Whether you are a small company or a large corporation one of the primary keys to success lies in preparing and following a good marketing plan. You can have the most awesome product or service to offer but without a plan in place, you may flounder for direction and waste a lot of time and energy as a result. Consider that your marketing plan, which is separate and apart from a business plan, is an essential element to the success of your company. The plan should contain data and specifics pertaining to your company’s goals, the product or service you’re offering, how you intend to market it and a means for measuring your success. Generally, larger companies create plans that are extremely comprehensive in size and nature while smaller companies will do just as well with a 5 to 10 page strategy. It’s a good idea to refer to your plan regularly so that you can track your company’s progress