IB Business Management SL — Marketing Planning: Notes, Questions & Solutions

IB Business Management SL — Marketing Planning: Notes, Questions & Solutions

A marketing plan sets a SMART marketing objective, defines the target market and positioning, then designs a marketing mix and budget that are evaluated against that original objective.

Key points

• SMART objectives are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.

• Positioning is shown using a perceptual map, usually plotting price against quality or another key variable.

• A marketing budget must be justified against expected sales revenue, not set arbitrarily.

• The plan only works if it is built on solid market research methods and a coherent set of the seven Ps of the marketing mix.

Practice questions

1. Write a SMART marketing objective for a new coffee shop opening in a university town. (Example: “Achieve 500 loyalty-card sign-ups within the first three months of opening.”)

2. What does a perceptual map show? (How competing brands are positioned against two variables, commonly price and quality.)

3. Why must a marketing plan be evaluated against its original objective? (To measure whether the strategy actually achieved what it set out to do, and to justify future spending.)

4. Explain one risk of setting a marketing budget without reference to expected sales revenue. (The business may overspend relative to the revenue the campaign is likely to generate, damaging profitability.)

5. State the five stages of building a marketing plan in order. (Objective, target market, positioning, marketing mix, budget and evaluation.)

Written by sortmyprep | Reviewed by IB Teacher | Last updated: September 15, 2026