It is important to develop a marketing plan because, without such a plan, a firm is not going to be clear on what goals it is trying to accomplish and how it is trying to accomplish any goals it may have.

A marketing plan is a very detailed map of what a firm is trying to accomplish and how it is going about accomplishing its goals.  A marketing plan needs to analyze the firm’s current position.  It then needs to set out marketing objectives for the product or products in question.  It then goes into great detail about how to achieve those objectives.  Is specifies which employees will be used in which ways.  It specifies what other resources will be devoted to the marketing of the product.  It discusses a timeline on which all of this is to be done. 

By touching on all of these things, the marketing plan provides a detailed blueprint that all who are concerned with the product can follow.  This means that efforts will be coordinated and efficient, not haphazard and sloppy.  It means that everyone will work together toward the same goal and in the same way.

If there is no such road map or blueprint, a firm’s efforts will be uncoordinated and inefficient.  This is why a marketing plan is so important.