What Is The SOSTAC Model Of Marketing?

SOSTAC Model was invented by Paul Smith, who is a best selling marketing author, international speaker and consultant. He is the originator of SOSTAC Planning System used by organisations around the world. Visit: http://www.prsmith.org/ SOSTAC focuses on the six most important elements of any business SOSTAC is an acronym for these six elements: That may look intimidating at first glance. But, each element asks a simple question and provides an easy starting point.
y y y y y y

Situation analysis, asks what the current state of the business is. Objectives, helps list an overview of goals for the business. Strategy helps provide a big picture plan to achieve the goals Tactics breaks down the big picture strategy into smaller details Action helps assign responsibility and deadlines for certain tasks Control offers an easy way to track the progress of the plan

Each of these six elements contributes an essential piece of the overall marketing plan. We can also look at it in another manner: SOSTAC is an Acronym for the 6 basic elements of the Marketing Plan:
y y y y y y

Situation Where are we now? Objectives Where do we want to get to? Strategy How are we going to get there? The Big Picture Tactics How are we going to get there? The Detail Actions Who is going to do what and when? Control How can we control, measure and develop the process?

Each element relates to a key step in the process. Simply work through the Pro-Forma on the following pages step by step and fill in the gaps to suit your business and your goals. One thing you need to be aware of: Often people deal with the SOS as a wish-list of achievements and then fail to develop and implement a detailed, controllable & measurable action plan (the TAC). This leads to a statement of great goals with no clear idea of how or even if you can achieve them. We will be looking specifically at Action Planning in a future issue of News & Views If however you would like some help in developing and, more importantly IMPLEMENTING, a marketing plan, we would be delighted to talk to you. Lets see them now one by one and try to cover what exactly we need to do: STAGE 1 SITUATION ANALYSIS WHERE ARE WE NOW?
y y

How are we performing? What are our distinctive competitive (marketing) advantages?

y y y y

How effective is our Marketing Mix? Are we focusing on the best segments with the right type of customer? Are we using the most appropriate channels for communication and distribution? What uncontrollable event(s) or trend(s) can impact my business?

STAGE 2 SET OBJECTIVES WHERE DO WE WANT TO GO?

y y y y y y

Business Mission? Business Objectives? Marketing Objectives Business Development? Marketing Communication Objectives? The SMART Test for Objectives Make sure your objectives are practical and measurable. Do they fit the following criteria? o Specific (with numbers) o Measurable (to monitor progress and confirm achievement) o Actionable (can we do it?) o Reasonable (realistically attainable) o Timed (incorporate deadlines)

STAGE 3 STRATEGY HOW DO WE GET THERE?

y y y

Segmentation How do we want to divide up the market(s)? Targeting Which segments of the market do we wish to focus upon? Positioning How do we want to be perceived in each different target segment?

STAGE 4 TACTICAL PLAN HOW DO WE IMPLEMENT THE STRATEGY?

y y y y y

Which Communication Tools are we going to use? How are we going to use them? What message(s) do we wish to communicate? Are we being consistent across different tools and messages? Do we have the necessary resources/budgets?

STAGE 5 ACTION PLAN WHO, WHAT, WHEN?

y y y y y

Who is going to do what? When are they going to do it? What is the resource allocation for the action? What are the key performance measurements? How is performance going to be recorded?

STAGE 6 CONTROL KEEPING TRACK OF PROGRESS

y y

Do action performance measurements relate to objectives? Responsibility for measurement?

y y y y

Frequency of measurement? Resources for measurement? Review of measurements? Actions on variance?

If you are able to answer and work towards finding the answers to all the questions discussed above you are bound to have a perfect working plan which now needs implementations and team work. We have seen that SOSTAC not only works for marketing purposes but it is a very important and quick Project Management tool. So in siutations where you have to do a quick project plan and there is too much info flowing around and you cant focus SOSTAC can be your rescuer.

p r smith's sostac planning model

pr smith's marketing planning system - SOSTAC - situation analysis, objectives, strategy, tactics, action, control

While many people seem to use the SOSTAC acronym as a generic term, it derives from the SOSTAC Planning System created by writer and speaker PR Smith in the 1990s, and is actually a protected registered trademark (registration number 2219677 to be precise). The SOSTAC model and associated methodology are now used by blue chip corporations around the world and also by many smaller businesses and organisations. In some ways SOSTAC has been a victim of its own success - rather like hoover means vacuum and xerox means photocopy - such is the price of inventing a good concept and name to go with it... As stated in the heading the SOSTAC acronym stands for:
y y y y y y

Situation analysis Objectives Strategy Tactics Action Control

The success of the SOSTAC concept owes much to its simplicity. And isn't it about time that business planning was made a bit simpler. Traditionally the task of putting together a decent business or marketing plan has been enough to strike fear into many an aspiring junior manager or budding entrepreneur:

"You want a marketing plan? Including financials? By the end of next week? Of course, no problem... (Oooer.. how on earth am I supposed to do this?..)" The young planner then cocoons himself or herself away for a week after asking friends and relatives for examples of good planning documents, none of which is any use whatsoever, and trying to guess what exactly the boss (or bank manager) actually needs. Of course most of the time the boss hasn't got the first clue about how to write a decent plan either - it's all a big game - moreover most of the bosses who do know what they want don't have the sense to coach the terrified underling as to what the plan should look like. So the inevitable reams and reams of pointless calculations and hypotheses ensue, much midnight oil is burned, and a needlessly complex business planning document is produced. Happily not so with PR Smith's SOSTAC tool. Common sense prevails, and we can safely get on with producing a proper useful working planning tool, instead of something that will attract a jolly good bollocking for the unwitting planner, and then be tucked away into a deep drawer never to see the light of day again. Incidentally when accrediting the SOSTAC model the official attribution is PR Smith (there are thousands of Paul Smiths..), and it is certainly appropriate to use the symbol, which I do here on this page rather more freely than normally because so many people have come to think that SOSTAC just sort of grew on a wall or something, or was devised by someone else who thought they'd fancy taking the credit for it. So, credit where it's due... Here's what PR Smith says himself about the SOSTAC planning structure, taken from his book, Great Answers to Tough Marketing Questions (Kogan Page 2003) and reprinted here with Paul's blessing.

what is SOSTAC?
What should be in the perfect marketing plan? There are many different approaches to building a marketing plan. There is no single common approach. But there are essential elements which every marketing plan must have. The SOSTAC planning system covers them all. It took me (PR Smith) five years to devise SOSTAC but you can learn it in five minutes. Use it and you are well on your way to building a well structured and comprehensive plan. You can also use this approach to check other plans to see if they are comprehensive and cover the key items which every plan needs. S stands for Situation Analysis - which means where are we now?

O stands for Objectives which means where do we want to go? S stands for Strategy which summarises how we are going to get there. T stands for Tactics which are the details of strategy. A is for Action or implementation - putting the plan to work. C is for Control which means measurement, monitoring, reviewing, updating and modifying.

add the 3m's

Now add in the 3M's - the three key resources, Men, Money and Minutes. Men meaning men and women, expertise and abilities to do different jobs. Money means budgets - have we the money? Minutes mean time - what are the time scales, schedules or deadlines? Is there enough time? Each of the six elements of SOSTAC are considered in much greater detail elsewhere in PR Smith's book, Great Answers to Tough Marketing Questions. If you can remember SOSTAC + 3M's and build them into your marketing plan, you have the platform for writing a good marketing plan. In fact, you have an outline marketing plan. Here is what some experts feel about SOSTAC: Professor Philip Kotler: "SOSTAC is a system for going through the steps and building a marketing plan". Sam Howe, Director of CATV Marketing Southwestern Bell: "SOSTAC is a great approach for anyone going ahead and building a marketing plan". David Solomon, Marketing Director, TVX: "It appears that we are following the principles of SOSTAC." John Leftwick, Marketing Director, Microsoft UK: "We use SOSTAC within our own marketing planning".

Peter Liney, Concorde Marketing Manager: "I think SOSTAC is very good in terms of identifying, if you like, major component parts of what you're doing in marketing." Finally, one question that commonly arises: Where would you put Target Markets, Marketing Mix and Positioning in SOSTAC? The answer is that Target Markets pop up almost everywhere. Target Markets are so important that once you have identified them in the objectives, they pop up all over a marketing plan - in the situation analysis, objectives, strategy, tactics and so on. A summary of the current marketing mix and positioning will appear in the Situation Analysis under a 'review' section. The future mix and positioning and target markets are often summarised under Strategy and explained in detail under Tactics. Marketing communication is an essential element for the effective growth of the company and increasing its sales in the target market as argued by Frances Brassington and Stephen Pettit (2003) . In this report, the marketing communication plan for the Warwickshire golf club is presented to the reader. The plan is deployed using the SOSTAC model and the 3Ms of marketing communication (i.e.) Market, Message and Medium. The report commences with a brief overview on the models being used and the company under debate followed by the discussion of the marketing plan. The report focuses on presenting a marketing communication plan that effectively

2.0: Company overview

Warwick golf club is located in the Warwickshire county of the UK targeting upon the golf players in the mid and high income group. The club pioneers in providing high quality service at affordable prices to the customers in the Warwickshire County. The fact that the golf club is situated near the racecourse of Warwick makes it a pivotal point of business attracting customers from different locations (company overview, golftoday.co.uk ). The marketing communication plan for the company in order to increase its customer base and accomplish increase in revenue and competitive advantage is deployed using the SOSTAC and 3M model that are discussed below in section 3. The objective behind this marketing communication plan is to not only increase the sales of the club but also increase its market share through promotion of its value added services.

3.0: SOSTAC and 3M models

The SOSTAC marketing communication model is a comprehensive method of deploying the marketing communication plan for a company. The model not only provides a method to deploy

the communication plan but also considers the evaluation and control of the deployed plan in order to refine the marketing communication approach wherever necessary to increase sales in the market and achieve competitive advantage as argued by Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller (2005) . The SOSTAC model deploys the following stages in the marketing communication plan. S for situation O for objectives S for strategy T for tactics A for actions and C for control On the other hand the 3M model stands for Market, Message and Media. The SOSTAC model for marketing communication can be compared with the 3M model as show in the table below. Table 1: SOSTAC and 3M model S Situation M MARKET O Objectives M MESSAGE S Strategy T Tactics A Actions M MEDIUM C Control The discussion of the stages in the model is beyond the scope of this report since the report is focused on the marketing communication plan for a specific company (i.e.) Warwick Golf club rather than generic in nature. The marketing communication plan is analysed in the light of the six element of the SOSTAC model with supporting evidence from the market reports and case studies. A critical analysis comparing to the 3M model is presented alongside so as to increase the clarity of the plan to the reader.

4.0: The Marketing communication plan

This section presents a critical analysis of the marketing communication plan in the light of the SOSTAC model.

4.1: S situation:
This is the first stage of the model is where the situation of the company in the market and the overall market situation is analysed. The market position of the company and the competition in the market is analysed in this stage. Philip Kotler (1998) argues that the knowledge of the market situation is an essential element since it is the ingredient for designing the marketing

communication plan. In the light of the aforementioned arguments an insight into the golf as a leisure activity in the UK proves that the game has seen tremendous growth since the dawn of the twenty-first century which is not only because of the increasing demand of the customers for variety in the leisure activities but also due to the cost effective approach of the golf clubs as argued by Isla Gower (2003) . The fact that the market potential for the golf in the UK is increasing in nature not only proves that the market potential is strong for golf as a leisure activity but also justifies any new investment by club owners to increase their revenue. An insight into the golf market in the west midlands area where the company of interest is situated it is clear that the demand has not only increased for the golf clubs but also for cost effective service by the customers. The study conducted by Jon Rittgers (2005) has further justified that the demand for golf as a leisure activity is not only among the retired professionals but also among the working communities in the UK where mostly professionals from various business sectors find golf as a source of leisure. From the above argument it is clear that the target market for the golf clubs in the UK is not only the retired professionals as it was the notion in the 1990s but also the working professionals over 30 years of age. A research analysis conducted as part of the sports leisure industry profile (2005) has further revealed that the membership in the midlands golf clubs is predominantly commencing at the late twenties of the customers. The study has justified that the golfers have increased tremendously in number mainly because of the participation of customers from younger age groups. Thus form the above analysis of situation the following factors are identified 1. The market potential for Warwick golf club is strong in the midlands. 2. The target market comprises of customers both from the retired and the employed segment of the target market. 3. The age group for the target market is predominantly over 30 years of age.

4.2: O Objectives:
The objectives of the organization and its goals are the second important element for the marketing communication plan as argued by Frances Brassington and Stephen Pettit (2003). This is not only because of the fact that the marketing communication can be focused in a proper channel but also the fact that the company can achieve tangible results through the effective marketing communication. The interesting fact that the successful deployment of t he marketing communication plan itself is dependent upon the objectives set by the organization makes it clear that the objectives are essential for the effective performance of the marketing communication. Base on the aforementioned arguments, an in sight into the target market and the companys situation will provide effective information to derive the objective of the marketing communication plan. From the situation analysis in section 4.1 it was established that the market potential for the club in the target market is high. It is also clear that the demand is for a cost effective means for

leisure and recreation in golf clubs. This has proved that the club of interest can increase its market share and revenue through targeting upon the market segment for cost effective golf club membership. Since the objective is the critical message being communicated to the customers in the target market, it is essential that the objective reflect upon the market demand as well as the companys perspective on quality and value-based services. Since it is clear from section 2 that Warwick Golf club is focused on providing cost efficient and value-added service to the customers in the Warwickshire County, the objective should embrace the economical factor of the membership at the club. Furthermore, the increase in the need to provide value added service that not only accomplishes quality but also higher level of customer service at an affordable cost to the customers should form the core element of the objective in order to reach the customers in the target market effectively. Another critical element as identified by Abhilasha Mehta (2005) is the fact that the objectives of the marketing communication plan is the message that is communicated to the target market thus making it essential to form the objectives correctly. It is also interesting to form the arguments of Abhilasha Mehta (2005) that the marketing communication and advertising effectiveness is mainly dependent upon the effectiveness of the objectives of the marketing strategy or communication plan. From the above discussion the objectives for the marketing communication plan of Warwick golf Club is presented below 1. To provide cost effective and quality service to the members. 2. To increase its members through effective customer service 3. To provide cost effective value-added service to the customers with special needs.

4.3: S- Strategy
The strategy is the actual marketing plan for the organization in the SOSTAC model where the company formulates the actual plan of hw to communicate the objectives to the target market. Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller (2005) argue that the marketing communication strategy should embrace the fact that the message being communicated to the target market is the essential element for the successful accomplishment of the marketing plan. In the light of the above argument an insight in to the company of interest (i.e.) Warwick Golf club, we can identify the following elements that will contribute to the communication plan 1. The target market is keen in knowledge based (i.e.) give importance to the content of the message. This is clear from the initial discussions that the target market comprises of professionals retired and employed in the target market. 2. The target market comprises of customers who value the service provided and the quality of the communication or the information being communicated.

3. The target market for the golf club also emphasises upon the efficiency and performance of the club, which is considered as the driving elements for applying to membership in the club. The aforementioned factors further justify the arguments of Kim W. Chan and Rene Mauborgne (2005) that the marketing communication strategy is the critical element for the effectiveness of the communication plan itself and that strategy should be formed by embracing the market situation and the objectives through critical analysis. This justifies that the effective strategy formulation is possible only through critically analyzing the strategic elements surrounding the communication plan in the light of the objectives of the organization and the market demand. Furthermore, the arguments of Gerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes (2003) that the marketing communication strategy should embrace the core strategies of the company further makes it clear that the strategy formulation for the marketing communication plan is the critical stage to the success of the marketing plan itself. An insight into the Warwick Golf club in the light of the above arguments proves that the clubs core strategy of providing quality service at affordable prices can be accomplished through the communication objectives derived in the previous section. Hence the overall marketing communication strategy should embrace the following 1. The message communicated should convey the objectives effectively to the customers. 2. The mode of communication and especially the communication strategy should not only provide quality information but also avoid any redundancy in the information being conveyed. 3. Finally the marketing communication strategy should emphasize the quality and value added services to the customers in the target market. The aforementioned statements clearly justify that the marketing communication strategy formulated using the SOSTAC model reflects upon the objectives of the company and also provides effective utilization of the market potential to increase the sales and revenue.

4.4: T Tactics
Tactics correspond to the actual method of deploying the strategy in the target market (i.e.) the methods of advertising or communicating the objectives through medium. This stage of the SOSTAC model derives upon the tactics that can be deployed for effectively deploying the marketing communication strategy. Norman T. Sheehan (2005) argues that the marketing communication in the modern world is not effective only through the deployment of television adverts since the target customers are not always television advertisement viewers. Even through it is accepted that the mass media especially television helps the company to reach the living room of a customer, the fact that effectiveness of the advertising tactics is only in the message carried by the advert as argued by Norman T. Sheehan (2005). Since it is clear that the promoter is willing to invest substantial amount to promote the business

through emphasising the message and the quality of information, the following tactics are recommended for the communication plan. It is recommended to conduct a special event reflecting upon the society in the Warwick area through advertising using the trivial advertising methods (i.e.) leaflets circulation, newspaper advertisements for the event. The message communicated by the new paper advertisements and the leaflets should not only promote the event but also attract the customers through providing quality information. This can be followed by the deployment of a promotional offer for membership on the day of the special event along with bundle offers for family membership and introduce a friend schemes. The plan for the implementation of the tactics described above is presented in table 2 below. Table 2: Tactics and Stages Stage Tactic Create initial awareness among the customers in target market Place newspaper advertisements. The newspaper advertisements will attract the attention of regular new paper readers who would appreciate quality information being communicated by an advert. Increase awareness in the target market about the event Circulation of leaflets in the local neighbourhood and the offices in the locality. This approach will not only increase the awareness but also help the company to effectively communicate to the target market. The message communicated by the leaflet should not only advertise the special event but also promote the club membership in the target market. Special event This is the actual deployment of the special event where the customers from the target market are expected to gather. Cross selling Promotion of the membership and special offers. On the day of the event the company can deploy the cross selling strategies in the form of promotions to increase the sales of the membership as well as attract new customers in the target market. The aforementioned tactics make it clear that the deployment of the strategy using the aforementioned tactics can be successful only through the effective deployment of the strategies and embracing the tactic on the quality of the message conveyed and the target market being addressed. From the presentation of the 3M and SOSTAC models in Table 1 it is clear that the Objectives, Strategies and the tactics comprise the message part of the 3M model. The message being the critical element for the successful implementation of the strategies and the formulation of the objectives. Furthermore, the arguments of Karen Benezra (2005) that the tactics in the marketing communication plan can be effective only through the effective formulation of the strategies. This further justifies that the message is the critical element for the success of the marketing communication plan. The message to be communicated for the promotion plan of Warwick golf club should thus embrace the following 1. Quality of information: This corresponds to the efficiency with which the information being communicated to the customers in the target market. The use of the new paper adverts with

professional methods of advertisement message creation will help accomplish the task effectively whilst creating awareness among the customers. 2. Consistency of information: The consistency can be demonstrated through the effective presentation of the leaflets where the strategy strives to increase awareness among the customers. In this case the consistency can be accomplished through demonstrating the consistency with respect to the initial newspaper advertisement as well as providing information about promotions on the day of the event, which will attract the customers to the event. 3. Effective Communication: this is predominantly the communication skills involved with the cross selling on the day of the event being organized. This method should demonstrate consistency as well as efficiency through communicating the promotions message effectively to the customers.

4.5: A Actions
Actions stage in the SOSTAC model is where the stakeholder interests are reviewed and the marketing communication plan is refined to meet the interest of the stake holder. This stage as argued by Michael J. Thomas (2005) is where the formulated strategy and the associated tactics are refined to meet the stakeholder interests. This stage hence reflects upon the interests of the promoter for the club who is investing for the marketing promotion for the club under consideration. Gerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes (2003) argue that the stake holder interests is the critical element to the success existence of the marketing strategy itself since the marketing strategy should satisfy the people investing to promote the company. For the company under consideration, the promoters emphasis on the quality of the message being communicated to the target customers is accomplished through embracing the first four stages to accomplish information accuracy and consistency. Alongside, it is also interesting to note that the planning using the SOSTAC model with the consideration of the promoters interest (i.e.) stakeholder makes it clear that the plan devised so far using SOSTAC model can be actioned since it meets the stake holder interests. The actions for the plan so devised is described in table 3 below Table 3: Action Plan Action Description Time (days) Information research To identify the companys situation, market potential and conduct comprehensive market research 10 Identifying Objective To set the objectives of the marketing communication plan in order to effectively accomplish plan. 5 Strategy Formulation To formulate the strategies to accomplish the Marketing communication plan 10 Tactics To identify and deploy the tactics to accomplish the strategy so formulated in the previous stage. The deployment includes the stages described in Table 2. 20

The stakeholder of interest being only one party who is investing for the promotion, the companys management (i.e.) the owners of the golf club are considered as the secondary stake holders whose interests need to addressed in this plan. The main interest of the club being the development of the market spread in the midlands and increase revenue makes it clear that the communication plan drafted so far is efficient to accomplish the goals of the organization. Since the primary interest stake holder has the action of investing money and resources, he/she cannot take the responsibility to deploy the marketing communication plan whilst the company senior management being the secondary stake holder and the direct beneficiary of the profits from the club should be in charge of the action plan so agreed between the stake holders. Frances Brassington and Stephen Pettit (2003) say that the involvement of the stake holders in the action plan of the marketing communication is essential to steer the plan in the right direction to meet the goals of the company and the interests of the stake holders. Furthermore, the fact that the company benefits from the investment of the stake holders makes it essential to meet their vision of the business in the communication plan rather than the deployment of the right plan. This makes it clear that the effectiveness of the marketing communication plan is not only the ability attract the customers but also to impress the stake holders.

4.6: C Controls
Controls in the SOSTAC model is the final element that is actually used by the stake holders and the operational managers to monitor the progress of t he plan. The controls are used to assess the effectiveness of the strategy formulated and the tactics deployed by the marketing communication plan. The fact that the controls are used to assess the effectiveness makes i9t further critical element in the SOSTAC model where the success of the overall plan is dependant upon the controls in place to identify any critical issues that needs to be addressed in order to effectively restructure the plan to meet any changes. The controls in place for this plan are described below Primary stake holder control: The promoter at a high level looks into the information quality and the market trends and provides his/her opinion on the current efficiency of the plan along with the necessary changes expected for further funding. The primary stake holder being the investor has a higher level of control over the deployment of the plan where the medium of the control is both explicit and implicit as argued by Nithin pangarkar and Saul Klien (2005) . Alongside, the primary stake holder is provided the control on the actions apart from the control on the funding since the interests of the primary stake holder is the essential element to continue with the promotion plan itself. Secondary Stake holder Control:

This is where the company has control over the marketing communication plan. The control is predominantly over three specific elements that include the 1. Operational excellence: This is where the company has control over the actual implementation of the plan. The tactical managers and the line managers are in charge of this control, which is communicated to the senior management of the company. 2. Strategic deployment: This is where the middle manager and the senior manager of the club review the operation and progress o the plan. The assessment is both to identify the quality and the effectiveness of the plan that is being deployed. At this stage the tactics of the plan can be amended to a certain level in order to accomplish the strategy effectively. 3. Secondary Stake Holder control: This is where the top level management of the company in this case the owner(s) of the club are involved in the control of the communication plan. Their control is the predominantly strategic in nature and the results from the strategic deployment stage or the input from the senior managers is the key for their decision-making. Strategic level changes are implemented at this level with the involvement of the primary stake holder.

5.0: Conclusion
The marketing communication plan formulated using the SOSTAC model has proved that the model can be deployed with ease for organization of varying size irrespective of the nature of the business. Furthermore, the comparison with the 3M model and the discussion on the controls and actions have justified that the SOSTAC model is proactive method of marketing communication method than the 3M model. The discussion has further established that the communication plan is indeed reflecting upon the promoters interest (i.e.) the plan is formulated with emphasis on the quality of information and information consistency. Hence to conclude this report, the marketing plan proposed in the report when deployed with the relevant controls in place will increase the customer base for Warwick Golf Club and help achieve competitive advantage.

References: Books
Frances Brassington and Stephen Pettit (2003), Marketing Management, UK: Prentice Hall Financial Times Gerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes, (2003), Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text and Cases, UK: Prentice Hall Philip Kotler (1988), Marketing Management: Principles and Practise, UK: Prentice Hall Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller (2005), Marketing Management 12e, Prentice Hall India

Sostac Marketing Plan

Businesses typically either thrive in their market or simply fail. The difference between a business that thrives and one that fails is often the marketing plan that is created and used.A business that struggles often has only a basic plan of vague objectives and strategies while a successful business uses a strategic, specific marketing plan that helps propel it toward further success. Though various marketing plans have proven effective over the years, many experienced business consultants claim that the SOSTAC Model is one of the most effective.

What Is The SOSTAC Model Of Marketing?

This focuses on the six most important elements of any business SOSTAC is an acronym for these six elements: That may look intimidating at first glance. But, each element asks a simple question and provides an easy starting point.
y y y y y y

Situation analysis, asks what the current state of the business is. Objectives, helps list an overview of goals for the business. Strategy helps provide a "big picture" plan to achieve the goals Tactics breaks down the "big picture" strategy into smaller details Action helps assign responsibility and deadlines for certain tasks Control offers an easy way to track the progress of the plan Each of these six elements contributes an essential piece of the overall marketing plan.

Can This Model Be Used For A Small Business?

This Model can be used to create an effective marketing plan for any small business. Each of the six elements of this Model is a critical piece, of an overall plan that charts a course of action for a business owner. The primary cause of most small business failures is a lack of planning. Many small business owners fail to devote time and attention to charting the objectives, strategy and actions that ultimately lead to success. A small business can easily use this model to not only plan each step for the business, but assign responsibility for each action that needs to be taken.

Benefits Of Using a SOSTAC System

First, it helps provide an overview of a business without objectives and the strategy and actions needed to meet those objectives, a business simply exists. There is as much a chance for failure as success. Second, assigning accountability for each action encourages those involved in the business to perform. Third, implementing a control process to track the progress of a business toward its objectives keeps the business moving forward. The only downside to using this Model is learning and implementing it. It can take time and effort to consider and plan each of the six elements. However, this investment of time can pay large dividends.

Conclusion Of Using SOSTAC

Despite the time required to learn and implement this model, every small business owner should consider doing so. Using this model,helps you can create a solid marketing plan that will help propel your business toward success. Establishing the current state of your business, creating objectives and planning strategies, tactics and actions to meet those objectives can keep a small business moving forward. Further, using a control system to track the progress of the business helps ensure that it is operating as effectively as possible. In the end, the SOSTAC Model may be the perfect solution for small business owners who are struggling to create a clear marketing plan.