market summary business plan example

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How to Write a Market Analysis for a Business Plan

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A lot of preparation goes into starting a business before you can open your doors to the public or launch your online store. One of your first steps should be to write a business plan . A business plan will serve as your roadmap when building your business.

Within your business plan, there’s an important section you should pay careful attention to: your market analysis. Your market analysis helps you understand your target market and how you can thrive within it.

Simply put, your market analysis shows that you’ve done your research. It also contributes to your marketing strategy by defining your target customer and researching their buying habits. Overall, a market analysis will yield invaluable data if you have limited knowledge about your market, the market has fierce competition, and if you require a business loan. In this guide, we'll explore how to conduct your own market analysis.

How to conduct a market analysis: A step-by-step guide

In your market analysis, you can expect to cover the following:

Industry outlook

Target market

Market value

Competition

Barriers to entry

Let’s dive into an in-depth look into each section:

Step 1: Define your objective

Before you begin your market analysis, it’s important to define your objective for writing a market analysis. Are you writing it for internal purposes or for external purposes?

If you were doing a market analysis for internal purposes, you might be brainstorming new products to launch or adjusting your marketing tactics. An example of an external purpose might be that you need a market analysis to get approved for a business loan .

The comprehensiveness of your market analysis will depend on your objective. If you’re preparing for a new product launch, you might focus more heavily on researching the competition. A market analysis for a loan approval would require heavy data and research into market size and growth, share potential, and pricing.

Step 2: Provide an industry outlook

An industry outlook is a general direction of where your industry is heading. Lenders want to know whether you’re targeting a growing industry or declining industry. For example, if you’re looking to sell VCRs in 2020, it’s unlikely that your business will succeed.

Starting your market analysis with an industry outlook offers a preliminary view of the market and what to expect in your market analysis. When writing this section, you'll want to include:

Market size

Are you chasing big markets or are you targeting very niche markets? If you’re targeting a niche market, are there enough customers to support your business and buy your product?

Product life cycle

If you develop a product, what will its life cycle look like? Lenders want an overview of how your product will come into fruition after it’s developed and launched. In this section, you can discuss your product’s:

Research and development

Projected growth

How do you see your company performing over time? Calculating your year-over-year growth will help you and lenders see how your business has grown thus far. Calculating your projected growth shows how your business will fare in future projected market conditions.

Step 3: Determine your target market

This section of your market analysis is dedicated to your potential customer. Who is your ideal target customer? How can you cater your product to serve them specifically?

Don’t make the mistake of wanting to sell your product to everybody. Your target customer should be specific. For example, if you’re selling mittens, you wouldn’t want to market to warmer climates like Hawaii. You should target customers who live in colder regions. The more nuanced your target market is, the more information you’ll have to inform your business and marketing strategy.

With that in mind, your target market section should include the following points:

Demographics

This is where you leave nothing to mystery about your ideal customer. You want to know every aspect of your customer so you can best serve them. Dedicate time to researching the following demographics:

Income level

Create a customer persona

Creating a customer persona can help you better understand your customer. It can be easier to market to a person than data on paper. You can give this persona a name, background, and job. Mold this persona into your target customer.

What are your customer’s pain points? How do these pain points influence how they buy products? What matters most to them? Why do they choose one brand over another?

Research and supporting material

Information without data are just claims. To add credibility to your market analysis, you need to include data. Some methods for collecting data include:

Target group surveys

Focus groups

Reading reviews

Feedback surveys

You can also consult resources online. For example, the U.S. Census Bureau can help you find demographics in calculating your market share. The U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Small Business Administration also offer general data that can help you research your target industry.

Step 4: Calculate market value

You can use either top-down analysis or bottom-up analysis to calculate an estimate of your market value.

A top-down analysis tends to be the easier option of the two. It requires for you to calculate the entire market and then estimate how much of a share you expect your business to get. For example, let’s assume your target market consists of 100,000 people. If you’re optimistic and manage to get 1% of that market, you can expect to make 1,000 sales.

A bottom-up analysis is more data-driven and requires more research. You calculate the individual factors of your business and then estimate how high you can scale them to arrive at a projected market share. Some factors to consider when doing a bottom-up analysis include:

Where products are sold

Who your competition is

The price per unit

How many consumers you expect to reach

The average amount a customer would buy over time

While a bottom-up analysis requires more data than a top-down analysis, you can usually arrive at a more accurate calculation.

Step 5: Get to know your competition

Before you start a business, you need to research the level of competition within your market. Are there certain companies getting the lion’s share of the market? How can you position yourself to stand out from the competition?

There are two types of competitors that you should be aware of: direct competitors and indirect competitors.

Direct competitors are other businesses who sell the same product as you. If you and the company across town both sell apples, you are direct competitors.

An indirect competitor sells a different but similar product to yours. If that company across town sells oranges instead, they are an indirect competitor. Apples and oranges are different but they still target a similar market: people who eat fruits.

Also, here are some questions you want to answer when writing this section of your market analysis:

What are your competitor’s strengths?

What are your competitor’s weaknesses?

How can you cover your competitor’s weaknesses in your own business?

How can you solve the same problems better or differently than your competitors?

How can you leverage technology to better serve your customers?

How big of a threat are your competitors if you open your business?

Step 6: Identify your barriers

Writing a market analysis can help you identify some glaring barriers to starting your business. Researching these barriers will help you avoid any costly legal or business mistakes down the line. Some entry barriers to address in your marketing analysis include:

Technology: How rapid is technology advancing and can it render your product obsolete within the next five years?

Branding: You need to establish your brand identity to stand out in a saturated market.

Cost of entry: Startup costs, like renting a space and hiring employees, are expensive. Also, specialty equipment often comes with hefty price tags. (Consider researching equipment financing to help finance these purchases.)

Location: You need to secure a prime location if you’re opening a physical store.

Competition: A market with fierce competition can be a steep uphill battle (like attempting to go toe-to-toe with Apple or Amazon).

Step 7: Know the regulations

When starting a business, it’s your responsibility to research governmental and state business regulations within your market. Some regulations to keep in mind include (but aren’t limited to):

Employment and labor laws

Advertising

Environmental regulations

If you’re a newer entrepreneur and this is your first business, this part can be daunting so you might want to consult with a business attorney. A legal professional will help you identify the legal requirements specific to your business. You can also check online legal help sites like LegalZoom or Rocket Lawyer.

Tips when writing your market analysis

We wouldn’t be surprised if you feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information needed in a market analysis. Keep in mind, though, this research is key to launching a successful business. You don’t want to cut corners, but here are a few tips to help you out when writing your market analysis:

Use visual aids

Nobody likes 30 pages of nothing but text. Using visual aids can break up those text blocks, making your market analysis more visually appealing. When discussing statistics and metrics, charts and graphs will help you better communicate your data.

Include a summary

If you’ve ever read an article from an academic journal, you’ll notice that writers include an abstract that offers the reader a preview.

Use this same tactic when writing your market analysis. It will prime the reader of your market highlights before they dive into the hard data.

Get to the point

It’s better to keep your market analysis concise than to stuff it with fluff and repetition. You’ll want to present your data, analyze it, and then tie it back into how your business can thrive within your target market.

Revisit your market analysis regularly

Markets are always changing and it's important that your business changes with your target market. Revisiting your market analysis ensures that your business operations align with changing market conditions. The best businesses are the ones that can adapt.

Why should you write a market analysis?

Your market analysis helps you look at factors within your market to determine if it’s a good fit for your business model. A market analysis will help you:

1. Learn how to analyze the market need

Markets are always shifting and it’s a good idea to identify current and projected market conditions. These trends will help you understand the size of your market and whether there are paying customers waiting for you. Doing a market analysis helps you confirm that your target market is a lucrative market.

2. Learn about your customers

The best way to serve your customer is to understand them. A market analysis will examine your customer’s buying habits, pain points, and desires. This information will aid you in developing a business that addresses those points.

3. Get approved for a business loan

Starting a business, especially if it’s your first one, requires startup funding. A good first step is to apply for a business loan with your bank or other financial institution.

A thorough market analysis shows that you’re professional, prepared, and worth the investment from lenders. This preparation inspires confidence within the lender that you can build a business and repay the loan.

4. Beat the competition

Your research will offer valuable insight and certain advantages that the competition might not have. For example, thoroughly understanding your customer’s pain points and desires will help you develop a superior product or service than your competitors. If your business is already up and running, an updated market analysis can upgrade your marketing strategy or help you launch a new product.

Final thoughts

There is a saying that the first step to cutting down a tree is to sharpen an axe. In other words, preparation is the key to success. In business, preparation increases the chances that your business will succeed, even in a competitive market.

The market analysis section of your business plan separates the entrepreneurs who have done their homework from those who haven’t. Now that you’ve learned how to write a market analysis, it’s time for you to sharpen your axe and grow a successful business. And keep in mind, if you need help crafting your business plan, you can always turn to business plan software or a free template to help you stay organized.

This article originally appeared on JustBusiness, a subsidiary of NerdWallet.

Business Plan Section 5: Market Analysis

Find out the 9 components to include in the market analysis portion of your business plan, plus 6 sources for market analysis information.

This is the part of your business plan where you really get to shine and show off that awesome idea you have. Of course, your product or service is the best! Now, let’s talk about how you know it’s a hit. Be prepared to show you know your market AND that it’s big enough for you to build a sustainable, successful business .

In writing up your market analysis, you’ll get to demonstrate the knowledge you’ve gained about the industry, the target market you’re planning to sell to, your competition, and how you plan to make yourself stand out.

A market analysis is just that: a look at what the relevant business environment is and where you fit in. It should give a potential lender, investor, or employee no doubt that there is a solid niche for what you’re offering, and you are definitely the person to fill it. It’s both quantitative, spelling out sales projections and other pertinent figures, and qualitative, giving a thoughtful overview of how you fit in with the competition. It needs to look into the potential size of the market, the possible customers you’ll target, and what kind of difficulties you might face as you try to become successful. Let’s break down how to do that.

What Goes Into A Business Plan Market Analysis?

Industry description and outlook.

Describe the industry with enough background so that someone who isn’t familiar with it can understand what it’s like, what the challenges are, and what the outlook is. Talk about its size, how it’s growing, and what the outlook is for the future.

Target Market

Who have you identified as your ideal client or customer ? Include demographic information on the group you’re targeting, including age, gender and income level. This is the place to talk about the size of your potential market, how much it might spend, and how you’ll reach potential customers. For example, if women aged 18 to 54 are your target market, you need to know how many of them there are in your market. Are there 500 or 500,000? It’s imperative to know. Similarly, if your product or service is geared toward a high-end clientele, you need to make sure you’re located in an area that can support it.

Market Need

What factors influence the need for your product or service? Did the need exist before or are you trying to create it? Why will customers want to do business with you, possibly choosing you over someone else? This is where you can briefly introduce the competitive edge you have, although you’ll get into that in more depth in following sections. Focus on how the product or service you’re offering satisfies what’s needed in the market.

Market Growth

While no one can predict the future, it’s important to get a possible idea of what business may be like down the road and make sales projections. Have the number of people in your target market been increasing or decreasing over the last several years? By how much per year? To make an intelligent forecast, you have to start with current conditions, then project changes over the next three to five years.

Market Trends

You need to take a look at trends the same way you look at population and demographics. Is there a shift to more natural or organic ingredients that might impact your business? How might energy prices figure in? The easy availability of the internet and smartphone technology? The questions will be different for every type of business, but it’s important to think about the types of changes that could affect your specific market. In this section, you can cite experts from the research you’ve done-a market expert, market research firm, trade association, or credible journalist.

Market Research Testing

Talk about what kind of testing and information gathering you’ve done to figure out where you stand in the market. Who have you spoken to about the viability of your product? Why are you confident of its success? Again, if you can, cite experts to back up your information.

Competitive Analysis

There’s no way to succeed unless you’ve examined your competition. It might be helpful to try analyzing your position in the market by performing a SWOT analysis. You need to figure out their strengths and the weaknesses you can exploit as you work to build your own business. You do need to be brutally honest here, and also look at what the potential roadblocks are-anything that might potentially stand in your way as you try to meet your goals and grow your business.

Barriers to Entry

Lenders and investors need to have a reasonable assurance they’ll be paid back, so they’ll want to know what would stop someone else from swooping in, doing what you do, and grabbing half the available business. Do you have technical knowledge that’s difficult to get? A specialized product no one else can manufacture? A service that takes years to perfect? It’s possible your industry has strict regulations and licensing requirements. All of these help protect you from new competition, and they’re all selling points for you.

Regulations

As we touched on above, you should cover regulations as a barrier to entry. If your field is covered by regulations, you do need to talk about how they apply to your business and how you’ll comply with them.

Six Sources for Market Analysis Information

The Market Analysis section of your business plan is far more than a theoretical exercise. Doing an analysis of the market really gives YOU the information you need to figure out whether your plans are viable, and tweak them in the early stages before you go wrong.

So, where do you start? Research is the key here, and there are several sources available.

1. The Internet

Some of the first information you need is about population and demographics: who your potential customers are, how many there are, and where they live or work. The U.S. Census Bureau has an impressive amount of these statistics available. USA.gov’s small business site is another good source for links to the U.S. Departments of Labor and Commerce, among others.

2. Local Chamber of Commerce

A lot of local information can be gotten from the chamber of commerce in the area where you plan to operate. Often, they can provide details into what the general business climate is like, and get even more specific about how many and what type of businesses are operating in their jurisdiction.

3. Other Resources

When actual statistical information isn’t available, you’ll often be able to put together a good picture of the market from a variety of other sources. Real estate agents can be a source of information on demographics and population trends in an area. Catalogs and marketing materials from your competition are useful. Many industry associations have a great amount of relevant information to use in putting your analysis together. Trade publications and annual reports from public corporations in your industry also contain a wealth of relevant information.

4. Customer Mindset

Take yourself out of the equation as the owner and stand in your customer’s shoes when you look at the business. As a customer, what problems do you have that need to be solved? What would you like to be able to do better, faster, or cheaper that you can’t do now? How does the competition work to solve those issues? How could this business solve them better?

5. the Competition

If you have a clothing store, visit others in your area. If you’d like to open a pizzeria, try pies from surrounding restaurants. If you’re a salon owner, park across the street and see what the store traffic is like and how customers look when they come out. Check out websites for pricing and other marketing information. Follow their Facebook pages. If you can’t be a customer of the competition, ask your customers and suppliers about them. Always be aware of what’s going on in the market.

6. Traditional Market Research

While you can gather a lot of data online, your best information will come from potential customers themselves. Send out surveys, ask for input and feedback, and conduct focus groups. You can do this yourself or hire a market research firm to do it for you.

What to Do With All That Data

Now that you’ve gathered the statistics and information and you’ve done the math to know there’s a need and customer base for your product or service, you have to show it off to your best advantage. You can start the market analysis section with a simple summary that describes your target customers and explains why you have chosen this as your market. You can also summarize how you see the market growing, and highlight one or two projections for the future.

If your information is dense with numbers and statistics, someone who reads your business plan will probably find it easier to understand if you present it as a chart or graph. You can generate them fairly easily with tools built into Google docs and free infographic apps and software .

Don’t assume that your readers have an understanding of your market, but don’t belabor simple points, either. You want to include pertinent, important information, but you don’t want to drown the reader in facts. Be concise and compelling with the market analysis, and remember that a good graphic can cover a lot of text, and help you make your point. It’s great to say you project sales to increase by 250% over the next five years, but it makes an even bigger wow when you show it in a graphic.

Always relate the data back to your business. Statistics about the market don’t mean much unless you describe how and where you fit in. As you talk about the needs of your target market, remember to focus on how you are uniquely positioned to fill them.

Don’t hesitate to break down your target market into smaller segments, especially if each is likely to respond to a different message about your product or service. You may have one market that consists of homes and another of small businesses. Perhaps you sell to both wholesale and retail customers. Talk about this in the market analysis, and describe briefly how you’ll approach each. (You will have more of an opportunity to do this in detail later in the plan.) Segmentation can help you target specific messages to specific areas, focusing in on the existing needs and how you fill them.

Remember to tailor your information to the purpose at hand. If your business plan is for internal use, you may not have to go into as much detail about the market since you and your team may already know it well. Remember, however, that the very act of doing the research may help you learn things you didn’t know, so don’t skimp on doing the work. This is a great opportunity to get information from outside that might affect your business.

It’s not about your ability to do professional-level market research; a plan intended for a bank or other lender needs to show your understanding of where your business fits into the grand scheme of things. Yes, you need to detail the information, but your main goal is to show how you’ve incorporated that knowledge into making solid decisions about the direction of your company. Use this section of your business plan to explain your understanding of your industry, your market and your individual business so that lenders and investors feel comfortable with your possibility for success.

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How to Write a Market Analysis: Guidelines & Templates

Written by: Unenabasi Ekeruke

Whether you're starting a new business or improving existing business processes, you’ll need a detailed market analysis. Not having a proper assessment of your market will make it difficult, if not impossible, to achieve your business goals.

On top of that, you'll end up leaving money, customers and growth opportunities on the table. And your competitors will grasp it.

A market analysis tells you everything you need to know about your industry, competitors, customers that directly affect the growth of your business.

According to Think with Google , 40% of marketers leverage consumer research to make decisions. Getting it right with market analysis helps you make sound decisions, putting you a step ahead of your competitors.

Conducting a market analysis might appear daunting and complex. We've created this guide to discuss what a market analysis is, the components of market analysis and templates to help you create your own.

Let's get to it.

Here’s a short selection of 8 easy-to-edit market analysis templates you can edit, share and download with Visme. View more templates below:

Table of Contents

What is a market analysis.

• Benefits of a Market Analysis

What Are the Components of a Market Analysis?

9 market analysis templates, how to conduct a market analysis.

• Get to Work: Create Market Analysis with Visme
• A market analysis is a detailed assessment of the market for a product, service or business.
• Market analysis are vital for making informed decisions, staying up to date with emerging trends, developing the right offerings for your market, forecasting potential revenue and gauging business performance.
• A market analysis is composed of an industry description and outlook, a market description, market trends, a competitive analysis, key success factors, market projections and environmental factors.
• To conduct an analysis of the market, you must define your objective, identify your target market, gather competitor data, assess market trends, do a SWOT analysis and summarize the findings into a market analysis document.
• Take advantage of all the business features available in the editor to create your market analysis.
• Access an extensive library of templates , integrated analytics, collaboration and workflow features, plus millions of design assets right at your fingertips to streamline your business process.

A market analysis is an assessment of the industry or market for a product, service, or business. This analysis gives you an overview of all the elements that affect your specific market. Analyzing your market or industry helps you:

• Assess the attractiveness of the market
• Uncover opportunities for growth
• Develop strategies to overcome obstacles and edge out the competition
• Better position your business to serve customers right

A market analysis isn't just for writing business plans or marketing plans . It can be conducted as part of activities for launching new products or services, diversifying into new industries, or revamping your current business strategy.

For example, let's say you're looking for a gap in the market to create a new product or service. A thorough market analysis can point you in the right direction of what's most in demand.

A market analysis isn't a one-time event. If you want your efforts to be successful, keep your market knowledge up-to-date using a marketing dashboard .

You can use a marketing analysis at different stages of your business. It can be helpful to conduct it once or twice a year to keep up to date with major changes in the market.

With a detailed marketing analysis, you can gather valuable insights into:

• The size of the market in terms of value and volume
• Potential customer segments
• Demand for products or services and buying patterns
• The purchasing habits of customers
• Barriers to entry
• Regulations
• Competition (including their strengths and weaknesses)
• The overall market dynamics that influence the prices of products
• Forces affecting the behaviors of industry players and customers

5 Benefits of a Market Analysis

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A market analysis is valuable to your marketing deck . It provides a core understanding of your market and puts your business in the driving seat for success.

Here are some of the other reasons you need a market analysis for your business.

1. Make Informed Decisions

A market analysis gives you insight into market trends, competitors and key success factors. You're able to spot risks, threats and opportunities for growth. This information helps you develop a targeted business strategy and make the right decisions to drive growth.

2. Stay Up to Date With Emerging Trends

By conducting market analysis, you can stay on top of industry trends and see what your competitors aren't seeing. Taking advantage of this information puts you a step ahead of other players in your industry.

3. Develop the Right Offerings for Your Market

Market research and analysis involve listening to the market and communicating with customers. While conducting market analysis, you want to identify these things.

• Who or what influences their purchase decisions?
• What do they expect from brands?
• Why do customers choose your products over those of your competition?
• How do your customers use your products and how do they meet their needs?
• Does your product have the right product-market fit ?

You are better positioned to provide targeted solutions when you have a firm grasp of what customers want. Plus, you can use that information to tailor your business's offerings to your customers' needs.

While building your market analysis, use Google Analytics to assess how your website visitors are reacting to your product and service offerings. Analyze data like where they’re finding your products, how long they’re spending on your pages and where they’re dropping off. Visualize the Google Analytics data in your market analysis report with the help of Visme's integration with Google Analytics .

4. Forecast Potential Revenue and Future Earnings

A market forecast is a critical component of marketing analysis. It predicts the trends, financial projections and characteristics of your target market.

This forecast gives you an idea of what revenue, cost and profit margins to expect. You can tweak your business plan and budget accordingly.

5. Gauge Business Performance

Without metrics, it can be challenging to gauge your business performance. This is where a market analysis comes in handy. It provides benchmarks for measuring your business performance against other companies in your niche.

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A market analysis framework gives you a holistic view of the industries you’re interested in or currently operating in. The components of your market analysis should include:

• Industry description and outlook
• A description of your target market and trends
• Analysis of key competitors
• Key success factors in your industry
• Projections
• Environmental Factors

Let’s look at each of these components in more detail.

1. Industry Description and Outlook

When preparing your market analysis, you want to conduct an in-depth analysis of your industry to determine the current state and your industry's future. This section should have the following information:

• What the industry offers
• Size of your industry
• Emerging trends in the industry
• Rate of growth and the potential for growth
• Sustainability of the industry

These measures give a broad overview of your industry. For example, let’s say your business is operating in the software industry. You'll want to describe how large the industry is, the current growth rate and the projected growth rate over the next few years.

To gather statistics, reports and studies about your industry, leverage credible sources like:

• Government agencies
• Trade associations
• Local chamber of commerce

2. Market Description

In this section, you want to narrow down your data to focus on the specific market you're operating in. This is very important when you're crafting a market analysis in business plans. 

From the software example above, the target market could be a specific niche within the software industry, like the finance or productivity software market.

By digging into the specifics of your target population, you're able to forecast how viable the market is and how profitable it will be to sell your solution to these customers. You'll also decide the best strategy to get value from this specific market.

Notice how the infographic template below provides detailed market analysis data about the virtual reality (VR) market.

3. Market Trends

Once you grasp your market description, double down on the occurrences that impact your industry over time. These trends could be short-term, intermediate and long-term.

Here you want to hone in to see how your market started, how it has evolved and where it's headed.

Why is this important? Monitoring the trends that affect your business ensures you aren't caught off-guard. Plus, it keeps you a step ahead of your competitors.

Here are some of the trends you'll have to keep an eye on:

• Changes in consumer preferences
• Change in market demographics
• Technological advancements
• Demand for specific products or services
• The supplier's influence over prices
• Price fluctuations and sensitivity

Not sure how to monitor trends unique to your target market? Here are some ideas:

• Read industry publications. Browse websites like Think with Google , Google Trends , Pew Research Center and US Census Business Data . They can provide a bigger picture of your market, consumer behavior and how it relates to the economy.
• Leverage industry trends analytics. You'll find a huge repository of data about past and current trends in your markets.
• Observe your competitors. If your major competitors are going in a particular direction in the market, they probably have access to insights that you don't have. Observing them can help you make more informed decisions.
• Attend industry events. Network with industry leaders and other relevant people and subscribe to newsletters.

Identifying market trends is mostly about keeping your ears to the ground and listening out for approaching shifts in your industry. As you explore these trends, you should track how your offerings align, fit in, or operate counter to the trends. You can use free market research tools to gain insights into industry trends and customer preferences without incurring costs.

4. Competitive Analysis

Analyzing your competitive landscape involves identifying who your competitors are and where they stack up against you.

The competitive analysis gives a bird's eye view of:

• Who your direct and indirect competitors are
• Their products' quality and pricing
• Their marketing strategy and overall business strategy
• What makes your competitors stand out
• What your competitors' strengths and weaknesses are
• What enables you to outperform your competitors?

The beauty of competitive analysis is that it gives you a clearer idea of what you're up against. You can identify aspects of your business that need improvement to enable you to measure up or stay competitive in your industry.

Here's an excellent example of competitive data for your market analysis.

Much like market trends, the competitive landscapes for various markets change over time. And depending on what metrics you're looking at, you may get different results. Hence the need to make your competitive analysis an ongoing process.

Let's look at the various ways you can analyze the competitive environment.

Investigate Your Competitors

You can check out your competitors, websites, social media pages, news, press releases and other marketing content. You can even shop from them, read testimonials and reviews and conduct surveys . You're sure to have a clearer idea of why customers buy from them or what makes them stand out.

Using Porter’s Five Forces

Porter's Five Forces analyzes five major competitive forces that shape every market. They include:

• The bargaining power of suppliers
• The bargaining power of buyers
• The competitive rivalry
• The threat of substitute products
• The threat of new entrants

Bargaining power of suppliers analyses the number of suppliers in your industry and how easy it is to raise their prices. Suppliers have more power when they are fewer and raising prices can impact your profitability.

Bargaining power of buyers examines the influence that buyers have on prices and quality. Consumers have control when they are fewer. And because there are multiple sellers, they can easily switch to your rivals.

Competitive rivalry describes how intense the competition is in your market. Here you want to find out the following:

• How many competitors exist in the market?
• What is the quality and quantity of their offering compared to yours?

The threat of substitute products examines how easy it is for customers to switch to competing products. Customers will often find cheaper substitutes that cut their expenses, which may, in turn, affect your profitability.

The threat of new entrants examines how easy or difficult it is for new businesses to join your market. The easier it is for new firms to enter your market, the greater the number of competitors and the smaller your market share.

SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis is an excellent framework for evaluating your competitive position and making strategic decisions. This framework organizes your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to your business into a simple two-by-two grid.

Strengths and weaknesses are internal to your company. They include things you can change or have some control over. Examples include your team, intellectual property, patents, location and other resources.

Opportunities and threats are external. These are things that happen in the larger market. Essentially, you have no control over them. Examples include customer shopping trends, competitors, increasing demand for certain products, prices of raw materials and economic growth or decline.

Use the SWOT analysis template below as a guide to build on your strengths, address your weaknesses, seize new opportunities and minimize threats or risks.

Strategic Group Analysis

This tool also effectively analyzes the rivalry among competitors within your industry. It groups companies and analyzes their competitive positions based on common characteristics such as:

• Company size
• Product quality and features
• Number of market segments served
• Distribution channels
• Product and service diversity
• Price policy
• Technological position
• Vertical integration
• Financial or operating leverage

5. Key Success Factors

The key success factors in any industry include those competitive factors that impact the ability of businesses to thrive in the marketplace. These factors may include:

• Competitive capabilities
• Product and service attributes
• Operational strategies
• Marketing strategies
• People and processes

By evaluating key success factors, you can:

• Grasp the key elements you need to compete in your target market and become sustainable.
• Identify your areas of strength and where you need improvement.
• Identify pathways to achieve your business goals and objectives.
• Ensure the success and continued growth of your business.

If you're starting your business, find out what the top players in your industry are doing right. Check out their business model and how they structure their business in response to changing business environments.

6. Market Projections

This section should project financial forecasts, future numbers and trends in your target market. Here you want to hone in on significant numbers like:

• Market segments
• Market size and value
• Projected sales volume
• Average purchase value per customer
• Market share
• Pricing structure
• Gross and net margin within the industry

To get a near-accurate projection, you'll have to combine information from multiple sources including:

• Market trends
• Competitor analysis
• Customer descriptions and
• Purchase behavior

While forecasting your market, avoid making educated guesses that don't add up. Rather collect data from reliable sourcres.

Tools like Statista and Euromonitor provide detailed forecasts and market information relevant to different industries.

Check out how this graphic highlights key market data and projections.

7. Environmental Factors

These are outside factors that exert an external influence on your business. They include economic, social, political, legal and technological factors.

Although you have limited control of these factors, you must study and include them in your market analysis.

Why's that? They can improve or disrupt your business processes.

Having a bird's eye view of these factors from different angles lets you identify and resolve the problems they can cause.

One of the most popular ways to measure environmental factors is the PESTLE analysis model . Here are some things to consider when carrying out a PESTLE analysis.

• Social factors in your business environment. They include lifestyle trends, demographic considerations, socio-economic status, location, consumer beliefs and values.
• The political climate. These include government policies, free trade disputes, taxation, laws, competition regulations, import restrictions, fiscal policy initiatives .
• Economic factors. They include interest rates, foreign exchange rates and economic policies.
• Technological innovations and trends likely to affect the market, such as automation, cybersecurity, 5G and the internet of things (IoT).
• Legal factors include employment laws, intellectual property laws, safety standards and consumer protection laws.
• Environmental considerations like carbon footprint, climate change impacts, extreme weather events.

Now you know the components that go into detailed market analysis. The next step is to create it for your next marketing presentation .

Let's look at some of our editable templates for creating your market analysis. If you're short on time you can use Visme's AI Document Generator to create a market analysis template suited to your needs. Simply answer a few questions from the AI chatbot and then sit back and watch your personalized document be designed.

1. Market Analysis

Whether you're starting a new business or switching up your business strategy, this market analysis presentation template is an excellent starting point. It provides a perfect structure for uncovering, analyzing and reporting trends in your target market.

The template features an overview page that enables you to summarize key information. The following page uses unique data widgets like pie charts , bar charts , maps and line graphs to summarize important data like:

• Global trends
• Survey results
• Survey results by country
• Trends over time
• Key takeaways

This market analysis example is fully editable, making it a perfect fit for businesses in any industry. Simply plug in your data, figures and statistics and other important market data.

Visme has a rich library of built-in shapes , icons , stock photos , videos and animations. Feel free to make this template your own by adding your logo and changing the fonts , colors , images and videos. You have everything to ignite your creative spark and make a solid impression on your audience.

2. SWOT Analysis

This beautiful SWOT analysis template gives investors and other key stakeholders a detailed view of your business' competitive landscape.

The 4-page presentation captures your company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. At a glance, you'll have a clearer view of where your brand sits within the wider market and identify potential growth opportunities.

A SWOT analysis is a company-wide activity and requires collaborative efforts. You want to consider your SWOT from many angles and ensure nothing is left out. Our software makes it super-easy for you to collaborate with your team to conduct your SWOT analysis.

You can set up a workspace for your organization and invite team members to collaborate and manage roles from your dashboard.

Team members can make changes, drop comments and more.

What's more, your SWOT analysis doesn't have to be some boring document staring at your audience. Spice it up with interactivity by adding animations, videos, images and graphics.

You can share that document with your audience via a link that automatically updates when you change the design or content.

3. Competitive Analysis

To capture a sizable share of your market, you must determine how you stack up against your competitors in your market. Whether you're analyzing a competitor's business-level strategy, market share, target market, or competitive advantage, this market research template offers side-by-side comparison in an infographic layout. It also centralizes your market analysis in a single location, making it accessible to your team for decision making.

The data illustrations and beautiful icons, pictures and graphics make the template visually appealing. You can engage your readers and quickly grab their attention with this colorful competitive analysis template.

Feel free to tweak fonts and colors and add logos to showcase your brand image.

When creating with the Visme editor, take advantage of all the features that Visme AI has to offer. Create complete documents from a text prompt with the AI Document Generator , get help writing headers and text with the AI Writer.

Craft unique visuals with the AI Image Generator , remove backgrounds to create cutouts from photos with the AI Background Remover , and edit your images with the integrated AI Edit Tools .

4. Marketing SWOT Analysis

With this professional SWOT analysis infographic, you can visualize that information in an immersive and engaging way. Visme's intuitive drag-and-drop editor lets you whip up beautiful documents using your design ideas.

This marketing analysis template lets you easily swap the existing fonts, images, icons and texts and opt for more vibrant colors for your document.

Work on this SWOT analysis together with your team using Visme’s workflow feature . Assign each section to one team member at a time and see what ideas they come up with. Then, assign the others until several people have added their input to the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Then, check it together to see what stands out the most and finalize the graphic.

5. Market Segmentation

Market segmentation lets you identify different groups within your target market. You can maximize your efforts by delivering more targeted offerings to them. Use this attractive market assessment template to share information about the characteristics of your market segments.

The template showcases these key elements of your market analysis.

• Short induction of your product, service, or solution
• Company profile
• The problem statement and what you're looking to achieve with the market segment
• Demographic, geographic, psychographic and behavioral segmentation
• Value proposition statement

The template is fully customizable. So you can edit this marketing presentation deck to match your business. Tweak the design, typefaces, visuals and other elements to suit your taste.

6. Industry Trends

Explore the events that will change the trajectory of your industry with this striking industry trends infographic template. Using this template, you can present a brand infographic on patterns relating to price, sales, consumption, buying behavior, marketing and other areas in your industry.

You don't need professional design experience to tweak this template into an informative marketing deck. Visme's professional online editor and customizable templates give you a creative edge. You can personalize this template to reflect your company's branding by adding logos, icons, colors and fonts relevant to your messaging.

Using Visme's brand kit feature, you can save your corporate brand and apply it to any project with a few clicks. Upload your logos, color palettes, fonts and other design assets and your brand kit will be set up within seconds.

7. Competitor Analysis Worksheet

This marketing deck worksheet is a huge time saver. It has everything you need to organize and communicate the details of your competitive research.

While the SWOT we discussed earlier focuses on your brand, this one is different. This SWOT analysis sheds light on your competitors' strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and strengths.

The template has a minimalist design and a simplistic layout. However, Visme gives you the creative freedom to cut, copy and paste anything you like until you are satisfied with the final version.

Once done, you can easily share your competitor analysis worksheet with relevant stakeholders using a link that automatically updates when you change your design. You can also embed your content on your website or blog using a code or download it in PDF, PNG, PowerPoint and HTML5 file formats.

8. Market Share

Build your market analysis and share relevant information about market segments, market share, size and opportunities using this beautiful template.

The template will help inform your business plan and strategy and communicate the size of the opportunity to potential investors.

Visme has thousands of designs, fonts, stock images, themes and assets to make your infographic pop. Make this template your own by adding new text and images and bold headings to emphasize titles. Customize your color scheme, icons and fonts and watch your infographic transform into a compelling graphic.

Not convinced? Take a look at what small business owner Jessica L. has to say;

Small Business Owner

9. SWOT Analysis Infographics

Break down competitor information with this customizable SWOT analysis that leaves an impression on your audience.

This SWOT marketing infographic is fully editable. You can spice up your infographics by adding your brand colors, typefaces and high-quality icons and images, all sourced from Visme's extensive collections of design assets.

If you want to present facts and data, Visme has your back. Our software has a wide variety of interactive tools and data widgets, including graphs, maps, charts, pictograms and much more. You can also make your infographic dynamic by adding animated characters, illustrations and clickable icons with customizable repetitions, speed and colors.

Step 1: Define your objective

Clearly outline what you aim to achieve with the market analysis, whether it’s launching a new product or entering a different demographic.

Step 2: Identify your target market

Pinpoint the specific group of customers you intend to serve, considering demographics, psychographics and buying behavior. Use Visme feedback forms to assess how your product or service is helping your current clients and pinpoint issues early on.

Step 3: Gather relevant data on competitors

Research competitors and conduct a market share analysis of their pricing strategies, market positioning, and key strengths and weaknesses.

Step 4: Assess market trends and dynamics

Stay informed about current and emerging trends, economic factors, and industry changes that may impact your market. Use a marketing dashboard that includes all the vital metrics your team wants to track.

Step 5: Do a SWOT analysis

Evaluate your internal strengths and weaknesses as well as external opportunities and threats to develop a comprehensive understanding of your position in the market. Anticipate challenges that may arise, allowing for proactive planning.

Step 6: Summarize findings to inform strategic decisions

Consolidate your analysis into actionable insights to guide business strategies and decision-making. Use Visme to help you create a market analysis document that’s impactful and easy to follow. Then, share it with your team using Visme’s different sharing and publishing options like PDF, HTML5 or a digital flipbook.

Create Your Market Analysis with Visme

One of the biggest setbacks you'll face in business is lacking an understanding of your industry or target market. That's where a market analysis becomes useful and having a detailed one will save you the heartache.

It gives you a bird's eye view of market conditions, competitors, consumer behavior and other factors that impact your business.

Without detailed market analysis, you'll miss out on growth opportunities, make poor business decisions and lose out to your competitors.

A market analysis isn't a one-off activity. You need to make it an ongoing process. We recommend using Visme's market analysis template to collect and share detailed information about your market. Best of all, you don't need to be a professional designer to know how to use our tool.

Effortlessly create insightful marketing reports and more with Visme.

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About the Author

Unenabasi is a content expert with many years of experience in digital marketing, business development, and strategy. He loves to help brands tell stories that drive engagement, growth, and competitive advantage. He’s adept at creating compelling content on lifestyle, marketing, business, e-commerce, and technology. When he’s not taking the content world by storm, Unenabasi enjoys playing or watching soccer.

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How to Write a Market Analysis for a Business Plan?

Free Market Analysis Kit

• April 11, 2024

13 Min Read

Market analysis is the foundation upon which the success of your business relies.

Whether you are a seasoned entrepreneur planning to enter a new geographical market or an emerging startup struggling to place together your business plan—a thorough understanding of the market, customers, and competitors is essential for a business to thrive successfully. 

Now, writing a market analysis for your business plan is quite a challenge. But with this step-by-step guide, we have made the entire process quite simple and easy to follow. 

Also, get tips to write this section and our curated market analysis example for a business plan. 

Ready to dive in? Let’s get started.

What is Market Analysis?

Market analysis is a detailed analysis of your business’s target market and the competitive landscape within a specific industry. It is an important section of your business plan offering a thorough insight into the state of the industry, the potential target market, and your business’s competition.

A well-targeted market analysis forms the base upon which the foundation of your business relies. It assures the readers that you have a thorough understanding of the market you are about to enter.

Why should you Conduct Market Analysis?

Wondering how market analysis will contribute to the success of your business? Well, check these benefits of conducting a comprehensive market analysis for your business:

1. Reduces the risk

Instead of operating on instincts and gut feelings, market research enables you to make decisions based on data and analysis. When you know with surety what works and what doesn’t, you will make decisions that are more likely to succeed than fail.

To summarize, having an in-depth market analysis will reduce the risks associated with starting a business in a thriving marketplace.

2. Identifies emerging trends

A market analysis identifies emerging market trends and patterns and thereby helps you stay at the top of the competition. Not only the trends, but you can also identify challenges that may potentially arise in your business and design a pivot plan.

3. Assist in product development

A detailed analysis of the target market, industry, and competitors helps you create the product that the customer will be willing to buy. The analysis will not only assist in product development, but also with pricing, marketing, and sales strategies to ensure thriving business conditions.

4. Optimize your target market

Your business is not for everyone and the sooner you realize this the better. A target market analysis helps in understanding who your potential customers are and accordingly strategize your marketing efforts to attract them.

5. Establishes evaluation benchmarks

Market analysis benefits your business by offering evaluation metrics and KPIs. Such metrics help in measuring a company’s performance and its edge over the competitors.

Lastly, a thorough market analysis is quintessential if you are planning to secure funds. As a matter of fact, it is non-negotiable.

Now that you know how important having a market analysis section is, let’s learn a detailed way of conducting such analysis.

How to Simplify Your Market Analysis?

Market analysis is a broad concept covering a wide range of details. There’s no denying that it is a tiring task requiring extremely dedicated efforts.

From understanding the purpose of research to undertaking surveys, gathering data, and converting it into worthy analysis—the research itself is a lot for an individual to cover.

Upmetrics market analysis tool kit includes a variety of guidebooks and templates that will help you with target customer analysis , surveys, and competitor surveys.

The documents will guide you in a strategic direction to conduct qualitative research and analysis. They are well-crafted and quite simple to follow even for someone with no prior experience at market analysis.

Got it? No more side talking, let’s get straight to what you are here for.

How to Conduct a Market Analysis?

Conducting thorough market research and analysis could be a hassle, but not with this easy-to-follow 7-step guide. Let’s get over it.

1. Determine your objective

When you write a business plan , market analysis is going to be one prominent component.

However, it is important to know the clear objective of conducting such analysis before you kickstart.

For instance, are you planning to acquire funding from investors or are you conducting this research to test the viability of your business idea? Are you looking to add a new product segment to your business or are you looking to expand in other states and countries?

That being said, the purpose of your market analysis will determine the extent and scope of research essential for your business.

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2. Conduct an Industry Analysis

In this part of your analysis, you will highlight the state of the current industry and show where it seems to be moving. Investors would want to know if the industry is growing or declining, so present accordingly.

This section should include metrics for market size, projected growth, average market growth rate,  product life cycle, and market trends.

Ensure that you gather data from highly authoritative sites like the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Bureau of Economic Analysis, and industry publications to make your analysis.

To make this section enriching and meaningful, begin with a macro industry overview and then drill down to your specific market and business offering as thorough details as possible.

3. Identify your target audience

This section of your market analysis is dedicated to your potential target customers.

And, although your product might be suitable for everyone, there is a high possibility that not all of them will be your customers due to many reasons.

It is therefore better to target a specific category of customers to grow your business effectively and efficiently.

Now, you can begin by creating a buyer’s persona of your ideal customer describing their demographic and psychographic details. This includes talking about the age, gender, location, income, occupation, needs, pain points, problems, and spending capacity of your target customer.

You can conduct surveys, interviews, and focus groups, and gather data from high-end sources to get essential details for a customer profile.

However, make sure that you dig into details to make this section resourceful for business planning and strategizing.

4. Analyze your competitors

Competitive analysis is the most important aspect of your market analysis highlighting the state of the competitive landscape, potential business competitors, and your competitive edge in the market.

Now, a business may have direct as well as indirect competitors. And while indirect competition won’t affect your business directly, it definitely would have an impact on your market share.

To begin this section, identify your top competitors and list them down.

Conduct a SWOT analysis of your top competitors and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses against your business.

Identify their USPs, study their market strategies, understand how they pose a threat to your business, and ideate strategies to leverage their weaknesses.

Don’t undervalue or overestimate your competitors. Instead, focus on offering a realistic state of competition to the readers.

Additionally, readers also want to know your strengths and how you will leverage a competitive edge over your competitors. Ensure that this section highlights your edge in terms of pricing, product, market share, target customer, or anything else.

Want to create a SWOT analysis for your business?

Craft a powerful SWOT Analysis in just minutes using our user-friendly and free online SWOT Analysis Generator Tool!

5. Calculate your market share

The analysis section of your business plan must also include details of your market share.

If your estimated market share is not big enough, chances are your business idea might not be profitable enough to pursue further.

Now, you can use these proven metrics to forecast your market share:

TAM (Total available market)

It represents the total demand available in the market. In other words, it is the maximum amount of sales or revenue the market has to offer.

SAM (Serviceable available market)

It represents the segment of TAM that you can obtain with your solution within your limitations. These limitations can be geographical location, business model, type of product, etc.

SOM (Serviceable obtainable market)

It represents the segment of SAM that you can realistically capture after considering your competitors, customer preferences, production capabilities, etc.

SOM is your estimated market share. Once you have calculated it, you can actualize it via suitable pricing strategies.

Apart from this method, you can also use other approaches like top-down, bottom-up, and triangulation to estimate your market share.

However, whatever method you use, ensure that the projections are realistic and attainable.

6. Know the regulations and restrictions

Before entering a new market or starting a new business , you need to know the regulations and restrictions in your industry.

Understanding these can help you stay out of legal pitfalls and inspire confidence in prospective investors.

Some of the regulations you need to know are:

• Government policies
• Tax regulations
• Trade policies
• Employment laws
• Environmental regulations
• Security and privacy
• Protection of intellectual properties

Include these details in your market analysis section to help readers understand the risk value and federal regulations associated with your business.

7. Organize and implement the data

After completing your research, it’s now time to make sense of all the data you’ve gathered.

There is no strict structure when it comes to organizing your market analysis. However, ensure that your analysis includes specific sections for objective, target market, and competition.

Focus on creating an easy-to-digest and visually appealing analysis section to help the readers gather essential essence.

Now, it’s a waste if you are not putting all this research to some use. Identify the business areas where you can implement your research be it product development, exploring the new market, or business operations, and develop strategies accordingly.

All in all lay the foundation of a successful business with a thorough and insightful market analysis. And, you can do it by having an organized market analysis section in your business plan.

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Tips to Write Your Market Analysis

After conducting thorough market research, it is important to present that information strategically in a business plan to help the readers get meaningful insights.

Well, here are a few tips to help you write the market analysis for a business plan.

1. Stay in context

Remember the objective of your market analysis and stick to it. Keeping the context in mind, identify what essential information to present and back them up with high-end sources.

Also, tie your data with essential analysis to show how your business would survive and thrive in the market.

2. Add visual graphics

No one prefers shifting through pages of pure text content. Graphics and visuals make your market analysis easy to absorb and understand. You are more likely to capture readers with visual attractiveness rather than risk their attention with pure textual content.

3. Offer an engaging summary

Offer readers a quick overview of your detailed market analysis by including a summarizing text. A summary will help readers gather a macro perspective before diving deep into hard facts and figures.

4. Avoid fluff and repetition

Ensure that everything you present in your market analysis section holds a meaning. Avoid adding inessential and fluff information.

To best identify whether or not the information is essential for the reader, ask this simple question: Will the reader learn something about my business’s market or its customers from this information?

If not, the information is most likely inessential. And, those were some quick tips to ensure effective market analysis for your business plan.

Market Analysis in a Business Plan Example

Before we conclude, check out this market analysis example from Upmetrics’ sample yoga studio business plan.

Business Name: Lotus Harmony

Location: Green Valley

Core Objective for Market Analysis

Our goal for the market analysis at Lotus Harmony is straightforward: to deeply understand what the Green Valley community seeks in yoga and wellness. We’ll closely look at local demand and the competitive scene, shaping our services to precisely meet community needs. This approach promises to make Lotus Harmony a distinct and beloved wellness destination in our neighborhood.

Industry Overview of the Green Valley Yoga Market

Market Size:

Green Valley is home to nearly 1M yoga enthusiasts, predominantly aged 25-45. This demographic suggests a robust market for yoga and wellness, ripe for a studio that offers diverse and inclusive programs.

Projected Growth:

The yoga community is expected to grow by 5% annually over the next five years. This growth is driven by an increasing interest in holistic health, presenting a fertile ground for a new yoga studio to thrive.

Market Trends:

A rising trend is the demand for comprehensive wellness services, including mindfulness and nutrition, alongside traditional yoga. Specialized classes like prenatal yoga are also gaining popularity, signaling opportunities for niche offerings.

By tapping into these insights, a new yoga studio in Green Valley can strategically position itself as a premier wellness destination, catering to the evolving needs of the community.

Target Market Analysis for Lotus Harmony

Lotus Harmony Yoga Studio’s ideal customers are mainly Urban Millennials and Gen Z (ages 18-35) who prioritize:

• Wellness and mindfulness as part of their lifestyle.
• Affordable, holistic health experiences blending physical and mental well-being.
• Convenience with flexible class schedules and online access.
• Community and sustainability, preferring spaces that offer personal growth and eco-consciousness.
• A welcoming atmosphere that supports inclusivity and connection.

Competitive Landscape for Lotus Harmony

Lotus Harmony’s success relies on understanding consumer preferences and income, securing prime locations, attracting patrons, and offering quality services. Competing with gyms, wellness centers, and home fitness, it positions itself as a holistic wellness choice, aiming to stand out in Green Valley’s wellness scene.

Market Share for Lotus Harmony

Regulatory Requirements for Lotus Harmony

Here are a few aspects of legal compliance essential for Lotus Harmony:

• Business Registration and Licensing
• Zoning and Land Use Permits
• Health and Safety Compliance
• Professional Liability Insurance
• Instructor Certifications
• Building Safety Certificates
• Accessibility Compliance
• Tax Registration

Final Thoughts

It takes an extremely dedicated effort to undertake market research and craft it into a compelling analysis. However, it’s a worthy business planning effort that will set a cornerstone of success for your business.

Don’t worry. You don’t need to spend days figuring out what and how to write your market analysis. Upmetrics, an AI-powered business planning app , will help you write your overall business plan in less than an hour.

Build your Business Plan Faster

with step-by-step Guidance & AI Assistance.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the 4 c's of marketing analysis.

The 4 C’s of marketing analysis are customer, cost, convenience, and communication which would together determine whether the company would succeed or fail in the long run.

Is SWOT analysis a market analysis?

SWOT analysis is a small but important tool for market research that would determine the success of a business or its edge over other businesses based on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

How long does a market analysis take?

Market analysis can take anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks, given that secondary sources of data are easily available. However, for complex large-scale projects, analysis can take up to months to complete.

What are the three core components of a market analysis?

The three most crucial components of a market analysis are the study of market size and market share, target market determination, and competitor analysis.

About the Author

Upmetrics Team

Upmetrics is the #1 business planning software that helps entrepreneurs and business owners create investment-ready business plans using AI. We regularly share business planning insights on our blog. Check out the Upmetrics blog for such interesting reads. Read more

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The Ultimate Guide to Market Analysis for Your Business Plan

When creating a business plan , conducting a thorough market analysis is essential to understand your target market, industry trends, and the competitive landscape. A well-executed market analysis for a business plan provides the foundation for informed decision-making, helping you develop strategies that capitalize on opportunities and mitigate potential risks.

In this article, we'll explore the importance of market analysis in a business plan, outline the steps for conducting one effectively, and discuss best practices for ensuring that your analysis is comprehensive and insightful.

What Is Market Analysis for a Business Plan?

Market analysis is a critical component of a business plan that involves gathering and interpreting data about your target market, industry trends, and competitors. It provides a clear picture of the landscape in which your business will operate, enabling you to make data-driven decisions and develop strategies that align with your business plan objectives.

A comprehensive market analysis for a business plan should include:

• Target market identification and segmentation
• Industry trends and growth forecasts
• Competitor analysis
• Market size and potential market share
• Pricing and positioning strategies

Why Do You Need to Conduct Market Analysis for a Business Plan?

Conducting market analysis is critical to the development of a business plan for several reasons:

• Feasibility assessment: Market analysis helps determine whether your business idea is viable and likely to succeed in the current market environment,, which is essential to creating a realistic business plan.
• Informed decision-making: By providing insights into your target market, industry trends, and competition, market analysis enables you to make data-driven decisions that support your business plan's objectives.
• Investor confidence: Including a thorough market analysis in your business plan demonstrates to potential investors that you have a deep understanding of your industry and target market, increasing their confidence in your ability to execute your plan successfully.
• Competitive advantage: Market analysis helps identify your competitors' strengths, weaknesses, and market positioning, allowing you to develop strategies that differentiate your business and strengthen your business plan.

Steps to Conduct Market Analysis for a Business Plan

• Define your target market: Identify your ideal customer and segment your target market based on shared characteristics to ensure your business plan is tailored to their needs and preferences.
• Analyze industry trends: Research your industry's current state, growth projections, and emerging trends to identify factors that may impact your business plan, such as technological advancements or regulatory changes.
• Conduct competitor analysis: Evaluate your competitors' market share, strengths, weaknesses, and unique selling propositions to identify opportunities for differentiation in your business plan.
• Determine market size and potential: Estimate the total size of your target market and your potential market share to set realistic goals and projections in your business plan.
• Develop pricing and positioning strategies: Based on the results of your market analysis, determine the optimal pricing and positioning for your products or services to align with the goals of your business plan.

Best Practices for Effective Market Analysis in a Business Plan

• Use multiple data sources: Gather data from a variety of sources to ensure a comprehensive and balanced analysis that supports your business plan.
• Conduct primary research: Engage directly with potential customers to gain valuable insights that can inform your business plan's strategies and tactics.
• Stay up-to-date: Regularly monitor industry trends, competitor activities, and market conditions to ensure your business plan remains relevant and accurate.
• Collaborate with experts: Consult with industry experts, mentors, or business advisors to gain valuable insights and validate your findings for your business plan.
• Present findings clearly: Use visuals, such as charts, graphs, and infographics, to present your market analysis findings in a clear and engaging manner within your business plan.

By conducting a comprehensive market analysis for your business plan, you'll gain a deep understanding of your target market, industry landscape, and competitive environment. This knowledge will inform your business plan's strategies, guide your decision-making, and ultimately increase your chances of success.

Remember to regularly review and update your market analysis as your business grows and market conditions evolve to ensure that your business plan remains adaptable and well-positioned for long-term success.

How to Write and Conduct a Market Analysis

3 min. read

Updated January 3, 2024

A market is the total sum of prospective buyers, individuals, or organizations that are willing and able to purchase a business’s potential offering. A market analysis is a detailed assessment of the market you intend to enter. It provides insight into the size and value of the market, potential customer segments, and their buying patterns.

In this section, we’ll be covering what information to include in your business plan after completing your research. If you’re struggling with the research itself, you should check out our market research resources for step-by-step guidance.

• How to write your market analysis

The information featured in your market analysis should focus on firmly defining who your customers are. Here are the two steps you need to take:

Define your target market

Finding your target market requires segmentation based on demographic and psychographic information until you reach the ideal customer. You need to address who they are and how you identified them.

Target market examples

A target market analysis is a key part of any business plan. Let’s walk you through some examples.

Determine your market size

Identifying your potential customers isn’t enough. You also need to prove that the size of the market can support your business. To do this, it’s helpful to define what’s available, serviceable, and can be obtained.

Optional information to include

The main purpose of the market analysis is to show who your customers are. While defining your target market may be enough, it can be helpful to include some of the following supporting details.

Show that you know your industry

Before starting a business, you should know the state of your industry and where it’s headed. This includes industry metrics you’ve collected, any barriers to entry, emerging trends, or common success factors.

Write a customer analysis

Conducting a customer analysis provides additional depth to your target audience. You’ll know them better and go beyond just segmentation.

Use a customer persona to describe your customers

It can be difficult for you, your employees, and potential investors to visualize who your customers are based solely on data. Creating a customer persona can bring them to life and support your target market choice.

• Why conduct a market analysis?

Conducting any sort of in-depth research can be a time-intensive process. However, the benefits far outweigh the investment—so much so that it’s recommended that you revisit your market analysis at least once a year in order to stay on top of emerging trends or changes in the market.

As part of your business plan, it demonstrates that you have a firm understanding of your customers. Here are the other benefits gained by completing a market analysis:

Reduce risk

If you really understand your potential customers and market conditions, you’ll have a better chance of developing a viable product or service. It also helps you explore if your idea will work or not. If you determine that the market size can’t sustain your business, there are too many barriers, high starting costs, intense competition, or some other factor that would lead to a higher chance of failure—you can pivot and avoid wasting your hard-earned time and money.

Better position your business

Researching the market landscape will help you strategically position your business. This may be done through pricing, specific features, production/distribution, or any other method to differentiate your business and make it more attractive to your target audience.

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Verify product/market fit

Part of positioning your business is determining if there is a sustainable market for your business. This starts with segmenting and identifying your ideal customers. It then involves a process of gathering feedback, gauging interest, and finding any sort of demonstrable traction. To learn more about finding product market fit, check out the market research section of our Starting a Business Guide.

Inform investors

Research is not only valuable for informing you as a business owner but in convincing investors and lenders that your idea is worth funding. In many ways, the fact that you spent time pulling together viable information is just as important as the information itself. It shows that you care about finding success as a business owner and are willing to put in the work, even at this early stage.

Tim Berry is the founder and chairman of Palo Alto Software , a co-founder of Borland International, and a recognized expert in business planning. He has an MBA from Stanford and degrees with honors from the University of Oregon and the University of Notre Dame. Today, Tim dedicates most of his time to blogging, teaching and evangelizing for business planning.

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How to create a business plan: examples & free template.

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Table of Contents

How to Write a Business Plan

Executive summary.

It’s crucial to include a clear mission statement, a brief description of your primary products or services, an overview of your target market, and key financial projections or achievements.

Our target market includes environmentally conscious consumers and businesses seeking to reduce their carbon footprint. We project a 200% increase in revenue within the first three years of operation.

Overview and Business Objectives

Example: EcoTech’s primary objective is to become a market leader in sustainable technology products within the next five years. Our key objectives include:

Company Description

Example: EcoTech is committed to developing cutting-edge sustainable technology products that benefit both the environment and our customers. Our unique combination of innovative solutions and eco-friendly design sets us apart from the competition. We envision a future where technology and sustainability go hand in hand, leading to a greener planet.

Define Your Target Market

Market analysis.

The Market Analysis section requires thorough research and a keen understanding of the industry. It involves examining the current trends within your industry, understanding the needs and preferences of your customers, and analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors.

Our research indicates a gap in the market for high-quality, innovative eco-friendly technology products that cater to both individual and business clients.

SWOT Analysis

Including a SWOT analysis demonstrates to stakeholders that you have a balanced and realistic understanding of your business in its operational context.

Competitive Analysis

Organization and management team.

Provide an overview of your company’s organizational structure, including key roles and responsibilities. Introduce your management team, highlighting their expertise and experience to demonstrate that your team is capable of executing the business plan successfully.

Products and Services Offered

This section should emphasize the value you provide to customers, demonstrating that your business has a deep understanding of customer needs and is well-positioned to deliver innovative solutions that address those needs and set your company apart from competitors.

Marketing and Sales Strategy

Discuss how these marketing and sales efforts will work together to attract and retain customers, generate leads, and ultimately contribute to achieving your business’s revenue goals.

Logistics and Operations Plan

Inventory control is another crucial aspect, where you explain strategies for inventory management to ensure efficiency and reduce wastage. The section should also describe your production processes, emphasizing scalability and adaptability to meet changing market demands.

We also prioritize efficient distribution through various channels, including online platforms and retail partners, to deliver products to our customers in a timely manner.

Financial Projections Plan

This forward-looking financial plan is crucial for demonstrating that you have a firm grasp of the financial nuances of your business and are prepared to manage its financial health effectively.

Income Statement

Cash flow statement.

A cash flow statement is a crucial part of a financial business plan that shows the inflows and outflows of cash within your business. It helps you monitor your company’s liquidity, ensuring you have enough cash on hand to cover operating expenses, pay debts, and invest in growth opportunities.

Tips on Writing a Business Plan

4. Focus on your unique selling proposition (USP): Clearly articulate what sets your business apart from the competition. Emphasize your USP throughout your business plan to showcase your company’s value and potential for success.

FREE Business Plan Template

To help you get started on your business plan, we have created a template that includes all the essential components discussed in the “How to Write a Business Plan” section. This easy-to-use template will guide you through each step of the process, ensuring you don’t miss any critical details.

What is a Business Plan?

Why you should write a business plan.

Understanding the importance of a business plan in today’s competitive environment is crucial for entrepreneurs and business owners. Here are five compelling reasons to write a business plan:

What are the Different Types of Business Plans?

Using Business Plan Software

Upmetrics provides a simple and intuitive platform for creating a well-structured business plan. It features customizable templates, financial forecasting tools, and collaboration capabilities, allowing you to work with team members and advisors. Upmetrics also offers a library of resources to guide you through the business planning process.

Business Plan FAQs

What is a good business plan.

A good business plan is a well-researched, clear, and concise document that outlines a company’s goals, strategies, target market, competitive advantages, and financial projections. It should be adaptable to change and provide a roadmap for achieving success.

What are the 3 main purposes of a business plan?

Can i write a business plan by myself, is it possible to create a one-page business plan.

Yes, a one-page business plan is a condensed version that highlights the most essential elements, including the company’s mission, target market, unique selling proposition, and financial goals.

How long should a business plan be?

What is a business plan outline, what are the 5 most common business plan mistakes, what questions should be asked in a business plan.

A business plan should address questions such as: What problem does the business solve? Who is the specific target market ? What is the unique selling proposition? What are the company’s objectives? How will it achieve those objectives?

What’s the difference between a business plan and a strategic plan?

How is business planning for a nonprofit different.

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7 Business Plan Examples to Inspire Your Own (2024)

Need support creating your business plan? Check out these business plan examples for inspiration.

Any aspiring entrepreneur researching how to start a business will likely be advised to write a business plan. But few resources provide business plan examples to really guide you through writing one of your own.

Here are some real-world and illustrative business plan examples to help you craft your business plan .

7 business plan examples: section by section

The business plan examples in this article follow this template:

• Executive summary.  An introductory overview of your business.
• Company description.  A more in-depth and detailed description of your business and why it exists.
• Market analysis.  Research-based information about the industry and your target market.
• Products and services.  What you plan to offer in exchange for money.
• Marketing plan.   The promotional strategy to introduce your business to the world and drive sales.
• Logistics and operations plan.  Everything that happens in the background to make your business function properly.
• Financial plan.  A breakdown of your numbers to show what you need to get started as well as to prove viability of profitability.
• Executive summary

Your  executive summary  is a page that gives a high-level overview of the rest of your business plan. It’s easiest to save this section for last.

In this  free business plan template , the executive summary is four paragraphs and takes a little over half a page:

• Company description

You might repurpose your company description elsewhere, like on your About page, social media profile pages, or other properties that require a boilerplate description of your small business.

Soap brand ORRIS  has a blurb on its About page that could easily be repurposed for the company description section of its business plan.

You can also go more in-depth with your company overview and include the following sections, like in the example for Paw Print Post:

• Business structure.  This section outlines how you  registered your business —as an  LLC , sole proprietorship, corporation, or other  business type . “Paw Print Post will operate as a sole proprietorship run by the owner, Jane Matthews.”
• Nature of the business.  “Paw Print Post sells unique, one-of-a-kind digitally printed cards that are customized with a pet’s unique paw prints.”
• Industry.  “Paw Print Post operates primarily in the pet industry and sells goods that could also be categorized as part of the greeting card industry.”
• Background information.  “Jane Matthews, the founder of Paw Print Post, has a long history in the pet industry and working with animals, and was recently trained as a graphic designer. She’s combining those two loves to capture a niche in the market: unique greeting cards customized with a pet’s paw prints, without needing to resort to the traditional (and messy) options of casting your pet’s prints in plaster or using pet-safe ink to have them stamp their ‘signature.’”
• Business objectives.  “Jane will have Paw Print Post ready to launch at the Big Important Pet Expo in Toronto to get the word out among industry players and consumers alike. After two years in business, Jane aims to drive $150,000 in annual revenue from the sale of Paw Print Post’s signature greeting cards and have expanded into two new product categories.”
• Team.  “Jane Matthews is the sole full-time employee of Paw Print Post but hires contractors as needed to support her workflow and fill gaps in her skill set. Notably, Paw Print Post has a standing contract for five hours a week of virtual assistant support with Virtual Assistants Pro.”

Your  mission statement  may also make an appearance here.  Passionfruit  shares its mission statement on its company website, and it would also work well in its example business plan.

• Market analysis

The market analysis consists of research about supply and demand, your target demographics, industry trends, and the competitive landscape. You might run a SWOT analysis and include that in your business plan. 

Here’s an example  SWOT analysis  for an online tailored-shirt business:

You’ll also want to do a  competitive analysis  as part of the market research component of your business plan. This will tell you who you’re up against and give you ideas on how to differentiate your brand. A broad competitive analysis might include:

• Target customers
• Unique value add  or what sets their products apart
• Sales pitch
• Price points  for products
• Shipping  policy
• Products and services

This section of your business plan describes your offerings—which products and services do you sell to your customers? Here’s an example for Paw Print Post:

• Marketing plan

It’s always a good idea to develop a marketing plan  before you launch your business. Your marketing plan shows how you’ll get the word out about your business, and it’s an essential component of your business plan as well.

The Paw Print Post focuses on four Ps: price, product, promotion, and place. However, you can take a different approach with your marketing plan. Maybe you can pull from your existing  marketing strategy , or maybe you break it down by the different marketing channels. Whatever approach you take, your marketing plan should describe how you intend to promote your business and offerings to potential customers.

• Logistics and operations plan

The Paw Print Post example considered suppliers, production, facilities, equipment, shipping and fulfillment, and inventory.

Financial plan

The financial plan provides a breakdown of sales, revenue, profit, expenses, and other relevant financial metrics related to funding and profiting from your business.

Ecommerce brand  Nature’s Candy’s financial plan  breaks down predicted revenue, expenses, and net profit in graphs.

It then dives deeper into the financials to include:

• Funding needs
• Projected profit-and-loss statement
• Projected balance sheet
• Projected cash-flow statement

You can use this financial plan spreadsheet to build your own financial statements, including income statement, balance sheet, and cash-flow statement.

Types of business plans, and what to include for each

A one-page business plan is meant to be high level and easy to understand at a glance. You’ll want to include all of the sections, but make sure they’re truncated and summarized:

• Executive summary: truncated
• Market analysis: summarized
• Products and services: summarized
• Marketing plan: summarized
• Logistics and operations plan: summarized
• Financials: summarized

A startup business plan is for a new business. Typically, these plans are developed and shared to secure  outside funding . As such, there’s a bigger focus on the financials, as well as on other sections that determine viability of your business idea—market research, for example.

• Market analysis: in-depth
• Financials: in-depth

Your internal business plan is meant to keep your team on the same page and aligned toward the same goal.

A strategic, or growth, business plan is a bigger picture, more-long-term look at your business. As such, the forecasts tend to look further into the future, and growth and revenue goals may be higher. Essentially, you want to use all the sections you would in a normal business plan and build upon each.

• Market analysis: comprehensive outlook
• Products and services: for launch and expansion
• Marketing plan: comprehensive outlook
• Logistics and operations plan: comprehensive outlook
• Financials: comprehensive outlook

Feasibility

Your feasibility business plan is sort of a pre-business plan—many refer to it as simply a feasibility study. This plan essentially lays the groundwork and validates that it’s worth the effort to make a full business plan for your idea. As such, it’s mostly centered around research.

Set yourself up for success as a business owner

Building a good business plan serves as a roadmap you can use for your ecommerce business at launch and as you reach each of your business goals. Business plans create accountability for entrepreneurs and synergy among teams, regardless of your  business model .

Kickstart your ecommerce business and set yourself up for success with an intentional business planning process—and with the sample business plans above to guide your own path.

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Business plan examples FAQ

How do i write a simple business plan, what is the best format to write a business plan, what are the 4 key elements of a business plan.

• Executive summary: A concise overview of the company's mission, goals, target audience, and financial objectives.
• Business description: A description of the company's purpose, operations, products and services, target markets, and competitive landscape.
• Market analysis: An analysis of the industry, market trends, potential customers, and competitors.
• Financial plan: A detailed description of the company's financial forecasts and strategies.

What are the 3 main points of a business plan?

• Concept: Your concept should explain the purpose of your business and provide an overall summary of what you intend to accomplish.
• Contents: Your content should include details about the products and services you provide, your target market, and your competition.
• Cashflow: Your cash flow section should include information about your expected cash inflows and outflows, such as capital investments, operating costs, and revenue projections.

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How to Write an Executive Summary (+ Examples)

• March 21, 2024
• Business Plan , How to Write

The executive summary is the cornerstone of any business plan, serving as a gateway for readers to understand the essence of your proposal.

It summarizes the plan’s key points into a digestible format, making it crucial for capturing the interest of investors, partners, and stakeholders.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore what the executive summary is, why we use it, and also how you can create one for your business plan. Let’s dive in!

What is an Executive Summary?

An executive summary is a concise and compelling overview of a business plan (or simply a report), designed to provide readers, such as investors, partners, or upper management, with a quick and clear understanding of the document’s most critical aspects.

For a business plan, it summarizes the key points including the business overview , market analysis , strategy plan timeline and financial projections.

Typically, the executive summary is the first section of a business plan, but it should be written last to ensure it accurately reflects the content of the entire document.

The primary goal of an executive summary is to engage the reader’s interest and encourage them to read the full document.

It should be succinct, typically no more than one to two pages, and articulate enough to stand on its own, presenting the essence of the business proposal or report without requiring the reader to go through the entire document for basic understanding.

Why Do We Use It?

The executive summary plays a crucial role in whether a business plan opens doors to funding, partnerships, or other opportunities . It’s often the first (and sometimes the only) part of the plan that stakeholders read, making it essential for making a strong, positive first impression. As such, we use it in order to:

• Capture Attention: Given the volume of business plans investors, partners, and lenders might receive, an executive summary’s primary function is to grab the reader’s attention quickly. It highlights the most compelling aspects of the business to encourage further reading.
• Save Time: It provides a succinct overview of the business plan, allowing readers to understand the key points without going through the entire document. This is particularly beneficial for busy stakeholders who need to make informed decisions efficiently.
• Facilitate Understanding: An executive summary distills complex business concepts and strategies into a concise format. Therefore, it makes it easier for readers to grasp the business’s core mission, strategic direction, and potential for success.
• Driving Action: By summarizing the financial projections and funding requirements, an executive summary can effectively communicate the investment opportunity. Indeed the investment opportunity, whether to raise money from investors or a loan from a bank, is the most common reason why we prepare business plans.
• Setting the Tone: The executive summary sets the tone for the entire business plan. A well-written summary indicates a well-thought-out business plan, reflecting the professionalism and competence of the management team.

How to Write an Executive Summary in 4 Simple Steps

Here’s a streamlined approach to crafting an impactful executive summary:

1. Start with Your Business Overview

• Company Name: Begin with the name of your business.
• Location: Provide the location of your business operations.
• Business model: Briefly describe how you make money, the producfs and/or services your business offers.

2. Highlight the Market Opportunity

• Target Market : Identify your target market and its size.
• Market Trends : Highlight the key market trends that justify the need for your product or service.
• Competitive Landscape : Describe how your business is positioned to meet this need effectively.

3. Present Your Management Team

• Team Overview: Introduce the key members of your management team and their roles.
• Experience: Highlight relevant experience and skills that contribute to the business’s success.

4. Include Financial Projections

• Financial Summary: Provide a snapshot of key financial projections, including revenue, profits, and cash flow over the next three to five years.
• Funding Requirements: If seeking investment, specify the amount needed and how it will be used.

2 Executive Summary Examples

Here are 2 examples you can use as an inspiration to create yours. These are taken from our coffee shop and hair salon business plan templates.

Coffee Shop Executive Summary

Hair Salon Executive Summary

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Free Marketing Plan Examples: Real-World Samples & Templates

By Joe Weller | April 27, 2024

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A  marketing plan  is a comprehensive document that outlines a company’s marketing strategy and tactics, and ensures that its marketing goals align with its overall objectives. Effective marketing plans include detailed analysis of the market along with roadmaps for upcoming campaigns. Inside this article, you’ll find the  elements of a marketing plan , 10 real-world examples of marketing plans with commentary from experienced marketing professionals, free marketing plan templates and samples , and a  chart to help you determine which template suits your needs .

Marketing Plan Elements

Typical marketing plans begin with an executive summary and include audience demographics, company objectives, situational analysis of the business, and marketing strategies and tactics. Market research and analysis provide campaign direction, and the budget and timeline offer practical parameters. A marketing plan can provide an overview of all strategies and campaigns to be executed in a certain time frame, or it can focus on a specific product, channel, or strategy. The level of detail and the sections included might vary, depending on the organization’s needs. The nine main elements of a marketing plan are:  

Executive Summary and Mission Statement:  A concise, high-level summary conveys the purpose of your marketing plan, introduces key strategies and research insights, and highlights the most important takeaways for stakeholders. For example, an executive summary might outline your brand’s identity, its place within the competitive landscape, and the major opportunities that upcoming marketing campaigns will target. Longer plans might include a separate mission statement or vision statement to align marketing efforts with your company’s larger goals. Discover more  examples of executive summaries with templates to help you write one effectively.  

Situational Analysis:  One of the most crucial elements of your marketing plan, a situational analysis is an assessment of the internal and external factors affecting a business’s performance. It should include research-based insights into market trends and dynamics, customer demographics and pain points, and internal resources.  A strong situational analysis often includes a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis, which provides a foundation for an effective marketing strategy. Learn more about  how to perform a SWOT analysis .  

Competitive Analysis:  Understanding the competition is key to developing a compelling marketing plan. This analysis should consider recent marketing campaigns from similar brands to identify successful ways to reach a shared target audience. Being aware of the competitive landscape can also help your business develop a unique selling proposition and stand out in the market. The competitive analysis might be included in the larger situational analysis, or it might be a stand-alone section. For example, a marketing plan could include data on how competitors rank on keywords, or it could evaluate the performance of competitors’ recent social media campaigns. One common framework for understanding market dynamics is a Porter’s five forces analysis, which identifies the forces that contribute to industry rivals. Learn how to evaluate the competitive landscape with  free industry analysis templates .  

Target Audience: In order to implement marketing strategies that engage consumers and drive conversions, businesses need to know who their audience is, what they want, and how they behave. A marketing plan should define a specific, segmented target audience with demographic, geographical, psychographic, and behavioral data.  This section often includes customer profiles or buyer personas — fictionalized representations of ideal customers or audience segments — which help marketers typify consumer behaviors. These profiles should include media habits and most-used platforms to ensure that your marketing plan selects the right channels for each campaign. Learn how to analyze your target market with  free customer profile templates .  

Goals and Objectives:  Marketing plans typically include both long-term goals, which provide broad direction for the company’s marketing strategy, and short-term objectives, which focus on more immediate tactics and campaigns. Goals should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) and include corresponding key performance indicators (KPIs).  The goals and objectives in a marketing plan often focus on conversions, market share, brand awareness, or engagement. Clearly defined goals ensure strategically aligned marketing initiatives with measurable results. Take a look at  real-world examples of SMART goals for more insights.  

Marketing Strategy:  This section of a marketing plan details the business’s unique value proposition and the channels that will communicate it. A robust marketing strategy addresses the touchpoints in a consumer’s buying cycle and breaks down the 4 Ps (product, price, place, promotion) of the marketing mix. Channels might include digital marketing, advertisements, social media, and influencer partnerships. To develop an overarching marketing strategy, consider using a  marketing strategy template . To learn more about the 4 Ps, read this  product marketing guide .  

Tactics and Action Plan:  A marketing plan is not an abstract strategy document, but a concrete roadmap for executing specific campaigns with specific tactics. Your plan should detail the messaging for each campaign and the corresponding methods for communication — such as email newsletters, social content, targeted ads, and public relations.  This section provides KPIs and actionable steps such as resource allocation, deliverables, and distribution plans. It might also include the expected outcome for each campaign. To plan individual campaigns, consider using a  marketing project plan template .  

Budget:  Marketing expenses might include the cost of advertising, content creation, website maintenance, or promotional materials; no marketing plan is complete without a budget that breaks down the costs of such initiatives. A clear, comprehensive budget ensures that marketing efforts are financially feasible and resources can be allocated for maximum impact. The budget also enables the marketing team to track the return on investment (ROI) of each campaign. To create a comprehensive budget, try our  free marketing budget templates .    

Timeline:  Finally, a marketing plan includes a clear schedule for implementing its initiatives and tactics. This timeline details the start and end dates of each campaign, deadlines for deliverables, and key events or milestones. It keeps the marketing team aligned and initiatives on track, ensuring that marketing objectives can be achieved within the set time frame. Organize dates and deadlines with the help of a  marketing timeline template .  

Marketing Plan Examples

Real-world marketing plans show how businesses utilize effective planning documents. These 10 examples from various industries exhibit unique strengths and weaknesses. With insightful commentary from marketing experts, these plans offer practical takeaways any marketer can use.  

Delmarva and the Ground for Change This  in-depth marketing plan for a documentary produced by the USDA Northeast Climate Hub includes audience profiles, competitive analysis, and a distribution plan. Along with a detailed breakdown of its digital marketing strategy, it considers how different tactics will affect the viewer’s content journey.   

John Dinsmore , a marketing consultant and professor at Wright State University, praises this plan for its attractive design and thoughtful, thorough content: “They do a nice job of extrapolating on who the target market is and tying their tactics to achieving specific goals.”  He appreciates the inclusion of a SWOT analysis, but feels it could be done more effectively. “‘Opportunities’ is not a place for business ideas. It’s a place to identify external, positive trends that can help your initiative. In this context, an opportunity could be ‘Rising concern for and awareness of climate issues.’ Similarly, ‘threats’ is not a place to list things that are difficult. It’s for negative external trends such as ‘Increased skepticism over ability to combat climate change.’” 

Dekker Fraser , former Global Marketing Manager at Sony PlayStation, adds that this plan includes a strong focus on collaborations with media and influencers: “Many marketing plans place too much emphasis on target customers and not enough on target collaborators.”  

Minnesota Tourism This  marketing plan by Explore Minnesota , the state’s Department of Tourism, showcases Minnesota’s beauty with vivid imagery. It uses a variety of demographic information to identify priority audience segments and includes well-designed infographics that analyze audience and competition. As a result, the campaigns are clearly targeted at specific audiences and objectives. 

John Rarrick , Head of Marketing at Movius Corp., admires the strength of the message behind the strategy. “This plan has a very well-developed ‘why,’” he says. “You’ll see that often when the plan is to repair or save something that has undergone a time of great loss — such as a loss of revenue or reputation. The audience personas, goals, tactics, and budget are all detailed and measurable.” 

Gold Coast Transit District  

A  short, high-level marketing plan for Gold Coast Transit highlights key campaigns and includes the most important details, such as timelines, budgets, and tactics. It begins with a bulleted overview of the most important takeaways and takes into account general marketing efforts that don’t fit under a specific campaign umbrella. Fraser notes that this plan includes year-round marketing initiatives, with an effective “emphasis on strong offers, such as youth-free fares.” However, he points out that its brand awareness goals could be more specific. “Instead, use context-specific awareness goals such as ‘When commuting to work, residents first think of Gold Coast Transit’ or ‘When coming home from the library at night, I think of taking the bus,’” he says. “In other words, peg awareness to specific category-entry points.”  

University of Arizona College of Engineering This  marketing, branding, and communications plan for the University of Arizona College of Engineering sets out a long-term vision, high-level goals, and strategies for achieving these goals. It has a section for methodology — including promotional videos and email newsletters — and segments its audience to align with its strategies. This plan “demonstrates a clearly defined audience,” according to Rarrick. That said, not every section of the plan includes the same level of specificity. “The KPIs are vague,” he adds. “I would expect to see something more measurable, rather than ‘increase’ or ‘improve.’” 

Timberland Regional Library This  library's two-year marketing plan sets initiatives in motion with a clear schedule for action. It includes both promotional and production calendars for effective planning, which is especially important for campaigns pegged to external events.  Dinsmore cites this plan’s “professional and elegant graphic design” as a strength. It also offers a roadmap for tackling several marketing campaigns on different timelines. However, he suggests that the plan needs more measurable goals and defined strategies. “There’s no overarching strategy that ties all of these tactics and initiatives together,” he says. “It’s just a laundry list of dates and actions.” 

Safe Haven Family Shelter Nonprofit organizations need creative marketing strategies to reach their targets and use funds efficiently. With specific objectives and actionable steps, this  marketing plan for Safe Haven Family Shelter delineates high-level goals and details the path to achieving them. It identifies the roles and responsibilities of individual team members to ensure alignment. Rarrick commends this plan for its “clearly defined audience and very clearly defined goals.” The plan showcases the differences between strategic business goals and measurable marketing objectives.  

Visit Myrtle Beach This  destination marketing plan by the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Chamber of Commerce  incorporates detailed information about target markets, audience personas, and key behaviors. It includes an infographic that illuminates the touchpoints in a traveler’s journey and shows the marketing team how each tactic contributes to conversions.  Overall, Dinsmore praises this plan as a “very smart and thoughtful presentation.” It outlines a distinct media mix for each target audience, defines its objectives clearly, and ties these objectives to success metrics. He continues, “I want to thank the Myrtle Beach folks for planning to measure their efforts. Measurement is often anathema to marketing people, but if you’re not measuring, you don’t know how to improve.”  With so much information to cover, the plan would benefit from an executive summary to introduce key takeaways. “The bigger the scope, the harder it is to make everything feel connected, and that’s a bit of an issue with this plan,” Dinsmore adds.  

Tropical Avocados This  example of a no-frills plan was commissioned by the nonprofit Improving Economies for Stronger Communities (IESC) to help brand and launch tropical avocados in the U.S. market. It shows the importance of making branding decisions backed by market and consumer research. A detailed SWOT analysis and competitive analysis provide essential insights that enable the company to determine the best unique selling proposition.  A key strength of this plan is its detailed research into its audience. Fraser cites its “excellent identification of consumer objections — e.g., concern over how natural the avocado size is — and consumer behavior.” As a result, the brand can adopt effective messaging in its marketing campaigns. As with USDA Northeast Climate Hub’s Delmarva and the Ground for Change documentary, “target collaborators — e.g., food writers, organizations, and chefs — are included in the target audience. Collaborators are often more critical to the marketing plan than the consumers themselves,” Fraser adds.  

Rochelle Community Hospital This  case study of Rochelle Community Hospital in Rochelle, Illinois, shows how a targeted marketing plan can be used to achieve significant results. The report by Legato Healthcare Marketing showcases the importance of reevaluating an existing marketing strategy — in this case, shifting the emphasis from print to digital. External marketing agencies often have more tools at their disposal, particularly if the business has not had a strong digital presence. With targeted ads and website updates, the agency employed tactics with direct metrics in order to track its impact.   

Visit Concord This  example from the Concord Tourism Improvement District marketing plan is concise and includes streamlined insights on the audience and market. It details each marketing channel with specific tactics and measurable KPIs.  The overall strategy, according to Fraser, offers “an excellent emphasis on social proof and word-of-mouth marketing,” as well as a “good balance of awareness and activation marketing.” In order to improve, he suggests, “the plan should factor in the following critical quantitative factors to help drive the media strategy: reach, frequency, and the total-addressable market.” 

Marketing Plan Templates

Using a template takes the guesswork out of organizing a marketing plan document. These customizable templates include essential elements and options for specific industries or marketing channels, and they range from one-page plans to comprehensive, presentation-ready reports.

Microsoft Word Simple Marketing Plan Template

Download the Simple Marketing Plan Example Template for Microsoft Word Download the Blank Simple Marketing Plan Template for Microsoft Word

This example of a simple, customizable plan focuses on key strategies and prioritizes readability. This one-page marketing plan template includes space to summarize marketing strategy and overarching business objectives, along with an action plan to highlight responsibilities and deadlines.

Microsoft Word Annual Marketing Plan Template

Download the Annual Marketing Plan Example Template for Microsoft Word Download the Blank Annual Marketing Plan Template for Microsoft Word  

This comprehensive marketing plan template includes a number of key sections — such as goals, target market, marketing channels, and performance standards — that can be customized to suit a variety of businesses. In the situational analysis, you can find space for both a 5C (company, collaborators, customers, competitors, climate) analysis and a SWOT analysis. The blank template begins with a table of contents, a business summary, and a mission statement to allow for easy readability. The sample focuses on marketing strategies for one fiscal year, but you can modify this plan for any time period. 

Microsoft Word Small Business Marketing Plan Template

Download the Small Business Marketing Plan Example Template for Microsoft Word Download the Blank Small Business Marketing Plan Template for Microsoft Word

A strong marketing plan is essential for small businesses looking to stand out from larger competitors. This small business marketing plan template provides an outline for a detailed marketing strategy, including a unique selling proposition, the 4Ps marketing mix, and marketing channels. It builds its strategy on situational analysis and identification of the business’s core capabilities. Find  more marketing plan templates  for different industries.

Microsoft Word Nonprofit Marketing Plan Template

Download the Nonprofit Marketing Plan Example Template for Microsoft Word Download the Blank Nonprofit Marketing Plan Template for Microsoft Word

This example marketing plan for a nonprofit incorporates information on the funding climate into its situational analysis, as well as a detailed organizational summary. With sections for short- and long-term goals, marketing strategies and channels, and stakeholder profiles, the template is comprehensive and customizable. Find  more nonprofit marketing plan templates here .

Excel Product Marketing Plan Template

Download the Product Marketing Plan Example Template for Excel Download the Blank Product Marketing Plan Template for Excel

When integrating a new product into existing marketing strategies, it’s important to take into account all the elements of the marketing mix. This product marketing plan template is organized by product, price, place, promotion, process, people, and physical evidence. In these sections, you can find space to consider market research, consumer behaviors, and marketing channels.

Excel Social Media Marketing Plan Template

Download the Social Media Marketing Plan Example Template for Excel Download the Blank Social Media Marketing Plan Template for Excel

For planning specific campaigns, this social media marketing action plan template begins with the campaign goal, highlights important promo dates, and separates actions by platform. It’s useful for executing targeted social media campaigns within a larger marketing strategy. Find  more marketing action plan templates here .

Excel Digital Marketing Plan Template

Download the Digital Marketing Plan Example Template for Excel Download the Blank Digital Marketing Plan Template for Excel

Focusing on digital marketing channels is an effective way to organize strategies into a streamlined and actionable plan. This strategic digital marketing template highlights important audience behaviors and access channels to ensure messaging reaches consumers. Customizable for a variety of digital marketing projects, the template includes space for keywords, goals, and tasks. Find  more digital marketing plan templates here .

Which Marketing Plan Format Is Right for You?

To choose the right marketing plan format for your needs, consider the plan’s role in your marketing strategy. Do you need a comprehensive plan to provide an overview of tactics that will take place over a long period of time? Or are you looking for a plan to focus on specific channels, campaigns, or product launches? 

Each template in this article offers space to detail market research, strategies, and access channels. The longer plans include more sections for in-depth situational analysis and audience demographics, while the shorter plans focus on the marketing mix and action plan. This chart highlights the key elements of each marketing plan:  

Streamline Your Marketing Plan Efforts with Smartsheet

The best marketing teams know the importance of effective campaign management, consistent creative operations, and powerful event logistics -- and Smartsheet helps you deliver on all three so you can be more effective and achieve more. 

The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed.

When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time. Try Smartsheet for free, today.

Improve your marketing efforts and deliver best-in-class campaigns.

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Blog Marketing What is a Marketing Plan & How to Create One [with Examples]

What is a Marketing Plan & How to Create One [with Examples]

Written by: Sara McGuire Oct 26, 2023

A marketing plan is a blueprint that outlines your strategies to attract and convert your ideal customers as a part of your customer acquisition strategy . It’s a comprehensive document that details your:

• Target audience:  Who you’re trying to reach
• Marketing goals:  What you want to achieve
• Strategies and tactics:  How you’ll reach your goals
• Budget:  Resources you’ll allocate
• Metrics:  How you’ll measure success

In this article, I’ll explain everything you need to know about creating a marketing plan . If you need a little extra help, there are professionally designed marketing plan templates that’ll make the process much easier. So, let’s ditch the confusion and get started!

Click to jump ahead:

What is a marketing plan?

How to write a marketing plan .

• Marketing plan v.s. business plan
• Types of marketing plans

9 marketing plan examples to inspire your growth strategy

Marketing plan faqs.

A marketing plan is a report that outlines your marketing strategy for your products or services, which could be applicable for the coming year, quarter or month.  

Watch this quick, 13-minute video for more details on what a marketing plan is and how to make one yourself:

Typically, a marketing plan includes:

• An overview of your business’s marketing and advertising goals
• A description of your business’s current marketing position
• A timeline of when tasks within your strategy will be completed
• Key performance indicators (KPIs) you will be tracking
• A description of your business’s target market and customer needs
• A description of how you will measure the performance of the strategy

For example, this marketing plan template provides a high-level overview of the business and competitors before diving deep into specific goals, KPIs and tactics:

Learning how to write a marketing plan forces you to think through the important steps that lead to an effective marketing strategy . And a well-defined plan will help you stay focused on your high-level marketing goals.

With Venngage’s extensive catalog of marketing plan templates , creating your marketing plan isn’t going to be hard or tedious. In fact, Venngage has plenty of helpful communications and design resources for marketers. If you’re ready to get started, sign up for  Venngage for Marketers   now. It’s free to register and start designing.

Whether you’re a team trying to set smarter marketing goals, a consultant trying to set your client in the right direction, or a one-person team hustling it out, Venngage for Marketers helps you get things done.

As mentioned above, the scope of your marketing plan varies depending on its purpose or the type of organization it’s for.

For example, you could look for performance marketing agency to create a marketing plan that provides an overview of a company’s entire marketing strategy or simply focus on a specific channel like SEO, social media marketing, content marketing and more, like in this example:

A typical outline of a marketing plan includes:

• Executive summary
• Goals and objectives
• User personas
• Competitor analysis/SWOT analysis
• Baseline metrics
• Marketing strategy
• Tracking guidelines

Below you will see in details how to write each section as well as some examples of how you can design each section in a marketing plan.

Let’s look at how to create a successful marketing plan (click to jump ahead):

• Write a simple executive summary
• Set metric-driven marketing goals
• Outline your user personas
• Research all of your competitors
• Set accurate key baselines & metrics
• Create an actionable marketing strategy
• Set tracking or reporting guidelines

1. Write a simple executive summary

Starting your marketing plan off on the right foot is important. You want to pull people into your amazing plan for marketing domination. Not bore them to tears.

One of the best ways to get people excited to read your marketing plan is with a well-written executive summary. An executive summary introduces readers to your company goals, marketing triumphs, future plans, and other important contextual facts.

Basically, you can use the Executive Summary as a primer for the rest of your marketing plan.

Include things like:

• Simple marketing goals
• High-level metrics
• Important company milestones
• Facts about your brand
• Employee anecdotes
• Future goals & plans

Try to keep your executive summary rather brief and to the point. You aren’t writing a novel, so try to keep it under three to four paragraphs.

Take a look at the executive summary in the marketing plan example below:

The executive summary is only two paragraphs long — short but effective.

The executive summary tells readers about the company’s growth, and how they are about to overtake one of their competitors. But there’s no mention of specific metrics or figures. That will be highlighted in the next section of the marketing plan.

An effective executive summary should have enough information to pique the reader’s interest, but not bog them down with specifics yet. That’s what the rest of your marketing plan is for!

The executive summary also sets the tone for your marketing plan. Think about what tone will fit your brand ? Friendly and humorous? Professional and reliable? Inspiring and visionary?

2. Set metric-driven marketing goals

After you perfect your executive summary, it’s time to outline your marketing goals.

(If you’ve never set data-driven goals like this before, it would be worth reading this growth strategy guide ).

This is one of the most important parts of the entire marketing plan, so be sure to take your time and be as clear as possible. Moreover, optimizing your marketing funnel is key. Employing effective funnel software can simplify operations and provide valuable customer insights. It facilitates lead tracking, conversion rate analysis, and efficient marketing optimization .

As a rule of thumb, be as specific as possible. The folks over at  VoyMedia  advise that you should set goals that impact website traffic, conversions, and customer success — and to use real numbers. Complement your goals with website optimization tools (e.g., A/B testing speed with Nostra – check Nostra AI review to learn more) to further improve conversions.

Avoid outlining vague goals like:

• Get more Twitter followers
• Write more articles
• Create more YouTube videos (like educational or Explainer videos )
• Increase retention rate
• Decrease bounce rate

Instead, identify  key performance metrics  (KPI) you want to impact and the percentage you want to increase them by.

Take a look at the goals page in the marketing plan example below:

They not only identify a specific metric in each of their goals, but they also set a timeline for when they will be increased.

The same vague goals listed earlier become much clearer when specific numbers and timelines are applied to them:

• Get 100 new Twitter followers per month
• Write 5 more articles per week
• Create 10 YouTube videos each year
• Increase retention rate by 15% by 2020
• Decrease bounce rate by 5% by Q1
• Create an online course  and get 1,000 new leads
• Focus more on local SEO strategies
• Conduct a monthly social media report to track progress

You can dive even deeper into your marketing goals if you want (generally, the more specific, the better). Here’s a marketing plan example that shows how to outline your growth goals:

3. Outline your user personas

Now, this may not seem like the most important part of your marketing plan, but I think it holds a ton of value.

Outlining your user personas is an important part of a marketing plan that should not be overlooked.

You should be asking not just how you can get the most visitors to your business, but how you can get the right visitors.

Who are your ideal customers? What are their goals? What are their biggest problems? How does your business solve customer problems?

Answering these questions will take lots of research, but it’s essential information to get.

Some ways to conduct user research are:

• Interviewing your users (either in person or on the phone)
• Conducting focus groups
• Researching other businesses in the same industry
• Surveying your audience

Then, you will need to compile your user data into a user persona  guide.

Take a look at how detailed this user persona template is below:

Taking the time to identify specific demographic traits, habits and goals will make it easier for you to cater your marketing plan to them.

Here’s how you can create a user persona guide:

The first thing you should add is a profile picture or icon for each user persona. It can help to put a face to your personas, so they seem more real.

Next, list demographic information like:

• Identifiers
• Activities/Hobbies

The user persona example above uses sliding scales to identify personality traits like introversion vs. extroversion and thinking vs. feeling. Identifying what type of personality your target users tend to have an influence on the messaging you use in your marketing content.

Meanwhile, this user persona guide identifies specific challenges the user faces each day:

But if you don’t want to go into such precise detail, you can stick to basic information, like in this marketing plan example:

Most businesses will have a few different types of target users. That’s why it’s pertinent to identify and create several different user personas . That way, you can better segment your marketing campaigns and set separate goals, if necessary.

Here’s a marketing plan example with a segmented user persona guide:

The important thing is for your team or client to have a clear picture of who their target user is and how they can appeal to their specific problems.

Start creating robust user personas using Venngage’s user persona guide .

4. Conduct an extensive competitor analysis

Next, on the marketing plan checklist, we have the competitor research section. This section will help you identify who your competitors are, what they’re doing, and how you could carve yourself a place alongside them in your niche — and ideally, surpass them. It’s something you can learn to do with rank tracking software .

Competitor research is also incredibly important if you are starting a blog .

Typically, your competitor research should include:

• Who their marketing team is
• Who their leadership team is
• What their marketing strategy and strategic marketing plan are (this will probably revolve some reverse-engineering)
• What their sales strategy is (same deal)
• Social Media strategy (are they using discounting strategies such as coupon marketing to get conversions)
• Their market cap/financials
• Their yearly growth (you will probably need to use a marketing tool like Ahrefs to do this)
• The number of customers they have & their user personas

Also, take as deep a dive as you can into the strategies they use across their:

• Blog/Content marketing
• Social media marketing
• SEO Marketing
• Video marketing
• And any other marketing tactics they use

Research their strengths and weaknesses in all parts of their company, and you will find some great opportunities. Bookmark has a great guide to different marketing strategies for small businesses  if you need some more information there.

You can use this simple SWOT analysis worksheet to quickly work through all parts of their strategy as well:

Click the template above to create a SWOT chart . Customize the template to your liking — no design know-how needed.

Since you have already done all the research beforehand, adding this information to your marketing plan shouldn’t be that hard.

In this marketing plan example, some high-level research is outlined for 3 competing brands:

But you could take a deeper dive into different facets of your competitors’ strategies. This marketing plan example analyses a competitor’s content marketing strategy:

It can also be helpful to divide your competitors into Primary and Secondary groups. For example, Apple’s primary competitor may be Dell for computers, but its secondary competitor could be a company that makes tablets.

Your most dangerous competitors may not even be in the same industry as you. Like the CEO of Netflix said, “Sleep is our competition.”

5. Set accurate key baselines & metrics

It’s pretty hard to plan for the future if you don’t know where your business stands right now.

Before we do anything at Venngage, we find the baselines so we can compare future results to something. We do it so much it’s almost like second nature now!

Setting baselines will allow you to more accurately track your progress. You will also be able to better analyze what worked and what didn’t work, so you can build a stronger strategy. It will definitely help them clearly understand your goals and strategy as well.

Here’s a marketing plan example where the baselines are visualized:

Another way to include baselines in your plan is with a simple chart, like in the marketing plan example below:

Because data can be intimidating to a lot of people, visualizing your data using charts and infographics will help demystify the information.

6. Create an actionable marketing strategy

After pulling all the contextual information and relevant metrics into your marketing plan, it’s time to break down your marketing strategy.

Once again, it’s easier to communicate your information to your team or clients using visuals .

Mind maps are an effective way to show how a strategy with many moving parts ties together. For example, this mind map shows how the four main components of a marketing strategy interact together:

You can also use a flow chart to map out your strategy by objectives:

However you choose to visualize your strategy, your team should know exactly what they need to do. This is not the time to keep your cards close to your chest.

Your strategy section may need to take up a few pages to explain, like in the marketing plan example below:

With all of this information, even someone from the development team will understand what the marketing team is working on.

This minimalistic marketing plan example uses color blocks to make the different parts of the strategy easy to scan:

Breaking your strategy down into tasks will make it easier to tackle.

Another important way to visualize your marketing strategy is to create a project roadmap. A project roadmap visualizes the timeline of your product with individual tasks. Our roadmap maker can help you with this.

For example, this project roadmap shows how tasks on both the marketing and web design side run parallel to each other:

A simple timeline can also be used in your marketing plan:

Or a mind map, if you want to include a ton of information in a more organized way:

Even a simple “Next, Now, Later” chart can help visualize your strategy:

7. Set tracking or reporting guidelines

Close your marketing plan with a brief explanation of how you plan to track or measure your results. This will save you a lot of frustration down the line by standardizing how you track results across your team.

Like the other sections of your marketing plan, you can choose how in-depth you want to go. But there need to be some clear guidelines on how to measure the progress and results of your marketing plan.

At the bare minimum, your results tracking guidelines should specify:

• What you plan to track
• How you plan to track results
• How often you plan to measure

But you can more add tracking guidelines to your marketing plan if you see the need to. You may also want to include a template that your team or client can follow,  for  client reporting ,  ensure that the right metrics are being tracked.

The marketing plan example below dedicates a whole page to tracking criteria:

Use a task tracker to track tasks and marketing results, and a checklist maker to note down tasks, important life events, or tracking your daily life.

Similarly, the marketing plan example below talks about tracking content marketing instead:

Marketing plan vs. marketing strategy

Although often used interchangeably, the terms “marketing plan” and “marketing strategy” do have some differences.

Simply speaking, a marketing strategy presents what the business will do in order to reach a certain goal. A marketing plan outlines the specific daily, weekly, monthly or yearly activities that the marketing strategy calls for. As a business, you can create a marketing proposal for the marketing strategies defined in your company’s marketing plan. There are various marketing proposal examples that you can look at to help with this.

A company’s extended marketing strategy can be like this:

Notice how it’s more general and doesn’t include the actual activities required to complete each strategy or the timeframe those marketing activities will take place. That kind of information is included in a marketing plan, like this marketing plan template which talks about the content strategy in detail:

Marketing plan v.s business plan

While both marketing plans and business plans are crucial documents for businesses, they serve distinct purposes and have different scopes. Here’s a breakdown of the key differences:

Business plan is a comprehensive document that outlines all aspects of your business, including:

• Mission and vision
• Products or services
• Target market
• Competition
• Management team
• Financial projections
• Marketing strategy (including a marketing plan)
• Operations plan

Marketing plan on the other hand, dives deep into the specific strategies and tactics related to your marketing efforts. It expands on the marketing section of a business plan by detailing:

• Specific marketing goals (e.g., brand awareness, lead generation, sales)
• Target audience analysis (detailed understanding of their needs and behaviors)
• Product:  Features, benefits, positioning
• Price:  Pricing strategy, discounts
• Place:  Distribution channels (online, offline)
• Promotion:  Advertising, social media, content marketing, public relations
• Budget allocation for different marketing activities
• Metrics and measurement to track progress and success

In short, business plans paint the entire business picture, while marketing plans zoom in on the specific strategies used to reach your target audience and achieve marketing goals.

Types of marketing plans that can transform your business strategy

Let’s take a look at several types of marketing plans you can create, along with specific examples for each.

1. General marketing strategic plan / Annual marketing plan

This is a good example of a marketing plan that covers the overarching annual marketing strategy for a company:

Another good example would be this Starbucks marketing plan:

This one-page marketing plan example from coffee chain Starbucks has everything at a glance. The bold headers and subheadings make it easier to segment the sections so readers can focus on the area most relevant to them.

What we like about this example is how much it covers. From the ideal buyer persona to actional activities, as well as positioning and metrics, this marketing plan has it all.

Another marketing plan example that caught our eye is this one from Cengage. Although a bit text-heavy and traditional, it explains the various sections well. The clean layout makes this plan easy to read and absorb.

The last marketing plan example we would like to feature in this section is this one from Lush cosmetics.

It is a long one but it’s also very detailed. The plan outlines numerous areas, including the company mission, SWOT analysis , brand positioning, packaging, geographical criteria, and much more.

2. Content marketing plan

A content marketing plan highlights different strategies , campaigns or tactics you can use for your content to help your business reach its goals.

This one-page marketing plan example from Contently outlines a content strategy and workflow using simple colors and blocks. The bullet points detail more information but this plan can easily be understood at a glance, which makes it so effective.

For a more detailed content marketing plan example, take a look at this template which features an editorial calendar you can share with the whole team:

3. SEO marketing plan

Your SEO marketing plan highlights what you plan to do for your SEO marketing strategy . This could include tactics for website on-page optimization , off-page optimization using AI SEO , and link building using an SEO PowerSuite backlink API for quick backlink profile checks.

This SEO marketing plan example discusses in detail the target audience of the business and the SEO plan laid out in different stages:

4. Social media marketing plan

Your social media marketing plan presents what you’ll do to reach your marketing goal through social media. This could include tactics specific to each social media channel that you own, recommendations on developing a new channel, specific campaigns you want to run, and so on, like how B2B channels use Linkedin to generate leads with automation tools and expand their customer base; or like making use of Twitter walls that could display live Twitter feeds from Twitter in real-time on digital screens.

For B2C brands, you can target Facebook and Instagram. Gain Instagram likes to build trust for your brand’s profile and post engaging content on both platforms. Leverage AI social media tools to automate and scale your content plan..

Edit this social media marketing plan example easily with Venngage’s drag-and-drop editor:

5. Demand generation marketing plan

This could cover your paid marketing strategy (which can include search ads, paid social media ads, traditional advertisements, etc.), email marketing strategy and more. Here’s an example:

1. Free marketing plan template

Here’s a free nonprofit marketing plan example that is ideal for organizations with a comprehensive vision to share. It’s a simple plan that is incredibly effective. Not only does the plan outline the core values of the company, it also shares the ideal buyer persona.

Note how the branding is consistent throughout this example so there is no doubt which company is presenting this plan. The content plan is an added incentive for anyone viewing the document to go ahead and give the team the green light.

2. Pastel social media marketing campaign template

Two-page marketing plan samples aren’t very common, but this free template proves how effective they are. There’s a dedicated section for business goals as well as for project planning .

The milestones for the marketing campaign are clearly laid out, which is a great way to show how organized this business strategy is.

3. Small business marketing strategy template

This marketing plan template is perfect for small businesses who set out to develop an overarching marketing strategy for the whole year:

Notice how this aligns pretty well with the marketing plan outline we discussed in previous sections.

In terms of specific tactics for the company’s marketing strategy, the template only discusses SEO strategy, but you can certainly expand on that section to discuss any other strategies — such as link building , that you would like to build out a complete marketing plan for.

4. Orange simple marketing proposal template

Marketing plans, like the sample below, are a great way to highlight what your business strategy and the proposal you wan to put forward to win potential customers.

5. One-page marketing fact sheet template

This one-page marketing plan example is great for showcasing marketing efforts in a persuasive presentation or to print out for an in-person meeting.

Note how the fact sheet breaks down the marketing budget as well as the key metrics for the organization. You can win over clients and partners with a plan like this.

6. Light company business fact sheet template

This one-page sample marketing plan clearly outlines the marketing objectives for the organization. It’s a simple but effective way to share a large amount of information in a short amount of time.

What really works with this example is that includes a mission statement, key contact information alongside all the key metrics.

7. Marketing media press kit template

This press kit marketing plan template is bright and unmistakable as belonging to the Cloud Nine marketing agency . The way the brand colors are used also helps diversify the layouts for each page, making the plan easier to read.

We like the way the marketing department has outlined the important facts about the organization. The bold and large numbers draw the eye and look impressive.

8. Professional marketing proposal template

Start your marketing campaign on a promising note with this marketing plan template. It’s short, sharp and to the point. The table of contents sets out the agenda, and there’s a page for the company overview and mission statement.

9. Social media marketing proposal template

A complete marketing plan example, like the one below, not only breaks down the business goals to be achieved but a whole lot more. Note how the terms and conditions and payment schedule are included, which makes this one of the most comprehensive marketing plans on our list.

What should marketing plans include?

Marketing plans should include:

• A detailed analysis of the target market and customer segments.
• Clear and achievable marketing objectives and goals.
• Strategies and tactics for product promotion and distribution.
• Budget allocation for various marketing activities.
• Timelines and milestones for the implementation of marketing strategies.
• Evaluation metrics and methods for tracking the success of the marketing plan.

What is an executive summary in a marketing plan and what is its main goal?

An executive summary in a marketing plan is a brief overview of the entire document, summarizing the key points, goals, and strategies. Its main goal is to provide readers with a quick understanding of the plan’s purpose and to entice them to read further.

What are the results when a marketing plan is effective?

When a marketing plan is effective, businesses can experience increased brand visibility, higher customer engagement , improved sales and revenue, and strengthened customer loyalty.

What is the first section of a marketing plan?

The first section of a marketing plan is typically the “Executive Summary,” which provides a concise overview of the entire plan, including the business’s goals and the strategies to achieve them.

Now that you have the basics for designing your own marketing plan, it’s time to get started:

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Business Plan Executive Summary Example & Template

Updated: Jun 3, 2024, 1:03pm

Table of Contents

Components of an executive summary, how to write an executive summary, example of an executive summary, frequently asked questions.

A business plan is a document that you create that outlines your company’s objectives and how you plan to meet those objectives. Every business plan has key sections such as management and marketing. It should also have an executive summary, which is a synopsis of each of the plan sections in a one- to two-page overview. This guide will help you create an executive summary for your business plan that is comprehensive while being concise.

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The executive summary should mimic the sections found in the business plan . It is just a more concise way of stating what’s in the plan so that a reader can get a broad overview of what to expect.

State the company’s mission statement and provide a few sentences on what the company’s purpose is.

Company History and Management

This section describes the basics of where the company is located, how long it has been in operation, who is running it and what their level of experience is. Remember that this is a summary and that you’ll expand on management experience within the business plan itself. But the reader should know the basics of the company structure and who is running the company from this section.

Products or Services

This section tells the reader what the product or service of the company is. Every company does something. This is where you outline exactly what you do and how you solve a problem for the consumer.

This is an important section that summarizes how large the market is for the product or service. In the business plan, you’ll do a complete market analysis. Here, you will write the key takeaways that show that you have the potential to grow the business because there are consumers in the market for it.

Competitive Advantages

This is where you will summarize what makes you better than the competitors. Identify key strengths that will be reasons why consumers will choose you over another company.

Financial Projections

This is where you estimate the sales projections for the first years in business. At a minimum, you should have at least one year’s projections, but it may be better to have three to five years if you can project that far ahead.

Startup Financing Requirements

This states what it will cost to get the company launched and running. You may tackle this as a first-year requirement or if you have made further projections, look at two to three years of cost needs.

The executive summary is found at the start of the business plan, even though it is a summary of the plan. However, you should write the executive summary last. Writing the summary once you have done the work and written the business plan will be easier. After all, it is a summary of what is in the plan. Keep the executive summary limited to two pages so that it doesn’t take someone a long time to peruse what the summary says.

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It might be easier to write an executive summary if you know what to expect. Here is an example of an executive summary that you can use as a template.

Bottom Line

Writing an executive summary doesn’t need to be difficult if you’ve already done the work of writing the business plan itself. Take the elements from the plan and summarize each section. Point out key details that will make the reader want to learn more about the company and its financing needs.

How long is an executive summary?

An executive summary should be one to two pages and no more. This is just enough information to help the reader determine their overall interest in the company.

Does an executive summary have keywords?

The executive summary uses keywords to help sell the idea of the business. As such, there may be enumeration, causation and contrasting words.

How do I write a business plan?

If you have business partners, make sure to collaborate with them to ensure that the plan accurately reflects the goals of all parties involved. You can use our simple business plan template to get started.

What basic items should be included in a business plan?

When writing out a business plan, you want to make sure that you cover everything related to your concept for the business,  an analysis of the industry―including potential customers and an overview of the market for your goods or services―how you plan to execute your vision for the business, how you plan to grow the business if it becomes successful and all financial data around the business, including current cash on hand, potential investors and budget plans for the next few years.

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Kimberlee Leonard has 22 years of experience as a freelance writer. Her work has been featured on US News and World Report, Business.com and Fit Small Business. She brings practical experience as a business owner and insurance agent to her role as a small business writer.

Cassie is a deputy editor collaborating with teams around the world while living in the beautiful hills of Kentucky. Focusing on bringing growth to small businesses, she is passionate about economic development and has held positions on the boards of directors of two non-profit organizations seeking to revitalize her former railroad town. Prior to joining the team at Forbes Advisor, Cassie was a content operations manager and copywriting manager.

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How to Write a Business Plan: Target Market Analysis

The Business Plan and the Importance of Defining Your Target Market

Susan Ward wrote about small businesses for The Balance for 18 years. She has run an IT consulting firm and designed and presented courses on how to promote small businesses.

Conducting a Market Analysis

Polling your target market, writing the market analysis, online tools for market research, u.s. online market research sources, canadian online market research, local sources of market research, doing your own market research.

 Creative Commons CC0

The market analysis is basically the target market section of your business plan . It is a thorough examination of the ideal people to whom you intend to sell your products or services.  

Even if you intend on selling a product or service only in your community, you won't be selling that service to everyone who lives there. Knowing exactly what type(s) of people might be interested in buying your product or service and how many of them reside in your projected area or region is fundamental in creating your market analysis.

Once target market data has been established, you'll also work on sales projections within specific time frames, as well as how prospective sales might be affected by trends and policies.

Research is key and cornerstone of any solid  business plan .

Don't Skip This Step!

Don't skip market research; otherwise, you could end up starting a business that doesn't have a paying market.

Use these general terms as linchpins in research data for the market analysis section of your business plan, and to identify your target market:

But don't stop here. To succinctly define your target market, poll or survey members of your prospective clients or customers to ask specific questions directly related to your products or services. For instance, if you plan to sell computer-related services, ask questions relating to the number of computing devices your prospective customers own and how often they require servicing. If you plan on selling garden furniture and accessories, ask what kinds of garden furniture or accessories your potential customers have bought in the past, how often, and what they expect to buy within the next one, three, and five years.

Answers to these and other questions related to your market are to help you understand your market potential.

The goal of the information you collect is to help you project how much of your product or service you'll be able to sell. Review these important questions you need to try to answer using the data you collect:

• What proportion of your target market has used a product similar to yours before?
• How much of your product or service might your target market buy? (Estimate this in gross sales and/or in units of product/service sold.)
• What proportion of your target market might be repeat customers?
• How might your target market be affected by demographic shifts?
• How might your target market be affected by economic events (e.g. a local mill closing or a big-box retailer opening locally)?
• How might your target market be affected by larger socio-economic trends?
• How might your target market be affected by government policies (e.g. new bylaws or changes in taxes)?

One purpose of the market analysis is to ensure you have a viable business idea.

Find Your Buying Market

Use your market research to make sure people don't just like your business idea, but they're also willing to pay for it.

If you have information suggesting that you have a large enough market to sustain your business goals, write the market analysis in the form of several short paragraphs using appropriate headings for each. If you have several target markets, you may want to number each. 

Sections of your market analysis should include:

• Industry Description and Outlook
• Target Market
• Market Research Results
• Competitive Analysis

Remember to properly cite your sources of information within the body of your market analysis as you write it. You and other readers of your business plan, such as potential investors, will need to know the sources of the statistics or opinions that you've gathered.

There are several online resources to learn if your business idea is something worth pursing, including:

• Keyword searches can give you an overall sense of potential demand for your product or service based on the number of searches.
• Google Trends analysis can tell you how the number of searches has changed over time.
• Social media campaigns can give you an indication of the potential customer interest in your business idea.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has information on doing your market research and analysis , as well as a list of free small business data and trends resources you can use to conduct your research. Consider these sources for data collection:

• SBA  Business Data and Statistics  
• The U.S. Census Bureau maintains a huge database of demographic information that is searchable by state, county, city/town, or zip code using its census data tool . Community, housing, economic, and population surveys are also available.
• The U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has extensive statistics on the economy including consumer income/spending/consumption, business activity, GDP, and more, all of which are searchable by location.

The Government of Canada offers a guide on doing market research and tips for understanding the data you collect. Canadian data resources include:

• Statistics Canada  offers demographic and economic data.
• The  Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)  offers market research and consulting with industry experts.
• The Canada Business Network provides business information to entrepreneurs by province/territory, including market research data.

There are also a great many local resources for building target market information to explore, including:

• Local library
• Local Chamber of Commerce
• Board of Trade
• Economic Development Centre
• Local government agent's office
• Provincial business ministry
• Local phone book

All of these will have information helpful in defining your target market and providing insights into trends.

The above resources are secondary sources of information, in which others have collected and compiled the data. To get specific information about your business, consider conducting your own market research . For instance, you might want to design a questionnaire and survey your target market to learn more about their habits and preferences relating to your product or service.

Market research is time-consuming but is an important step in affording your business plan validity. If you don't have the time or the research skills to thoroughly define your target market yourself, hiring a person or firm to do the research for you can be a wise investment.​

Small Business Administration. " Market Research and Competitive Analysis. " Accessed Jan. 13, 2020.

What is a Marketing Plan & How to Write One [+Examples]

Published: December 27, 2023

For a while now, you've been spearheading your organization's content marketing efforts, and your team's performance has convinced management to adopt the content marketing strategies you’ve suggested.

Now, your boss wants you to write and present a content marketing plan, but you‘ve never done something like that before. You don't even know where to start.

Fortunately, we've curated the best content marketing plans to help you write a concrete plan that's rooted in data and produces results. But first, we'll discuss what a marketing plan is and how some of the best marketing plans include strategies that serve their respective businesses.

What is a marketing plan?

A marketing plan is a strategic roadmap that businesses use to organize, execute, and track their marketing strategy over a given period. Marketing plans can include different marketing strategies for various marketing teams across the company, all working toward the same business goals.

The purpose of a marketing plan is to write down strategies in an organized manner. This will help keep you on track and measure the success of your campaigns.

Writing a marketing plan will help you think of each campaign‘s mission, buyer personas, budget, tactics, and deliverables. With all this information in one place, you’ll have an easier time staying on track with a campaign. You'll also discover what works and what doesn't. Thus, measuring the success of your strategy.

Featured Resource: Free Marketing Plan Template

Looking to develop a marketing plan for your business? Click here to download HubSpot's free Marketing Plan Template to get started .

To learn more about how to create your marketing plan, keep reading or jump to the section you’re looking for:

How to Write a Marketing Plan

Types of marketing plans, marketing plan examples, marketing plan faqs, sample marketing plan.

If you're pressed for time or resources, you might not be thinking about a marketing plan. However, a marketing plan is an important part of your business plan.

Marketing Plan vs. Business Plan

A marketing plan is a strategic document that outlines marketing objectives, strategies, and tactics.

A business plan is also a strategic document. But this plan covers all aspects of a company's operations, including finance, operations, and more. It can also help your business decide how to distribute resources and make decisions as your business grows.

I like to think of a marketing plan as a subset of a business plan; it shows how marketing strategies and objectives can support overall business goals.

Keep in mind that there's a difference between a marketing plan and a marketing strategy.

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Marketing Strategy vs. Marketing Plan

A marketing strategy describes how a business will accomplish a particular goal or mission. This includes which campaigns, content, channels, and marketing software they'll use to execute that mission and track its success.

For example, while a greater plan or department might handle social media marketing, you might consider your work on Facebook as an individual marketing strategy.

A marketing plan contains one or more marketing strategies. It's the framework from which all of your marketing strategies are created and helps you connect each strategy back to a larger marketing operation and business goal.

For example, suppose your company is launching a new software product, and it wants customers to sign up. The marketing department needs to develop a marketing plan that'll help introduce this product to the industry and drive the desired signups.

The department decides to launch a blog dedicated to this industry, a new YouTube video series to establish expertise, and an account on Twitter to join the conversation around this subject. All this serves to attract an audience and convert this audience into software users.

To summarize, the business's marketing plan is dedicated to introducing a new software product to the marketplace and driving signups for that product. The business will execute that plan with three marketing strategies : a new industry blog, a YouTube video series, and a Twitter account.

Of course, the business might consider these three things as one giant marketing strategy, each with its specific content strategies. How granular you want your marketing plan to get is up to you. Nonetheless, every marketing plan goes through a particular set of steps in its creation.

Learn what they are below.

• State your business's mission.
• Determine the KPIs for this mission.
• Identify your buyer personas.
• Describe your content initiatives and strategies.
• Clearly define your plan's omissions.
• Define your marketing budget.
• Identify your competition.
• Outline your plan's contributors and their responsibilities.

1. State your business's mission.

Your first step in writing a marketing plan is to state your mission. Although this mission is specific to your marketing department, it should serve your business‘s main mission statement.

From my experience, you want to be specific, but not too specific. You have plenty of space left in this marketing plan to elaborate on how you'll acquire new customers and accomplish this mission.

Need help building your mission statement? Download this guide for examples and templates and write the ideal mission statement.

2. Determine the KPIs for this mission.

Every good marketing plan describes how the department will track its mission‘s progress. To do so, you need to decide on your key performance indicators (KPIs) .

KPIs are individual metrics that measure the various elements of a marketing campaign. These units help you establish short-term goals within your mission and communicate your progress to business leaders.

Let's take our example of a marketing mission from the above step. If part of our mission is “to attract an audience of travelers,” we might track website visits using organic page views. In this case, “organic page views” is one KPI, and we can see our number of page views grow over time.

Also, make sure to check whether your current reporting software facilitates the KPIs you need. Some reporting tools can only measure a set of pre-defined metrics, which can cause massive headaches in particular marketing campaigns.

However, other tools, like HubSpot’s analytics software , can offer full flexibility over the KPIs you wish to track. You can generate custom reports that reveal anything from average website engagement rates to page visits via organic, email, social media traffic, and more.   

These KPIs will come into the conversation again in step 4.

3. Identify your buyer personas.

A buyer persona is a description of who you want to attract. This can include age, sex, location, family size, and job title. Each buyer persona should directly reflect your business's current and potential customers. So, all business leaders must agree on your buyer personas.

Create your buyer personas with this free guide and set of buyer persona templates.

4. Describe your content initiatives and strategies.

Here's where you'll include the main points of your marketing and content strategy. Because there's a laundry list of content types and channels available to you today, you must choose wisely and explain how you'll use your content and channels in this section of your marketing plan.

When I write this section , I like to stipulate:

• Which types of content I'll create. These might include blog posts, YouTube videos, infographics, and ebooks.
• How much of it I'll create. I typically describe content volume in daily, weekly, monthly, or even quarterly intervals. It all depends on my workflow and the short-term goals for my content.
• The goals (and KPIs) I'll use to track each type. KPIs can include organic traffic, social media traffic, email traffic, and referral traffic. Your goals should also include which pages you want to drive that traffic to, such as product pages, blog pages, or landing pages.
• The channels on which I'll distribute my content. Popular channels include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram.
• Any paid advertising that will take place on these channels.

Build out your marketing plan with this free template.

Fill out this form to access the template., 5. clearly define your plan's omissions..

A marketing plan explains the marketing team's focus. It also explains what the marketing team will not focus on.

If there are other aspects of your business that you aren't serving in this particular plan, include them in this section. These omissions help to justify your mission, buyer personas, KPIs, and content. You can’t please everyone in a single marketing campaign, and if your team isn't on the hook for something, you need to make it known.

In my experience, this section is particularly important for stakeholders to help them understand why certain decisions were made.

6. Define your marketing budget.

Whether it's freelance fees, sponsorships, or a new full-time marketing hire, use these costs to develop a marketing budget and outline each expense in this section of your marketing plan.

You can establish your marketing budget with this kit of 8 free marketing budget templates .

7. Identify your competition.

Part of marketing is knowing whom you're marketing against. Research the key players in your industry and consider profiling each one.

Keep in mind not every competitor will pose the same challenges to your business. For example, while one competitor might be ranking highly on search engines for keywords you want your website to rank for, another competitor might have a heavy footprint on a social network where you plan to launch an account.

Easily track and analyze your competitors with this collection of ten free competitive analysis templates .

8. Outline your plan's contributors and their responsibilities.

With your marketing plan fully fleshed out, it's time to explain who’s doing what. I don't like to delve too deeply into my employees’ day-to-day projects, but I know which teams and team leaders are in charge of specific content types, channels, KPIs, and more.

Now that you know why you need to build an effective marketing plan, it’s time to get to work. Starting a plan from scratch can be overwhelming if you haven't done it before. That’s why there are many helpful resources that can support your first steps. We’ll share some of the best guides and templates that can help you build effective results-driven plans for your marketing strategies.

Ready to make your own marketing plan? Get started using this free template.

Depending on the company you work with, you might want to create various marketing plans. We compiled different samples to suit your needs:

1. Quarterly or Annual Marketing Plans

These plans highlight the strategies or campaigns you'll take on in a certain period.

Forbes published a marketing plan template that has amassed almost 4 million views. To help you sculpt a marketing roadmap with true vision, their template will teach you how to fill out the 15 key sections of a marketing plan, which are:

• Executive Summary
• Target Customers
• Unique Selling Proposition
• Pricing & Positioning Strategy
• Distribution Plan
• Your Offers
• Marketing Materials
• Promotions Strategy
• Online Marketing Strategy
• Conversion Strategy
• Joint Ventures & Partnerships
• Referral Strategy
• Strategy for Increasing Transaction Prices
• Retention Strategy
• Financial Projections

If you're truly lost on where to start with a marketing plan, I highly recommend using this guide to help you define your target audience, figure out how to reach them, and ensure that audience becomes loyal customers.

2. Social Media Marketing Plan

This type of plan highlights the channels, tactics, and campaigns you intend to accomplish specifically on social media. A specific subtype is a paid marketing plan, which highlights paid strategies, such as native advertising, PPC, or paid social media promotions.

Shane Snow's Marketing Plan for His Book Dream Team is a great example of a social media marketing plan:

When Shane Snow started promoting his new book, "Dream Team," he knew he had to leverage a data-driven content strategy framework. So, he chose his favorite one: the content strategy waterfall. The content strategy waterfall is defined by Economic Times as a model used to create a system with a linear and sequential approach.

Snow wrote a blog post about how the waterfall‘s content strategy helped him launch his new book successfully. After reading it, you can use his tactics to inform your own marketing plan. More specifically, you’ll learn how he:

• Applied his business objectives to decide which marketing metrics to track.
• Used his ultimate business goal of earning $200,000 in sales or 10,000 purchases to estimate the conversion rate of each stage of his funnel.
• Created buyer personas to figure out which channels his audience would prefer to consume his content.
• Used his average post view on each of his marketing channels to estimate how much content he had to create and how often he had to post on social media.
• Calculated how much earned and paid media could cut down the amount of content he had to create and post.
• Designed his process and workflow, built his team, and assigned members to tasks.
• Analyzed content performance metrics to refine his overall content strategy.

I use Snow's marketing plan to think more creatively about my content promotion and distribution plan. I like that it's linear and builds on the step before it, creating an air-tight strategy that doesn't leave any details out.

3. Content Marketing Plan

This plan could highlight different strategies, tactics, and campaigns in which you'll use content to promote your business or product.

HubSpot's Comprehensive Guide for Content Marketing Strategy is a strong example of a content marketing plan:

At HubSpot, we‘ve built our marketing team from two business school graduates working from a coffee table to a powerhouse of hundreds of employees. Along the way, we’ve learned countless lessons that shaped our current content marketing strategy. So, we decided to illustrate our insights in a blog post to teach marketers how to develop a successful content marketing strategy, regardless of their team's size.

In this comprehensive guide for modern marketers, you'll learn:

• What exactly content marketing is.
• Why your business needs a content marketing strategy.
• Who should lead your content marketing efforts?
• How to structure your content marketing team based on your company's size.
• How to hire the right people for each role on your team.
• What marketing tools and technology you'll need to succeed.
• What type of content your team should create, and which employees should be responsible for creating them.
• The importance of distributing your content through search engines, social media, email, and paid ads.
• And finally, the recommended metrics each of your teams should measure and report to optimize your content marketing program.

This is a fantastic resource for content teams of any size — whether you're a team of one or 100. It includes how to hire and structure a content marketing team, what marketing tools you'll need, what type of content you should create, and even recommends what metrics to track for analyzing campaigns. If you're aiming to establish or boost your online presence, leveraging tools like HubSpot's drag-and-drop website builder can be extremely beneficial. It helps you create a captivating digital footprint that sets the foundation for your content marketing endeavors.

4. New Product Launch Marketing Plan

This will be a roadmap for the strategies and tactics you‘ll implement to promote a new product. And if you’re searching for an example, look no further than Chief Outsiders' Go-To-Market Plan for a New Product :

After reading this plan, you'll learn how to:

• Validate a product
• Write strategic objectives
• Identify your market
• Compile a competitive landscape
• Create a value proposition for a new product
• Consider sales and service in your marketing plan

If you're looking for a marketing plan for a new product, the Chief Outsiders template is a great place to start. Marketing plans for a new product will be more specific because they target one product versus its entire marketing strategy.

5. Growth Marketing Plan

Growth marketing plans use experimentation and data to drive results, like we see in Venture Harbour’s Growth Marketing Plan Template :

Venture Harbour's growth marketing plan is a data-driven and experiment-led alternative to the more traditional marketing plan. Their template has five steps intended for refinement with every test-measure-learn cycle. The five steps are:

• Experiments

I recommend this plan if you want to experiment with different platforms and campaigns. Experimentation always feels risky and unfamiliar, but this plan creates a framework for accountability and strategy.

• Louisville Tourism
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• Visit Oxnard
• Safe Haven Family Shelter
• Wright County Economic Development
• The Cultural Council of Palm Beach County
• Cabarrus County Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Visit Billings

1. Louisville Tourism

It also divides its target market into growth and seed categories to allow for more focused strategies. For example, the plan recognizes Millennials in Chicago, Atlanta, and Nashville as the core of it's growth market, whereas people in Boston, Austin, and New York represent seed markets where potential growth opportunities exist. Then, the plan outlines objectives and tactics for reaching each market.

Why This Marketing Plan Works

• The plan starts with a letter from the President & CEO of the company, who sets the stage for the plan by providing a high-level preview of the incoming developments for Louisville's tourism industry
• The focus on Louisville as "Bourbon City" effectively leverages its unique cultural and culinary attributes to present a strong brand
• Incorporates a variety of data points from Google Analytics, Arrivalist, and visitor profiles to to define their target audience with a data-informed approach

2. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

For example, students who become prospects as freshman and sophomore will receive emails that focus on getting the most out of high school and college prep classes. Once these students become juniors and seniors — thus entering the consideration stage — the emails will focus more on the college application process and other exploratory content.

• The plan incorporates competitive analysis, evaluation surveys, and other research to determine the makeup of its target audience
• The plan lists each marketing program (e.g., direct mail, social media, email etc.) and supplements it with examples on the next page
• Each marketing program has its own objectives, tactics, and KPIs for measuring success

3. Visit Oxnard

This marketing plan by Visit Oxnard, a convention and visitors bureau, is packed with all the information one needs in a marketing plan: target markets, key performance indicators, selling points, personas, marketing tactics by channel, and much more.

It also articulates the organization’s strategic plans for the upcoming fiscal year, especially as it grapples with the aftereffects of the pandemic. Lastly, it has impeccable visual appeal, with color-coded sections and strong branding elements.

• States clear and actionable goals for the coming year
• Includes data and other research that shows how their team made their decisions
• Outlines how the team will measure the success of their plan

4. Safe Haven Family Shelter

This marketing plan by a nonprofit organization is an excellent example to follow if your plan will be presented to internal stakeholders at all levels of your organization. It includes SMART marketing goals , deadlines, action steps, long-term objectives, target audiences, core marketing messages , and metrics.

The plan is detailed, yet scannable. By the end of it, one can walk away with a strong understanding of the organization’s strategic direction for its upcoming marketing efforts.

• Confirms ongoing marketing strategies and objectives while introducing new initiatives
• Uses colors, fonts, and formatting to emphasize key parts of the plan
• Closes with long-term goals, key themes, and other overarching topics to set the stage for the future

5. Wright County Economic Development

Wright County Economic Development’s plan drew our attention because of its simplicity, making it good inspiration for those who’d like to outline their plan in broad strokes without frills or filler.

It includes key information such as marketing partners, goals, initiatives, and costs. The sections are easy to scan and contain plenty of information for those who’d like to dig into the details. Most important, it includes a detailed breakdown of projected costs per marketing initiative — which is critical information to include for upper-level managers and other stakeholders.

• Begins with a quick paragraph stating why the recommended changes are important
• Uses clear graphics and bullet points to emphasize key points
• Includes specific budget data to support decision-making

6. The Cultural Council of Palm Beach County

This marketing plan presentation by a cultural council is a great example of how to effectively use data in your plan, address audiences who are new to the industry, and offer extensive detail into specific marketing strategies.

For instance, an entire slide is dedicated to the county’s cultural tourism trends, and at the beginning of the presentation, the organization explains what an arts and culture agency is in the first place.

That’s a critical piece of information to include for those who might not know. If you’re addressing audiences outside your industry, consider defining terms at the beginning, like this organization did.

• Uses quality design and images to support the goals and priorities in the text
• Separate pages for each big idea or new strategy
• Includes sections for awards and accomplishments to show how the marketing plan supports wider business goals
• Defines strategies and tactics for each channel for easy skimming

7. Cabarrus County Convention & Visitors Bureau

Cabarrus County’s convention and visitors bureau takes a slightly different approach with its marketing plan, formatting it like a magazine for stakeholders to flip through. It offers information on the county’s target audience, channels, goals, KPIs, and public relations strategies and initiatives.

We especially love that the plan includes contact information for the bureau’s staff members, so that it’s easy for stakeholders to contact the appropriate person for a specific query.

• Uses infographics to expand on specific concepts, like how visitors benefit a community
• Highlights the team members responsible for each initiative with a photo to emphasize accountability and community
• Closes with an event calendar for transparency into key dates for events

8. Visit Billings

Visit Billing’s comprehensive marketing plan is like Cabarrus County’s in that it follows a magazine format. With sections for each planned strategy, it offers a wealth of information and depth for internal stakeholders and potential investors.

We especially love its content strategy section, where it details the organization’s prior efforts and current objectives for each content platform.

At the end, it includes strategic goals and budgets — a good move to imitate if your primary audience would not need this information highlighted at the forefront.

• Includes a section on the buyer journey, which offers clarity on the reasoning for marketing plan decisions
• Design includes call-outs for special topics that could impact the marketing audience, such as safety concerns or "staycations"
• Clear headings make it easy to scan this comprehensive report and make note of sections a reader may want to return to for more detail

What is a typical marketing plan?

In my experience, most marketing plans outline the following aspects of a business's marketing:

• Target audience

Each marketing plan should include one or more goals, the path your team will take to meet those goals, and how you plan to measure success.

For example, if I were a tech startup that's launching a new mobile app, my marketing plan would include:

• Target audience or buyer personas for the app
• Outline of how app features meet audience needs
• Competitive analysis
• Goals for conversion funnel and user acquisition
• Marketing strategies and tactics for user acquisition

Featured resource : Free Marketing Plan Template

What should a good marketing plan include?

A good marketing plan will create a clear roadmap for your unique marketing team. This means that the best marketing plan for your business will be distinct to your team and business needs.

That said, most marketing plans will include sections for one or more of the following:

• Clear analysis of the target market
• A detailed description of the product or service
• Strategic marketing mix details (such as product, price, place, promotion)
• Measurable goals with defined timelines

This can help you build the best marketing plan for your business.

A good marketing plan should also include a product or service's unique value proposition, a comprehensive marketing strategy including online and offline channels, and a defined budget.

Featured resource : Value Proposition Templates

What are the most important parts of a marketing plan?

When you‘re planning a road trip, you need a map to help define your route, step-by-step directions, and an estimate of the time it will take to get to your destination. It’s literally how you get there that matters.

Like a road map, a marketing plan is only useful if it helps you get to where you want to go. So, no one part is more than the other.

That said, you can use the list below to make sure that you've added or at least considered each of the following in your marketing plan:

• Marketing goals
• Executive summary
• Target market analysis
• Marketing strategies

What questions should I ask when making a marketing plan?

Questions are a useful tool for when you‘re stuck or want to make sure you’ve included important details.

Try using one or more of these questions as a starting point when you create your marketing plan:

• Who is my target audience?
• What are their needs, motivations, and pain points?
• How does our product or service solve their problems?
• How will I reach and engage them?
• Who are my competitors? Are they direct or indirect competitors?
• What are the unique selling points of my product or service?
• What marketing channels are best for the brand?
• What is our budget and timeline?
• How will I measure the success of marketing efforts?

How much does a marketing plan cost?

Creating a marketing plan is mostly free. But the cost of executing a marketing plan will depend on your specific plan.

Marketing plan costs vary by business, industry, and plan scope. Whether your team handles marketing in-house or hires external consultants can also make a difference. Total costs can range from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands. This is why most marketing plans will include a budget.

Featured resource : Free Marketing Budget Templates

What is a marketing plan template?

A marketing plan template is a pre-designed structure or framework that helps you outline your marketing plan.

It offers a starting point that you can customize for your specific business needs and goals. For example, our template includes easy-to-edit sections for:

• Business summary
• Business initiatives
• Target market
• Market strategy
• Marketing channels
• Marketing technology

Let’s create a sample plan together, step by step.

Follow along with HubSpot's free Marketing Plan Template .

1. Create an overview or primary objective.

Our business mission is to provide [service, product, solution] to help [audience] reach their [financial, educational, business related] goals without compromising their [your audience’s valuable asset: free time, mental health, budget, etc.]. We want to improve our social media presence while nurturing our relationships with collaborators and clients.

For example, if I wanted to focus on social media growth, my KPIs might look like this:

We want to achieve a minimum of [followers] with an engagement rate of [X] on [social media platform].

The goal is to achieve an increase of [Y] on recurring clients and new meaningful connections outside the platform by the end of the year.

Use the following categories to create a target audience for your campaign.

• Profession:
• Background:
• Pain points:
• Social media platforms that they use:
• Streaming platforms that they prefer:

For more useful strategies, consider creating a buyer persona in our Make My Persona tool .

Our content pillars will be: [X, Y, Z].

Content pillars should be based on topics your audience needs to know. If your ideal clients are female entrepreneurs, then your content pillars can be: marketing, being a woman in business, remote working, and productivity hacks for entrepreneurs.

Then, determine any omissions.

This marketing plan won’t be focusing on the following areas of improvement: [A, B, C].

5. Define your marketing budget.

Our marketing strategy will use a total of [Y] monthly. This will include anything from freelance collaborations to advertising.

6. Identify your competitors.

I like to work through the following questions to clearly indicate who my competitors are:

• Which platforms do they use the most?
• How does their branding differentiate?
• How do they talk to their audiences?
• What valuable assets do customers talk about? And if they are receiving any negative feedback, what is it about?

7. Outline your plan's contributors and their responsibilities.

Create responsible parties for each portion of the plan.

Marketing will manage the content plan, implementation, and community interaction to reach the KPIs.

• Social media manager: [hours per week dedicated to the project, responsibilities, team communication requirements, expectations]
• Content strategist: [hours per week dedicated to the project, responsibilities, team communication requirements, expectations]
• Community manager: [hours per week dedicated to the project, responsibilities, team communication requirements, expectations]

Sales will follow the line of the marketing work while creating and implementing an outreach strategy.

• Sales strategists: [hours per week dedicated to the project, responsibilities, team communication requirements, expectations]
• Sales executives: [hours per week dedicated to the project, responsibilities, team communication requirements, expectations]

Customer Service will nurture clients’ relationships to ensure that they have what they want. [Hours per week dedicated to the project, responsibilities, team communication requirements, expectations].

Project Managers will track the progress and team communication during the project. [Hours per week dedicated to the project, responsibilities, team communication requirements, expectations].

Get started on your marketing plan.

These marketing plans serve as initial resources to get your content marketing plan started. But, to truly deliver what your audience wants and needs, you'll likely need to test some different ideas out, measure their success, and then refine your goals as you go.

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in April 2019, but was updated for comprehensiveness. This article was written by a human, but our team uses AI in our editorial process. Check out our full disclosure t o learn more about how we use AI.

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• How to Write a Great Business Plan: Market Opportunities

The fifth in a comprehensive series to help you craft the perfect business plan for your startup.

This article is part of a series on  how to write a great business plan .

Market research is critical to business success. A good business plan analyzes and evaluates customer demographics, purchasing habits, buying cycles, and willingness to adopt new products and services.

The process starts with understanding your market--and the opportunities inherent in that market. And that means you'll need to do a little research. Before you start a business you must be sure there is a viable market for what you plan to offer.

That process requires asking--and more importantly answering--a number of questions. The more thoroughly you answer the following questions, the better you will understand your market.

Start by evaluating the market at a relatively high level, answering some high-level questions about your market and your industry:

• What is the size of the market? Is it growing, stable, or in decline?
• Is the overall industry growing, stable, or in decline?
• What segment of the market do I plan to target? What demographics and behaviors make up the market I plan to target?
• Is demand for my specific products and services rising or falling?
• Can I differentiate myself from the competition in a way customers will find meaningful? If so, can I differentiate myself in a cost-effective manner?
• What do customers expect to pay for my products and services? Are they considered to be a commodity or to be custom and individualized?

Fortunately you've already done some of the legwork. You've already defined and mapped out your products and services. The Market Opportunities section provides a sense-check of that analysis, which is particularly important since choosing the right products and services is such a critical factor in business success.

But your analysis should go farther: Great products are great... but there still must be a market for those products. (Ferraris are awesome but you're unlikely to sell many where I live.)

So let's dig deeper and quantify your market. Your goal is to thoroughly understand the characteristics and purchasing ability of potential customers in your market. A little Googling can yield a tremendous amount of data.

For the market you hope to serve, determine:

• Your potential customers. In general terms, potential customers are the people in the market segment you plan to target. Say you sell jet skis; anyone under the age of 16 and over the age of 60 or so is unlikely to be a customer. Plus, again in general terms, women make up a relatively small percentage of jet ski purchasers. Determining the total population for the market is not particularly helpful if your product or service does not serve a need for the entire population. Most products and services do not.
• Total households. In some cases determining the number of total households is important depending on your business. For example, if you sell heating and air conditioning systems, knowing the number of households is more important than simply knowing the total population in your area. While people purchase HVAC systems, "households" consume those systems.
• Median income. Spending ability is important. Does your market area have sufficient spending power to purchase enough of your products and services to enable you to make a profit? Some areas are more affluent than others. Don't assume every city or locality is the same in terms of spending power. A service that is viable in New York City may not be viable in your town.
• Income by demographics. You can also determine income levels by age group, by ethnic group, and by gender. (Again, potential spending power is an important number to quantify.) Senior citizens could very well have a lower income level than males or females age 45 to 55 in the prime of their careers. Or say you plan to sell services to local businesses; try to determine the amount they currently spend on similar services.

The key is to understand the market in general terms and then to dig deeper to understand whether there are specific segments within that market--the segments you plan to target--that can become customers and support the growth of your business.

Also keep in mind that if you plan to sell products online the global marketplace is incredibly crowded and competitive. Any business can sell a product online and ship that product around the world. Don't simply assume that just because "the bicycle industry is a $62 billion business" (a number I just made up) that you can capture a meaningful percentage of that market.

On the other hand, if you live in an area with 50,000 people and there's only one bicycle shop, you may be able to enter that market and attract a major portion of bicycle customers in your area.

Always remember it's much easier to serve a market you can define and quantify.

After you complete your research you may feel a little overwhelmed. While data is good, and more data is great, sifting through and making sense of too much data can be daunting.

For the purposes of your business plan, narrow your focus and focus on answering these main questions:

• What is your market? Include geographic descriptions, target demographics, and company profiles (if you're B2B). In short: Who are your customers?
• What segment of your market will you focus on? What niche will you attempt to carve out? What percentage of that market do you hope to penetrate and acquire?
• What is the size of your intended market? What is the population and spending habits and levels?
• Why do customers need and why will they be willing to purchase your products and services?
• How will you price your products and services? Will you be the low cost provider or provide value-added services at higher prices?
• Is your market likely to grow? How much? Why?
• How can you increase your market share over time?

The Market Opportunities section for our cycling rental business could start something like this:

Market Summary

Consumer spending on cycling equipment reached $9,250,000 in the states of VA, WV, MD, and NC last year. While we expect sales to rise, for the purposes of performing a conservative analysis we have projected a zero growth rate for the next three years.

In those states 2,500,000 people visited a national forest last year. Our target market includes customers visiting the Shenandoah National Forest; last year 120,000 people visited the area during spring, summer, and fall months.

Over time, however, we do expect equipment rentals and sales to increase as the popularity of cycling continues to rise. In particular we forecast a spike in demand in 2015 since the national road racing championships will be held in Richmond, VA.

Market Trends

Participation and population trends favor our venture:

• Recreational sports in general and both family-oriented and "extreme" sports continue to gain in exposure and popularity.
• Western VA and eastern WV have experienced population growth rates nearly double that of the country as a whole.
• Industry trends show cycling has risen at a more rapid rate than most other recreational activities.

Market Growth

According to the latest studies, recreation spending in our target market has grown by 14% per year for the past three years.

In addition, we anticipate greater than industry-norm growth rates for cycling in the area due to the increase in popularity of cycling events like the Alpine Loop Gran Fondo.

Market Needs

Out target market has one basic need: The availability to source bicycle rentals at a competitive price. Our only other competition are the bike shops in Harrisonburg, VA, and our location will give us a competitive advantage over those and other companies who try to serve our market.

You may want to add other categories to this section based on your particular industry.

For example, you may want to provide information about Market Segments. In our case the cycling rental business does not require much segmentation. Rentals are typically not broken down into segments like "inexpensive," "mid-range," and "high-end." For the most part rental bikes are more of a commodity. (Although you'll notice in our Products and Services section we decided to provide "high-end" rentals.)

But say you decide to open a clothing store. You could focus on high fashion, or children's clothes, or outdoor wear, or casual... you could segment the market in a number of ways. If that's the case, provide detail on segmentation that supports your plan.

The key is to define your market and then show how you will serve your market.

Now let's take a look at the next major component in a business plan: your Sales and Marketing strategies.

More in this series:

• How to Write a Great Business Plan: Key Concepts
• How to Write a Great Business Plan: the Executive Summary
• How to Write a Great Business Plan: Overview and Objectives
• How to Write a Great Business Plan: Products and Services
• How to Write a Great Business Plan: Sales and Marketing
• How to Write a Great Business Plan: Competitive Analysis
• How to Write a Great Business Plan: Operations
• How to Write a Great Business Plan: Management Team
• How to Write a Great Business Plan: Financial Analysis

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How to Write a Business Plan Executive Summary (Example Included!)

How do you turn your brilliant business idea into a reality? You've done your homework and know that to get investors or partners, you need a business plan . But more than that, you want to really stand out and make a strong first impression—and that's where the business plan executive summary steps in.

This key section gives a quick snapshot of your entire business strategy, and is designed to catch the interest of potential investors, stakeholders, or partners. It can be the difference between landing that dream deal or getting lost in the slush pile.

So, what's better than a business plan executive summary example to point you in the right direction? Below, you'll find a great one—plus tips on what to include, what to avoid, and how to craft yours.

What is a business plan executive summary?

A business plan executive summary is a condensed overview of the key elements of your business plan. It introduces your business, what you offer (products or services), your target market, and what sets you apart from the competition. It also outlines your financial projections and funding needs (if applicable) and gives a clear picture of your company description and vision.

Your business plan executive summary could be decisive in several situations:

• Pitching to investors: Investors often make preliminary decisions based on the executive summary. A well-crafted summary can get you a meeting and a chance to present your full business plan.
• Summarizing for stakeholders: Stakeholders need to quickly understand your business's direction and key strategies. An executive summary gives them a concise update.
• Business competitions: In many business plan competitions, judges rely on the executive summary to decide which plans move to the next round.

Now that you understand the importance of an executive summary in a business plan, let’s see the key components that make up a winning one.

What should an executive summary include in a business plan

Crafting an effective executive summary means transforming the most critical elements of your business plan into a clear and compelling story. It's typically positioned at the beginning of the document but is written last to ensure it accurately reflects the entire plan.

Here are the key parts of an executive summary in a business plan:

Mission statement

Your mission statement is the heart of your business; it can grab your audience's attention and clarify your business’s core values and objectives. Briefly describe your company’s purpose and what you aim to achieve.

Company history and management team

Provide a brief overview of your business’s history, noting key milestones and achievements. Introduce your management team, highlighting their experience and expertise. This section helps build credibility and shows that you have a capable team behind the business.

Products or services

Describe the products or services your business offers, focusing on what makes them unique and how they meet market needs. This part should clearly explain the value your offerings provide.

Target market

Define your target customers, including their demographics, needs, and pain points. Highlight the demand for your products or services and how your business meets this demand. Assess your main competitors, identifying their strengths, weaknesses, and market share.

Competitive edge

Identify what sets your business apart from the competition. This could be unique technology, excellent customer service, a strong brand, patents, or trademarks—anything that really gives you an edge. Emphasize these strengths to show why your business will thrive in the market.

Financial projections

Give a high-level overview of your financial projections, covering revenue, profit margins, and growth expectations. This section should reassure readers about your business’s financial viability and potential for success. Do not forget to include the amount of funding you're seeking and how you'll use it to achieve your goals.

Speaking of funding, you can build your dream business with the help of a high-paying job—browse open jobs on The Muse »

How to write a business plan executive summary: Dos and Don'ts

So, how do you write an executive summary for a business plan? Here's what you should do—and what you should avoid.

• Hook them early: Start with a captivating introduction that grabs the reader's attention. This could be a strong opening statement or an impactful statistic that highlights your most compelling value proposition.
• Write with clarity: Keep your language clear and straightforward. Using jargon or technical terms could confuse your audience.
• Tell a story : People are naturally drawn to stories. Try to frame your business plan executive summary as a narrative that includes challenges and successes.
• Focus on impact: Prioritize the most important information. Remember, it's a summary, not the full story.
• Quantify your success: Use data and metrics whenever you can to back up your claims about market size, growth potential, and financial projections.
• Proofread like a pro: Typos and grammatical errors can leave a negative impression. Double (or triple) check your work before sending it out. Don’t just use spelling and grammar check—actually re-read it to catch any mistakes.
• Showcase your passion: That should be the easy part. Just let your enthusiasm for your business and its mission shine through!
• Bury the lead: Don't wait until the end to share your most important information. Start strong and capture their interest right away.
• Be too vague: Instead, be specific and provide concrete details. Vague statements don’t add value or clarity, so they don't belong in your business executive summary.
• Ignore your audience: Tailor your summary to the needs and interests of your audience. Consider what they need to know and what will capture their interest.
• Overpromise and underdeliver: Be realistic about your projections and timelines. Setting unrealistic expectations can damage your credibility.
• Get bogged down in details: Save the nitty-gritty details for your full business plan. Focus on the key highlights in your executive summary.
• Forget the call to action: Tell your readers what you want them to do next. Do you want them to invest? Partner with you? Clearly outline your desired outcome.
• Write in a vacuum: Get feedback from trusted advisors or mentors before finalizing your summary. Fresh eyes can help spot areas for improvement.

Business plan executive summary example

Wondering how these tips look in action? Here's the business plan summary example you've been looking for.

This one is for a fictitious company—let's call it Econnovate—specializing in renewable energy solutions. Use it as a guide to craft your own business plan executive summary.

Mission and vision statements

Econnovate is revolutionizing the energy landscape with innovative, sustainable solutions that empower businesses and communities to embrace a cleaner future. Our mission is to use the power of renewable energy sources to provide innovative, affordable, and sustainable energy solutions to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and create a more environmentally conscious world.

Founded in 2021, Econnovate is a team of passionate engineers and environmental enthusiasts dedicated to developing cutting-edge renewable energy technologies. Our team boasts over 50 years of combined industry experience, including experts in technology, marketing, and operations. Headquartered in Denver, CO, we operate with a global mindset, serving clients across diverse industries and geographies.

Our products

Econnovate's flagship product, SolarMax, is a cutting-edge solar panel system that offers 20% more efficiency than conventional panels. Additionally, we provide EcoBattery, a state-of-the-art energy storage solution that maximizes the utility of our solar panels, ensuring energy availability even during non-sunny periods. Our products are designed to be both cost-effective and easy to install, making sustainable energy accessible to a wider audience.

The global renewable energy market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.8% over the next decade. Our target market includes environmentally conscious homeowners and businesses seeking sustainable energy solutions. With increasing regulatory support and growing environmental awareness, the demand for our products is poised for substantial growth.

Econnovate’s proprietary solar technology not only increases efficiency but also reduces costs, giving us a significant edge over competitors. We not only provide renewable energy solutions but also adhere to sustainable practices in our own operations. Additionally, our exceptional customer service and strong brand reputation further differentiate us in the marketplace. We also offer comprehensive warranties and maintenance services, ensuring long-term customer satisfaction and loyalty.

We project a 30% annual revenue growth over the next five years, with profitability expected to be achieved by year three. Our robust financial model is based on conservative estimates and thorough market analysis. By year five, we anticipate generating $50 million in annual revenue, with a healthy profit margin of 15%.

We are seeking $2 million in funding to scale our manufacturing capabilities and expand our market reach. This investment will enable Econnovate to double production capacity and increase market share by 15% within two years. The funds will be allocated to enhancing our production facilities, boosting our marketing plan, and expanding our sales team.

1. What is an executive summary in a business plan?

It's a concise summary of the key points of a business plan, highlighting the business’s mission, products or services, market, competitive advantages, financial projections, and funding needs. The goal is to give a quick overview that captures the reader’s interest and encourages them to read the full plan.

2. How long should an executive summary be?

An executive summary is typically one to two pages long. It should provide a concise overview without overwhelming the reader. Focus on the most important aspects of your business plan, making sure each point is clear and impactful.

3. Can I use a template to write an executive summary?

Yes! Templates offer an effective structure and help ensure you cover all essential elements. But don't just fill in the blanks. Tailor the template to fit your business and make it your own. (Feel free to use our example as a guide.)

4. Should an executive summary be written in first person or third person?

An executive summary is typically written in the third person to maintain a professional tone. However, if your business plan is for internal use or a more personal presentation, using the first person can be appropriate. The key is to keep your writing clear and professional at all times.

5. How do I make my executive summary stand out?

To make your executive summary stand out, focus on being clear and compelling. Start with a strong opening statement that grabs attention. Use visual elements like bullet points, headings, and charts to make it easy to read. Highlight your unique selling points and ensure your summary is free of complex jargon and technical language.

Remember, your executive summary is often the first impression of your business, so make it count!

Business Plan Market Summary Example

The Market Summary is a key element within the business plan but many people are confused about what to include when it comes to actually writing it.

The purpose of the Market Summary section is to describe the current state of the industry specific to your particular location and how your product or service will have relevance due to current or upcoming trends.  Unlike the Executive Summary or Company Summary sections – this is the point in the business plan where you can pull in some data points to convince the reader that your plan is solid and your business meets a legitimate need in the marketplace.

Below is an actual Market Summary section from a coffee shop business plan I wrote that you can use as a reference, or Save Time and Grab The Full Business Plan including the editable Word version and financial templates that you can use to just plug in your data.

Business Plan Market Summary:  Coffee Shop

According to a nation-wide survey conducted by the National Coffee Association, among all beverages consumed in the U.S., coffee ranked third in daily consumption.  Only two beverages, water and soft drinks are consumed more on a daily basis.  Coffee is no longer considered a drink for older generations who “like it black.”  Now, over half of the adult population drinks coffee everyday.  One in ten 17- and 18-year-olds rated coffee as their top beverage of choice.  As a result, several major coffee companies reported first-quarter earnings well over $100 million.

“The industry trade group Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) reports that the industry is not even set to peak until the year 2015.” 

Starbucks, a leader in the coffee industry, reported a net income earning of $xxx.x million in its first quarter for 20xx.  To ensure year-round success, the company provides holiday specials and flavors, gift cards, and desserts.  Our coffee shop will follow trends and employ many of these same proven business strategies.

The traditional cup of coffee is still popular with many, but the consumption of gourmet, or specialty coffee, drinks is on the rise.  Specialty coffee sales are increasing by around 20% per year, and make up nearly 8% of the 18 billion dollar U.S. coffee market.  The NCA reported that as many as 127 million members of the adult population 62% said that they drank gourmet coffee occasionally.  With specialty coffee drinks ranging in price from $x.xx to over $x.xx in some cases, one can see that this is an extremely profitable industry.  The average Starbucks’ customer, visiting the store between 15 and 18 times a month, is said to spend at least $x to $x per visit, according to CEO Orin Smith.

The coffee industry is still growing nationwide as more and more people are beginning to try gourmet coffee and tea.  ABC City is poised for growth in the coffee industry, and should continue to experience growth through preferred demographic shift, increased exposure in town, and increased premium coffee drinking in nearby XYZ City.

According to demographic information provided by DemographicsNow SRC, LLC., the numbers of households in ABC City zip code xxxxx total 14,963.  The average household income in this area is $52,063 with 19.6% in the range of $50,000 – $74,999 which is the highest category by percentage.  Projections over the next five years indicate growth in this category by 7.8%, as well as growth in the $75,000 – $99,999 category by 27.2%.  Wealth categories above $100,000 are projected to grow over 30% in the next five years.

Population for xxxxx is 33,783 with the largest category 14.5% of those between the ages of 25-34.  35-44 and 45-54 comprise the next two largest segments of the population at 13.8% and 13.5% respectively.

Educational attainment for households in the immediate area include 20.6% with some college, and 28.2% of the population with some form of higher education degree (Associates, Bachelors, or Graduate Degree).  Another 24.8% have a high school diploma.

According to the SCAA, educational attainment has a direct bearing on coffee consumption.  Individuals who finished college bought 49% more gourmet coffee on average, and those finishing with a post-graduate degree bought 71% more.  The SCAA describes their typical customer as “an educated urban resident with disposable income to spend on fine coffee.”

This information about the neighboring community shows favorable trends for expendable income and growth within the immediate area, especially over the next five years.

Exposure for the premium coffee market is already starting in ABC City, as demand for a fresh cup of coffee is now being filled at ABC Mall.  At least 5 other coffee shops in ABC City have been sustaining business as more people continue to find a way to satisfy their coffee craving here in town.  Increased exposure and competition has a positive effect on sales because most coffee shops do not compete on price, but rather on coffee quality, atmosphere, and customer service.

With the exposure created by some of the larger national chains, consumers generally expect to pay a premium for a cup of specialty coffee.  By leveraging the current exposure from nearby XYZ City, ABC City will soon expand the premium coffee drinking base, and growth in the market will continue.  With over 40 coffee shop establishments in XYZ City, the number of coffee drinkers in the area continues to rise.

Part of this is due to the fact that the coffee business or more accurately the espresso business can be very profitable.  Espresso is the “base” used in most specialty coffee drinks like a “latte” or “mocha”, in fact the cost of the ingredients in a 12 oz. latte is around .xx cents, according to Acorto coffee and equipment supplier.  With customers already accustomed to paying $x.xx on average for a specialty coffee drink, profits can be substantial, for the dozens of espresso based drinks.

With more and more businesses and restaurants finding their way into ABC City, a relaxing coffee shop in which customers can unwind and finish off a night out of the house is inevitably in demand.  However, in our area, there are relatively few coffee shops in existence.  With such favorable trends and lack of market penetration, a coffee shop will create the perfect blend of business opportunities.

Our coffee shop will provide a relaxing, eclectic environment that will attract consumers of all ages.  To maintain a loyal customer base, our coffee shop will sell an assortment of specialty drinks and coffee while differentiating itself from all competition by serving fresh baked pies and desserts.  National trends are showing a long-term pattern of consumers purchasing decadent desserts, especially those containing chocolate, according to the U.S. Foodservice Market.  By incorporating this niche into our coffee shop and providing high quality desserts, our shop will not only be a relaxing retreat from a hectic day, but it will also provide a boost to the bottom line, and remain a must-have staple for one’s sweet tooth.

Craig Frazier

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Craig is a small business marketer, author and entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in business management and marketing. Google+

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Market Analysis for Business

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Before you go so far in your business plans , you have to secure a market analysis that is based on a particular research. It does not only focus on providing you with an overview of the business industry, but it also gives you a conclusion from your research findings. There is no specific method to use in market analysis. It just have to demonstrate your expertise on the market and how it is being seen in the aspect of financial standpoint. You just always have to bear in mind that market analysis is a time-intensive process.

8+ Market Analysis for Business Examples

1. business market analysis template.

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2. Business Retail Market Analysis

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3. Business Market Analysis Summary

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4. Business Market Analysis Worksheet

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5. Market Potential Analysis for Business

Size: 178 KB

6. Products Market Analysis for Business

7. Market Research Analysis for Business

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8. Market Analysis for Business School

Size: 543 KB

9. Market Analysis for Business Strategy

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Market Analysis Definition

Market analysis is a type of assessment contained in a specific industry. This allows you to study the dynamics of your market such as buying patterns, competitions, value, customer segments and many more. This should be able to identify who your potential customers will be, their buying habits, the size of your target market, main competitors and your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses.

Market Analysis is designed to reduce risks, cope up with the trends, and the like. These can be used in several stages depending on the needs of a business. Even so, this type of assessment has to be updated to keep up with the major changes happening within the market.

Benefits of Market Analysis

1. Risk reduction – as soon as you have a better knowledge and understanding about the market trends, you will be able to know and be aware of its risks. If you want to protect your business, you can even make a SWOT analysis .

2. Target products and services – you will be placed in a better position to give your full service into your beloved costumers. Know who your customers are. In that way, you can use the information to cater each of your customers’ needs.

3. Trends – it is a good practice in every business to be the first to spot on a new opportunity. Using a market analysis would help you take advantage of the information and stay on top of the industry.

4. Revenue projections – most of market analysis use forecasts as it is used to project future trends and characteristics to your market. This will help you have an idea about your expected profit and and to budget them accordingly.

5. Benchmarks – your market analysis will provide you with benchmarks against how well you are doing in comparison to other businesses in the industry.

6. Marketing optimization – performing regular analysis will help you show in which aspect you need to work more and which aspect is performing well compared to others.

Market Size

When you are to determine the market size , always use accurate and updated data. This will help you in evaluating the sales volume or a particular product or service. Aside from that, you can make forecasts about the development of your market in which it includes market growth and growth rates.

What are the further reasons for conducting a market analysis?

Using a market analysis, you will be able to back up your business ideas and recognize market potential even at an early age. It also allows you to view which products are already competing in the market.

What is the difference between market analysis and market research?

Market analysis focuses on the specific market and identifies characteristics of a market. Market research means conducting a systematic investigation of a specific market that may provide information about your marketing instrument.

What factors are important in the analysis of both market and competition?

Bargaining power of customers, bargaining power o suppliers, threat of substitute products and markets, new competitors and market entry barriers and competitors in the market.

With the help of a market analysis in business, they can gain information about the market. Setting up a business would require you to investigate on your market to look for something new. They even helps you assess opportunities and risks. With market analysis, you can develop effective marketing strategies and take steps to make a successful implementation of your business plan.

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Understanding how assets work

Types of assets.

• What are current assets?

Determining the value of assets

• The financial takeaway

What are assets? The building blocks of wealth for individuals and profits for businesses

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• An asset is anything that an individual or business owns that has monetary value and can be sold for cash.
• There are four main types of assets: liquid, illiquid, tangible, and intangible.
• Knowing what your assets are and their value is the first step in calculating your net worth.

When you sit down to calculate your net worth or do a full review of your finances, the first question you're faced with is: "What are your assets?" In the broadest sense of the word, the answer is: anything you own that has monetary value and can be exchanged for cash. Assets are owned by either individuals or companies. Whether it's a manufacturer with equipment that can be resold, or a person with a high-priced jewelry collection, if it's owned and has value, it's an asset. The most important feature of assets is that they can be used as resources to generate income today and in the future.

Accumulating assets can mean you are building wealth or acquiring items of value over time. When the things you own have some sort of value, you can always sell them and pocket the cash, whether you're a business or an individual. However, the way individuals manage their assets is different from the way companies do.

People tend to keep assets to build wealth so they can retire or use the assets as a financial resource. "An asset in the form of a dividend stock earns ongoing income for its owner and could be sold if needed, freeing up purchasing power," says Mark Berger, a CFP and Account Executive at Berger Financial Group .

With companies, on the other hand, assets represent items of value that can be used to promote or sustain growth in the business. This could be machinery used for manufacturing, inventory, annual sales, or receivables. 

"Assets are listed on a balance sheet to show how they were accumulated," says Berger. "This helps companies keep track of what they own and can sell either within a fiscal year or what can be sold in the future once its value appreciates."

Assets are used to calculate your net worth

When you calculate your net worth, the formula is simple: assets minus liabilities. Liabilities are your debts and other financial obligations, while assets are what you own. So for example, if you own a home that is worth $250,000 but you owe $150,000 on your mortgage, that asset's value is $100,000.

It's important to determine the value of all your assets this way so you can use the information to calculate your net worth. If you have more debt than assets, your net worth will be negative. But it doesn't have to stay this way. What's important is knowing what your net worth is and tracking how it changes over time.

There are four main types of assets: 

Liquid assets

Liquid assets are things that can quickly and easily be converted to cash, such as bank accounts, certificates of deposit (CDs), stocks, or bonds. Liquid assets are unique in that not all your assets can be sold right now for cash without incurring some type of loss or fee on the sale. 

Illiquid assets

These are things that take longer to convert to cash, including real estate, antiques, and collectibles. Your home would be an illiquid asset because even if you have a lot of equity in it, the sale could take a while depending on the local market conditions. 

Tangible assets

Tangible assets are physical things that you own. A tangible asset could be anything from cash in your bank account, to your car, and the furniture in your home. If you can physically touch and measure it, it's probably a tangible asset.

These types of assets are physical things and have a specific monetary value. Both businesses and individuals can own them. For example, a jewelry or art collection are both tangible assets a person might have. However, the concept of tangible assets most frequently appears in a business context. 

Most companies evaluate two specific types of tangible assets: current and long-term. They're also called fixed or capital assets. The key differentiator between the two is how quickly the asset could be exchanged for cash. Among the most common are cash, equipment, inventory, real estate, machinery, land, and receivables.

"Your tangible assets are going to be anything to do with your transportation, your production capability, and manufacturing your service base," says  Robert Smith , president and chief investment officer of  Sage Advisory Services . 

Intangible assets

Intangible assets are non-physical items of value. They include things such as patents, copyrights, intellectual property, internet domain names, and a company's brand. You can't physically touch them, but they have value and can be converted into cash.

There are no limits based on age, contract, or regulatory obligations. Companies tend to record intangible assets on a balance sheet but include only things that the business buys or acquires (like a patent, email list, or a solid website) are included. The intangible asset must have a long life span and value that's clearly identifiable. 

Sooner or later, a business will acquire an intangible asset, whether it's obtaining a license to operate, building the brand's name (which results in a direct increase of profit), or trademarking something. These assets can be acquired by:

• Purchasing them
• Receiving a government grant
• Creating them in-house (software or a company that performs research that leads to the creation of a product or solution)

Current vs fixed assets

There are also current assets and fixed assets, which you hear more about in a business context.

Current assets

"Current assets are the category of a company's resources that are expected to be used over the course of normal business operations over the near term, less than one year into the future," says Matt Stucky, a senior portfolio manager with  Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Stucky says a company's current assets can offer a lens into how much liquidity the company will have to fund its everyday operations and meet near-term financial obligations. These short-term assets could include the money a company will use to pay employees or buy supplies, along with the inventory it's currently selling to customers.

Whether an asset gets classified as a current or noncurrent asset depends on how long the company expects it will take to turn the asset into cash. Assets must be used or converted within a year (or, within one operating cycle if that's longer than a year) to qualify. 

Fixed assets

A fixed asset is an accounting term that's used to distinguish between assets that will be quickly used up (i.e., current assets) and assets that will provide value for a longer period. A company's fixed assets may include the land, machinery, and other tangible equipment that it will use to create the products and services it sells. 

Mike Zeiter, a CPA/PFS and CFP who runs Zeiter Tax Services , says generally, the easiest way to determine if something is considered a fixed asset is if it will last for more than one year. 

Fixed assets are contrasted by current assets, which get used up within a single operating cycle. For example, a toy company may buy an assembly machine that will last 20 years (a fixed asset) and use it to combine toy parts (current assets) to create the toys it sells. 

Fixed asset generally refers to tangible assets as opposed to intangible noncurrent assets, such as patents, trademarks, and goodwill. Fixed assets are also called noncurrent assets, long-term assets, or long-lived assets, and they're often listed under the property, plant, and equipment (PP&E) section of a company's balance sheet. 

Assets can be valued in a few different ways. It's easy to determine the value of assets like stocks, bonds, and your 401(k) by simply checking their current market prices. For real estate, an appraisal is conducted which is an inspection of the property that also considers how much nearby homes were sold for in the same real estate market. 

If you have antiques or collectibles, you may want to take them to a professional appraiser who can determine their age, condition, and origins.

Another way to determine the value of a real estate asset is with the cost approach. This focuses on replacement value, which is an estimate of the cost to rebuild an equivalent property if it was destroyed. With business assets, it's a little different. Companies keep track of their assets with a balance sheet and might use a formula to determine each asset's value. 

"The discounted cash flow approach comes from corporate finance and is also the most flexible since it can be applied to personal finance decisions too," says Nick Borman, a CFP at Borman Wealth Management . "How it works is you use a formula to calculate the value of an investment today based on projections of how much money it could generate in the future." 

Borman explains how in personal finance, one example of when the discounted cash flow analysis can be used is when someone is deciding whether they want to sell a house or rent one out by calculating the future rental income compared with the price of the house today if it sells today.

The bottom line on assets

Whether tangible or intangible, assets are things you own that provide monetary value. No matter what your financial goals are, understanding your assets and knowing their value is very important since they are used to calculate your net worth and can be liquidated for cash. Consider listing out any assets you have currently and determining their value. Use this information to calculate your net worth. Also, explore the option of diversifying your assets among the four main types.

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Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend its Fees Schedule

A Notice by the Securities and Exchange Commission on 07/23/2024

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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance of the Proposed Rule Change

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Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Act”), [ 1 ] and Rule 19b-4 thereunder, [ 2 ] notice is hereby given that on July 10, 2024, Cboe Exchange, Inc. (the “Exchange” or “Cboe Options”) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) the proposed rule change as described in Items I, II, and III below, which Items have been prepared by the Exchange. The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the proposed rule change from interested persons.

Cboe Exchange, Inc. (the “Exchange” or “Cboe Options”) proposes to amend its Fees Schedule. The text of the proposed rule change is provided in Exhibit 5.

The text of the proposed rule change is also available on the Exchange's website ( http://www.cboe.com/​AboutCBOE/​CBOELegalRegulatoryHome.aspx ), at the Exchange's Office of the Secretary, and at the Commission's Public Reference Room.

In its filing with the Commission, the Exchange included statements concerning the purpose of and basis for the proposed rule change and discussed any comments it received on the proposed rule change. The text of these statements may be examined at the places specified in Item IV below. The Exchange has prepared summaries, set forth in sections A, B, and C below, of the most significant aspects of such statements.

The Exchange proposes to amend its Fees Schedule. [ 3 ]

The Exchange first notes that it operates in a highly competitive market in which market participants can readily direct order flow to competing venues if they deem fee levels at a particular venue to be excessive or incentives to be insufficient. More specifically, the Exchange is only one of 17 options venues to which market participants may direct their order flow. Based on publicly available information, no single options exchange has more than 13% of the market share. [ 4 ] Thus, in such a low-concentrated and highly competitive market, no single options exchange possesses significant pricing power in the execution of option order flow. The Exchange believes that the ever-shifting market share among the exchanges from month to month demonstrates that market participants can shift order flow or discontinue to reduce use of certain categories of products in response to fee changes. Accordingly, competitive forces constrain the Exchange's transaction fees, and market participants can readily trade on competing venues if they deem pricing levels at those other venues to be more favorable. In response to competitive pricing, the Exchange, like other options exchanges, offers rebates and assesses fees for certain order types executed on or routed through the Exchange.

The Exchange assesses fees in connection with orders routed away to various exchanges. Currently, under the Routing Fees table of the Fees Schedule, fee codes TD, TE, TF, TG, TH and TI are appended to certain Customer orders in ETF and Equity options, as follows:

• fee code TD is appended to Customer orders in ETF options originating on an Exchange-sponsored terminal for greater than or equal to 100 contracts routed to AMEX, BOX, EDGX, MIAX, or PHLX, and assesses a charge of $0.18 per contract;
• fee code TE is appended to Customer orders in ETF/Equity options originating on an Exchange-sponsored terminal for less than 100 contracts Start Printed Page 59789 routed to AMEX, BOX, EDGX, MIAX, PHLX, and assesses no charge per contract;
• fee code TF is appended to Customer orders in ETF, Penny options originating on an Exchange-sponsored terminal for greater than or equal to 100 contracts routed to ARCA, BX, BZX, C2, ISE, GMNI, MERC, EMLD, PERL, NOMX, or MEMX, and assesses a charge of $0.18 per contract;
• fee code TG is appended to Customer orders in ETF, Non-Penny options originating on an Exchange-sponsored terminal for greater than or equal to 100 contracts routed to ARCA, BX, BZX, C2, ISE, GMNI, MERC, EMLD, PERL, NOMX, or MEMX, and assesses $0.18 per contract;
• fee code TH is appended to Customer orders in ETF/Equity, Penny options originating on an Exchange-sponsored terminal for less than 100 contracts routed to ARCA, BX, BZX, C2, ISE, GMNI, MERC, EMLD, PERL, NOMX, or MEMX, and assesses no charge per contract; and
• fee code TI is appended to Customer orders in ETF/Equity, Non-Penny options originating on an Exchange-sponsored terminal for less than 100 contracts routed to ARCA, BX, BZX, C2, ISE, GMNI, MERC, EMLD, PERL, NOMX, or MEMX, and assesses no charge per contract.

The Exchange proposes to remove fee codes TF, TG, TH, and TI and amend fee codes TD and TE to consolidate Customer routing fee codes. Specifically, the Exchange proposes to amend fee code TD to be appended to all Customer orders in ETF options originating on an Exchange-sponsored terminal for greater than or equal to 100 contracts. Similarly, the Exchange proposes to amend fee code TE to be appended to all Customer orders in ETF/Equity options originating on an Exchange-sponsored terminal for less than 100 contracts. The charges assessed per contract for each fee code remain the same under the proposed rule change.

The Exchange notes that its current approach to routing fees is to set forth in a simple manner certain sub-categories of fees that approximate the cost of routing to other options exchanges based on the cost of transaction fees assessed by each venue as well as a flat $0.15 assessment that covers costs to the Exchange for routing ( i.e., clearing fees, connectivity and other infrastructure costs, membership fees, etc.) (collectively, “Routing Costs”). The Exchange then monitors the fees charged as compared to the costs of its routing services and adjusts its routing fees and/or sub-categories to ensure that the Exchange's fees do indeed result in a rough approximation of overall Routing Costs, and are not significantly higher or lower in any area. The Exchange notes that other options exchanges currently assess routing fees in a similar manner to the Exchange. [ 5 ]

The Exchange believes that eliminating fee codes TF, TG, TH, and TI and amending fee codes TD and TE to apply to applicable orders regardless of class or which away exchange the order is being routed to will simplify and streamline the System's billing process for routed Customer orders in ETF and equity options. As a result of the proposed rule change, orders to which TF, TG, TH, and TI are currently applicable may then be absorbed into orders to which TD and TE are currently applicable and the routing fees for Customer orders in ETF and equity options originating on an Exchange-sponsored terminal may be billed as one of two fee codes, instead of six. For example, fee code TI would, prior to this proposal, be appended to Customer orders in ETF/Equity Non-Penny options originating on an Exchange-sponsored terminal for less than 100 contracts routed to ARCA, BX, BZX, C2, ISE, GMNI, MERC, EMLD, PERL, NOMX, or MEMX; under the proposed rule change, fee code TE would be appended to such orders.

Additionally, the Exchange proposes to amend the Regular Trading Hours (“RTH”) XSP Lead Market-Makers (“LMMs”) Incentive Program (the “Program”). By way of background, the Exchange offers several LMM Incentive Programs which provide a rebate to TPHs with LMM appointments to the respective incentive program that meet certain quoting standards in the applicable series in a month. [ 6 ] The Exchange notes that meeting or exceeding the quoting standards in each of the LMM incentive program products to receive the applicable rebate is optional for an LMM appointed to a program. Particularly, an LMM appointed to an incentive program is eligible to receive the corresponding rebate if it satisfies the applicable quoting standards, which the Exchange believes encourages appointed LMMs to provide liquidity in the applicable class and trading session ( i.e., RTH or Global Trading Hours). The Exchange may consider other exceptions to the programs' quoting standards based on demonstrated legal or regulatory requirements or other mitigating circumstances. In calculating whether an LMM appointed to an incentive program meets the applicable program's quoting standards each month, the Exchange excludes from the calculation in that month the business day in which the LMM missed meeting or exceeding the quoting standards in the highest number of the applicable series.

The Exchange proposes to amend the current Program. Currently, the Program provides that if an LMM appointed to the Program provides continuous electronic quotes during RTH that meet or exceed the proposed heightened quoting standards (below) in at least 95% of the series 90% of the time in a given month, the LMM will receive (i) a payment for that month in the amount of $40,000 (or pro-rated amount if an appointment begins after the first trading day of the month or ends prior to the last trading day of the month) and (ii) a rebate of $0.27 per XSP contract that is executed in RTH in Market-Maker capacity and adds liquidity electronically contra to non-customer capacity.

The Exchange now proposes to amend a rebate offered under the Program. As amended, if the LMM meets the requirements of the Program, the LMM will receive (i) a payment for that month in the amount of $40,000 (or pro-rated amount if an appointment begins after the first trading day of the month or ends prior to the last trading day of the month) and (ii) a rebate of $0.09 (rather than $0.27) per XSP contract that is executed in RTH in Market-Maker capacity and adds liquidity electronically contra to non-customer capacity.

Further, the Exchange proposes to amend the heightened quoting requirements offered by the Program. The current heightened quoting requirements are as follows in the table below: Start Printed Page 59790

MoneynessSize (0 to 35 days to expiry)[>3% ITM)5[3% ITM to 2% ITM)5[2% ITM to 0.25% ITM)10[0.25% ITM to ATM)20[ATM to 1% OTM)20[>1% OTM]20

The Exchange proposes to adopt a new set of heightened quoting standards for the Program. The heightened quoting standards proposed for XSP options are as follows in the table below:

Width

Moneyness	Expiring option	1 day	2 days to 5 days	6 days to 14 days	15 days to 35 days
[>3% ITM)	$0.30	$0.30	$0.30	$0.50	$0.75
[3% ITM to 2% ITM)	0.20	0.20	0.20	0.30	0.50
[2% ITM to 0.25% ITM)	0.12	0.12	0.15	0.20	0.30
[0.25% ITM to ATM)	0.06	0.08	0.08	0.12	0.18
[ATM to 1% OTM)	0.03	0.04	0.05	0.06	0.10
[>1% OTM]	0.02	0.03	0.04	0.05	0.06
[>3% ITM)	0.40	0.50	0.60	0.60	1.00
[3% ITM to 2% ITM)	0.25	0.30	0.30	0.35	0.80
[2% ITM to 0.25% ITM)	0.18	0.20	0.25	0.30	0.50
[0.25% ITM to ATM)	0.10	0.12	0.15	0.15	0.25
[ATM to 1% OTM)	0.05	0.06	0.07	0.09	0.10
[>1% OTM]	0.03	0.04	0.05	0.06	0.07

The proposed heightened quoting standards are designed to incentivize LMMs appointed to the Program to provide significant liquidity in XSP options during the RTH session, which, in turn, would provide greater trading opportunities, added market transparency and enhanced price discovery for all market participants in XSP.

The Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Act”) and the rules and regulations thereunder applicable to the Exchange and, in particular, the requirements of Section 6(b) of the Act. [ 7 ] Specifically, the Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with the Section 6(b)(5)  [ 8 ] requirements that the rules of an exchange be designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices, to promote just and equitable principles of trade, to foster cooperation and coordination with persons engaged in regulating, clearing, settling, processing information with respect to, and facilitating transactions in securities, to remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system, and, in general, to protect investors and the public interest. Additionally, the Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with the Section 6(b)(5)  [ 9 ] requirement that the rules of an exchange not be designed to permit unfair discrimination between customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers. The Exchange also believes the proposed rule change is consistent with Start Printed Page 59791 Section 6(b)(4) of the Act, [ 10 ] which requires that Exchange rules provide for the equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees, and other charges among its Trading Permit Holders and other persons using its facilities.

The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change to remove fee codes TF, TG, TH, and TI and amend fee codes TD and TE is reasonable in that it is reasonably designed to simplify and streamline the System's billing process for routed Customer orders in ETF and equity options. As a result of the proposed rule change, orders to which fee codes TF, TG, TH, and TI are currently applicable may then be absorbed into the orders to which fee codes TD and TE are applicable and the routing fees for Customer orders in ETF and equity options originating on an Exchange-sponsored terminal may be billed as one of two fee codes, instead of six.

The Exchange notes that routing through the Exchange is optional and that TPHs will continue to be able to choose where to route their Customer orders in ETF and equity options in the same sub-category group of away exchanges as they currently may choose to route. The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is equitable and not unfairly discriminatory because TPHs' routed Customer orders in ETF/Equity options will continue to be automatically and uniformly assessed the applicable routing charges.

Additionally, the Exchange believes that it is reasonable to amend the Program's heightened quoting standards, as the proposed new quoting requirements are overall reasonably designed to continue to encourage LMMs appointed to the Program to provide significant liquidity in XSP options, which benefits investors overall by providing more trading opportunities, tighter spreads, and overall enhanced market quality to the benefit of all market participants.

The Exchange believes that the proposed changes to width sizes for the Program's heightened quoting requirements eases the heightened quoting standards in a manner that makes it easier for appointed LMMs to achieve such requirements and will incentivize an increase in quoting activity in XSP options. Particularly, by increasing certain quote widths, the Exchange believes the proposed changes will encourage appointed LMMs to post more aggressive quotes in XSP options, in order to meet the heightened quoting standards, as amended, and receive the rebates offered under the incentive program, resulting in tighter spreads and increased liquidity to the benefits of investors. The Exchange also believes that the proposed width sizes are reasonable because they remain generally aligned with the current heightened standards in the Program, as the proposed width sizes are only marginally changed in order to incentivize an increase in quoting activity.

The Exchange further believes that the proposed rule change to amend a rebate amount received under the program, from $0.27 to $0.09 per XSP contract that is executed in RTH in Market-Maker capacity and adds liquidity electronically contra to non-customer capacity, is reasonable because the rebate, as amended, is an incentive reasonably designed to continue to encourage appointed LMMs to provide liquidity electronically contra to non-customer capacity in XSP options during the trading day. The Exchange notes that LMMs appointed to the Program will continue to receive a monthly rebate and that it is not required to maintain this additional per contract credit incentive.

The Exchange believes that the proposed changes to the Program are equitable and not unfairly discriminatory. Specifically, the changes to the Program will apply equally to any and all TPHs with LMM appointments to the Program that seek to meet the Program's quoting standards in order to receive the rebates offered. The Exchange additionally notes that, if an LMM appointed to the Program does not satisfy the corresponding heightened quoting standard for any given month, then it simply will not receive the rebate offered by the Program for that month.

Regarding the Program generally, the Exchange believes it is reasonable, equitable and not unfairly discriminatory to continue to offer financial incentives to LMMs appointed to the Program, because it benefits all market participants trading in XSP options during RTH. The incentive program encourages the appointed LMMs to satisfy the applicable quoting standards, which may increase liquidity and provide more trading opportunities and tighter spreads. Indeed, the Exchange notes that these LMMs serve a crucial role in providing quotes and the opportunity for market participants to trade XSP options, which can lead to increased volume, providing robust markets. The Exchange ultimately offers the Program, as amended, to sufficiently incentivize LMMs appointed to the Program to provide key liquidity and active markets in the XSP options during RTH and believes that the incentive program, as amended, will continue to encourage increased quoting to add liquidity in XSP options, thereby protecting investors and the public interest. The Exchange also notes that an LMM appointed to an incentive program may undertake added costs each month to satisfy that heightened quoting standards ( e.g., having to purchase additional logical connectivity).

The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule change will impose any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. The Exchange does not believe the proposed rule change to remove certain routing fee codes and to update other routing fee codes accordingly to apply instead, will impose any burden on intramarket competition because all TPHs' routed Customer orders in ETF/Equity options will continue to be able to route to the same sub-category group of away exchanges and will automatically and uniformly be assessed the applicable routing fees. Further, the proposed changes to the Program will apply to all LMMs appointed to the Program in a uniform manner. To the extent these LMMs appointed to an incentive program receive a benefit that other market participants do not, as stated, these LMMs in their role as Market-Makers on the Exchange have different obligations and are held to different standards. For example, Market-Makers play a crucial role in providing active and liquid markets in their appointed products, thereby providing a robust market which benefits all market participants. Such Market-Makers also have obligations and regulatory requirements that other participants do not have. The Exchange also notes that an LMM appointed to an incentive program may undertake added costs each month to satisfy that heightened quoting standards ( e.g., having to purchase additional logical connectivity). The Exchange also notes that the incentive programs are designed to attract additional order flow to the Exchange, wherein greater liquidity benefits all market participants by providing more trading opportunities, tighter spreads, and added market transparency and price discovery, and signals to other market participants to direct their order flow to those markets, thereby contributing to robust levels of liquidity. As a result, the Exchange believes that the proposed change furthers the Commission's goal in Start Printed Page 59792 adopting Regulation NMS of fostering competition among orders, which promotes “more efficient pricing of individual stocks for all types of orders, large and small.”  [ 11 ]

The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule changes in connection with routing fees will impose any burden on intermarket competition that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act because, as previously discussed, the Exchange operates in a highly competitive market. The Exchange notes that, in addition to Cboe Options, TPHs have numerous alternative venues that they may participate on and direct their order flow, including 16 other options exchanges and off-exchange venues. Additionally, the Exchange represents a small percentage of the overall market. Based on publicly available information, no single options exchange has more than 13% of the market share. [ 12 ] Therefore, no exchange possesses significant pricing power in the execution of option order flow. Indeed, participants can readily choose to send their orders to other exchange and off-exchange venues if they deem fee levels at those other venues to be more favorable. Moreover, the Commission has repeatedly expressed its preference for competition over regulatory intervention in determining prices, products, and services in the securities markets. Specifically, in Regulation NMS, the Commission highlighted the importance of market forces in determining prices and SRO revenues and, also, recognized that current regulation of the market system “has been remarkably successful in promoting market competition in its broader forms that are most important to investors and listed companies.”  [ 13 ] The fact that this market is competitive has also long been recognized by the courts. In NetCoalition v. Securities and Exchange Commission , the D.C. Circuit stated as follows: “[n]o one disputes that competition for order flow is `fierce.' . . . As the SEC explained, `[i]n the U.S. national market system, buyers and sellers of securities, and the broker-dealers that act as their order-routing agents, have a wide range of choices of where to route orders for execution'; [and] `no exchange can afford to take its market share percentages for granted' because `no exchange possesses a monopoly, regulatory or otherwise, in the execution of order flow from broker dealers' . . . .”. [ 14 ] Accordingly, the Exchange does not believe its proposed fee change imposes any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act.

The Exchange neither solicited nor received comments on the proposed rule change.

The foregoing rule change has become effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Act  [ 15 ] and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b-4  [ 16 ] thereunder. At any time within 60 days of the filing of the proposed rule change, the Commission summarily may temporarily suspend such rule change if it appears to the Commission that such action is necessary or appropriate in the public interest, for the protection of investors, or otherwise in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. If the Commission takes such action, the Commission will institute proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule change should be approved or disapproved.

Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed rule change is consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:

• Use the Commission's internet comment form ( https://www.sec.gov/​rules/​sro.shtml ); or
• Send an email to [email protected] . Please include file number SR-CBOE-2024-032 on the subject line.
• Send paper comments in triplicate to Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549-1090.

All submissions should refer to file number SR-CBOE-2024-032. This file number should be included on the subject line if email is used. To help the Commission process and review your comments more efficiently, please use only one method. The Commission will post all comments on the Commission's internet website ( https://www.sec.gov/​rules/​sro.shtml ). Copies of the submission, all subsequent amendments, all written statements with respect to the proposed rule change that are filed with the Commission, and all written communications relating to the proposed rule change between the Commission and any person, other than those that may be withheld from the public in accordance with the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552 , will be available for website viewing and printing in the Commission's Public Reference Room, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549 on official business days between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of the filing also will be available for inspection and copying at the principal office of the Exchange. Do not include personal identifiable information in submissions; you should submit only information that you wish to make available publicly. We may redact in part or withhold entirely from publication submitted material that is obscene or subject to copyright protection. All submissions should refer to file number SR-CBOE-2024-032, and should be submitted on or before August 13, 2024.

For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority. [ 17 ]

Vanessa A. Countryman,

1.   15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1) .

2.   17 CFR 240.19b-4 .

3.  The Exchange initially filed the proposed fee changes on July 1, 2024 (SR-CBOE-2024-029). On July 10, 2024, the Exchange withdrew that filing and submitted this proposal.

4.   See Cboe Global Markets U.S. Options Monthly Market Volume Summary (June 27, 2024), available at https://markets.cboe.com/​us/​options/​market_​statistics/​ .

5.   See e.g., MIAX Options Exchange Fee Schedule, Section 1(c), “Fees for Customer Orders Routed to Another Options Exchange.”

6.   See Exchange Rule 3.55(a). In advance of the LMM Incentive Program effective date, the Exchange will send a notice to solicit applications from interested TPHs for the LMM role and will, from among those applications, select the program LMMs. Factors to be considered by the Exchange in selecting LMMs include adequacy of capital, experience in trading options, presence in the trading crowd, adherence to Exchange rules and ability to meet the obligations specified in Rule 5.55.

7.   15 U.S.C. 78f(b) .

8.   15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5) .

9.   Id.

10.   15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4) .

11.   See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808, 70 FR 37495 , 37498-99 (June 29, 2005) (S7-10-04) (Final Rule).

12.   See supra note 4.

13.   See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808 (June 9, 2005), 70 FR 37496 , 37499 (June 29, 2005).

14.   NetCoalition v. SEC , 615 F.3d 525, 539 (D.C. Cir. 2010) (quoting Securities Exchange Act Release No. 59039 (December 2, 2008), 73 FR 74770 , 74782-83 (December 9, 2008) (SR-NYSEArca-2006-21)).

15.   15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A) .

16.   17 CFR 240.19b-4(f) .

17.   17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12) .

[ FR Doc. 2024-16108 Filed 7-22-24; 8:45 am]

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