What is Marketing?

Marketing is the process of teaching consumers why they should choose your product or service over your competitors; if you are not doing that you are not marketing. It’s really that simple! The key is finding the right method and defining the right message to use to educate and influence your consumers.

Companies make the mistake of thinking that marketing is just “one” thing, but marketing is everything that the consumer encounters when it comes to your business, from advertising, to what they hear, to the customer service that they receive, to the follow-up care that you provide.

It’s all marketing and creating the decision within the consumer whether or not to choose you initially or for repeat business.

The activities of marketing are often confused with advertising and sales, but it is important to realize that there is a difference. To gain a greater understanding of the differences and the roles that advertising and sales play in marketing I have written the following articles:
Marketing vs. Advertising: What's the Difference?
Marketing vs. Sales: What is the Difference?

What is Branding

The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as a "name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers.

Therefore it makes sense to understand that branding is not about getting your target market to choose you over the competition, but it is about getting your prospects to see you as the only one that provides a solution to their problem.
The objectives that a good brand will achieve include:

Delivers the message clearly
Confirms your credibility
Connects your target prospects emotionally
Motivates the buyer
Concretes User Loyalty

To succeed in branding you must understand the needs and wants of your customers and prospects. You do this by integrating your brand strategies through your company at every point of public contact.
Your brand resides within the hearts and minds of customers, clients, and prospects. It is the sum total of their experiences and perceptions, some of which you can influence, and some that you cannot.
A strong brand is invaluable as the battle for customers intensifies day by day. It's important to spend time investing in researching, defining, and building your brand. After all your brand is the source of a promise to your consumer. It's a foundational piece in your marketing communication and one you do not want to be without.
What does branding mean to your company's marketing strategy? Post Questions, Comments, and Answers to this Question in the Marketing Forum.
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Source: http://marketing.about.com/cs/brandmktg/a/whatisbranding.htm

What is a Marketing Plan

Think of a your marketing plan as a roadmap. Your marketing plan outlines specific actions that you will take to market your product or service potential customers. These actions work to persuade these potential customers to purchase your products or services.Your marketing plan does not need to be long and it doesn't have to cost a lot of money to complete. Marketing plans can be a part of your overall business plan or as a singular document.

If you think of it as your "roadmap" that will provide you with detailed directions on how to reach your marketing goals.

It's important to research before completing your marketing plan, by doing so it will help you in staying organized so that you are able to achieve your goals. A thorough marketing plan will detail what you want to accomplish with your marketing strategy and assist you in meeting your goals.
A marketing plan will achieve the following objectives:

Enables companies to look internally in order to fully understand the impact and the results of past marketing decisions.
Equips companies to look externally in order to fully understand the market that it targets and the competition in that space.
Set future goals and provide direction for future marketing initiatives. The goals should be understood and supported by everyone with the company's organization.

Your marketing plan should include the following:

Summary and Introduction
The summary and introduction is a quick overview of the main points of the plan. It should be a synopsis of what you have done, what you plan to do, and how you are going to get there.

Marketing Objectives
This section will define your marketing objectives. These objectives should be based on understanding your strengths and weaknesses, and the business environment in which you operate in. They should also be linked to your overall business strategy. It's not uncommon and is often beneficial to focus on specific targeted segments that you will be marketing to.
Situation Analysis
Your situation analysis details the context for your marketing efforts. In this section you will take a close look at the internal and external factors that will influence your marketing strategy, this is called a SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis combines the external and internal analysis to summarize your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
Target Markets
The concept of target markets is one of the most basic, yet most important aspects of marketing. There is no such thing as the a "one message" fits all marketing message. It is unrealistic to think that you can attract everyone. Defining your target market or segmenting your market helps you decide where to commit resources and what kinds of promotional methods and messages to use.
Strategies
Strategies are action steps that detail how the marketing variables of product, price, place and promotion are used to attain the marketing plan’s objectives and overall strategies.
Tracking and Evaluation
This section of your plan should include plans and procedures for tracking each type of marketing activity you are using. Tracking helps monitor the effectiveness of each marketing activity and is especially helpful with your overall program evaluation. If you are not tracking you are not marketing.

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