Why Your Marketing Plan Needs an Environmental Analysis
Any effective marketing plan should begin with an environmental analysis — a structured look at what’s going on both inside and outside your business. Most people immediately understand the need to examine competitors, customers, suppliers, and their internal resources (things like skills, systems, and budget). But it’s the macro environment — the wider external world — that’s often overlooked.
And yet, this is the part that can quietly make or break your plans.
What is a macro environment — and why does it matter?
Macro factors are the big-picture forces at play. They’re not always obvious, and they’re certainly not under your control — but they still affect your business. These might include:
- Political – changes in government, regulation, international policy
- Legal – employment law, data protection, advertising standards
- Economic – inflation, taxation, interest rates, consumer confidence
- Social – demographic shifts, CSR expectations, changing values
- Technological – advances in AI, automation, digital platforms, logistics
Sound too far removed from your day-to-day? It’s easy to think so. But just because you can’t control these factors doesn’t mean you can ignore them. In fact, they’re going to happen whether you plan for them or not.
A personal (and painful) example
When VAT rose from 17.5% to 20% back in 2011, I knew the change was coming. But I didn’t prepare for it. I simply passed the increase on to my clients — assuming it would be fine. But one client, who wasn’t VAT registered, found the increase pushed my services beyond her budget. I lost the account.
Could I influence the VAT rate? Of course not. But I had choices:
- Adjust my pricing to keep her total outlay the same
- Reduce the hours I worked for her
- Suggest a more affordable alternative service
- Or, as I did — do nothing
That last choice was my second mistake. The first was failing to consider this macroeconomic change seriously in the first place.
The point of macro analysis
It’s not about reacting to everything, or changing direction every time the wind blows. It’s about scanning the horizon and having a plan for what might be coming — both the threats and the opportunities.
Because yes, macro trends can pose risks… but they can also open doors.
If you’d like help analysing your business environment — from your internal setup to your external market, customers, competitors, and the bigger forces at play — drop me an email at carmengray@heathmarketing.co.uk