Macro Environment Situation

This subtopic of the situation analysis section of the marketing plan describes the relevant information on the macro environmental trends affecting your business.

Demographics: Consumer wants; preferences and the frequency of their purchases are mostly associated with demographic information. Demographics help you determine the market’s age, gender, nationality, education, household composition, occupation and income. For example, a home-building contractor should begin to pay closer attention to the needs of people over 65 (20 percent of the USA population will be over 65 by the year 2000) as baby boomers begin to edge closer to retirement. People are living longer and spending more on vacations, recreation, and entertainment.

Market Geographies : This section addresses where your customers are physically located. If you are marketing your services over the Internet, your client's physical location may be irrelevant. However, if your job is to promote a local fundraising or store, having an internet as marketing tool is a fast and cheap way to advertise your products.

Technological: Innovation can create or wipe out industries and businesses in less than a year. One example is the popularity and convenience of CD players all but eliminated the sale of record players and seriously depressed the manufacture and sale of vinyl records. This is especially important for you if your product is technology based.

Social and cultural: There is a sweeping trend for Americans (and the world) to dress more casually, with function and comfort driving new clothing and shoe trends. People are cooking less and are more concerned about nutrition and fat in their diets. And today, American business people are less willing to sacrifice family life for business careers. What does this mean for your business?

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