Personal Marketing Plan Assignment

You are required to complete your personal marketing plan that includes the strategic marketing process elements that you are learning throughout Introduction to Marketing. These include a situation (SWOT) analysis, focus and goal setting, and marketing program.

A. Situation (SWOT) Analysis

1. Internal Assessment -

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

What can you do to enhance your strengths, minimize your weaknesses?

What type of competitive advantage do YOU have?

If you don't have one, can you develop one? How are you differentiated?

2. External Analysis -

What are the trends in the environmental factors that could have an impact on your job and career development? Technological, Regulatory/Ethics & Social Responsibility, Economic, Social?

• Competitive Analysis - Who are your competitor? What type of background, experiences, strengths and weaknesses do your competitors have?

• Market Analysis - (This means doing some research!)

What market segments have you identified as having the best potential?

How do you fit into these markets?

B. Focus and Goal Setting

• What are your objectives? Make them specific and measurable. What is your target market? Examples might be large public accounting firms, business to business sales, marketing researcher for a consulting firm in Chicago.

C. Marketing Program

1. Product Strategy - Actions to improve my own marketability

Understand how it can meet the needs of your target market. What are your key attributes/benefits? How are you differentiated? Address those questions by analyze your capital:

• Formal education/courses

• Job experience

• Extra-curricular activities

• Volunteer activities

• Key attributes/benefits

• Differentiation

2. Place strategy

What channels have you developed to access your target market (prospective employers)? Associations, career placement, personal contacts, etc. Do some careful research on these. Don't assume that intensive distribution is necessarily the way to go. Focus your channel to the target market you are seeking.

Network sources for contacts and references

3. Promotion Strategy

Think about the buying process. How will you create awareness? What can you do to ‘break through the clutter' and get the opportunity for an interview? What is your "positioning" strategy?

Your personal selling skills will be important for telephone contacts and face-to-face interviews. Probe to find out about the needs of the organization before the "sales call" and during the interview. Have questions prepared.

4. Pricing

What salary and compensation package do you want; are you willing to settle for? What's the competitive price for your target market?