Main Body
Module 6: Implementation
Learning Topics
- Marketing plans; strategy and implementation
In plain language:
- We are going to plan the budget for our marketing plan and put together an implementation plan.
Learning Skills
- We will learn about budgeting and financial controls,
- We will use spreadsheets to organize information.
- We will use our analysis skills to determine the best use of a limited budget.
- We will use free online tools to increase productivity.
Resources
Learning Activities
In your module 5 video, be sure to discuss the following:
- The budget should be appropriate for the size of your business. A budget of $20-50 per month or a few hundred annually is completely reasonable for a business this size. The budget should be detailed enough that you can see where the money is spent but not so detailed it has too much information. For example, $25 for printing posters would be detailed but $2.78 for 11×8.5 pages, $4.92 for 14×8.5, etc is too detailed.
- The implementation plan should be presented as a to do list. At this point in the course, the strategic work has been completed and this is a practical application of seeing the job through.
Assignment
Assignment Title: Implementation
Topics: Marketing plans; strategy and implementation
Description:
This assignment focuses on the following sections of the marketing plan:
- Section 6: Financial Data and projections
- Section 8: Implementation
Financial Data and Projections
Complete a very basic budget of what the marketing activities (not the overall entrepreneurship activity) will cost. A successful budget has appropriate detail so that any user could immediately begin spending money. For example, if you intend on having online sales as your place strategy, be sure to include the budgeted amount for design for ads, individual social media spending, ad words and not just one line item for online advertisements.
The total budgeted amount should be reasonable for the size of your business. For instance, if you intend on having a profit of $5000 at the end of the year, an appropriate amount for your budget would be about 10% or approximately $40 per month.
Implementation
Your implementation plan answers the question, who, what, when, where, and why. If you are in entrepreneurship, you will complete an in-depth implementation plan. Your implementation plan should be able to describe when each marketing activity will be complete and what the expected outcomes of the tasks are.
This implementation plan is not a macro-decision level management tool used to guide decision making. That work has been done in the work you have already completed. This implementation is a micro-level tool that describes in detail what needs to be done, by who, and when. For example, if you intend on implanting facebook advertisements, a number of tasks must be completed. Some would be designing the ad, reviewing the ad, creating the target parameters, starting the ad, reviewing the ad, etc.
Resources: Computer, Internet access.
Technical specifications:
Financial Data and Projections
The budget can be created on excel or a spreadsheeting software of your choice. Once created, take a screenshot and present it on your online marketing plan. Include a link to download the spreadsheet.
Complete the assignments above. Writing should be at the level of a second-year business student and formatting on the website should look neat and professional.
Implementation
Create an implementation plan using Microsoft Excel or if you choose feel free to use an online productivity tool. Be sure to create an account for each person that may be helping you and assign the tasks. Use the due date function to set deadlines. The implementation plan should be detailed and clearly outline the tasks involved in rolling out your promotional strategy. Please view this recommended video on how to use Asana.
Take screenshots of asana and include the images on your online marketing plan.
Due Date: Sunday, 1159pm
Marks: 10% rubric
Example
Figure 11: Example of budget presentation
Rubric:
Criteria | Excellent 3 Points | Good 2 Points | Satisfactory 1 Point | Poor 0 Points |
Technical Specifications
|
The project meets all the requirements of the assignment. The marketing plan looks professional.
The budget and implementation plan is exactly according to the instructions provided. |
The project meets the basic requirements of the assignment and includes some information about the marketing plan.
The budget and implementation plan cover the necessary information. |
The project meets some of the requirements and needs improvement.
The budget and implementation plan needs improvement. |
The project is not complete as per the requirements.
The budget and implementation plan is not according to the instructions. |
Materials / Content
|
The student has all of the elements of the marketing plan and can easily answer questions related to the four segments. The student can easily describe how to create a budget and implementation plan. | The student has shown many of the elements of the marketing plan and can answer questions related to it. The student can summarize how to create a budget and implementation plan. | The student has shown few elements of the marketing plan and is able to answer some of the questions. The student can describe most of the procedures involved in creating a budget and implementation plan. | Student did not demonstrate good progress regarding the project and is unable to describe the budget and implementation plan. |
Presentation and creativity |
The assignments are clear and easy to read. High quality graphics are used which attract the audience. All the information provided is relevant to the topic. Students have used top-notch creative skills which makes the assignment more attractive. | The assignments are clear. Good quality graphics are used which attract the audience. No irrelevant information. The project shows creativity with the use of attracting colors. | The assignments are of good quality. Little irrelevant details..
The student did not make an effort to show any creativity to make the project more attractive. |
The assignments are not according to the information provided. Loads of irrelevant details.
No signs of creativity |
Critical Thinking and decision making | The student has used critical thinking and has considered all of the areas of budget and implementation plan. | The student has applied the information and provided an adequate budget and implementation plan | The information replicates the topic but shows no realistic application in the budget and implementation plan |
Little to no use of critical thinking. |