Part VII--Goals And Objectives

The first thing you should do when forming a marketing plan isdefine the structure in which it will be presented. The structureof the plan should allow the presentation of strategic informationin a logical and progressive manner. This structure should beprepared in a written outline detailing the progression of topicsand how they will appear in the marketing plan.

The structure of a marketing plan will usually vary according tothe business, its product or service, and the objectives of themarketing plan. Generally, however, each marketing plan willinclude the following information:

Executive summary

Product description

Market analysis

Competitive analysis

Product development

Operations

Goals & objectives

Marketing tactics

Financial projections

Summary

Goals And Objectives

Objectives and goals are important to a marketing plan becausethey provide a direction for your growth strategy. Objectives andgoals are precise targets that you will gear your company and itsresources toward. They are specific in nature. They are measurableover a period of time. They are within the realm of feasibility.And they are linked to the basic mission and purpose of thecompany.

Your objectives and goals should spell out exactly what youintend to accomplish. Long-range objectives are usually linked tothe performance and prosperity of a company and involve financialtargets such as overall sales, return on investment, increasedprofit margins, etc. Of course, your long-range objectivesdon't have to be confined to financial goals, but can includeother areas of growth within a company such as market share,personnel, productivity, research and development, and/or any otherobjective you deem suitable for your company or the division youmanage.

Your long-range objectives don't have to be singular innature. You can form one objective, two, three or more. As long asthey do not conflict with each other, there should be no problemlisting more than one task to be performed in the objectives andgoals section of your marketing plan.

Short-term goals should be compatible with your long-rangeobjectives. They should be viewed as a series of building blocksthat eventually will lead to the achievement of your long-rangeobjective(s). Short-term goals let you know whether you are on theright course or not.

Short-term goals are often developed around financial targets,but, like long-range objectives, should not be confined solely tothese items. In fact, a well-developed short-term goals sectiontakes into account the various elements within your organizationthat need to be accomplished in order to achieve your long-rangeobjectives. This might be an increase in production staffing,introduction of modernized equipment, increased productivity, etc.The whole idea is to further define just how you will reach yourlong-range objective.

Before you begin writing your marketing plan, you should haveyour long-range objectives and short-term goals prepared. In theprevious sections of your marketing plan, the facts and ideassupporting your objectives and goals should have been presented.The objectives and goals section should tie all this informationtogether to provide a purpose and a plan of action within aspecified time frame.

Start your objectives and goals section by stating yourlong-range objective(s). From your objective(s), move into thevarious short-term goals that you will need to meet by a certaintime period in order to reach your objectives. To support yourstated objectives and goals, some consultants believe that it isnecessary to include the actual supportive evidence used in theirformulation. This may simply be a table showing the growth of thecompany to meet your long-range objectives or it may be an equationshowing exactly how you determined your stated targets.

Keep in mind, however, that supportive evidence is notessential. As long as you clearly state your objective(s) and goalsand provide reasons why you think they are feasible, there is noneed to include the actual supportive evidence. Our view on thesubject is to use it whenever possible. Remember, you'redealing with very busy people who are usually considering more thanone marketing plan for funding. You need to relay your facts andideas quickly.

Following is a sample objectives and goals section for thebiodegradable diaper example we've been using.

Sample Objectives AndGoals

The objective of Softie Baby Care Inc. is to obtain 25 percentof the disposable-diaper market within a three-year period with theintroduction of its new biodegradable disposable diaper line,Bio-Diapers. During the first year of business, our goal will be toconcentrate on marketing and distribution to raise awareness amongconsumers and retailers. Projected sales for the first year, at anaverage retail cost of $12 for a large bag of Bio-diapers ,total$155 million, which is a five-percent market share. To reach thisgoal, it will be necessary to increase our marketing staff by 10percent and our production staff by three percent.

Our second-year goals are to reinvest profits to increase ourmarketing staff by close to 200 percent and our production staff byclose to 300 percent while continuing with a strong research anddevelopment program aimed at reducing the component costs of theBio-Diaper product by five percent, leading to a five-percentreduction in the suggested retail price. With these elements inplace, our goal is to increase sales from the first year by sevenpercent, resulting in $431 million in sales and a 13-percent marketshare.

With volume expected to double in the third year, our goals areto increase our production staff by 100 percent and marketing byanother 100 percent. Our goal in the third year is to increasesales by 12 percent to $871 million in order to reach our objectiveof a 25-percent market share.

First-Year Sales Goals

*Industry Sales--$3,100,000,000

Bio-Diapers Sales--$155,000,000

Market Share--5%

Marketing Costs--$15,500,000

Unit Sales--18.4 million

Second-Year Sales Goals

*Industry Sales--$3,317,000,000

Bio-Diapers Sales--$431,210,000

Market Share--13%

Sales Growth--7%

Marketing Costs--$41,300,000

Unit Sales--53.9 million

Third Year Sales Goals

*Industry Sales--$3,482,850,000

Bio-Diapers Sales--$870,712,500

Market Share--25%

Sales Growth--12%

Marketing Costs--$85,000,000

Unit Sales--108.9 million

* Projected industry sales.

In part VIII of our Marketing Plan series, we'll becovering Marketing Tactics. Tips are updated daily at 5:00a.m.PST.