4.2 Marketing planning

Marketing planning turns market analysis into objectives, target choices, actions, budgets and measures. It aligns the marketing mix with the business strategy and provides a basis for review.

A plan links customer evidence to resource choices: changing the target segment affects product, price, promotion and distribution. Assumptions must be monitored because competitors and demand change.

Trace the chain from objective to target market, action, resource and measure; identify the assumption that could fail.

A café aims to grow weekday sales among nearby students, so it tests a lower-priced lunch bundle, promotes it locally and tracks incremental weekday transactions.

A marketing plan is not a list of adverts; it must specify a customer, objective, action and success measure.

Segmentation divides a broad market into meaningful groups; targeting selects the group(s) to serve; positioning defines the value and image the offer should occupy relative to alternatives.

The steps connect: a segment is useful only if it is identifiable and reachable, a target must be attractive and serviceable, and positioning must be credible to that target. Perception maps show how customers see brands on chosen dimensions.

State the segmentation basis, justify the target, then test whether the proposed position is distinct and believable.

A sports brand segments by activity and age, targets urban beginner runners, and positions a shoe as durable and affordable; a map of price versus technical performance checks whether the claim is differentiated.

STP is not merely labelling customers; the target and position must guide a coherent offer.

A niche market serves a relatively small, specialised group with specific needs; a mass market aims at a broad group with a standardised or widely relevant offer. Each creates different scale and risk.

Niche firms may charge premium prices and build loyalty but face a smaller customer base; mass firms gain scale but face intense competition and weaker personalisation. The best choice depends on resources and demand heterogeneity.

Compare market size, customer specificity, scale economies, competition and resilience before choosing niche or mass focus.

A company selling adaptive cycling equipment serves a niche with specialist knowledge; a bottled-water brand competes in a mass market where distribution scale matters.

Niche does not mean unprofitable and mass does not mean automatically safer; assess margins and dependence on one segment.

A unique selling point is a specific feature or benefit that makes an offer meaningfully preferable to alternatives for a target customer. It must be relevant, credible and difficult enough to copy to matter.

A claim creates value only when customers notice and believe it. Competitor imitation can remove uniqueness, so the business must keep improving or protect the underlying capability.

Identify the target need, state the differentiating benefit and test it against actual alternatives.

A repair service promises a 24-hour turnaround in a city where rivals take a week; the claim is a USP only if capacity can reliably deliver it.

“High quality” or “good service” is not a USP unless the advantage is specific and evidenced.

Differentiation makes an offer distinct through product features, service, design, brand, convenience or customer experience. It seeks preference rather than competing only on price.

Differentiation can raise willingness to pay or loyalty, but it adds cost and may matter only to a narrow segment. The advantage must be valuable, rare or hard to imitate enough to support the strategy.

Name the dimension of difference, identify who values it, and compare its added revenue with added cost.

A train operator differentiates with reliable real-time updates and simple refunds; commuters may pay for certainty, but the system costs money and must work consistently.

Being different is not the same as being better; link the difference to a customer need and financial outcome.