Examples of controls in a marketing plan | Small business

To maximize the performance of a marketing plan, controls must be in place to monitor the progress of the plan. As a marketing plan progresses, controls are constantly analyzed to determine how the plan’s actual performance compares to projections. Any changes that need to be made are made based on the marketing controls analysis. Understanding what the controls are in a marketing plan will help you develop effective performance measurement indicators.

Marketing is designed to persuade consumers to buy a product or invest in a service. A control put in place in any marketing plan is the tracking of customer feedback through polls and surveys. You can reach customers indirectly by hosting online surveys on the Internet that ask specific questions about your latest marketing plan. Conversely, surveys can be conducted with marketing groups or via individual interviews by phone or in person.

Adjust your marketing plan based on the results of your research. For example, if your marketing campaign includes a new corporate mascot and customer feedback indicates that the mascot is not popular, the mascot should be removed from the marketing plan.

Sales can be measured in units sold, revenue generated, or amount of profit. Every marketing plan aims to determine the effect of the plan on the target market. Again, this is done through market research or at the point of sale with the help of partner merchants. Actual sales in the target market are compared to marketing plan projections to see if any changes need to be made.

For example, if the target market for a marketing plan is males between the ages of 15 and 21, the target market sales reports will monitor sales to this group. If sales are down, additional market research should be done to determine why the target audience is not responding to the marketing. In some cases, analysis of a sales demographic breakdown may indicate that the original target market was inaccurate and a new target market may emerge based on the sales data.

A marketing budget is a balance between the cost of generating advertising material and the revenue generated by the marketing plan. There are several controls in place that can be used to monitor a marketing budget, including print advertising spend, trade show travel costs, cost of market research, and internal staff costs for the marketing department. the company. All of these costs need to be closely monitored to minimize expenses and maximize profitability. By reviewing expenses, you can maintain your budget and see exactly where increases in expenses are coming from.

Market share is the percentage of consumer sales dominated by your product. For example, you may have a product whose sales represent 15% of all products on the market. A marketing plan describes the market share of the product before the plan is in place and then projects the changes in the market at the end of the plan.

For example, your marketing plan may call for an increase in market share of 10% to 15% of all products sold. During the plan timeline, a milestone can see a 3% increase halfway through the plan. If you do not achieve this goal, you must analyze why the plan is insufficient and how to correct it.