Marketing Strategy & Planning Checklist(s)

Use our Marketing Strategy & Planning Checklists to help you create a strategic marketing plan, develop your marketing mix, and plan your go-to-market strategy. Our checklists are designed to help you identify the right marketing strategies.

Marketing Plan Checklist

Marketing Mix Checklist

Market Segmentation Checklist

Marketing Strategy Checklist

Go-to-Market Checklist

Market Penetration Strategy Checklist

Market Share Analysis Checklist

Market Sizing Checklist

SWOT Analysis Checklist

PEST Analysis Checklist

Competitive Environment Checklist

Target Audience Checklist

Marketing Plan Checklist

Marketing Plan Components

This series of checklist are designed to help guide you through the process of developing a marketing strategy and plan for your business, product or service.

1

Before trying to create a Marketing Plan to approach prospective sponsors or investors, you may need to visit their websites to download a marketing plan sample accepted in their companies, or seek specific marketing plan guidelines by phone or during a personal visit, as far as every organization may employ their own marketing plan format regulated by their policies, which can be different from the format represented below;
2

Marketing Plan Executive Summary - it is the first part of the marketing plan, but should be created only after all other parts are completed:"
3

Current Situation (Market Situation Analysis) - it helps the readers to determine where your organization currently resides:
4

Competitor and Issues Analysis - detailed analysis of competitive environment, and review of key issues your company faces:
5

Marketing Goals and Objectives - setting up your marketing aims, including the timeframes to reach them, being realistic, measurable, consistent and aligned with the company's mission;
6

Marketing Strategies - market differentiation, positioning and uniqueness, along with a way you plan towards achieving your marketing objectives (so called Marketing Plan Matrix):
7

Implementation of the Marketing Plan (Action Programs) - in this section it is necessary to create the specific plan of what will be done, when it will begin and be completed, and who will accomplish the tasks (create and justify realization of the Marketing Plan);
8

Budget/Financial section - the estimate of the direct and indirect costs related to the marketing activities described in the Marketing Plan;
9

Setting Marketing Plan metrics - in order to track progress over the Marketing Plan you need to set certain numerical metrics that will be used to evaluate the results of implementing your marketing plan, including some qualitative and quantitative constraints on time, costs, effects, and quality for achieving your goals;

Marketing Mix Checklist

Marketing Mix

Overview

1

Well-known as the Four P's, the marketing mix elements include Product, Place, Price, and Promotion. The central point of this concept refers to finding a balance between these four ingredients making up a marketing mix working for you specific needs;
2

Each of these major four elements is consisted of smaller sub-elements making sub-mixes;
3

Product - it is a tangible object (or an intangible service) that is mass produced to be sold on the market to satisfy needs of target clients and bring certain incomes to producers and vendors. It is characterized by a set of qualities making it useful and desired, and it develops through the stages of Product Life Cycle (introduction, growth, maturity, decline);
4

Place - it is also known as a distribution channel or intermediary, so in other words it is the mechanism which makes the goods and services delivered from their manufacturers/service providers to the end user or consumer. You can consider the main channel intermediaries which can be embedded into a typical distributional mechanism in the dedicated section.
5

Price - the price is a value that a customer is ready to pay for the product or service. The business may operate the price of products according to situation to reach maximizing of income. There are a plenty of different pricing strategies that can be applied and some of them are explained in appropriate section of this checklist;
6

Promotion - represents the whole collection of communicative tools available to a marketer to approach and explore the marketplace;

Product

1

Brand name and Image
2

Functionality and Featuring
3

Styling and Appearance
4

Quality and Added Value
5

Safety and Ergonomics
6

Packaging and Delivery
7

Repairs and Support
8

Warranty and Trial Periods
9

Accessories and Service

Place

1

Wholesalers - their role is to break down a "bulk" into smaller parties resale by retailers (they buy big amounts from producers and resell to retailers by smaller lots)
2

Agents - agents are typically used at remote locations, including internationally, as they generate and secure orders for a producer (and will take a commission for their efforts)
3

Retailers - they give the final price to products/services, they promote and merchandise products, and they enable a great mass of private consumers to approach the product
4

Internet - comparably cheap way to reach a geographically disperse market, enabling lower costs, easier procedure of payments, and lower barriers for selling your products everywhere

Price

1

Premium Pricing for unique and luxury products/services;
2

Economy Pricing for highly-demanded products with low production costs
3

Penetration Pricing for young products that are sold at the decreased price until a certain market share is occupied (then the price may rise)
4

Product Line Pricing - a varying price range for selling principally the same product but offered in different editions and with different featuring
5

Promotional Pricing is applied to stimulate customers to buy (for example a well-known concept: "Buy One Get One Free")
6

Product Bundle Pricing - the seller combines a set of related products into one package and tries to sell them at a mixed price

Promotion

1

Advertising of all kinds
2

Coupons and discounts
3

Demonstrations and performances
4

Trade shows
5

Telemarketing and Networking
6

Workshops and Conference presentations
7

Digital Marketing and Web site cross-promotions
8

Premiums (promotional items)
9

Newsletters and Speaking engagements
10

Social Media

Market Segmentation Checklist

Set Segmentation Criteria

1

Demographics
2

Geographic
3

Psychographic
4

Consumer Behavioral

Choose The Right Segmentation

1

Start investigating market segments that you have defined by using the criteria mentioned above
2

Focus only on those segments that meet the mission of your company
3

Check if a segment is large enough to support your business objectives
4

Analyze competitors per segment and determine whether you can potentially be a leader
5

Determine whether a segment shows signs of growth
6

Analyze your company's capabilities to determine whether it has all necessary resources, expertise, and knowledge to service a market segment
7

Determine how your product can be positioned in a segment
8

Choose right market segments for your company

Develop a Marketing Strategy

1

Identify your target audience
2

Define the overall market trend and how you can follow it in terms of your market segments
3

Conduct market research to understand more about the needs, tastes and habits of your prospects
4

Consider developing a customer-focused strategy based on great customer service
5

Investigate and identify the problems your customers face; use this data in generating solutions
6

Evaluate your company's products and determine what innovations and improvements may be required
7

Define your customers' price expectations in terms of value, quality and service
8

Set sales development objectives
9

Conduct marketing surveys to gather and investigate all information about your competitors, so you can rank your business against them
10

Plan your sales better through identifying your competitors' sales pitch
11

Improve your pricing policy (e.g. through optimal discount rates)
12

Choose types of advertisement for your marketing strategy
13

Identify unique selling positions (USP) that will be included in your advertising message
14

Choose a model of advertising (e.g. AIDA, AIDMA, ACCA, etc.)
15

Select distribution channels that enable you to deliver your products to the target audience
16

Estimate overall cost of your marketing campaign
17

Define sources of financing
18

Design a marketing mix matrix that explains the four elements of marketing campaign, including Product, Price, Place and Promotion.

Marketing Strategy Checklist

Mission Statement

1

Considering your company's objectives and priorities, make Corporate Mission Statement.
2

Considering your company's capacities and potential, set manufacturing objectives.
3

Set product development objectives.
4

With reference to product development objectives, set marketing strategy goals and objectives.

Background of Your Marketing Strategy

1

The strategy is customer-focused and based on customer service.
2

The strategy produces a high-quality product or service for your customers.
3

The strategy ensures customer convenience and customer excellence.
4

The strategy generates innovations in your product or service over time.
5

The strategy uses speed as a competitive advantage.
6

Each stage of the product life cycle is stated and described in the strategy.
7

Each marketing strategy element is described in marketing strategy documents and implemented by specific practices.
8

Use marketing strategy software to manage your strategy.

Market Segmentation

1

Define the overall market trend and how you can follow it in terms of market share and profit position.
2

Start identifying different segments among existing customers by breaking the customers into groups. Consider grouping by the following characteristics: age, gender, location, income, industry. Each marketing strategy group of customers will be included in your strategy statement.
3

Use segmenting to identify similarities and differences between your customer groups, so you can more closely match customer requirements and understand what aspects of your sales offer to appeal to each of the groups.
4

Conduct market researches to understand more about the needs, tastes, and spending habits of different customer groups. Include the results of the research in your marketing strategy statement.

Customers

1

Define your target audience.
2

Investigate and identify problems your customers face when trying to find or purchase a product. Generate solutions for the identified problems so your customers will get reasons for buying your products. Add the most efficient solutions to your marketing strategy outline.
3

Define your customers' price expectations in terms of value, quality and service.
4

What do you think you can do to win orders and attract a new customers? What time does it take to win an order?
5

Define what products of competitors your customers use, so that you can outline your strategy considering new vectors of product development.
6

Estimate the current satisfaction level of customers. Are customers satisfied with products your competitors offer?

Competitors

1

Conduct marketing surveys to collect and investigate all information on your competitors, so you can rank your business against them.
2

Define sales pitch of competitors. By knowing their sales pitch, you can better plan your formal or informal presentations of a product to potential customers and initiate selling of the product.
3

Define kinds of advertisement your competitors use. Where do they advertise and how often?
4

Define pricing polices your competitors use. Can you say your current pricing policy is better because it is reasonable for customers, profitable for your business, and it also creates the image you want?
5

Investigate distribution channels your competitors use. Can you say your current distribution channels are more efficient, or inefficient? Are there ways to improve your distribution channels, so your products can be delivered to your customers faster and with fewer costs?
6

Define how your competitors position themselves. Use marketing strategy matrix to define your position against the competitors.
7

instigate substitutes to your products and how much threat they bring.
8

Define what actions your competitors take to react to threats.
9

Define what market shares your competitors occupy. What marketing strategy steps can you take to extend your own market share?
10

Compare competitors to your company in terms of your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT analysis). Use SWOT analysis to identify your competitive advantages and choose an appropriate marketing strategy model.

Advertising

1

6.1 Create the advertising concept considering the competitive advantages of your product/service, its characteristics to be advertised, and the peculiarities of the target audience.
2

6.2 Estimate costs for product advertising and promotion and allocate the respective budget.
3

6.4 Determine which advertising media will be most efficient in reaching your target audience and implementing your marketing strategy ideas.
4

6.5 Choose advertising model (AIDA, AIDMA, ACCA, etc.).
5

6.6 Identify the unique selling position that will be included in your advertising message.
6

6.7 Make sure the ads you are going to use allow your customers to answer the question: "Why should I purchase this product or service?"

Final Marketing Strategy Decisions

1

Decide on new revenue growth and profits.
2

Decide on marketing strategy tools and opportunities for new product development.
3

Decide on pricing policy for existing and new products.
4

Decide on employing new sales staff.
5

Decide on marketing strategy models and distribution services.
6

Decide on psychological and emotional factors of customer behavior.
7

Decide on marketing strategy tactics for product advertising and promotion.
8

Decide on the type and structure of marketing strategy reports to be submitted to senior management.

Go-to-Market Checklist

Develop a Strategy

1

Determine how your product will be delivered to the target audience in the new market
2

Figure out what triggers will make your prospective clients purchase the product
3

Be sure your market plan takes those triggers into account
4

Determine how staff-critical activities (such as hiring and training) will affect your products in the marketplace, and then adjust your marketing strategy appropriately
5

Identify new skills and abilities that your salespeople must improve to generate higher revenues
6

Outline the tactics for the first year of operations in the market
7

Identify how your business structure will be changed to accommodate to new market conditions
8

Outline marketing activities needed to generate brand recognition and awareness
9

Have a plan for creating leads from your targeted market
10

Determine tools and systems required to support marketing operations
11

Identify and describe risks that surround your marketing campaign
12

Develop a mitigating strategy for those risks.

Budgeting

1

Review your sales expectations to develop a revenue model that will be assessed against market penetration and average deal size
2

Establish profit margins over a 2-3 year period, considering your startup and ongoing costs
3

Set market goals that must be linked to revenue expectations
4

Develop a market penetration budget that covers all types of costs and considers revenue expectations
5

Be sure to include staff recruiting and training costs in the budget

Identify Market Opportunity

1

Identify a market you want to enter
2

Review current and prospective customer feedback regarding your market opportunity
3

Review feedback from your company's employees as well
4

Analyze market trend data to have a clear vision about current situation and future events within the market
5

Develop a clear hypothesis regarding your market
6

Organize client/employee meetings, executive forums, workshops and brainstorming sessions to test your hypothesis
7

Identify the target customers that will be served by your business in the new marketplace
8

Define what barriers would force the target customers now to purchase from your organization
9

Figure out what solutions can be applied to removing those barriers

Solve Key Issues of Go-to-Market Planning

1

Identify the value of your offerings to existing and prospective customers
2

Develop a promotion strategy that outlines a timeline and scope of product advertising
3

Make a forecast of revenue expected from product sales over a period of several years
4

Estimate initial costs and resources associated with sales
5

Estimate ongoing costs for maintaining the product
6

Identify risks associated with achieving marketing targets
7

Develop a mitigating strategy for managing those risks

Market Penetration Strategy Checklist

Market Penetration Strategy

Define the Need for a Penetration Strategy

1

Identify why your business needs to reach higher market penetration
2

Check whether you will reach an increase in total profitability through a penetration strategy
3

Determine whether your business can increase profitability per product line through higher penetration
4

Figure out how you can secure profitability
5

Have a survival scenario for an unfavorable market situation
6

Check whether your business will have a need for product development under the circumstances of higher penetration

Consider Penetration Criteria

1

Market has size and potential for growth - be sure your company will have sufficient sales and profits for business growth in the market
2

Costs for investment - calculate the amount of financial resources required to maintain product offers, advertizing, staff training, system modification, etc.
3

Product positioning - figure out whether your product/service will be positioned better through higher penetration

Plan Investments

1

Start drawing up business scenarios and calculations regarding your penetration effort
2

Decide what sort of investment you need to make
3

Measure investment potential and translate it into sales revenue to be gained over a reasonable time span
4

Estimate in advance what return on investment is expected to be
5

Designate a specific budget and time plan for your investment project
6

Consider investing in a specific training program for your personnel

Plan Actions

1

Think about whether you can gain an additional market share with the same product/service
2

Identify the total number of registered trademarks in your market and determine what trademark group your product/service belong to
3

Measure the degree to which your company can capture the target market for its product or service
4

Calculate the cost of your product/service to the end users and consumers
5

Consider using the same product/service, but promote it with additional features
6

Consider reducing product price in order to reach higher customer attractiveness
7

Think about implementing customer incentive strategies, including loyalty programs, discounts, and pricing adjustments
8

Analyze your competitors and determine their selling approaches
9

Identify your own selling approach and try to determine whether this approach is effective and efficient
10

Research the competitors' reactions and expect to invest more in some marketing activities such as special offers or advertising.

Market Sizing Checklist

Market Sizing

Define Target Audience

1

Identify people for whom your product/service solves a specific problem
2

Analyze the needs and demands of those people
3

Determine their age, average income, education, location, habits,
4

Understand how your prospects make their decisions regarding purchase
5

Use all this data to profile your potential buyers and have a detailed description of your target audience
6

Estimate the total number of your target customers in the marketplace
7

Try to understand what improvements can be made to the product/service in order to make it closer to your customers

Calculate Market Penetration Rate

1

Estimate the total number of prospective customers available in your market
2

Review your sales statistics over the last several months
3

Determine the total number of customers who have actually purchased your product/service
4

Calculate your market penetration rate by dividing the total number of your actual customers by the total number of prospects
5

Manage your product/service sales through regulation and research if the penetration rate appears to be high
6

Consider making some serious changes (e.g. redesign) to your product/service sales if the penetration rate is low
7

Consider using various penetration methods (e.g. direct sales, licensing, joint venture) to increase the rate

Explore Market Potential (Volume and Value)

1

Calculate market volume by multiplying the number of your target customers by the penetration rate
2

Estimate average value of your product/service (in terms of price, expectations, quality, demand, etc.)
3

Calculate market value by multiplying market volume by your average value
4

Explore market potential by summarizing market volume and market value
5

Estimate time your company will need to exploit the potential
6

Estimate the maximum sales revenue to be generated over that period

Determine Market Size

1

Understand the competitive advantages of your business in the marketplace
2

Carry out a competitor analysis to understand your chances to overcome the competition
3

Figure out what amount of financial resources you are ready to invest in improving your competitiveness
4

Estimate the total volume of sales you can reach with the current level of competitiveness
5

Explore whether you are able to meet the demands of your target audience with the current level of competitiveness
6

Determine the size of your market through analyzing the market potential, your ability to satisfy the target audience, and your financial capability
7

Create an estimate of your market size to determine expected sales revenue, customer satisfaction rate, and company profits
8

Use your market size estimate in determining how best to sell and promote your products and services.

SWOT Analysis Checklist

SWOT analysis layout

1

SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.
2

Strengths: robust attributes of the object, which avail the attainment of appointed targets.
3

Weaknesses: poor attributes of the object, which appear detrimental to attainment of appointed targets.
4

Opportunities: external factors and situations that can be used to facilitate or boost up the attainment of appointed targets.
5

Threats: external factors and situations which potentially can damage or hamper the attainment of appointed targets.

SWOT Analysis instructions and facts

1

It is a planning and strategy development tool used to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related with a project, business venture or just any analyzable object.
2

SWOT analysis model is used as one the most effective approaches to auditing the overall status of the business entity and its environment to define how it can be managed.
3

One of the SWOT analysis targets is matching internal organizational strengths and weaknesses with external opportunities and threats, so the strengths can underlie business success through meeting appropriate external opportunities, and internal weaknesses can be corrected, minimized and properly protected against external threats.
4

SWOT analysis can be used in combination with other audit and analysis methods, such as PEST analysis
5

To work at this method you need to create SWOT analysis matrix which is just a square table sectored into four equal square fields entitled: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. Then, you will make appropriate records in each of the fields.
6

SWOT analysis worksheet (SWOT environmental scanning) can be explained in a following manner - it includes Internal Analysis for identifying Strengths and Weaknesses, and External Analysis for defining Opportunities and Threats. After they are identified, they can be recorded down into SWOT analysis table that was described in previous point.
7

To make the SWOT analysis conclusion more specific as well as the whole process easier, you should fully determine the object which is subjected to analysis. For example, it could be one of your company's products, or it could be the overall company's product management strategy.
8

Sometimes weaknesses or threats can be converted into strengths or opportunities, but when it is impossible they should be reduced or avoided.
9

When you perform internal analysis to define Strengths and Weaknesses of your organization, you need to look through the following SWOT analysis examples of factors and areas to check:
10

When you scan the external environment to define Threats and Opportunities for your organization, you may consider the following SWOT analysis examples of factors and areas:
11

Form up a group of experts and organize workshop to conduct the analysis. Allocate among them tasks related to background preparation, information researching and gathering.
12

SWOT analysis report should be approved and discussed independently to avoid personal views. Take consultations and discussions from external and internal experts.
13

When performing SWOT analysis, be analytical and specific, keep focused on the purpose and object of your analysis.
14

It is important to give honest appraisal to how the things are really going on.
15

Don't ignore and disguise weaknesses, don't overestimate strengths.
16

Be afraid of underestimating Threats and missing Opportunities.
17

You can use special SWOT analysis software to record data on the process and results.
18

In a result of SWOT analysis, generally, you will be able to answer the following questions:"

PEST Analysis Checklist

PEST Analysis

Political Factors

1

Research how stable is the internal/external political environment
2

Determine what is government's policy on your type of business
3

Research legal and regulatory framework for your type of business
4

Research if government policy will influence laws that regulate your type of business
5

Research tax regime and fiscal policy
6

Research in what international trading agreements government is involved
7

Research employment laws for your type of business
8

Research trade restrictions and tariffs established for your type of business
9

Define if government adheres interventionist or laissez-faire policies
10

Research what is the government's approach to business competition, corporate social responsibility, and environmental problems

Economic Factors

1

Research the economic growth parameters (GDP/GNP)
2

Determine the level of inflation and unemployment figures
3

Determine interest and exchange rates
4

Research national budget allocation
5

Research government's approach to wage and price controlling
6

Research what are long-term prospects for the economy
7

Learn how stable is the currency
8

Research how easily loans can be taken

Social Factors

1

Find out the population growth rate and age distribution
2

Find out average level of education, employment patterns and career expectations
3

Find out dominating attitudes to family relationships, lifestyle preferences and religious beliefs
4

Find out what spending patterns and consumer activism prevail within society
5

Research how wealth is distributed among the population

Technological Factors

1

Learn the scale of investments into research and development
2

Learn the level of Internet and e-commerce developments
3

Learn how intensively new technologies and inventions are implemented within different fields of economy
4

Research the level of communication infrastructure
5

Find out how research and developments efforts are focused
6

Research what scale of technological investments your type of business requires to be successful

Competitive Environment Checklist

Competitive Environment

Market and Client

1

Define your target market
2

Determine the size of the target market
3

Define your specific segment within the target market
4

Define the size and the revenue opportunity of your segment
5

Determine how fast the overall market and your specific segment are growing
6

Study your customers
7

Research the most important characteristics of your industry
8

Research how representatives of your target audience decide to purchase a product
9

Identify and categorize your targeted customers by their consumer budgets

Study Your Competitors

1

Identify your direct and indirect competitors
2

Identify CSF's (critical success factors) for your industry
3

Perform analysis of your competitors according to most used methods
4

Research what products (services, pricing, and promotion) your competitors offer to customers
5

Identify the features that make your product different from products of your competitors
6

Decide what competitive advantages your products have and what advantages products of your competitors have

Target Audience Checklist

Demographics & Geography

1

Identify the age and gender of people who use your product
2

Estimate earnings and income levels of those people and determine if they can potentially purchase more
3

Identify family size and decide if you can keep your prices lower by selling in bulk for larger families
4

Analyze education of your prospects and explore whether you can target students and educators
5

Investigate the ethnic and religious background of people who use your product and decide if your products can be more popular among these people
6

Look at nationality and race of your prospects and find out whether your business is targeted towards this customer group
7

Explore the geography of living of your prospects and check if your products can be popular, considering weather and climate conditions

Psychology and Behaviors

1

Explore the personality of your prospects and analyze whether your products can help in addressing their personal needs
2

Analyze your prospects' market behaviors, including:
3

Identify quality expectations of your prospective buyers and decide if your products have the needed quality level
4

Investigate lifestyle of your clients to see whether they will be happy with using your products in their everyday life
5

Explore interests, habits and hobbies of your prospects and figure out if your products can be useful for those people
6

Look at other activities, attitudes and beliefs to find out what your prospective customers like to do and whether your products can be a part of their interests.

Market Survey

1

Put all the psychographic and demographics information into a customer profile to figure out what your target market
2

Consider conducting a market survey to start planning for an advertising campaign in the target market
3

Establish goals of your survey, including market segmentation criteria
4

Identify the target audience of the survey
5

Select a method of the survey, for example:
6

Decide when to start the survey and how long it should last
7

Establish budget and allocate necessary funds to your survey
8

Dedicate a research team that will carry out the survey and process survey data
9

Involve the team in doing the survey and obtaining survey data
10

Develop an advertising campaign plan that is fully based on the research data of your survey
11

Start implementing this plan to focus on your target audience and attract valued customers.