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You’ve addressed what you’re selling and why in the products and services section. You now have an understanding of the market and an ideal customer in mind thanks to your market analysis. Now, you need to explain how you will actually reach and sell to them.
The marketing and sales section of your business plan dives into how you’re going to accomplish your goals. You’ll be answering questions like:
By the end of this section, you should have an outline of what growth looks like, what milestones you intend to hit, and how you’ll measure success. Basically, you’re backing up the opportunity you’ve identified with a solid go-to-market plan.
The sections you should include act as a useful framework for exploring and defining your marketing and sales tactics.
How does your business differ? What do you do that others don’t? If you’re unsure, work through a handful of strategic exercises to create a simple but convincing positioning statement.
A marketing plan brings together strategic goals with tangible marketing activities designed to reach and engage your target market—ultimately convincing them to purchase your product.
A good sales strategy provides actionable steps to reach your goals. Estimate how much you intend to sell and outline a process that anyone else in your business can execute.
The basics of a marketing and sales plan are fairly straightforward. However, it’s also the perfect place to flesh out any details that you think will make your outreach efforts successful.
What makes your business unique? How does the solution you provide stand out? This is your chance to point to what you believe potential customers will find more valuable about your business over the competition.
While we don’t recommend creating separate traditional and digital marketing plans, it may be wise to explore and address them separately within your plan.
How will you convince your customers to buy your products or services? While actual ads and promotions may be months away, it’s best to think through and even mock up designs now.
With this simple analysis, you’ll better understand your strengths and weaknesses, along with the opportunities and threats you should account for.
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Kody Wirth is a content writer and SEO specialist for Palo Alto Software—the creator's of Bplans and LivePlan. He has 3+ years experience covering small business topics and runs a part-time content writing service in his spare time.
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A marketing plan is an operational document that outlines an advertising strategy that an organization will implement to generate leads and reach its target market . It details the outreach and PR campaigns to be undertaken and for how long, as well as the ways in which the company will measure the effect of these initiatives. It reflects a company’s overall marketing strategy.
The terms “marketing plan” and “marketing strategy” are often used interchangeably because the former is developed based on an overarching strategic framework. In some cases the strategy and the plan may be incorporated into one document, particularly for smaller companies that may only run one or two major campaigns in a year. The plan outlines marketing activities on a monthly, a quarterly, or an annual basis, while the strategy delineates the overall value proposition .
The components of a marketing plan include:
The four most important social media networks in 2023 for global marketers were, in descending order, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
There are a variety of marketing plans that suit different businesses and their needs. These include:
The mission and value proposition is a statement that articulates the value that a product or brand will deliver to a customer. It should appear front and center on the company website and any branding materials.
The value proposition should delineate how a product or brand solves the customer’s problem, the benefits of the product or brand, and why the customer should buy from this company and not another. The marketing plan is based on it.
Establishing your key performance indicators (KPIs) will allow you to measure the success of your marketing plan in relation to your company’s value proposition. In other words, they track the effectiveness of your marketing strategy. For example, if your goal is to engage with a certain demographic in a certain region, you can track social media impressions and website visits.
There are a number of KPIs that help you measure success including the search engine ranking, click-through rate, cost per click, return on investment (ROI), and conversion rates, which tracks the percentages of visitors to your website that make a specific action such as buying a product or becoming a newsletter subscriber.
In 2023, Facebook and Instagram were tied for having the highest ROI across social media platforms for global marketers, while YouTube fell next in line.
The marketing plan identifies the target market for a product or brand. Market research is often the basis for a target market and marketing channel decisions. For example, whether the company will advertise via social media, online ads, or regional TV.
Knowing to whom you want to sell and why is an extremely critical component of any business plan. It allows you to focus your business and measure its success. Different demographics have different tastes and needs; knowing your target market will help you market to them.
The marketing plan includes the rationale for these decisions. The plan should focus on the creation, timing, scheduling, and placement of specific campaigns and include the metrics that will measure the outcomes of your marketing efforts. For example, will you advertise on social media or TV? What time will you schedule your marketing if they are through email newsletters? The strategy may include flighting scheduling , which includes the times when you can make the most of your advertising dollars.
A marketing plan costs money. Setting a budget will allow you to create a workable plan, prevent runaway costs, and properly allocate your funds.
A marketing plan can be adjusted at any point based on the results from its metrics. If digital ads are performing better than expected, for example, the budget for a campaign can be adjusted to fund a higher-performing platform, or the company can initiate a new budget. The challenge for marketing leaders is to ensure that every platform has sufficient time to show results.
Without the correct metrics to assess the impact of outreach and marketing efforts, an organization will not know which campaigns to repeat and which to drop. In short, maintaining ineffective initiatives wastes money.
Digital marketing shows results almost immediately, whereas TV ads require rotation to realize any level of market penetration. In the traditional marketing mix model, a marketing plan would fall under the category of “promotion,” which is one of the “ four Ps ,” a term coined by Neil Borden to describe the marketing mix of product, price, promotion, and place.
A business plan is a roadmap that details how a business will operate and function in its entirety. It should cover the goals, missions , values, financials, and strategies that the business will use in day-to-day operations and the achievement of its objectives. Among its many elements are an executive summary, the products and services sold, a marketing analysis, a marketing strategy, financial planning, and a budget .
As mentioned, a business plan should include a marketing plan, which focuses on creating a strategy for creating awareness of the company’s product or service, reaching the target market, and generating sales.
Consider the following marketing plan framework that is designed to help direct marketing objectives:
A marketing plan template is a guide for writing a marketing plan. It contains all the important elements needed to create one, including its goals and KPIs, marketing channels, budget, content type, teams involved, and design.
The executive summary is a nutshell description of the marketing plan. It should contain the key findings of the market research, the company’s objectives and marketing goals, an overview of the marketing trends, the description of the product or service being marketed, information on the target market, and the plan budget.
A top-down marketing strategy is a traditional one, in which a business decides how best to sell its product or brand, and customers are then spurred to take action through advertisements, generally found on radio and/or television. It is usually determined by company executives, which is then communicated with management to delegate to employees. These employees then develop tactics to meet the strategy's objectives.
In comparison to a traditional top-down marketing strategy, a bottom-up strategy begins with employees who formulate marketing tactics based on their analysis of customer preferences and needs. This then may lead to collaboration with other employees to develop a concrete marketing plan, which is sent to executives for review.
Today’s consumer wants to relate to a product or service in a meaningful way, and a bottom-up marketing strategy seeks to achieve this through customer-centric tactics.
The cost of a marketing plan will vary based on the company, the plan’s complexity, and the length of the overall strategy. In 2023, marketing costs made up 10.1% of corporate revenues on average. The consumer packaged goods sector spent the most, at 18.5% of revenues while the mining and construction sector spent the least, at 1% of revenues.
A separate analysis shows that the cost can range anywhere from $10,000 to over $40,000 for a marketing plan.
A marketing plan is the advertising strategy that a business implements to sell its product or service. It determines the target market, how best to reach it, at what price point the product or service should be sold, and how the company will measure its efforts.
Constantly monitoring and adjusting a market plan is an important part of running a business, as it shows the most effective ways to generate sales. As the consumer landscape evolves, it is important for businesses to adapt in order to meet customer needs and better achieve their marketing objectives.
Statista. " Marketing Worldwide – Statistics and Facts ."
American Marketing Association. " What Is a Marketing Plan and How to Write One? [Easy Guide] ."
HubSpot. " The 2024 State of Marketing & Trends Report: Data from 1400+ Global Marketers ."
Deloitte. " The CMO Survey: Managing Marketing Technology, Growth and Sustainability ." Page 16.
Laire. " How Much Does a Marketing Plan Cost? "
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Follow these templates and guidelines to get started on your business's marketing plan.
To have a successful business, you need a well-thought-out marketing plan to promote your products or services. Although making a few social media posts or blasting a few promotional emails may seem simple enough, disjointed marketing efforts not only confuse your target audience, but can ultimately harm your business.
A marketing plan is a strategic road map for how you communicate (online and offline) with your target audience to successfully promote your products or services. Depending on your goal, marketing plans can be extremely basic or highly detailed.
According to Molly Maple Bryant, vice president of marketing at Vibrent Health, a marketing plan is not simply a list of things you want to accomplish. Instead, it should list the outcomes you seek — measurable and contextual, like the pipeline you’re developing, or leads you’re generating — and it should explain the high-level strategies you will use to achieve those outcomes. Developing strategies can be complicated, but they make a major difference in keeping you on track and avoiding diversions, also called scope creep .
“Once you have an agreed-upon plan, you are able to compare any incoming requests against your strategies to determine ‘Yes, this adheres to my strategy so we can add it,’ or ‘No, this sounds good in theory, but it doesn’t adhere to our agreed-upon strategy, so we won’t adjust resources,'” Bryant told us.
There are several different types of marketing plans you can use based on certain strategies that make sense for your organization. Your business will likely need a combination of the following marketing plans to create an effective, comprehensive marketing strategy:
A marketing plan is a crucial resource for any small business because it helps you identify the market needs your product or service meets, how your product is different from competitors, and who your product or service is for. Marketing plans also serve as a road map for your sales strategy, branding direction and building your overall business. This is important for successfully conveying your brand messaging to your target audience .
Another significant benefit of a marketing plan for your company is that rather than simply guessing metrics, it forces you to sit down and do the math about your business goals and how to realistically fulfill them. When you look at your growth outcomes, you can delve further to determine what it will take to get to those numbers.
Bryant offered the following example: “Need $100,000 in revenue? How many sales is that? If 10, what’s your close rate? Let’s say 10 percent from lead to closed deal. Now you have a metric to start with — to get to 10 sales, we need 100 leads. Where will they come from, and what strategies will you use? The plan helps you put it all on paper so you can map out resources and tactics later with a lot of preparation and realism,” said Bryant.
When analyzing outcomes and resources, you can save time and avoid scope creep by focusing only on strategies that are relevant to your marketing plan. A marketing plan helps you think realistically about your strategies, gets your stakeholders on the same page, and holds your marketing team accountable for their decisions.
“When everyone’s tasks and goals are laid out for the stakeholders and company partners to see, it is much easier for the entire team to feel at ease about reaching sales goals and allowing the marketing team the space and freedom needed to execute work without constant supervision,” said Cassady Dill, digital marketing consultant and owner of Ethos Agency.
Additionally, Dill said a marketing plan should be easily understood by your entire team, executives and outside departments. Your plan should also serve as an easy guide for future marketing managers and team members to understand and implement.
A marketing plan should be customized to fit your business; however, Dill said, all marketing plans contain five essential functions:
We broke down those five functions into 10 actionable categories to help you create a marketing plan that is unique and effective for your business.
The executive summary is a great place to give the reader of your plan an overview of your business’s mission or goals, as well as the marketing strategy you’re looking to employ. An executive summary is often written after you’ve completed the rest of the marketing plan, to ensure it covers all the important elements of your plan. If the executive summary is the only part of your marketing plan that someone reads (which is highly possible), you want to be sure they understand the most crucial details.
The mission statement , not to be confused with a vision statement, is a statement that encompasses your company’s values and how they relate to your overall goals as an organization. Here are some good questions to get you thinking:
Identifying your target market is one of the most important parts of your marketing plan. Without a defined target audience, your marketing expenses will be wasted. Think of it like this: Some people need your service or product but don’t know it exists yet. Who are those people?
Here are some other questions to help you brainstorm your target market :
In this section, don’t just list what your product or service is. Think critically about what you have to offer your customers and what that value proposition means to them.
At this point in your report, you should transition your thinking into actual marketing theory and practices. Distribution channels are the avenues you’ll use to reach a prospective customer or business . Think of all current and potential sales channels on which your specific target audience is active. One distribution channel that works great for one organization may be useless to another. For example, one company may host their website for free on a site like HubSpot and solely rely on that as their sales channel, while another company may have a whole team of people using Pinterest to drive sales. [Learn how CRM systems can help track your marketing leads based on various distribution channels.]
Examples of sales channels include the following:
One of the major aspects of your marketing plan is developing your unique selling proposition (USP). A USP is a feature or stance that separates your product or service from competitors. Finding your USP is all about differentiation and distinguishing your company as a sole proprietor of one type of good or service. Conduct a competitive analysis to identify your competitive profile and how you stack up against the competition. It is important to remain unbiased when conducting this analysis.
Here are some ideas to consider:
Consider pricing when drafting your marketing plan. Developing the right pricing strategy helps you better market your product. Think about your current and projected finances when developing a long-term marketing strategy that is realistic and beneficial for your business. Here are some key questions to ask yourself about your pricing:
Consider your objectives when developing a marketing plan. This aspect of your plan should involve specific goals related to market penetration and revenue targets. Be sure to keep your marketing objectives on-brand with your business. Here are some things to consider:
With all of the above items outlined, determine what steps need to be taken to enact your marketing plan. This includes determining the proper steps, setting goals, breaking down responsibilities, and establishing an overall timeline.
It’s also important to brainstorm potential roadblocks your business could face and some solutions to overcome them. Your research is useless if you don’t have an actionable plan that can be realistically implemented to carry out your ideas.
This last step allows you to establish a realistic marketing budget and better understand your marketing plan from a cost perspective. In addition to setting a budget, consider the overall return on investment as well. Here are some other financial projections to consider:
The internet is full of useful tools, including paid and free marketing plan templates, to help you build a successful marketing plan .
Whether you are looking for a free template generator to build a new marketing plan or a benchmarking tool to evaluate your current strategies, several great resources are available. Keep in mind that the best marketing plan for your business will be a customized one.
“Ultimately, you should design a marketing plan that best serves the needs of your team as you see fit,” said Dill. “Don’t force yourself into a plan that doesn’t fit your team. Use templates to shorten the workload time, but then adjust it for a more custom plan.”
Here are some tools and templates to get you started:
When creating an effective marketing plan, you need to avoid falling for common missteps and mistakes. For starters, failing to identify any of the 10 actionable categories above is an obvious mistake.
Here are some other key mistakes to avoid:
Avoiding these mistakes and missteps can help you create a more effective and successful marketing plan that drives results for your business.
Before you dive into marketing plan templates, it’s important to understand how to think about a marketing plan.
A good marketing plan targets who your buyers are, establishes the service or product you are offering, and determines your unique selling proposition. From here, you will tackle the marketing planning process and develop the best way to get your product in front of buyers who want your product or service.
Dill created a simple four-step process for how small businesses can take action with creating a marketing plan.
In addition to drafting your own plan, you can work with a digital marketing agency or use internet marketing and pay-per-click management services to leverage your online presence.
Once you’ve established a general road map, update it annually. Developing an evolving marketing plan sets your business up for continued success because it allows you to prepare for the unexpected and establish a connection between your brand and your audience.
Matt D’Angelo contributed to this article. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.
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A marketing plan is a bit like a job description for your company. Everyone should have one, but they’re often not fit for purpose, out of date, and reviewed infrequently...
Research has shown that businesses with plans succeed, outperform competitors, and retain staff, more than those with no plan.
Without a plan there’s no direction for the company or its employees, decisions can be uninformed, opportunities can be missed and threats can damage or destroy the business.
Whether you are looking at creating a traditional marketing plan or a multichannel digital marketing plan, we've got resources to help you.
In this article, Annmarie Hanlon recommends 7 simple steps for structuring a classic marketing plan. But for an SME or SMB, you need a little more detail about prioritizing your investment of time and money in your communications channels as we've mentioned.
Our Free marketing plan template download , by our co-founder Dr. Dave Chaffey who developed the RACE Planning Framework, provides a little more detail needed for a 'real-world' plan to grow a business.
Free marketing plan template download
Use our simple three-page Microsoft Word template if you work for a small business who needs to create a simple, practical marketing plan quickly. It's structured in three sections of steps using the acclaimed RACE Growth System for improving marketing results
Access the Free marketing plan template
A marketing plan is your place to document the process of defining and implementing your marketing strategy and creating a roadmap for future growth and business development. A marketing plan should be customer-centred, focused on your target audience and the value propositions you will deliver to them.
The key element of marketing strategy within the plan that you need to compete effectively is the Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning strategy for your brand, known as STP for short. These stages in target marketing strategy development that should be central in your marketing plan are summarized in Figure 4.10 in Digital Marketing: Strategy, Development and Planning created by Dave Chaffey of Smart Insights.
Your plan must reference Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning as essential sections you must cover in a classic marketing plan for a large business. However, for smaller businesses, you also need more practical strategies for how you will reach and engage your audiences using the key digital marketing channels today including search, social media and email marketing and then how you will persuade and convert your audience on a website or on your social pages. So, for a small or medium business (SME or SMB depending on where you are reading) your marketing plan must also include communications strategies to help you achieve your goals. That's why Smart Insights created the RACE planning framework to give guidance on how to best plan and action best practices for these channels.
To structure your marketing plan, we recommend utilizing the Smart Insights RACE Growth System, an easy-to-use strategic marketing framework that helps you identify opportunities, strategies, and actions to help you drive growth, at each stage of your marketing funnel.
As the visual shows, our OSA process, of which you can see examples in different sectors in our editable Word plan templates, is structured in three parts:
As a marketer, every activity will fall into either an opportunity, strategy, or action. With a strong marketing plan in place, you will be able to measure each of these elements, and more importantly, ensure all marketing activities remain integrated.
Some marketing plans, such as this Chartered Institute of Marketing recommendation on How to write a marketing plan define more stages, but particularly for smaller businesses we believe the simpler Opportunity > Strategy > Action enables you to communicate your plan better!
Let's now look at what you need to include in your plan, starting with your opportunities. A marketing plan is not just a list of activities to work on! To identify the opportunities to prioritize and challenges to overcome. You need to start with internal audits, external analysis, and goal setting - to give your marketing a purpose. We recommend summarizing your key issues based on a TOWs analysis which is a powerful form of SWOT analysis explained in our post giving SWOT analysis template examples .
Through our RACE Planning Framework, you can access tools and templates designed to help you optimize across 25 opportunities, integrated across each stage of RACE, which you can see in the infographic below:
Starting with these holistic approaches, you will quickly identify opportunities for growth and can plan strategies and actions that help you achieve your vision for your business. That's why opportunities are the first step in our OSA cycle.
Now you know what you want to do, strategy is working out how to achieve your goals in an efficient and effective manner. To do so, you'll likely lean on guides, templates, and models to inform your strategy.
Making good business decisions to inform your budgets, investment priorities, and key metrics are all elements of a successful marketing strategy.
Of course, the final stage of any marketing strategy is putting it all into place!
To help you manage your time and marketing outputs, our RACE Growth System is structured around short 90-day planning cycles. This means you will see quarterly growth, as well as setting longer-term annual goals.
Quarterly measurement and reporting allow marketers and business owners to spot trends and make optimizations in a shorter timeframe too, to keep cycling customers through your dedicated marketing funnel experience.
It can be daunting to develop a marketing plan for the first time, so let's walk through the basics together. If you're looking for a practical, simple, data-driven marketing plan, these 7 factors will help you create and action your plan with success.
A good plan starts by asking 'Where are we now?'. Gain an overview via your customers, but don’t forget to ask the right questions. One of my pet hates is the ‘hypothetical question’ e.g. A hotel asking “if you would stay here again?” It’s possible you would stay there again, but if it’s been a one-off visit it’s very unlikely it will actually happen. Removing hypothetical questions ensures you capture facts, not fiction.
If you’ve got a start-up business or are looking at a marketing plan for a totally new area, many other research resources are available including online reports, insights via trends and conferences. This informs your business decision and ensures the plan is fundamentally sound.
After you’ve captured customer insights, the next step is a comprehensive review or audit of the business. Most countries publish statistical data on businesses in their region. This can tell you the number of businesses in specific sectors, average numbers of employees, average earnings, average income per household and more. This valuable information highlights market values, market potential and opportunities. This enables you to understand where your business sits in its market sector and the market share available.
A key element of the audit is the SWOT and whilst you and many marketers are familiar with the SWOT analysis, you may be less familiar with the McKinsey 7S framework of business. Taking a holistic look at the business, thinking about Strategy, Structure, Systems, Staff, Style, Skills and Shared values forms a base for your SWOT. Business members can access a 7S and SWOT template in the smart insigths Business marketing plan guide .
Part of a marketing audit is competitor benchmarking. Really understanding what the competitors offer. The more you understand how they work, the more likely you are to be able to predict their next move. You won’t be one of these companies that says “we never saw it coming”. Tools such as Google Alerts help you embed this as an automatic ongoing process.
One of my clients ensured they always got the early news on their key competitor by buying some of their shares! It meant they had access to latest reports, and newsletters and could attend annual meetings to hear what other shareholders thought. This was all for an investment of £150.
It’s easy to create general objectives; it’s harder to develop SMART objectives.
Taking this one stage further, businesses that use numbers alone often miss key values inside the business. It’s easy to become numbers-driven; it’s harder to create ‘softer’ objectives. In Emarketing Excellence (2022), Dave Chaffey and PR Smith developed the 5s model, initially as a mechanism for reviewing websites. I’ve used this for many years to develop business objectives. It tends to challenge the thinking within a business and gets the owners and managers considering the business as a whole, rather than sales alone.
Look at your business. Do you have SMART objectives for:
Key strategic initiatives for your business will include one or more of these options:
When you know the strategic initiatives the business is taking, it’s easier to segment your customer base, whether you’re B2B, B2C or a blend of both. You can use the mnemonic SUPERB to identify your customer segments:
Growing a business always involves finding new customers, this may be different segments or markets and may encourage your business to look at product development.
What opportunities are there in your business to:
Pricing is a critical area in any business. Kotler (1988) described nine marketing mix strategies on price quality, which we look at in detail in the Business marketing plan guide for Business members, to support your pricing strategy development.
A pricing matrix is a really useful tool for product marketers or managers because it helps you identify opportunities within your product and pricing strategies. Don't forget to research which of these strategies are your main competitors using too and make sure to use key messages to help differentiate yourself.
The key to making it happen is to create a detailed marketing action plan. If you don’t have time to conduct each step yourself, you can explore other options and contract out specific tasks to an external consultant or agency.
I have found that an Action Plan that includes more detail, nominates someone to do the work and sets dates by when it should be completed, is more likely to get done than a loose set of instructions. A good action plan becomes ’work instructions’ for different people.
Busy marketing managers may enlist support from the admin team who often relish the opportunity to carry out new tasks, as long as they have a detailed brief. Or for more specialized work, marketing managers may wish to enlist an Agency.
The final step is about monitoring action, managing the process and measuring results. The 7 steps to make your plan happen are:
As the world of digital marketing continues to develop, many find that particular functions within marketing require their own planning document. See examples of where this may be useful below:
But, remember, it is recommended to define one flagship plan for the whole team, for governance and accountability, before branching out into secondary planning.
One final tip; set a start and an end date for creating and launching the marketing plan , if not, the audit stage could continue indefinitely! Download your free guide and get started today.
Use our simple three-page Microsoft Word template if you work for a small business who needs to quickly create a simple, practical marketing plan quickly. It's structured in three sections of steps using the acclaimed RACE Growth System for improving marketing results
By Annmarie Hanlon
Annmarie Hanlon PhD is an academic and practitioner in strategic digital marketing and the application of social media for business. Dr Hanlon has expertise in the strategic application of social media for business and the move from digitization, to digitalization and digital transformation for business. Her expertise spans consumer touch points, online customer service, the use of reviews, the role of influencers, online engagement and digital content. You can follow her update on Twitter https://twitter.com/annmariehanlon
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A marketing plan in business plan is one of the very important sections of a business plan. Marketing is done to spread awareness about your business and its product/service.
An effective marketing strategy helps you achieve early success.
Use this article to write an effective marketing plan section in a business plan.
A marketing section of a business plan gives you a roadmap to organize, execute and track the progress of your marketing efforts.
Your marketing plan helps you align your marketing efforts with your business goals. It gives your marketing effort a direction and you can evaluate your efforts at any point.
A perfect type of marketing plan in business plan will depend on your business, your goals, and how soon you want to achieve them.
We have outlined some marketing plans that most businesses need to use. Since this is the age of the internet, we have also included online marketing plans and digital marketing plans.
Hire our professional business plan writers to prepare your business plan!
These are your business marketing plans with a timeline. Every business has its quarterly, bi-yearly, and yearly goals. You will use these goals to monitor the effectiveness of your marketing efforts over time.
Paid marketing plans include online advertising, buying billboards, or marketing on vehicles. Pay Per Click marketing and social media marketing for your small business.
Social media marketing plan for business plan can be done in two ways. You can hire a team and raise awareness about your business by sharing regular updates.
You can also do paid marketing on social media. You will need to invest in buying ads on that social media platform and pay for a team of social media marketers.
You can also leverage these effective digital marketing channels for your business.
A content marketing plan is about attracting potential customers to your website with the help of SEO. You create value for your potential customer first and then by extension, market your business. It can be offline in the form of free workshops etc or online in the form of guides and resources.
A product lunch sales and marketing plan in business plan will help you decide on the marketing tools, tactics, and tracking you will do when launching a new product or service.
You can also hire WiseBusinessPlans Digital Marketing Services to run successful marketing campaigns for your business.
The difference between a marketing plan and a marketing strategy is simple; a marketing plan is what methods, tools, and tactics you will use for marketing, and a market strategy in business plan is how you will implement your plan.
Learn how to develop an effective marketing strategy with this detailed guide.
How to write a marketing plan for a business plan.
Follow these simple steps to write a marketing plan in business plan.
Write your business mission statement and translate it into the efforts the marketing department will make.
For example, your business mission is to help people with home gardening. Your marketing department version will be to attract people who want to do home gardening.
These are performance indicators. These metrics will help you evaluate performance and progress. An example of KPIs for marketing is customer visits to your website, social media page, or brick-and-mortar store.
A buyer persona is a short description of your average customer. When you have no data, a buyer persona will describe the customer you want to attract.
Go through the marketing strategies you can use and select the one that will produce the best return on investment for your business.
Similarly, think about the content type that is attractive to your target audience . For example, video format may attract your audience or you may need to share more about your business on social media to grab their attention.
Define the scope and limits of your marketing plan. Clearly mention what your marketing team will do and will not do.
This will help you save time, cost, and effort in wasted resources.
You can only spend a set amount on marketing. Set your marketing budget and be creative in that budget to produce the best return.
Your budget is directly related to your marketing goals. Set your marketing budget in a way that does not hamper marketing efforts.
Knowing and profiling your customer helps you market better. See what are strong spots of competitors’ marketing plans, are and how they are attracting audiences to make a plan to compete effectively.
Decide on job roles for your team. Set their KPIs, marketing channels they will manage, what content they will create, etc.
Bonus Tip: Here is a step by step guide on how to write a marketing plan executive summary with example and template.
See this example of a marketing plan in a business plan to understand how it is done. You can create your marketing plan in the same way.
In the marketing plan section, include details about your target market, competition analysis, marketing strategies, pricing, promotion, and distribution channels. It should outline your approach to reaching and engaging your target audience.
Conduct market research by analyzing your target audience, understanding their needs and preferences, studying your competitors, and identifying market trends. Use surveys, interviews, and industry reports to gather relevant data for your marketing plan.
Consider including a mix of marketing strategies such as digital marketing, social media marketing, content marketing, email marketing, advertising, public relations, and networking. Choose strategies that align with your target audience and business goals.
Determine pricing by considering factors such as production costs, competitor pricing, market demand, and perceived value. Conduct a pricing analysis to ensure your prices are competitive and profitable for your business.
It is recommended to review and update your marketing plan regularly, at least annually or whenever there are significant changes in your business or market conditions. This allows you to adapt your strategies, stay relevant, and capitalize on new opportunities.
Related posts.
Quick links.
How to write a marketing plan.
President of the Bradford Dalton Group , Jeff is a former journalist with 30+ years of experience as a public relations professional.
Ready to reinvigorate your marketing? First, you need a plan. In this article, I’ll outline how to create a marketing plan for your business.
It is important to know what other people besides you think about your company, so spend some time before writing your marketing plan talking to employees, customers, shareholders and community members — anyone who is touched by your company. Probe to find out what they truly think and how they feel about the company. This cache of valuable information will form the basis for the SWOT analysis portion of your marketing plan.
Competitive Analysis
During your research, be sure to ask people who they think your competitors are, and how your company stacks up against them. Then, to learn more, conduct secondary research by carefully reviewing competitors’ websites and reviewing any news coverage about them. Then, use a website like Semrush or Ahrefs to find out how well their websites perform: how many keywords they rank for, how many visitors they attract per month, what their authority score is, etc. Throughout this research, look for ways in which your company is similar to and different from competitors. Rank them from most to least competitive.
SWOT Analysis
You can’t get where you want to go if you don’t know where you are. That’s why you want to start writing your marketing plan with an analysis of your internal situation (your company’s strengths and weaknesses) and the external situation in which you operate (the opportunities and threats in the marketplace). Mine the research you conducted, as well as your own insights, for this information. Be brutally honest. This is the basis for your entire marketing plan, so if you lie to yourself here, your marketing plan will likely be ineffective.
The goals section of your marketing plan clearly lays out how you want your business to be different after the marketing plan has been carried out. And make sure they are SMART goals — specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound — so you’ll be able to clearly know whether or not they were met. For example, a SMART goal would be: “Increase annual sales by 10% by the end of the year.”
Objectives are the milestones you must hit in order to achieve your goals. Unlike goals, which are strategic — meaning that they bear directly on the success of your company — objectives are more tactical and generally pertain to the implementation of marketing tactics. For example, an objective might be: “To reach 5,000 sales prospects with an email campaign that has an open rate of at least 30% and a click-through rate of 5%.”
Target Markets
In this section of the plan, specify whom you intend to reach through your marketing efforts. Generally, this is your customers and prospective customers, but it could also be employees and prospective employees, if the goal is to find qualified job candidates, or community and government leaders, if you are seeking to deal with burdensome regulations or disgruntled factions of the community.
The message is what you want members of the target markets to know about your company in order to cause the behavior you are seeking, such as buying your product or service. Generally, the message is some form of the company’s unique selling proposition, or USP, which states the unique benefits your company offers and thus the reason for doing business with you instead of your competitors.
Tactics are the heart of a marketing plan — these are what you will actually do and how you will do it. The key is selecting the tactics that are most appropriate for your business and the goals you want to achieve. Selecting the best tactics generally requires the assistance of an experienced marketing professional.
Here’s a fairly exhaustive list of marketing tactics: awards and professional recognition; blogging; case studies and white papers; collateral such as brochures, flyers, sales sheets, etc.; digital advertising such as pay per click, banner ads, affiliate marketing, websites and remarketing; direct mail; email marketing; events including parties, seminars and panel discussions, and product and service announcements; inbound marketing; infographics; your logo and branding; native advertising and advertorials; promotions and contests; publicity; search engine optimization; speaking engagements; specialty advertising and swag; strategic partnerships; surveys; telemarketing; trade shows; traditional television and print advertising; videos; webinars; and word-of-mouth marketing.
Generally a month-by-month schedule of what will happen, a timeline lays out when each tactic will be deployed and for how long, and which tactics will run simultaneously in order to enhance their overall effectiveness.
In the budget section of your marketing plan, delineate how much money you will allocate for each marketing tactic.
It is possible, of course, to market without a plan — your marketing is just not likely to be effective without one. Unfortunately, the marketing efforts of many small businesses seem to largely be the result of sales efforts by advertising salespeople — that is, many business owners buy whatever they think is the best deal proffered by the local newspaper, radio station, television station or digital advertising agency. These totally unplanned, uncoordinated efforts can produce sporadic results, but usually not sustained growth. To get the most out of your marketing dollars, create a plan and stick to it.
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Written by: Mahnoor Sheikh
In this article, you'll find a step-by-step guide on how to create a marketing plan that will work for almost every kind of business. We've also included 20+ free marketing plan templates throughout the post to help you get started on the right foot.
Here's a short selection of 8 easy-to-edit marketing plan templates you can edit, share and download with Visme. View more below:
Want to skip the tutorial? Create your marketing plan right away with Visme. Use ready-made marketing plan templates , download them as a PDF or share online.
Better yet, use Visme's AI Document Generator to create a fully designed marketing plan that aligns with your content. Prompt the generator with what you’re looking for, choose one of the styles and let the AI do its magic. Afterward, you can customize and finalize as you wish.
What is a marketing plan, types of marketing plans, 10 marketing plan templates to get you started, why your business needs a marketing plan, how to create a marketing plan, marketing plan examples, marketing plan faqs.
A marketing plan is a roadmap that helps you set goals, understand your target audience and optimize the impact of your marketing campaigns.
In simple words, it helps you get a clearer view of the what, why and how of all your marketing activities.
A good marketing plan also helps you communicate the “big” strategy and the different tactics involved to your marketing team . Last but not least, it lets you track the success of your campaigns.
A marketing plan should ideally include:
Take a look at this one-page marketing plan template as an example.
Create your Marketing Plan with this easy-to-edit template! Edit and Download
If your plan is more detailed, you can also consider including:
A marketing plan is usually presented as a PDF document, but you can also whip up a more creative version of it. For example, you can create an infographic , presentation and even an interactive web page to share your plan.
Or you can create a single-page marketing plan similar to the one above.
Scroll down to the end of this post to access seven full marketing plan templates.
Marketing plans and business plans are both essential pieces of business strategy, but their purpose is different. The terms are often used interchangeably or together: marketing business plan. But each plan is different and here's what sets them apart.
Business plans cover a business's overall strategy, from the branding strategy to the company-wide marketing strategies. A marketing plan solely concentrates on a specific marketing strategy or a branch of the overall department.
For example, one marketing plan can be for digital marketing strategies, while another can be for billboards. Likewise, a marketing plan can be for a single campaign, covering all marketing channels.
A marketing strategy and a marketing plan are key pieces in the company’s marketing puzzle. However, they serve different purposes.
A marketing strategy is the overall framework guiding a company's marketing efforts. It outlines how your organization will position itself in the market, target ideal customers, and create value for them. A marketing strategy is often long-term and forms the foundation for all your marketing activities.
A marketing plan is a detailed roadmap for organizing, executing and tracking your marketing strategy within a specific timeframe. It provides a step-by-step guide for achieving specific objectives, such as increasing sales, improving brand awareness, or entering new markets.
Simply put, a marketing plan translates your strategy into actionable steps with timelines for implementation and metrics for measuring success.
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Just as there are several types of marketing strategies, there are numerous types of marketing plans. Let’s take a look at some of them.
Quarterly and annual marketing plans are high-level plans for all the marketing activities that will happen in the next quarter or year. From this overarching plan, your team will create smaller, more detailed plans according to specific strategies. These could be daily, weekly or monthly marketing plans.
Social media marketing plans highlight the goal and objective of a brand’s activities on social media that are geared toward marketing. This plan includes campaign information, repurposing guidelines across social media channels and who’s in the social media team.
A content marketing plan outlines all the content pillars for the brand and what content types need to be created for each pillar. Any content marketing strategies planned out for the brand’s content are detailed in the plan, along with a roadmap and goals.
In a new product launch plan, the pages lay out all the steps toward a successful launch. Separated into pre-launch, launch and post-launch, the different teams will know what they need to do to complete the plan’s objectives.
Growth marketing plans are specifically geared toward brand growth. This plan document lays out all the strategies to undertake in order to grow the brand name online, locally or some other way.
Influencer marketing plans concentrate on outlining all steps to implement an influencer strategy. Sections include the list of potential or chosen influencers and what will be asked and expected of them to reach the plan’s goals.
A market penetration marketing plan highlights all the activities involved in marketing existing products to existing customers.
This marketing strategy is considered the most popular in business models. Some examples include discounts on favorite products or new features and updates.
In market development plans, existing products are marketed to new customers and niches. These strategies focus on business objectives like developing distribution channels and increasing brand awareness.
Product development plans outline the activities dealing with marketing new products to existing customers. These marketing plans include examples such as product launches and market insertion plans.
In diversification, marketing plans focus on strategies to launch and promote new products or services to new markets and customers. These marketing plans are on the ambitious side.
Need help putting together a full marketing plan?
Here is our handpicked collection of 10 marketing plan templates for various types of businesses.
Pick the one that best fits your industry and start customizing it in the Visme editor right away. Replace the colors, fonts, text, images, icons and more with a few clicks. Use the dynamic fields option to edit repeating content across slides and create more efficient templates for your team with custom dynamic fields.
You can also tap into a free library of stock photos and add animated characters, illustrations and gestures for advanced customization.
If you’re still on the fence about using Visme for your marketing plans, look at what one of our users has to say:
“I feel that for anyone who wants to improve efficiency and effectiveness at the workplace, VISME gives you the extra edge to take things forward.
It's an apt tool for quickly converting your thought process into a unique communication.” - Autumn | Finance Manager
This tailored marketing plan template is perfect for all kinds of real estate and property businesses, complete with a professional “About” section and SWOT analysis.
It has a modern feel to it with a clean layout and corporate color scheme. You can easily switch it out for your own brand colors if you want.
A good social media strategy needs a marketing plan of its own, which is why this template is a must-have for any business trying to win at this game.
Customize this social media marketing plan template to lay out your goals for the next year or quarter, and outline the key points of your strategy for each social channel.
Add a dose of interactivity by creating a clickable menu or building an interactive table of contents. Interactive plans make a positive impression on team members and stakeholders, improving work satisfaction and productivity.
Create your Marketing Plan with this easy-to-edit template. Edit and Download
Create an actionable marketing plan covering your digital channels with this detailed template.
This digital marketing plan has a classy design and layout, and features key headings like an executive summary, a SWOT analysis, key performance indicators and even a nice table of contents.
Creating an effective product marketing plan requires in-depth research of your target market, company strengths and weaknesses, as well as an effective marketing plan design.
This product marketing plan template covers all those basics, along with a detailed budget planner that you can edit with your own financial data.
Hiring someone to help build a powerful personal brand?
This personal marketing plan example is perfect for that purpose. It’s a simple, three-page document with a professional resume detailing skills and experience, followed by a goals page.
This marketing plan presentation template is a great way to share your marketing goals, SWOT, strategy, timeline, deliverables and more with your team and the management.
You can easily get the slides printed later and share the copies with your team. Edit this marketing plan presentation online in Visme and create a slideshow that's powerful and effective.
Here is another marketing plan presentation template you can use. This presentation template is especially relevant and useful if you're in the retail business.
Customize this marketing plan template online and download it in PDF or PowerPoint format, or save the slides separately in image format. You can also present this presentation online using a link — no downloads needed!
Designing a marketing plan doesn’t have to be daunting. With this template, you can create a comprehensive marketing plan for your food business, whether it’s a small cafe, a big fancy restaurant or a fast food joint.
This marketing plan example features stock photos of food that you can replace with your own. Additionally, you can edit any images with the AI Edit Tools to remove backgrounds or unwanted objects or upscale/unblur less than perfect photos.
This template also has a versatile design that can be tailored to your own brand style and even an entirely different industry.
Content is a key element of inbound marketing. This content marketing plan template is carefully designed to match the needs of SaaS and other businesses that want to focus on taking their content strategy to the next level.
If your marketing goals are to drive traffic, generate leads and grow sales through publishing insightful content , this marketing plan will help you organize your editorial calendar.
Take advantage of the fact that you’re already logged in to Visme, and use the resources at your disposal to execute a content marketing plan.
Design blog graphics, infographic visuals, social media content and videos right inside your Visme editor. Share and schedule posts to social media directly from the integrated social media calendar .
If you're not looking to create a detailed or formal document with several pages, this to-the-point marketing plan infographic template is a great pick.
It's a quick way to share the marketing plan for a one-off project and contains all the necessary details.
I’ve already mentioned how a marketing plan can help you better understand your company’s marketing goals and how to achieve them, but that’s not where the benefits end.
A well-researched marketing plan can help you:
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There’s no one way of creating a marketing plan, but there are some key components that should go inside a winning one. Follow the steps below to create an effective marketing plan.
The executive summary usually goes at the beginning of your marketing plan. It’s basically a short summary or brief overview of your company and the key takeaways from the entire marketing plan.
Here’s an executive summary template you can edit and use for your own business.
The template above is a great example of an executive summary that highlights the key function of a business and the purpose of its marketing plan.
You can also include company achievements and future plans for your business in your summary.
Remember, your executive summary should be concise and to the point. Instead of boring your readers to sleep, it should grab their attention and get them excited about the rest of the plan.
Before you dive into all the marketing stuff, it’s a good idea to revisit your company’s values, vision and mission. This helps put all the information inside your marketing plan into perspective.
It answers the question of why you’re doing what you’re doing.
Here’s a neat mission, vision and values template to edit and use.
For anyone who reads your marketing plan, this section is important to educate them about the ultimate aim of your business so they can make better sense of your marketing goals, activities and future plans.
The next step is to build a marketing plan is back it up with solid research.
This is often achieved by analyzing your current market situation with a market analysis , by studying your competition and most importantly, looking into your own company’s strengths and weaknesses.
Here’s a market share template that can help you visualize that information and share it with your colleagues and stakeholders.
You can customize this template according to your own brand colors and input your own information. Use it on its own as part of a marketing plan or in a report or presentation .
Here’s another cool design to help you present your market research. Use this SWOT analysis template to highlight your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
Instead of adding a boring table that no one wants to read, use a well-designed SWOT like the one above to draw attention to your research.
Here's another worksheet-style SWOT analysis template that you can print out and fill, or edit using Visme before adding to your marketing plan document or presentation.
You can also conduct a SWOT analysis of your competitors, which takes us to another key component of your market research — the competitor analysis .
Studying your competition is crucial to the success of your business. You need to know what they’re doing, what’s working for them and how you can do it better.
Here are a few things to research about your competitors:
Here's a competitive analysis template you can use and add to your marketing plan.
A template like the one above can help you organize and visualize important information about your competitors. In turn, this can help you identify opportunities and set goals.
Differentiating the target audience and the target market will help you better understand the position of your business within the market. Therefore, it’s important to identify who your buyer or ideal customer is so you can create more informed and tailored marketing strategies.
Naturally, the target customer for every business is different. But the goal is the same — to increase customer awareness.
You may also have more than one kind of customer. For example, a clothing store could be making products for both teens and older women at the same time.
Check out this target audience template to visualize your various customer segments. Use it to better understand your potential customers' attitudes and habits.
You can edit this template and use it as part of your marketing plan layout or presentation. It’s a great way to present the different types of your audience in a way that’s easy to understand.
The pie chart helps identify which chunk makes the bigger part of your customer base so you can focus most of your marketing efforts in that area.
If you’re looking for a more creative approach, take a look at the buyer persona template below.
This infographic template is a fun way to visualize your buyer’s demographic details, habits and goals, i.e., whether they're interested in online learning options like digital marketing courses or if they prefer in-person.
Another cool way to create a customer persona is to design it like a resume . This is useful for adding more information in one page without cluttering up the design.
Here’s a resume-style customer persona template you can edit.
This type of buyer persona design makes use of icons and data widgets , like progress bars.
In the end, the goal of creating a buyer persona is to better organize and understand key information about your customer. Use the template that works best for your business.
In this part of the marketing plan, you need to specify what you aim to achieve.
Outline your marketing goals and objectives, and make sure you use actual numbers instead of writing vague statements.
For example, if your goal is to increase website traffic , mention the exact target so you can track to see if you achieved it or not.
Here’s a marketing goals template you can use as part of your marketing plan.
Remember to create SMART goals for your marketing plan and strategy. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound.
In the template above, notice how the target is defined as a percentage. You can also add a deadline to your marketing goal to make it time-bound.
If you want to share your marketing goals in an infographic format, here’s another template you can edit and use for your own company.
The template above is a more detailed goals infographic with three different phases, which makes it ideal for SaaS companies and mobile apps.
Now comes the good stuff. In this step, write down one or more marketing strategies and the tactics to execute for each one. Make sure you include:
This is best presented visually so the entire team can understand each step. You can divide your activities into stages, and present them using a marketing strategy template like the one below.
Another way to present your marketing strategy is by attaching deadlines to it. This can be easily done using a timeline or a Gantt chart .
Another way to present your marketing strategy is with the help of a roadmap. A roadmap outlines the tactics involved in your overall marketing strategy, and can be designed to look similar to a Gantt chart.
Here's a marketing roadmap template you can use for your own business.
If you want to do things differently, you can also use an infographic to visualize your marketing strategy.
An infographic is eye-catching and can be added to any of your presentations and reports. You can even share it on its own with your marketing team or other colleagues.
Here’s a marketing infographic template that divides your execution strategy into four phases.
Customize this template and make it your own! Edit and Download
Another way to visualize your marketing strategy is with the help of a mind map. Mind maps are great for providing your team with an overview of the different elements that are involved in your marketing strategy.
Here's a mind map template that shows how this can be done for a Twitter content marketing strategy.
You can easily build mind maps using our mind map maker .
Keep in mind that your marketing strategy should be actionable and detailed. Explain each step clearly and don’t leave out any information just for the sake of design.
Last but not least, detail your marketing budget considerations in your marketing plan.
This is important so you don’t lose sight of the financial aspect of things during execution and implementation. After all, marketing is costly and there are tons of hidden expenses involved. You need a budget template to lay out your financial projections.
Here’s an editable marketing budget template you can use.
Including a detailed marketing budget also helps in hiring the right staff and choosing between paid resources so you don’t exceed a certain amount.
You’re probably wondering: What does a marketing plan look like? In this section, we’ll share 5 real-life examples of marketing plans from companies.
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This marketing plan is an example of how to create a well-structured and eye-catching marketing plan. The plan has a sophisticated design adorned with captivating images and a rich blend of bright colors.
The proposed marketing plan starts with a situational analysis and review of the previous year. The following pages take a deep dive into key sections, like
Each of the different marketing strategies has individual goals, strategies and detailed plans of action. Additionally, the plan features a comprehensive event calendar and evaluation criteria. This makes it easier for the marketing team to stay organized, implement and track progress.
If you're looking for a template for a marketing plan that will be presented to internal stakeholders at all levels of your organization, this is a perfect example. Although created by a non-profit, it can be adapted for startups and growing businesses.
This comprehensive plan includes everything you need to get started, from SMART marketing goals and deadlines to action steps, long-term objectives, target audiences, core marketing messages and metrics.
This marketing plan example follows a simple format. The content is mostly presented in a list and tabular format, making it well-organized and easy to scan. Readers quickly grasp the organization's strategic direction for its upcoming marketing initiatives.
This detailed marketing plan example is encased in a document format with a bold, eye-catching design. The stunning image and energetic orange color on the cover page immediately grab attention and communicate the brand's dynamic personality. This comprehensive market plan example from the University of Illinois has three key sections.
We love that the plan effectively dissects the high-level components of its overall strategy and pairs them with concrete, actionable marketing tactics. Another standout feature is that the pages are filled with compelling visuals, engaging copy and informative graphs and maps that convey their strategic vision and roadmap for marketing efforts.
One of the standout features of the plan is its ease of readability. The sections are clearly organized, allowing readers to quickly scan and identify the most relevant information. It contains key sections, including partners, goals and marketing initiatives—attraction, retention and community relations.
Additionally, the plan offers a thorough breakdown of projected costs per marketing initiative, a crucial detail for upper-level management and stakeholders. This feature makes it easier for decision-makers to understand the financial implications of the proposed plan and allocate resources accordingly.
Overall, Wright County Economic Development's plan serves as a valuable example for marketers looking to develop a practical and effective marketing plan.
Being a leisure and lifestyle business, Visit Oxnard infuses captivating designs and vibrant photos that showcase the beauty and excitement of landscapes, landmarks, adventure and resorts. Their innovative plan puts a spin on traditional tourism marketing by focusing on the business side of travel.
This marketing plan example begins with a marketing plan overview, company overview, mission, and goals. Then it dives deeper into the framework and approach the company will take to continue on a positive path forward to economic recovery and growth. Other key sections highlighted in the plan include
This approach by Visit Oxnard demonstrates how creating actionable marketing plans can help forward-thinking companies capitalize on untapped opportunities.
Still not convinced about the use of marketing plans for your business? Here are some frequently asked questions that can help you make a final decision.
A marketing plan template is a customizable document with placeholder content that can help you get started quickly. Creating a marketing plan from scratch takes too much time. Using a template not only sets up you for faster designing but it also inspires creativity.
Beautiful internal communications inspire delight in coworkers, making it more enjoyable to check off lists and follow processes. Marketing plans on plain white documents just get lost in email threads. Visme marketing plan templates are the solution.
The executive summary in a marketing plan is a superpowered table of contents. In an executive summary page or slide, you share the notable points to be discussed in the subsequent content of the plan in question. An executive summary is comparable to the Quick Read section at the top of our articles.
A top-down marketing strategy is a traditional strategy with a broad target and brand messaging. Think of the marketing funnel and how at the top it’s wide open. Top down marketing strategies work up there, catching as many people as possible with a message that appeals to a wide audience.
A bottom-up marketing strategy is a targeted strategy for a product or service that meets the needs of a specific audience. Bottom-up marketing strategies are more common in small businesses and startups that don’t yet have large audiences.
The 4C’s of marketing are:
These four are called the "marketing mix. Another marketing mix you should know is the 4 Ps or the Four Principles of Marketing .
For a marketing plan to be good, it doesn’t take much. But for a marketing plan to be great, make sure you check off this checklist:
The most important part of a marketing plan is the targeted consumer, specifically their needs and wants. The entirety of your marketing plan serves the purpose of how your company will use marketing strategies to sell solutions to the customer.
With Visme, you can create marketing plans collaboratively in a number of ways. Brainstorm and strategize the plan together in the infinite whiteboard and then design together in the editor. The Visme whiteboard can have multiple pages to control brainstorming iterations and organize meeting results.
Invite members to the whiteboard or workspace by clicking the person+ icon on the top right. They’ll need to have their own Visme account to access the editor or whiteboard you’re inviting them to.
You can also use the workflow feature to assign entire projects or specific tasks to different team members and work on a project together. Keep track of what’s being worked on, leave feedback comments and support each other through the process.
A marketing strategy is a document or plan that outlines how your organization will deal with market positioning, ICPs and other strategic aspects of a marketing scheme. They can be long- or short-term strategies that form the foundation of all marketing activities.
Marketing plans, on the other hand, are detailed roadmaps that organize how to execute and track a marketing strategy. They provide a guide to achieving the outlined objectives. Marketing plans turn your strategy into an actionable, step-by-step timeline and a foundation for measuring success.
For most businesses, operating without a solid marketing plan results in ineffective campaigns, reduced ROI and unexpected costs. And nobody wants that.
A custom marketing plan helps you align your marketing objectives and activities with your overall business goals and brings entire teams together on the same page.
Ready to create a professional marketing plan of your own? Get started from scratch or choose one of our marketing plan templates today.
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Mahnoor Sheikh is the content marketing manager at Visme. She has years of experience in content strategy and execution, SEO copywriting and graphic design. She is also the founder of MASH Content and is passionate about tea, kittens and traveling with her husband. Get in touch with her on LinkedIn .
A document that lays out the marketing efforts of a business in an upcoming period
A marketing plan is a document that lays out the marketing efforts of a business in an upcoming period, which is usually a year. It outlines the marketing strategy, promotional, and advertising activities planned for the period.
A marketing plan will typically include the following elements:
Marketing objectives of the business : The objectives should be attainable and measurable – two goals associated with SMART, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
Current business marketing positioning : An analysis of the current state of the organization concerning its marketing positioning.
Market research : Detailed research about current market trends, customer needs, industry sales volumes, and expected direction.
Outline of the business target market : Business target market demographics.
Marketing activities : A list of any actions concerning marketing goals that are scheduled for the period and the indicated timelines.
Key performance indicators (KPIs) to be tracked
Marketing mix : A combination of factors that may influence customers to purchase products. It should be appropriate for the organization and will largely be centered on the 4Ps of marketing – i.e., product, price, promotion, and place.
Competition : Identify the organization’s competitors and their strategies, along with ways to counter competition and gain market share .
Marketing strategies : The development of marketing strategies to be employed in the coming period. These strategies will include promotional strategies, advertising, and other marketing tools at the disposal of the organization.
Marketing budget : A detailed outline of the organization’s allocation of financial resources to marketing activities. The activities will need to be carried out within the marketing budget .
Monitoring and performance mechanism : A plan should be in place to identify if the marketing tools in place are bearing fruit or need to be revised based on the past, current, and expected future state of the organization, industry, and the overall business environment.
A marketing plan should observe the 80:20 rule – i.e., for maximum impact, it should focus on the 20% of products and services that account for 80% of volumes and the 20% of customers that bring in 80% of revenue.
The purpose of a marketing plan includes the following:
The structure of a marketing plan can include the following sections:
This section outlines the expected outcome of the marketing plan with clear, concise, realistic, and attainable objectives. It contains specific targets and time frames.
Metrics, such as target market share, the target number of customers to be attained, penetration rate, usage rate, sales volumes targeted, etc. should be used.
Market analysis includes topics such as market definition, market size, industry structure, market share and trends, and competitor analysis. Consumer analysis includes the target market demographics and what influences their buying decisions – e.g., loyalty, motivation, and expectations.
This defines the target customers by their demographic profile, such as gender, race, age, and psychographic profile, such as their interests. This will assist in the correct marketing mix for the target market segments.
A SWOT analysis will look at the organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis includes the following:
The marketing strategy section covers actual strategies to be included according to the marketing mix. The strategy centers on the 8Ps of marketing. However, firms are also at liberty to use the traditional 4 P’s of marketing – product, price, place, and promotion. The 8 P’s are illustrated below.
The correct marketing mix is determined by the target market. The most expensive options are advertising, sales promotions, and PR campaigns. Networking and referrals are less costly.
Marketers also need to pay attention to digital marketing strategies that make use of technology to reach a wider market and have also proven to be cost-effective.
Digital marketing channels, which became popular in the early 21 st century, may eventually overtake traditional marketing methods. Digital marketing encompasses trending methods, such as the use of social media for business.
Other strategies within the marketing strategy include pricing and positioning strategy, distribution strategy, conversion strategy, and retention strategy.
The marketing budget or projection outlines the budgeted expenditure for the marketing activities documented in the marketing plan. The marketing budget consists of revenues and costs stated in the marketing plan in one document.
It balances expenditures on marketing activities and what the organization can afford. It’s a financial plan of marketing activities to be carried out – e.g., promotional activities, cost of marketing materials and advertising, and so on. Other considerations include expected product volume and price, production and delivery costs, and operating and financing costs.
The effectiveness of the marketing plan depends on the budget allocated for marketing expenditure. The cost of marketing should be able to make the company break even and make profits.
Performance analysis aims to look at the variances of metrics or components documented in the marketing plan. These include:
Revenue variance analysis : An analysis of positive or negative variance of revenue. A negative variance is worrisome, and reasons should be available to explain the cause of deviations.
Market share analysis : An analysis of whether the organization attained its target market share. Sales may be increasing whilst the organization’s share of the market is decreasing; hence, it is paramount to track this metric.
Expense analysis : An analysis of marketing expense to sales ratio . This ratio needs to be compared to industry standards to make informed comparisons.
The ratio enables the organization to track actual expenditures versus the budget. It is also compared to other metrics, such as revenue analysis and market share analysis. It can be dissected into individual expenditures to sales to get a clearer picture.
The marketing plan should be revised and adapted to changes in the environment periodically. The use of metrics, budgets, and schedules to measure progress towards the goals set in the marketing plan is a continuous process by marketing personnel.
There should be a continuous assessment to verify that the goals of the marketing plan are being achieved. The marketing manager should be able to review if the strategies documented are being effective, given the operating environment.
It is irrational for the marketing manager to notice anomalies and wait to review at year-end when the situation might have already deteriorated.
Changes in the environment may necessitate a review of plans, projections, strategies, and targets. Therefore, a formal periodical review – such as monthly or quarterly – may need to be in place. This may mean preparing an annual marketing plan but reviewing the plan quarterly to keep targets and plans aligned closely to environmental changes. It goes without saying that plans are as good as their feasibility to succeed in the given environment.
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In today’s digital age, selling handcrafted items has become more accessible than ever before. With platforms like Etsy and social media, artisans can reach a wider audience and turn their passion into a profitable business. However, to stand out in a crowded marketplace, it’s crucial to have an effective marketing plan. In this article, we will explore four essential strategies to help you successfully market your handcrafted items.
Before diving into marketing tactics, it’s important to define your target market. Understanding who your ideal customers are will allow you to tailor your messaging and reach the right audience. Start by considering the demographics of your target market such as age, gender, location, and income level. Additionally, think about their interests and preferences related to handcrafted items. Are they environmentally conscious? Do they appreciate unique designs? By answering these questions, you can create a clear picture of your target market.
Once you have identified your target market, conduct thorough research to understand their needs and desires better. Utilize online surveys or engage with potential customers through social media platforms or craft fairs. This research will help you refine your marketing efforts and create content that resonates with your audience.
In today’s digital world, having a strong online presence is crucial for selling handcrafted items successfully. Start by creating a visually appealing website or an online store on platforms like Etsy or Shopify. Ensure that the design of your website aligns with the aesthetics of your products while also being user-friendly.
To drive traffic to your website or online store, utilize search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. Conduct keyword research using tools like Google Keyword Planner to identify relevant keywords that potential customers might use when searching for handcrafted items in your niche. Incorporate these keywords strategically into your website content and product descriptions.
Additionally, leverage social media platforms to showcase your handcrafted items and engage with your target audience. Choose platforms that align with your target market, whether it’s Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook. Share high-quality images and videos of your products, along with compelling captions and relevant hashtags. Engage with your followers by responding to comments and messages promptly.
One of the key selling points of handcrafted items is the unique story behind them. People are drawn to products that have a personal touch or a meaningful narrative. Use this aspect to your advantage by telling the story of how you create each item.
Share behind-the-scenes glimpses into your creative process through blog posts or social media content. Explain the materials you use, highlight any traditional techniques you employ, and showcase the love and dedication that goes into crafting each piece. By sharing these stories, you create a deeper connection between your audience and your products.
Influencer marketing has become a powerful tool for reaching a wider audience in recent years. Consider collaborating with influencers who align with your brand values and have an engaged following within your target market.
Look for influencers who specialize in promoting handmade or artisanal products. Reach out to them through email or direct messaging on social media platforms to propose a collaboration opportunity. Offer them one of your handcrafted items in exchange for promotion on their platform.
If working with macro-influencers seems out of reach due to budget constraints, consider collaborating with micro-influencers instead. Micro-influencers have smaller but highly engaged followings within specific niches and can be more cost-effective options for promoting handcrafted items.
Crafting an effective marketing plan for selling handcrafted items requires a combination of understanding your target market, building an engaging online presence, telling a unique story, and leveraging influencer collaborations. By implementing these strategies consistently, you can increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your online store, and ultimately boost sales of your handcrafted items.
This text was generated using a large language model, and select text has been reviewed and moderated for purposes such as readability.
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Marketers leading the way on adoption of genai compared to colleagues in it; cmos leaving money on the table by not fully understanding potential of genai.
A new global study, Marketers and GenAI: Diving Into the Shallow End from SAS and Coleman Parkes Research, reveals that while 90 percent of organizations plan to invest in generative AI for marketing in 2025, 90 percent of CMOs admit that they do not fully understand GenAI or its potential impact on business processes.
This lack of detailed understanding of GenAI among senior decision makers in marketing may be hindering the eventual adoption of more sophisticated uses of GenAI – uses that could translate to improved organizational efficiencies, sustained marketing effectiveness and ultimately a sustained competitive advantage.
While 75 percent of marketers are currently using GenAI in their day-to-day work – in fact marketing is ahead of other business functions, including IT, in the adoption of GenAI – many marketers are using GenAI for simplistic tasks like copywriting, editing and content creation, which only scratches the surface of what’s possible. When it comes to more sophisticated marketing use cases, only:
This is not optimal as marketers report that when they do embrace GenAI, they are seeing strong return on their investment, particularly in terms of personalization (92%), customer satisfaction and retention (89%), processing large data sets (88%), and accuracy in predictive analytics (88%).
“It isn’t surprising that marketers lead the way in GenAI adoption, as it lends itself to experimentation and creativity – both hallmarks of the marketing profession,” said Jenn Chase, Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President at SAS. “However, it is disappointing that a lack of understanding of GenAI at the CMO and senior management level is holding organizations back from experiencing the full potential of this exciting new technology. Education and training are critical to overcome this obstacle as GenAI usage not only increases productivity, but it can also improve customer experience and drive business growth.”
The good news is this looks set to change as marketers predict that they will expand their use of GenAI within the next one-to-two years in the hope of saving time and costs (63%), improving risk management and compliance (62%), and enabling more efficient processing of large data sets (60%). One in five anticipate immersive applications such as adaptive virtual reality, rising to three in 10 among those who have already fully adopted GenAI.
While lack of strategic direction from CMOs is an obstacle to successful utilization of GenAI, so too is concern over privacy and trust. Six in 10 (61%) marketers reveal their main concern about GenAI usage is data security, and 61 percent also cite data privacy. These are the top two concerns across all respondents and with good cause. While one-third of organizations have a well-established and comprehensive governance framework for data management, this falls to less than 1 in 10 for GenAI. Those who have fully implemented GenAI for marketing are more likely to have a well-established and comprehensive governance framework, but 4 in 10 do not.
“A significant gap exists between the art of what is possible with GenAI for MarTech, and what is being accomplished today,” said Jonathan Moran, Head of Martech Solutions Marketing at SAS. “The research highlights that most organizations across industries have significant work to do around GenAI education and enablement as well as data governance and compliance - and performing that work will aid in fostering trust between brand and consumer when it comes to the application of AI for marketing and customer experience pursuits.”
As a complete SaaS solution, SAS Customer Intelligence 360 is a multichannel marketing hub that takes marketers beyond a traditional customer data platform with market-leading advanced audience creation, targeting and activation. It enables marketing to provide real-time, hyper-personalized, AI-driven decisions, offers and communications at scale.
Learn more about how organizations are using SAS MarTech solutions .
SAS is a global leader in data and AI. With SAS software and industry-specific solutions, organizations transform data into trusted decisions. SAS gives you THE POWER TO KNOW ® .
Highlights of the study on GenAI in Marketing
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Learn what a marketing plan is and how to write one for your business. Find out the key sections, tips, and templates to create a comprehensive and effective marketing strategy.
A marketing plan is a strategic document that outlines marketing objectives, strategies, and tactics. A business plan is also a strategic document. But this plan covers all aspects of a company's operations, including finance, operations, and more. It can also help your business decide how to distribute resources and make decisions as your ...
You need to have a solid understanding of your target audience before integrating your marketing efforts. Example: If your target audience is executives that spend a lot of time on LinkedIn, focus your social media strategy around placing branded content on LinkedIn. 5. Differentiate with creative content.
A marketing plan, on the other hand, is a specific document that details how you plan to achieve these wider goals through marketing. Marketing plan vs marketing strategy. An overarching marketing strategy details how marketing will drive business results. A marketing plan is the route you'll use to get there.
A marketing plan includes analysis of the target audience, the competitors, and the market so that teams can determine the best strategy for achieving their goals. The plan's length and detail depend on the company's size and the scope of the marketing project. A marketing plan is useful for all types of marketing, including digital, social media, new product, small business, B2C, and B2B.
A marketing plan is a core component of a business plan. It relates specifically to the marketing of a particular product or service and it describes: An overall marketing objective. A broad marketing strategy. The tactical detail related to specific marketing activities. The various costs associated with these activities.
To make sure your marketing plan is clear and concise: Create an outline. Using your chosen format as a guide, start creating an outline of the sections and subsections you'll include in your marketing plan. Fill out each section. Next, fill in the subsections composing each section of your plan.
Learn how to create a comprehensive marketing plan with nine essential elements, real-world samples, and free templates. Compare different formats and find the best one for your business goals and objectives.
How to Write a Sales and Marketing Plan. You've addressed what you're selling and why in the products and services section. You now have an understanding of the market and an ideal customer in mind thanks to your market analysis. Now, you need to explain how you will actually reach and sell to them. The marketing and sales section of your ...
A marketing plan is an operational document that outlines an advertising strategy to reach a target market. Learn the components, types, and steps of a marketing plan, and how it differs from a business plan.
SMART Goals Template (Click on the template to edit it online) To create a SMART marketing goal template for Marketing Plan: Start with a specific objective. Make it measurable with clear metrics. Ensure it's achievable with the allocated resources. Check if it's relevant to business goals. Set a time-bound deadline.
A plan (the details of execution and the human resources, departments and software that will be involved) Reporting (what reports of progress will include and/or look like) We broke down those five functions into 10 actionable categories to help you create a marketing plan that is unique and effective for your business. 1.
Learn the 7 steps to create an effective marketing plan for businesses of all sizes using the RACE Growth System. Download a free template and access tools and resources to optimize your marketing opportunities, strategies and actions.
Learn how to write an effective marketing plan section in a business plan with examples and tips. Find out the types, steps, and strategies of marketing plans for different businesses and goals.
Mine the research you conducted, as well as your own insights, for this information. Be brutally honest. This is the basis for your entire marketing plan, so if you lie to yourself here, your ...
Edit and Download. Remember to create SMART goals for your marketing plan and strategy. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound. In the template above, notice how the target is defined as a percentage. You can also add a deadline to your marketing goal to make it time-bound.
Learn how to write a marketing plan for your business, including objectives, market research, target market, marketing mix, budget, and performance analysis. A marketing plan is a document that lays out the marketing efforts of a business in an upcoming period.
10 steps to start your business; Plan your business. Market research and competitive analysis; Write your business plan; Calculate your startup costs; Establish business credit; ... Marketing and sales; Strengthen your cybersecurity; Prepare for emergencies; Recover from disasters; Close or sell your business; Hire employees with disabilities;
With platforms like Etsy and social media, artisans can reach a wider audience and turn their passion into a profitable business. However, to stand out in a crowded marketplace, it's crucial to have an effective marketing plan. In this article, we will explore four essential strategies to help you successfully market your handcrafted items. ...
A record number of firms plan to cut advertising spending on X next year because of concerns that extreme content on the platform could damage their brands, dealing another blow to the financial ...
A new global study, Marketers and GenAI: Diving Into the Shallow End from SAS and Coleman Parkes Research, reveals that while 90 percent of organizations plan to invest in generative AI for marketing in 2025, 90 percent of CMOs admit that they do not fully understand GenAI or its potential impact on business processes. This lack of detailed understanding of GenAI among senior decision makers ...