How to Write a Problem Statement for Your Marketing Plan

How to Write a Problem Statement for Your Marketing Plan

A problem statement is a single paragraph that clearly describes the marketing problem your business is facing. It should include three sentences: the goal, the impediment, and the possible solution. To write a problem statement, you first need to understand your business. What is your company's fundamental entity (who are you?) and core competence (what do you do better than anyone else?)? Once you have a thorough understanding of your company, you can start to identify the problem.

The goal of your problem statement should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. For example, your goal could be to increase market share by 10% in the next year.

The impediment is the most important weakness that is preventing your company from achieving its goal. It is located one box to the right of the goal in the Big Picture framework and is actionable: it can be removed through specific marketing actions. The solution is the correction of the impediment identified above. It should be specific and actionable, and it should be aligned with the goal of the problem statement.

Before developing your Marketing Plan (the final project), you must clearly describe the marketing problem. The problem statement is a single paragraph that contains three sentences: the goal, the impediment, and the possible solution. Of course, to identify the problem that the business faces also requires a thorough understanding of the business. Before you write your problem statement, know your company and the business objective. 

Next, outline the Fundamental Entity (Who are we?) and Core Competence (What do we do better than anyone else?) of the business. Jot down brief answers to the “who-when-where-what-why-how” questions. Once you have a thorough understanding of the company, you can write your problem statement.

To develop your problem statement, here are some guidelines:

Identify a goal that is: Grow Market share, increase revenues, introduce a new product etc.

Measurable: quantify the goal so that performance can be measured objectively (e.g., number of customers, dollars, return rates, etc.).

Time Delimited: state when performance will be measured.

Identify the Impediment:

Determine the most important weakness that is preventing the company from achieving its goal.

The impediment is located one box to the right of the goal in the Big Picture framework and is actionable: it can be removed through specific marketing actions.

Provide a Solution:

Correct the implement identified above (in Step 3) by adjusting the Big Picture framework module. Your team will be required to submit the problem statement by uploading the document to your team’s Canvas folder. Please include “Problem Statement” and your team members names on your document. Finally, your problem statement will be evaluated on both content and writing accuracy.