University of North Carolina Truck Transportation Industry Market Strategy Plan

I’m working on a marketing project and need a sample draft to help me understand better.

The first portion you will complete is the Situational Analysis,

• Introduction
• Situation Analysis
  • Environmental situation
  • Competition
  • Target Market(s)
    • Size
    • Growth rate
    • Critical issues and relevant trends

I have added some “best guess” page estimations. Some of you are more wordy than others. Some of you may have more “moving pieces” in your plan to address. Some of you will find vast resources and will need to do some serious weeding out. (If you have some real good data but are running into length issues consider using an appendix to store much of this.) These are estimates and NOT absolutes!

The introduction is a short overview of your product. We are reading dozens of plans and probably do not remember your idea. Also, many of you have either changed or tweaked your idea since we have first read it. Size: 1/2 – 1 page

The environment situation evaluates what is going on in the world that impacts the business in general and your product specifically. Consider: economy, technology, industry trends, politics, legal system and laws, business trends, cultural changes, demographic trends, natural environment and other external forces that might have an impact on your product/service. Support with data! Size: this will vary with the product and range from 1/2 page to 1 page, maybe more in some cases.

Competition: Who are they? What to strengths do they have? What weaknesses do they have? How do they stack-up to you? Remember competition may be head-to-head (Coke versus Pepsi), but it can also be the whole soft drink industry (Coke or 7-up?), or even the whole beverage industry (Coke or Milk?). A good way to think about this is “If they don’t drink Coke, what are they drinking?”

Are you the market leader or the market challenger, etc.? Explain. (This has an impact on the rest of your marketing plan.)

Even if you consider your product to be the first on the market, what has your potential customer done to take care of the problem beforehand? Think of the horse and buggy to car transition.

You really want to know all you can about your head-to-head competitors, but be watchful and aware of the other tiers. Your competitive analysis should include your head-to-head competition and, perhaps some of the potentially most troublesome from the next tier. A table works nicely, but you’ll want to make sure we understand your criteria. What does this table/research tell you ? How might you use this information? Size: 2 – 3 pages

Target Market: Marketing rule of thumb: You can never know too much about your customers! When I work with entrepreneurs and small businesses, one of the first things I ask them is “Who is your customer?” Often I get something like “Anyone! Everyone!” SERIOUSLY? You open a woman’s shoe store; a man walks in and wants to buy a pair of high heels in his size. Do you sell them? Of course. Would you spend time and energy advertising high heel shoes to men? Probably not, unless there’s a new fashion trend popularizing them.

Start with demographics – what age, gender, ethnicity/race/national origin, income level, etc.? What geographic boundaries? (I’m not driving 50 miles to get gasoline.) Education levels? Occupations? Religion? Marital status? Not all of these will be pertinent, but don’t just dismiss it without carefully thinking about it.

Remember: the infant may be the customer that wears the diaper, but it’s Mom who buys it. In other words, you have different sorts of customers who influence the purchasing decision. (Remember: Can you say “hemi”?) It’s not about stereotyping, but if I say “car pool mom” you get one picture in your head. If I say “motorcycle rider” it’s likely to be a much different picture.

Think of the groups people may be in. The people they interact with are likely to exert an influence on some of their purchasing behaviors. What are their hobbies and pastimes? Interests? Where are they likely to be in their life-cycle – married with children? Empty nesters? Are they the “always on the go, type A people”? Are they homebodies? How do they view themselves – adventuresome, conservative?

Is this market growing, shrinking or remaining about the same?

The demographics will ALSO help you determine the size of your target market. Two key places to look for that: Census data and Internet. You might be surprised at the data you can capture with a Google search. Many products have trade associations, clubs, fan groups, etc. I spoke of motorcycle riders a couple paragraphs ago and just for fun, I “Googled” motorcycle rider demographics. Look at what I found on the first search page: https://brandongaille.com/32-compelling-motorcycle-demographics/ (Links to an external site.) Average age and income. Location, education, all kinds of stuff in 30 seconds. Trends, how they are used, etc., etc., etc.. If you are doing something with motorcycles, I’ve done some of your homework. (Now, I/you would need to double check the credibility of this source, but . . .) Again, this may be 2 – 3 pages.

Your portion of the target market. Just because there are 4 million people in your target market, not all are going to be your customers. Consider your competition and their strengths. What might be a reasonable portion for you. (If we were planning to do the financial section, we would need a good estimate and use it. We’ll settle for a good, supported estimate.) Size: 1/2 page

Other considerations:

Good grammar, professional language (that is, written as a business memo; not too casual or slangy, not in first person)

Professional font, 10 -12 point size, double-spaced but no extra line between paragraphs

Judicious use of headings.

APA citations.