Discuss use of Strayer Writing Standards (SWS)

Overview

This assignment consists of two sections:

1. Marketing plan and sales strategy (an MS Word document).
2. Marketing budget (using the Business Plan Financials Excel Template).

To successfully complete this assignment, you must attach both documents to the submission area as separate files and then click Submit.

Reminders

• Your company, whether it’s a startup you created or one based on the snack food company scenario, will operate in a 100-mile radius from your home address. Your goal is to reach $1 million in sales by the end of the second year.
• Be sure to follow the guidelines, whether you chose the snack food company or your own startup company.
  • Snack Food Company Guidelines [PDF].
  • Company of Your Choice Guidelines [PDF].

Section 1: Marketing Plan and Sales Strategy

In MS Word, write the 3–5 page marketing plan and sales strategy section of your business plan, in which you:

1. Revise the company’s target market based on the feedback received in the Week 3 discussion thread.
   • Be sure to include demographic, geographic, lifestyle, psychographic, purchasing patterns, and buying sensitivities in the target market description.
2. Assess your chosen company’s market competition.
   • Use the factors listed in the graphic in your textbook labeled “Assess the Competition” (page 125), to assess the company’s market competition.
     • When assessing the competition, specify the exact company and particular product or service you are competing against. For example, Coca Cola offers a portfolio of products, such as water, fruit juice, and cola. Are you competing against Coca Cola’s fruit juice product? Or its cola product?
   • Be sure to detail your plan to differentiate yourself from the competition.
3. Outline the company’s value proposition and create a marketing slogan/tagline for the product.
   • The value proposition tells your customers why they want to do business with you.
   • You need to know what message you want to convey in your marketing slogan before selecting the marketing vehicles in the next step.
4. Specify the marketing vehicles you will use to build your chosen company’s brand and justify the key reasons they will be effective.
   • Marketing vehicles are ways to promote your product. Examples include social media, sponsored events, trade shows, and sampling. You will use a combination of these tactics.
   • Planning to use online marketing tactics? Consult the “Online Marketing Tactics” worksheet on page 177 of your textbook to guide your response.