Strategic Marketing Planning including identifying and evaluating opportunities, analyzing markets and selecting target markets, developing a positioning strategy, preparing and executing the market plan, and controlling and evaluating results.

" Source taken from http://www. Questionnaires. Com/ jobsharer_marketing_glossary. HTML Strategic marketing planning consists of these four factors, -Research and analyses the current business and marketing situation of the organization, -Develop according objectives and a positioning strategy for the organization ensuring that It compatible with the mission statement, -Develop marketing strategies to meet the needs of the target market, -Implement, control and evaluate marketing stateless to achieve the planned objectives.

{draw:a} This diagram shows the movement through the marketing process and each of the factors involved in successfully controlling and efficiently using the marketing department within any organization.The diagram is taken from the website http:// en. Wisped. Org/wick/Marketing_plan . "_Strategic plan is a plan which covers a eroded beyond the next fiscal year. Usually this is between three and five years" _Malcolm McDonald, How to prepare a business plan, sixth edition, page 36 The marketing audit The marketing audit is a fundamental part of the marketing planning process.

It is conducted not only at the beginning of the process, but also at a series of points during the implementation of the plan. The marketing audit considers both Internal and external Influences on marketing planning, as well as a review of the plan Itself.The marketing audit, as with any other audit, Is a detailed ND concise breakdown of the business and the current plan. The audit will consist of the factors affecting the immediate internal factors affecting the business and will also look at the business on a macro level, looking at the external events and situations that the business currently operate within and around. This will give a clear indication to any issues that need to be picked up when creating the plan and any factors that need to be resolved in the plan and put as a priority.

The marketing audit within my organization is a whole company wide audit. This has the instant drawback of the local markets and local trends, these will not be picked up when the company Is Implementing the audit and will not take into consideration each store as an Individual business. The audit is completed by a team of marketing specialists that currently work at Sad house (Head office) based wealth Leeds town centre.