A marketing plan for the business defines and directs the marketing activities that will build our business base and increase revenue. It encourages an organization to look inwardly and outwardly to understand the impact of marketing decisions and the target market. A marketing plan will create goals and encourage a business to expand, including delivery service.
Delivery service and any products we may offer, including boxes and packing material. The first section of the marketing plan will define the features and benefits of our service. Describe our pricing structure and any discounts or sales offer.
Research and build a profile of our target customer. This group can be defined by demographics, including age, gender, family status, socioeconomic status, and/or lifestyle, such as values, hobbies, activities, beliefs. We will also need to determine their motives for using a delivery service and how often they might use our service. Also, are there times or days when our target customer is more likely to use the service?
Research our competition. In this section of our marketing plan will describe any and all competition in our area. Be sure to include direct and indirect delivery services, listed with descriptions of their services and their strengths and weaknesses. Address the ways in which our delivery service differs from the others and how our service will improve upon theirs.
Create our marketing strategy. In this section, we will address the advertising venues we will use; will we purchase advertising spots on local television or radio stations? What about newspaper advertisements? Describe any printed materials we will use in the promotion of our company. This will include brochures, fliers, business cards, coupons and stationery. Address the ways in which we will use our website and other online sources to promote our delivery service. If we are new to the area, this section will also include ways that we will introduce ourselves to the community.
Determine our marketing budget, which is essential to any marketing plan. A new business might use up to 20 percent of its sales on marketing strategies during the first year to make itself known. After that, the marketing budget usually falls somewhere between 1 percent and 10 percent of sales.