SOSTAC is a simple and effective Marketing plan used to set out objectives to create and execute successful marketing campaigns.  It was devised in the 1990’s by Paul R. Smith and has since also been adopted as a business plan.  It has proved so successful that it was voted one of the top three plans by the Chartered Institute of Marketing.  SOSTAC is an acronym of the six stages used in the plan, and each step is strategically interconnected with every stage.  SOSTAC is used to communicate the company’s values, and set out how the campaign will be run, set achievable objectives, budgets and time frames.  


Situation Analysis  

Where Are We Now?

The situation analysis should be about half of the plan, the more detail derived here will make it easier to set out aims and goals for the marketing campaign.  

Situation analysis is when businesses research and analyse their current position in the marketplace for the product or service that they are currently setting up a campaign for, and to ascertain what are the company’s strengths and weaknesses for the product or service.  To determine what the current and future predicted trends are and to evaluate what their competitors are achieving.  This research is achieved by reading news items concerning their company, reading what is being written about them online, taking a detailed look at their website page and Social Media platforms and seeing who their customers are, what are their habits and what they are saying about the company, not only the products and services, but the value that the company offers them in terms of money, customer service and satisfaction, and brand perception.   

Analysing consumers profiles can be done using free online analytical tools, businesses can determine who their consumers are, where they are, why they buy or don't buy, whether they purchase or repeat purchase, how they reached the company’s website, and how long they stay and how many channels did they go through to reach the website.  

External analysis macro (PESTLE), is carried out to understand Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental changes and competitors’ strategies, all factors that can affect a campaign. 

Internal analysis Micro (Porter’s 5 forces), is carried out to ascertain if there are any threats of new competitors to the marketplace, and what are the opportunities in the market for the product or service.  Distributer analysis is carried out on suppliers to see if they are competitive, to have a record of delivery times, and to assess if they are reliable.  Also, companies need to be aware if there are other distributers or if they are a sole supplier, this could affect the price and availability of raw materials.  Competitor analysis is to evaluate any competitors and to understand if there may be competitor rivalry which may affect pricing.  Substitute goods is another factor that could affect the product or service, and understanding the consumers buying power, as customers can buy products from anywhere around the world therefore, research must be compiled on value to the customer.

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