect on your sales and the performance of the marketing team.
Assessment of the market environment is part of the analysis phase of the famous AOSTC (Analysis, Objectives, Strategies, Tactics, and Controls). It sets the stage for the development of the market plan and becomes the basis for the consequent phases. Since most of the things are based on careful studies on the current conditions, having a solid grasp of the market environment will increase your probability of choosing the best approach in marketing the company’s products and services. If you are short of ways on getting an accurate summary of the environment, professional help from business coaching firms is available. This is a wise idea if you are short of manpower or if you want to have that confidence of having a reliable data.
If you want to be productive and efficient in promoting your products, you will always need to have a solid foundation for your plans. Knowing well your market environment will not only increase your sales, but it will help you respond to the needs of your customers and will help you think of new ideas in the future.
