Brilliant Marketing Plans:What to know and do to make a successful plan (Brilliant Business)

273 Pages·2011·3.399 MB·English

by  Ian Linton

Ian Linton
Successful
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This is the book to help you write any marketing plan – step-by-step, quickly M
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Brilliant Marketing Plans will demonstrate fast and clever ways to prepare
outstanding campaigns. Packed with practical and sensible advice together k
with 15 easy-to-use, self-contained guides, you’ll be introduced to all the key e
concepts and discover the most effective ways to present your plan, get it t
agreed and put it into action. i
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Whatever you’re planning marketing for, everything you need to know to get it Plans

right first time is here. P
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BRILLIANT OUTCOMES a
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• Understand your marketing needs and take s
action
• Know how to create a winning plan
• Feel prepared, ready and confident to fully
implement your plan What to know
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£12.99 i
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Visit us on the web
www.pearson-books.com
CVR_LINT6293_01_SE_CVR.indd 1 08/08/2011 10:32
brilliant
marketing
plans

brilliant

marketing
plans

What to know and do to make a successful plan
Ian Linton
PEARSON EDUCATION LIMITED
Edinburgh Gate
Harlow CM20 2JE
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Website: www.pearsoned.co.uk
First published in Great Britain 2011
© Pearson Education Limited 2011
The right of Ian Linton to be identified as author of this work has been asserted
by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Pearson Education is not responsible for the content of third-party internet sites.
ISBN: 978-0-273-75629-3
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without either the prior
written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying in
the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd,
Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. This book may not be
lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of
binding or cover other than that in which it is published, without the prior
consent of the Publishers.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
15 14 13 12 11
Typeset in Plantin 10pt by 30
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Henry Ling Ltd, at the Dorset Press,
Dorchester, Dorset
Contents
About the author vii
Introduction: What makes a brilliant marketing plan? ix
part 1 Products 1
1 Speed up product development 3
2 Launch a new product 17
3 Add value with service 33
part 2 Market development 49
4 Educate the market 51
5 Reposition a company 63
6 Take your business online 79
7 Make the most of social media 95
part 3 Sales channels 109
8 Improve sales force performance 111
9 Reduce the sales cycle 131
10 Develop key account business 149
11 Manage customer partnerships effectively 167
12 Improve distributor performance 183
13 Control competitors 199
part 4 Customers 215
14 Enhance the customer experience 217
15 Strengthen customer relationships 233
Conclusion: Keep tuned to the market 247
Index 249

About the author
Ian Linton, a graduate of the University of Bristol, is a pro-
fessional writer and marketing consultant, specialising in
business-to-business communications and management books.
He has more than thirty years’ experience in the business and
has handled a wide range of marketing and communications pro-
grammes for international clients such as AT&T, Barclays Bank,
BP Chemicals, Cisco, Dell, Ernst & Young, Ford, IBM, KPMG,
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Shell, Siemens and
Vauxhall. He is the author of more than twenty business books
in the fields of marketing and customer service and has written a
number of case studies for the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Introduction: What makes a
brilliant marketing plan?
Marketing success doesn’t always come through an orthodox
approach – brilliant marketing plans sometimes break the rules.
That’s because marketing planning is about winning – taking
share from competitors or strengthening a vulnerable position
against attack.
First, identify the problems and opportunities, then focus on
strengthening your position. But don’t overlook overall objec-
tives; brilliant marketing plans integrated with corporate
strategy deliver brilliant results.
So where do you start? A lot of very good books on market-
ing planning describe the formal process of planning. That’s
great if you want to get to grips with the basics. The problem
is that marketing departments are under pressure to be more
accountable and deliver measurable results that demonstrate an
effective return on investment. It’s time for action, not theory.
A brilliant planning toolkit
That’s why this book focuses on outcomes, not processes.
You’ll find it’s a practical toolkit to help you develop effective
marketing plans quickly. The book provides a practical, project-
based approach that enables you to put specific programmes
into action quickly and effectively, without having to read an
entire book.