The marketing plan is a written document that includes an analysis of the marketing situation, opportunities and threats, marketing objectives and strategy, action programs, and projected financial statements. It involves several phases: The planning phase includes defining the business mission and objectives, conducting a SWOT analysis to evaluate strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and using STP (segmentation, targeting, positioning) to identify market opportunities. The implementation phase involves implementing the marketing mix of product, price, place, and promotion strategies and allocating resources. The control phase evaluates marketing performance using metrics to determine if the strategy was successful or needs adjustment. The steps can be iterative as marketers refine the plan.