Characteristic of Marketing Planning:

1. marketing planning is a formal and syatematic approach towards planning of all marketing activites product positioning price setting distribution channels etc.

2. marketing planning as a rational activity requires thinking imagination and fore sight. Market analysis market projection consumer behaviour analysis and marketing guided conclusions are based on data and measurements drawn from internal external environments.

3. marketing planning is a forward looking and dymanic process designed to promote market oriented or consumer oriented business actions.

4. planing is concerned with two things: (a) avoiding incorrect actions and (B) reducing frequency of failure to exploit opportunities. Thus marketing planning has borh an optimistic and a pessimistic component.

5. planing is a process of deciding in advance what to do and how to do it. if the marketing planner desires to achieve a target market at some future date and if he needs sime to decide what to do and how to do it he must make the necessary marketing decisions before taking action.

6. planning is basically a decision making process. Marketing planning is a programme of marketing's based actions regarding the future with the object of minimizing risk and uncertainly and producing a set of interrelated decisions. For example in planning a new product positioning a series of decisions on purchase, sale, product development, advertisement, sales promotion, after sale service, etc. will effect the marketing proggrame of existing products and thus performance of the company as whole.

7. marketing planning is done by the marketing department. Various sub divisions and sections under the department submit their proposals badsed on which the over all company marketing plans are developed and designed.