The Controls section of the marketing plan serves as a guide for evaluating the overall plan. It also helps to ensure that the plan will be implemented and executed properly.

To complete your Controls section, provide 1-3 paragraphs and/or charts, regarding each of the following items:

• Implementation Plan: This section details how you will turn your plans into results. You will need to provide a list of marketing tactics/actions that must be taken immediately to ensure the overall success of your Marketing Strategies (you completed this section earlier in your plan). For each tactic, describe what has to be performed in order to carry out the tactic. Remember that you implementation tactics are operational tactics. For example, if one of your strategies includes Internet Marketing, then, one of your implementation tactics would involve setting up a website. You would also list the completion date for each tactic. (Charts work really well for Implementation Plans).
• Marketing Organization: In this section, you will provide details regarding the names, titles, and responsibilities of the people in your marketing department. This section will answer the question, “who will be handling what?”
• Contingency Plan: This section provides information detailing what you will do if things do not go according to plan. Discuss potential risks and difficulties, then, talk about how you will monitor those potential problems. Finally, define an alternative plan of action in case the “potential problems” that you’ve identified, actually turn into “real problems.”