Implementation: the process of turning the plans into action and carrying out the activities defined in the plan.

Monitoring: observing the actual progress of the marketing plan.

Developing a financial forecast: a forecast is a prediction of future events. Businesses need to project costs and revenues to see if the marketing plan is going to be worthwhile.

• Looks at research costs, product development costs, product costs, promotion costs, distribution costs.

Comparing actual and planned results: businesses develop key performance indicators to determine if the marketing mix is working. Examples:

• Sales analysis: comparing actual sales with forecast sales
• Market share analysis: a business’s sales in relation to sales of another business e.g. Woolworths vs. Coles
• Marketing profitability analysis: the business breaks down the total marketing costs into specific marketing activities e.g. advertising, transport, administration.

Revising the marketing strategy: making adjustments according to feedback e.g. lowering price, changing position on shelf.

Changes that could be introduced to try achieve marketing goals:

• Production modifications: upgrading products to remain competitive.
• Price modifications: prices need to be revised in response to the external environment (economy).
• Promotion modifications: promotions at the start will be high but during the product lifecycle this will stabilise or fall.
• Place modifications: as a product’s success increases, the distribution channels will need to be expanded to cater for the growing market.