The marketing plan is an essential part of the marketing process.  It's main purpose is to detail customers, and then appeal to consumers.  To do this, marketers use  SWOT analysis to see where their company is at, and identify their consumers.  They then creatively market a product to increase its sales.  Afterwards, the company will use a pricing strategy to price out their product.  Finally, they write a formal report, which should contain an executive summary.  The executive summary is an overview of the product.  After the marketing plan is written, the marketers should implement it, or put it into action.  This whole process should take a few days or weeks.