marketing strategies of business plan

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• Marketing |
• How to create a winning marketing plan, ...

How to create a winning marketing plan, with 3 examples from world-class teams

A marketing plan helps leaders clearly visualize marketing strategies across channels, so they can ensure every campaign drives pipeline and revenue. In this article you’ll learn eight steps to create a winning marketing plan that brings business-critical goals to life, with examples from word-class teams.

To be successful as a marketer, you have to deliver the pipeline and the revenue.”

In other words—they need a well-crafted marketing plan.

Level up your marketing plan to drive revenue in 2024

Learn how to create the right marketing plan to hit your revenue targets in 2024. Hear best practices from marketing experts, including how to confidently set and hit business goals, socialize marketing plans, and move faster with clearer resourcing.

7 steps to build a comprehensive marketing plan

How do you build the right marketing plan to hit your revenue goals? Follow these eight steps for success:

1. Define your plan

First you need to define each specific component of your plan to ensure stakeholders are aligned on goals, deliverables, resources, and more. Ironing out these details early on ensures your plan supports the right business objectives, and that you have sufficient resources and time to get the job done. 

Get started by asking yourself the following questions: 

What resources do I need? 

What is the vision?

What is the value?

What is the goal?

Who is my audience?

What are my channels?

What is the timeline?

For example, imagine you’re creating an annual marketing plan to improve customer adoption and retention in the next fiscal year. Here’s how you could go through the questions above to ensure you’re ready to move forward with your plan: 

I will need support from the content team, web team, and email team to create targeted content for existing customers. One person on each team will need to be dedicated full-time to this initiative. To achieve this, the marketing team will need an additional $100K in budget and one new headcount. 

What is the vision?  

To create a positive experience for existing customers, address new customer needs, and encourage them to upgrade. We’ll do this by serving them how-to content, new feature updates, information about deals and pricing, and troubleshooting guides. 

According to the Sales Benchmark Index (SBI) , CEOs and go-to-market leaders report that more than 60% of their net-new revenue will come from existing customers in 2023. By retaining and building on the customers we have, we can maintain revenue growth over time. 

To decrease the customer churn rate from 30% to 10%, and increase upgrades from 20% to 30% in the next fiscal year. 

All existing customers. 

The main channel will be email. Supporting marketing channels include the website, blog, YouTube, and social media. 

The first half of the next fiscal year. 

One of the most important things to do as you create your marketing strategy is to identify your target audience . As with all marketing, you need to know who you’re marketing to. If you’re having a hard time determining who exactly your target audience is, try the bullseye targeting framework . The bullseye makes it easy for you to determine who your target audience is by industry, geography, company size, psychographics, demographics, and more.

2. Identify key metrics for success 

Now it’s time to define what key marketing metrics you’ll use to measure success. Your key metrics will help you measure and track the performance of your marketing activities. They’ll also help you understand how your efforts tie back to larger business goals. 

Once you establish key metrics, use a goal-setting framework—like objectives and key results (OKRs) or SMART goals —to fully flush out your marketing objectives. This ensures your targets are as specific as possible, with no ambiguity about what should be accomplished by when. 

Example: If a goal of your marketing plan is to increase email subscriptions and you follow the SMART goal framework (ensuring your objective is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound) your goal might look like this: Increase email subscription rate from 10% to 20% in H1 . 

3. Research your competition 

It’s easy to get caught up in your company’s world, but there’s a lot of value in understanding your competitors . Knowing how they market themselves will help you find opportunities to make your company stand out and capture more market share.

Make sure you’re not duplicating your competitors’ efforts. If you discover a competitor has already executed your idea, then it might be time to go back to the drawing board and brainstorm new ways to differentiate yourself.  By looking at your competitors, you might be surprised at the type of inspiration and opportunities you’ll find.

To stay ahead of market trends, conduct a SWOT analysis for your marketing plan. A SWOT analysis helps you improve your plan by identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. 

Example: If your competitor launches a social media campaign identical to what you had planned, go back to the drawing board and see how you can build off their campaign. Ask yourself: How can we differentiate our campaign while still getting our message across? What are the weaknesses of their campaign that we can capitalize on? What angles did they not approach?

4. Integrate your marketing efforts

Here’s where the fun comes in. Let’s dive into the different components that go into building a successful marketing plan. You’ll want to make sure your marketing plan includes multiple supporting activities that all add up into a powerful marketing machine. Some marketing plan components include: 

Lead generation

Social media

Product marketing

Public relations

Analyst relations

Customer marketing

Search engine optimization (SEO)

Conversational marketing

Knowing where your consumer base spends the most time is significant for nailing this step. 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

Forty-nine percent of marketers say visual images are hugely important to their content strategy. In other words, a clear brand and creative strategy is an essential component to every marketing plan. As you craft your own creative strategy, here are some tips to keep in mind: 

Speak to your audience: When defining your creative strategy, think about your audience—what you want them to feel, think, and do when they see your marketing. Will your audience find your creative work relevant? If your audience can’t relate to your creative work, they won’t feel connected to the story you’re trying to tell. 

Think outside the box: Find innovative ways to engage your audience, whether through video, animations, or interactive graphics. Know what screens your creative work will live on, whether desktop, mobile, or tablet, and make sure they display beautifully and load quickly across every type of device. 

Tie everything back to CTAs: It’s easy to get caught up in the creative process, so it’s important to never lose sight of your ultimate goal: Get your audience to take action. Always find the best way to display strong Calls to Action (CTAs) in your creative work. We live in a visual world—make sure your creative content counts.

Streamline creative production:   Once you’ve established a strong creative strategy, the next step is to bring your strategy to life in the production stage. It’s vital to set up a strong framework for your creative production process to eliminate any unnecessary back and forth and potential bottlenecks. Consider establishing creative request forms , streamlining feedback and approval processes, and taking advantage of integrations that might make your designers’ lives easier.

Example: If your brand is fun and approachable, make sure that shows in your creative efforts. Create designs and CTAs that spark joy, offer entertainment, and alleviate the pressure in choosing a partner.

6. Operationalize your marketing plan

Turn your plan into action by making goals, deliverables, and timelines clear for every stakeholder—so teams stay accountable for getting work done. The best way to do this is by centralizing all the details of your marketing plan in one platform , so teams can access the information they need and connect campaign work back to company goals.  

With the right work management tool , you can: 

Set goals for every marketing activity, and connect campaign work to overarching marketing and business objectives so teams focus on revenue-driving projects. 

Centralize deliverables for your entire marketing plan in one project or portfolio .

Mark major milestones and visualize your plan as a timeline, Gantt chart, calendar, list, or Kanban board—without doing any extra work. 

Quickly loop in stakeholders with status updates so they’re always up to date on progress. This is extremely important if you have a global team to ensure efforts aren’t being duplicated. 

Use automations to seamlessly hand off work between teams, streamlining processes like content creation and reviews. 

Create dashboards to report on work and make sure projects are properly staffed , so campaigns stay on track. 

With everything housed in one spot, you can easily visualize the status of your entire marketing plan and keep work on track. Building an effective marketing plan is one thing, but how you operationalize it can be your secret to standout marketing.

Example: If your strategy focuses on increasing page views, connect all campaign work to an overarching OKR—like “we will double page views as measured by the amount of organic traffic on our blog.” By making that goal visible to all stakeholders, you help teams prioritize the right work. 

See marketing planning in action

With Asana, marketing teams can connect work, standardize processes, and automate workflows—all in one place.

7. Measure performance

Nearly three in four CMOs use revenue growth to measure success, so it’s no surprise that measuring performance is necessary. You established your key metrics in step two, and now it’s time to track and report on them in step eight.

Periodically measure your marketing efforts to find areas of improvement so you can optimize in real-time. There are always lessons to be learned when looking at data. You can discover trends, detect which marketing initiatives performed well, and course-correct what isn’t performing well. And when your plan is complete, you can apply these learnings to your next initiative for improved results. 

Example: Say you discover that long-form content is consistently bringing in 400% more page views than short-form content. As a result, you’ll want to focus on producing more long-form content in your next marketing plan.

Marketing plan examples from world-class teams

The best brands in the world bring their marketing plans to life every day. If you’re looking for inspiration, check out these examples from successful marketing teams.

Autodesk grows site traffic 30% three years in a row

When the Autodesk team launched Redshift, it was initially a small business blog. The editorial team executed a successful marketing plan to expand it into a premier owned-media site, making it a destination for stories and videos about the future of making. 

The team scaled content production to support seven additional languages. By standardizing their content production workflow and centralizing all content conversations in one place, the editorial team now publishes 2X more content monthly. Read the case study to learn more about how Autodesk runs a well-oiled content machine.

Sony Music boosts creative production capacity by 4X

In recent years the music industry has gone through a pivotal transition—shifting from album sales to a streaming business model. For marketing and creative teams at Sony Music, that meant adopting an “always on” campaign plan. 

The team successfully executed this campaign plan by centralizing creative production and approvals in one project. By standardizing processes, the team reduced campaign production time by 75%. Read the case study to learn more about how Sony Music successfully scaled their creative production process.

Trinny London perfects new customer acquisition 

In consumer industries, social media is crucial for building a community of people who feel an affinity with the brand—and Trinny London is no exception. As such, it was imperative that Trinny London’s ad spend was targeted to the correct audience. Using a work management tool, Trinny London was able to nail the process of creating, testing, and implementing ads on multiple social channels.

With the help of a centralized tool, Trinny London improved its ad spend and drove more likes and subscriptions on its YouTube page. Read the case study to learn more about how Trinny London capitalized on paid advertising and social media. 

Turn your marketing plan into marketing success 

A great marketing plan promotes clarity and accountability across teams—so every stakeholder knows what they’re responsible for, by when. Reading this article is the first step to achieving better team alignment, so you can ensure every marketing campaign contributes to your company’s bottom line. 

Use a free marketing plan template to get started

Once you’ve created your marketing strategy and are ready to operationalize your marketing plan, get started with one of our marketing templates . 

Our marketing templates can help you manage and track every aspect of your marketing plan, from creative requests to approval workflows. Centralize your entire marketing plan in one place, customize the roadmap, assign tasks, and build a timeline or calendar. 

Once you’ve operationalized your entire marketing plan with one of our templates, share it with your stakeholders so everyone can work together in the same tool. Your entire team will feel connected to the marketing plan, know what to prioritize, and see how their work contributes to your project objectives . Choose the best marketing template for your team:

Marketing project plan template

Marketing campaign plan template

Product marketing launch template

Editorial calendar template

Agency collaboration template

Creative requests template

Event planning template

GTM strategy template

Still have questions? We have answers. 

What is a marketing plan.

A marketing plan is a detailed roadmap that outlines the different strategies your team will use to achieve organizational objectives. Rather than focusing solely on the end goal, a marketing plan maps every step you need to reach your destination—whether that’s driving pipeline for sales, nurturing your existing customer base, or something in-between. 

As a marketing leader, you know there’s never a shortage of great campaign and project ideas. A marketing plan gives you a framework to effectively prioritize work that aligns to overarching business goals—and then get that work done. Some elements of marketing plans include:

Current business plan

Mission statement  

Business goals

Target customers  

Competitive analysis 

Current marketing mix

Key performance indicators (KPIs)

Marketing budget  

What is the purpose of a marketing plan?

The purpose of a marketing plan is to grow your company’s consumer base and strengthen your brand, while aligning with your organization’s mission and vision . The plan should analyze the competitive landscape and industry trends, offer actionable insights to help you gain a competitive advantage, and document each step of your strategy—so you can see how your campaigns work together to drive overarching business goals. 

What is the difference between a marketing plan and a marketing strategy? 

A marketing plan contains many marketing strategies across different channels. In that way, marketing strategies contribute to your overall marketing plan, working together to reach your company’s overarching business goals.

For example, imagine you’re about to launch a new software product and the goal of your marketing plan is to drive downloads. Your marketing plan could include marketing strategies like creating top-of-funnel blog content and launching a social media campaign. 

What are different types of marketing plans? 

Depending on what you’re trying to accomplish, what your timeline is, or which facet of marketing you’re driving, you’ll need to create a different type of marketing plan. Some different types of marketing plans include, but aren’t limited to:

General marketing plan: A general marketing plan is typically an annual or quarterly marketing plan that details the overarching marketing strategies for the period. This type of marketing plan outlines marketing goals, the company’s mission, buyer personas, unique selling propositions, and more. A general marketing plan lays the foundation for other, more specific marketing plans that an organization may employ. 

Product launch marketing plan: A product launch marketing plan is a step-by-step plan for marketing a new product or expanding into a new market. It helps you build awareness and interest by targeting the right audience, with the right messaging, in the right timeframe—so potential customers are ready to buy your new offering right away. Nailing your product launch marketing plan can reinforce your overall brand and fast-track sales. For a step-by-step framework to organize all the moving pieces of a launch, check out our product marketing launch template .

Paid marketing plan: This plan includes all the paid strategies in your marketing plan, like pay-per-click, paid social media advertising, native advertising, and display advertising. It’s especially important to do audience research prior to launching your paid marketing plan to ensure you’re maximizing ROI. Consult with content strategists to ensure your ads align with your buyer personas so you know you’re showing ads to the right people. 

Content marketing plan: A content marketing plan outlines the different content strategies and campaigns you’ll use to promote your product or service. When putting together a content marketing plan, start by identifying your audience. Then use market research tools to get the best insights into what topics your target audience is most interested in.

SEO marketing plan: Your SEO marketing plan should work directly alongside your content marketing plan as you chart content that’s designed to rank in search results. While your content marketing plan should include all types of content, your SEO marketing plan will cover the top-of-funnel content that drives new users to your site. Planning search engine-friendly content is only one step in your SEO marketing plan. You’ll also need to include link-building and technical aspects in order to ensure your site and content are as optimized as possible.

Social media marketing plan: This plan will highlight the marketing strategies you plan to accomplish on social media. Like in any general or digital marketing plan , your social media strategy should identify your ideal customer base and determine how they engage on different social media platforms. From there, you can cater your social media content to your target audience.  

Related resources

How Asana uses work management for smoother creative production

Build a marketing operations strategy in 4 steps

How Asana uses work management for more impactful campaigns

Marketing vs. advertising: What’s the difference?

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How To Create an Effective Marketing Plan for Your Business

Behind every successful company is a well-designed marketing plan.

What is a marketing plan?

A marketing plan is a strategy a business develops and implements to sell products or services. The marketing plan defines the target audience and how to reach it best, sets goals, establishes the price for products and services, outlines tactics, and shows how the company will measure its marketing efforts.

Even though marketing plans don’t always produce immediate results, they are still a crucial component of a business plan and are worth considering.

A well-designed and effective marketing plan can reveal opportunities for a business. This can be through creating new audience segments, a change in pricing strategy, or differentiation from the competition .

The right marketing plan can help your business reach new heights.

A typical marketing plan includes:

• A summary of your advertising and marketing goals
• The current state of your business’s marketing
• A timeline for completing the tasks within your strategy
• KPIs (key performance indicators) you will track
• An overview of your target market and customers’ needs
• The methodology you’re using to evaluate the strategy’s performance

Why does your business need a marketing plan?

Often, a marketing plan is a missing link between business strategy  and marketing execution.

If you feel that you are trying many different things on an ad hoc basis without knowing which ones are working, then it is clear that you need a plan.

Here are some of the benefits of creating a marketing plan for your small business:

• Understanding:  A thorough analysis of current market conditions and  where your company stands can help you identify your company’s strengths and weaknesses and potential new markets.
• Focus and Alignment:  It is easy to lose your sense of direction without a plan. A marketing plan ensures your marketing goals are aligned with your business’s mission, vision, and goals . A marketing plan keeps you motivated and on track so you don’t get sidetracked.
• Coordination:  A working document of your marketing strategy facilitates collaboration between management, the marketing team, and the entire company. You can facilitate team collaboration with a tool like Canva Docs .
• Informed decisions: Planning can prevent you from making rash decisions if difficult circumstances arise.
• Max Value:  A cohesive marketing plan amplifies the value of every campaign.

How to create a marketing plan

Detailed marketing plans outline the  strategies  and specific actions your marketing team will take to reach your marketing goals.

If you created a business plan , you probably already have a section on marketing in that plan. But that section will be a high-level summary. You’ll need to expand it to create an effective marketing plan.

The following tips are starting points and best practices that will guide you in creating a comprehensive and effective marketing plan for your small business:

1. Start with an executive summary

The executive summary usually appears at the beginning of your marketing plan. It summarizes your business and the key takeaways from your marketing strategy. It should also outline your marketing objectives and demonstrate how campaigns are tied together.

An executive summary should also provide a quick overview of your company. Here, readers are introduced to the company’s objectives, marketing successes, and plans for the future.

A typical executive summary would include the following:

• Simplified marketing goals
• Milestones/achievements of the company
• Future projects or plans
• Relevant facts about your brand

Executive summaries are meant to pique interest in your marketing plan and excite people to read it.

Lastly, your summary helps set the tone for your marketing plan. Think carefully and select the tone that best reflects your brand.

2. State your mission, vision, and values

Reviewing your company’s values, vision, and mission before starting marketing is a good idea. Your marketing plan becomes more meaningful when you put all the information in perspective.

In short, this section should answer why you do what you do.

This section aims to inform anyone who reads your marketing plan about your company’s overall goal. This will enable them to understand your marketing goals, activities, and future objectives.

3. Identify your target market

To write an effective marketing plan, you must first identify and understand your niche. Make sure you know the specific demographic you are aiming to reach.

This will help you pinpoint and nail your marketing from the get-go if you know your best customers. You will waste a lot less time and money and convert more leads by targeting your advertising campaigns and using the right messaging ,

A buyer  persona  represents your ideal customer .

Including information about your buyer personas, such as age, gender, and income, is helpful. Don’t forget to include behavioral and psychographic data, such as pain points and goals.

Ultimately, you’re trying to answer the following questions: What motivates  your audience? What problems do they have that your product or service can solve?

If your company already has buyer personas, this step might mean you need to refine them.

Some businesses might have several types of target customers. As such, it is typical to create more than one buyer persona.

Ultimately, when you outline your buyer personas, you can segment your marketing campaigns properly and create marketing materials that are more likely to influence and resonate with them.

All this knowledge will help you create a compelling positioning statement , a unique selling proposition , and a  strong brand .

You can outline the traits of your ideal customer by including the following:

The more you know about your customer, the more capable you are of giving them the best experience.

4. Research your competitors

Whatever your product or service, there is always competition for your target market.

It is rare for small business owners to  study their competitors  in depth or to identify companies outside their industry that have just as much ability to attract customers.

You can devise strategies by understanding your competitors’ competitive advantages and how they might respond to your offerings.

By identifying competitors, you can differentiate your business by providing consumers with what your competitors may lack.

As part of your market research, you can also conduct a SWOT analysis of your competitors . Learn what they are doing, what works for them, and how you can improve.

Consider looking into the following aspects when researching your competitors:

• Leaders and marketers at their company
• Financials and growth of the company
• Products or services they are best known for
• Social media marketing strategy
• Check their top-performing blog posts

5. Establish accurate benchmarks and metrics

You can’t plan for your business’s future if you don’t know where it stands today. Increasing R.O.I. (return on investment) is impossible unless you know your goal.

Having baselines will allow you to monitor your progress. This will also allow you to analyze what worked and what didn’t to build a more robust strategy.

Determine which key performance indicators (KPIs) you will use to track and measure each marketing campaign element.

The indicators will assist you in communicating your progress to your business partners or investors. They will also aid you in determining whether or not your marketing efforts are yielding the desired results.

6. Determine your marketing goals

Marketing goals drive your marketing plan. They are the highest level of your strategic thinking . Ideally, you establish these goals after identifying problems and opportunities.

In general, these objectives will have a financial or communication focus and may include the following:

• Maximizing sales revenue or volume
• Lead generation
• Improving customer satisfaction
• Raising  brand awareness
• Transforming customer perceptions
• Increasing  customer retention

Clearly defining your goals will help you measure them effectively. That said, all of your marketing objectives should meet the following SMART criteria:

Be clear about what you want to accomplish. It is essential to clearly define the goal to ensure everyone is on the same page.

A quantifiable objective makes it easy for you to measure your progress. Decide what data will be used to measure the goal and how it will be collected.

It is essential to keep your goals realistic to remain motivated to achieve them. Setting lofty goals is fine, but you should break them down into smaller chunks to make them more manageable.

Goals must be aligned with the company’s mission—set goals for a purpose, not just to accomplish something. When determining whether a goal is relevant, deciding on the critical benefit to the organization is crucial.

Each goal should have a deadline. There isn’t much point in setting a goal without a deadline. How can you assess whether something was a success or failure? This is why S.M.A.R.T. goals include a due date. Although this doesn’t mean all the work is done, you can evaluate the endeavor and set new goals.

7. Identify your marketing channels and choose your marketing tactics

With more  marketing channels , selecting the best one for your business can be challenging.

Study all of your marketing options, including traditional and digital methods . The more you know about these tactics, the easier it will be to choose the ones most suitable for your business and to build effective marketing funnels .

Among the most popular digital marketing channels are:

Search engines

Nearly half of all online shoppers begin their research with a search engine. Including link-building outreach and optimizing for local SEO   in your marketing plan will enable you to reach people when they’re actively searching for your products and services.

Social media

90% of social media users have communicated with a brand due to their social media presence, and 53.6% of the population uses social media. Every type of consumer is on some  social media platform, whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, so social media is essential to a business’s marketing strategy.

It may seem overwhelming to consider all the possibilities but take the time to concentrate on the sites that will generate the most significant benefit for your business.

Email marketing remains an effective and popular choice for small businesses. Companies can use email marketing techniques in many ways, including newsletters, promotional campaigns, and transactional emails.

Consumer behavior has changed due to the popularity of smartphones and tablets. Because people carry these devices with them almost wherever they go, companies seek to implement marketing strategies to reach their customers through their mobile devices .

Many businesses are trying to figure out how to make contextually relevant ads appear when people watch or read content on their devices. Contextual targeting helps companies make ads more relevant, increasing response rates and ad recall.

Having a well-rounded marketing mix is essential, giving yourself plenty of time for these channels to pay off and reach critical mass and leaving room for trial and error.

Algorithms primarily power digital marketing. Algorithms may help businesses provide personalized experiences to users, but any algorithm changes can quickly render marketing plans useless.

An eCommerce business must have a diverse media strategy to survive in this highly dynamic market. By driving traffic through SEO , email, and media coverage, we’re less vulnerable to a single tech platform unfavorably changing its algorithm.

Some of these channels and tactics will be challenging for you to execute without some expert help. For example, suppose you’re starting a business in the United Kingdom. In that case, you might look at United Kingdom marketing agencies that can help you define proper tactics for channels where you have little or no experience. Similarly, you’ll want to identify agencies in the U.S. (including those that specialize in the channels you care most about) if you’re building a marketing plan for the U.S. market.

8. Set your budget

A marketing budget describes how much money the business has allotted to the marketing team to pursue the initiatives and goals they have listed and identified.

When you draft the plan and evaluate your course of action, note the estimated cost, assets, and time required to achieve the stated goals; this will help when it comes time to set the actual budget.

Additionally, setting a marketing budget will ensure you don’t lose sight of the financial aspect of things during execution and implementation.

Even if your marketing team uses many free channels and platforms, preparing for “hidden” costs is best.

Depending on how many individual expenses you have, it might make sense to itemize this budget based on the specific things you intend to pay for.

Here are some examples of marketing expenses:

• Outsourcing  marketing costs to a marketing agency or other provider
• Application software for marketing
• Paid promotions
• Events (the ones that you will host and attend)

9. Establish guidelines for tracking and reporting

It would be best to conclude your marketing plan by explaining how you plan to track or measure your results. Standardizing tracking results across your team will save you time and frustration in the long run.

In this section, you can go as in-depth as you like. However, here is a minimum set of guidelines for tracking results you can start working with:

• What you are tracking
• How you are tracking
• How often you are tracking

Marketing plans require a lot of effort. To create an effective strategy, you must dig deep into your target market’s competitive research, audience data, and research channels.

Remembering that marketing plans are not set in stone is also important. As your business grows and evolves, so should your marketing plan.

But if you have the fundamentals down, you are more likely to achieve your business goals if you create an effective marketing plan.

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What Is a Marketing Plan?

Understanding marketing plans, how to write a marketing plan, marketing plan vs. business plan.

• Marketing Plan FAQs

The Bottom Line

• Marketing Essentials

What Is a Marketing Plan? Types and How to Write One

James Chen, CMT is an expert trader, investment adviser, and global market strategist.

Pete Rathburn is a copy editor and fact-checker with expertise in economics and personal finance and over twenty years of experience in the classroom.

Investopedia / Zoe Hansen

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 . A marketing plan details the outreach and PR campaigns to be undertaken over a period, including how the company will measure the effect of these initiatives. The functions and components of a marketing plan include the following:

• Market research to support pricing decisions and new market entries
• Tailored messaging that targets certain demographics and geographic areas
• Platform selection for product and service promotion: digital, radio, Internet, trade magazines, and the mix of those platforms for each campaign
• Metrics that measure the results of marketing efforts and their reporting timelines

A marketing plan is based on a company’s overall marketing strategy.

Key Takeaways

• The marketing plan details the strategy that a company will use to market its products to customers.
• The plan identifies the target market, the value proposition of the brand or the product, the campaigns to be initiated, and the metrics to be used to assess the effectiveness of marketing initiatives.
• The marketing plan should be adjusted on an ongoing basis based on the findings from the metrics that show which efforts are having an impact and which are not.
• Digital marketing shows results in near real-time, whereas TV ads require rotation to realize any level of market penetration.
• A marketing plan is part of a business plan, which describes all of the important aspects of a business, such as its goals, values, mission statement, budget, and strategies.

The terms marketing plan and marketing strategy are often used interchangeably because a marketing plan 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, quarterly, or annual basis while the marketing strategy outlines the overall value proposition.

Types of Marketing Plans

There are a variety of different marketing plans that suit different businesses and different business needs.

New Product Launch: This is a marketing plan that outlines how a new product will enter the market, who it will target, and in what way advertising will be done.

Social Media: A social media marketing plan focuses on the advertising strategies on different social media platforms and how to engage with the users on these platforms.

Time-Based: Time-based marketing plans, such as those that are executed quarterly or annually, focus on the time of the year, the current condition of the business, and the best strategies in that period.

Mission and Value Proposition

A marketing plan considers the value proposition of a business. The value proposition is the overall promise of value to be delivered to the customer and is a statement that appears front and center of the company website or any branding materials.

The value proposition should state 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 this value proposition to the customer.

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. For example, if your goal is to engage with a certain demographic in a certain region, you can track social media and website visits.

The most effective digital marketing techniques in 2020 according to marketers are content marketing and marketing automation.

Identify Your Target Market

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 on the radio, on social media, through online ads, or on regional TV. 

Knowing who you want to sell to 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 what your target market is will help you market to them.

Strategy and Execution

The marketing plan includes the rationale for these decisions. The plan should focus on the creation, timing, scheduling, and placement of specific campaigns. The plan will include the metrics that will measure the outcomes of your marketing efforts. For example, will you advertise on the radio or on social media? What time will you air advertisements if they are on the radio or TV? The strategy may include flighting scheduling , which includes the times when you can make the most of your advertising dollars.

Set Your Budget

A marketing plan costs money. Knowing your budget for a marketing plan will allow you to create a suitable plan within that context, stick to it, and prevent runaway costs. It will also help you allocate to different areas of your marketing plan.

Adjust Your Plan

A marketing plan can be adjusted at any point based on the results from the 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 ones to drop; maintaining ineffective initiatives will unnecessarily increase marketing costs.

Digital marketing shows results in near real-time, 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 details how a business will operate and function in its entirety. A business plan is a roadmap for a business. It will cover the goals, missions , values, financials, and strategies that the business will use in day-to-day operations and in the achievement of its objectives.

A business plan will include an executive summary, the products and services sold, a marketing analysis, a marketing strategy, financial planning, and a budget , to name but a few items.

As mentioned, a business plan will include a marketing plan, which focuses on creating a marketing strategy on how to bring awareness to the public of the company's product or service, how to reach the target market, and generate sales.

Example of a Marketing Plan

John came up with a new business idea that he believes is a niche offering in the market. He decides to start a business and his first step is creating a business plan that outlines all of the objectives, goals, values, pitfalls, and finances of his company.

John is able to raise enough capital from friends and family to get started, hires a few employees, and eventually creates his product. He now has to start selling his product and generate sales to keep his business operating.

To achieve this, John, with the help of a marketing company, creates a marketing plan. The marketing plan consists of market research that details the target market for John's product, which is recently retired men.

The marketing plan then comes up with the best methods of reaching this target market. The marketing plan stresses radio and television as opposed to social media as older, retired men use social media less than traditional forms of media, according to the market research that was conducted.

The ads are tailored to the target market, showing how John's product will benefit their lives, particularly when compared to market alternatives. Once the marketing plan has been executed, the marketing team analyzes how the efforts translate into sales.

What Is a Marketing Plan Template?

A marketing plan template is a document that an individual can use to create a marketing plan. The marketing plan template will contain all the important elements and the various needed language with blank sections. A user can insert their own information related to their business in the blank sections to ultimately create their own marketing plan.

What Is an Executive Summary in a Marketing Plan?

The executive summary of a marketing plan provides a brief overview of the entire marketing plan. The executive summary will contain the key findings of the market research, the company's objectives, marketing goals, an overview of the marketing trends, the description of the product or service being marketed, information on the target market, and how to financially plan for the marketing plan.

What Is a Top-Down Marketing Strategy?

A top-down marketing strategy is a traditional marketing strategy. This is where a business determines who it should sell to and how, and the customer base is largely passive and spurred to take action once they hear the advertisement. For example, a top-down marketing strategy would include ads on radio or television. Top-down marketing strategies are usually determined by the executives of a firm. It usually consists of what a firm desires to do and then determining a way to do it.

What Is a Bottom-Up Marketing Strategy?

A bottom-up marketing strategy focuses on discovering a workable strategy and then building on that strategy to create an impactful advertising campaign. Today's consumer wants to relate to a product or service in a meaningful way and a bottom-up marketing strategy is better suited to this. A bottom-up marketing strategy should focus on the target market and how better to create value for them.

How Much Does a Marketing Plan Cost?

The cost of a marketing plan will vary based on the company, the complexity, and the length of the overall strategy. The cost can range anywhere from $10,000 to $40,000.

A marketing plan is the advertising strategy that a business will implement to sell its product or service. The marketing plan will help determine who the target market is, how best to reach them, 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 what are the best and worst ways to generate sales. Without a successful marketing plan, a business may not be able to continue operating for very long.

Statista. " Most Effective Digital Marketing Techniques According to Marketers Worldwide in 2020 ."

Laire. " How Much Does a Marketing Plan Cost? "

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• How to Do Market Research, Types, and Example 2 of 25
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• What Is a Marketing Plan? Types and How to Write One 5 of 25
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How to Write a Sales and Marketing Plan

2 min. read

Updated January 3, 2024

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:

• Based on your audience, how will you position your product or service in the current market?
• What marketing channels, messaging, and sales tactics will you implement?
• What’s your business model and how will your business operate day-to-day?

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.

What to include in the sales and marketing section

The sections you should include act as a useful framework for exploring and defining your marketing and sales tactics.

Create a positioning statement

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.

Outline your marketing strategy

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.

Craft your sales plan

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.

Optional sales and marketing information to include

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.

Create a unique value proposition

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.

Don't forget digital marketing

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.

Build your promotional 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.

Conduct a SWOT analysis

With this simple analysis, you’ll better understand your strengths and weaknesses, along with the opportunities and threats you should account for.

See why 1.2 million entrepreneurs have written their business plans with LivePlan

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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• Optional information

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10 Marketing Plan Examples to Inspire Your Campaigns

What do hiking a trail, driving to a friend’s house, and executing marketing campaigns all have in common? Each requires you to closely follow directions.

Directions are a critical part of our daily life. Used correctly, they can guide decision-making processes, make labor more efficient, and get where you want to go as quickly as possible. 

But failing to keep track of directions could cost you — and not just gas money. When it comes to marketing strategies, not having a clear goal tanks web traffic, dissipates brand interest, and costs companies across the United States a whopping $400 billion a year.

Designing a marketing plan is certainly no easy task, but it can be made easier with best practices, strategic tips, and concrete examples from successful businesses all over the world.

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What is a marketing plan?

A marketing plan is a strategic document that acts as a guide for marketing campaigns and strategies. These critical road maps detail where you are, where you’re going, and how you plan to get there.

The average marketing plan consists of seven major sections:

• Writing an executive summary
• Discussing the mission statement
• Listing marketing objectives
• Performing a SWOT analysis
• Completing market research
• Designing a market strategy
• Determining a budget

The more detailed a marketing plan is, the more efficient it will be at accomplishing its goals. 

As you might imagine, marketers who bother to write a concrete marketing plan enjoy several benefits :

• Organized marketers have a 674% higher chance of reporting success
• Marketers who set goals are 377% more successful than those who don’t

It’s clear that a successful marketing plan opens pathways to other forms of business success — although the process is underutilized at best. More than three out of four small business owners lack an overarching marketing plan if they don’t have a clear path of growth. Creating a holistic marketing plan is absolutely necessary to scale brands at any level of development.

10 marketing plan examples from every industry

It’s much simpler to design a plan of action when the groundwork already exists. Below are 10 marketing plans sourced from real companies and brands around the world, highlighting unique approaches to researching, crafting and implementing a marketing strategy . 

1. Contently

Popular SaaS Contently developed a visual marketing plan for developing future campaigns. The strategy depicts its plan in a “waterfall” format, with goals blending into methods of application that eventually lead to success metrics. Although far more casual than other examples on this list, the work provides an excellent overview of a marketing plan’s necessary components.

2. Visit Baton Rouge

The Baton Rouge area of Louisiana generates millions of dollars every year from tourism alone. The Visit Baton Rouge marketing plan was born from a need to better position the area and create long-term strategies for generating interest. This 38-page document goes into detail describing different destinations, events, and calendars, including recommended measurements for success.

Created by SaaS company HubSpot , this template includes a business summary, SWOT matrix, market strategy, budget, and other important aspects of a marketing plan. By filling it out, you can make informed decisions about your company’s positioning and your marketing in general.

4. Evernote

Evernote provides a comprehensive marketing plan template for businesses of any size. Create a plan that walks through overviews, timelines, research, personas, and all other elements of an airtight campaign. If desired, you can also implement this template into your Evernote account to start developing a marketing plan almost immediately.

5. University of Illinois

Even educational institutes need marketing plans. The University of Illinois created a very straightforward document that encapsulates its market context, research efforts, and current campaigns. Objectives and success metrics are completed in the third section, with about 40 pages overall. 

6. Monday.com

Monday.com is a project management platform providing in-house templates to all active users. This marketing plan offers various categories and subcategories that track project progress with data visualizations. Detailed objectives and KPIs can be identified in-app, including columns for a projected cost range.

Popular health and hygiene brand Lush released a comprehensive marketing plan walking through some products, positioning, and a marketing calendar for upcoming product releases. One of the highlights includes a detailed SWOT analysis with easy to read graphics. This is particularly helpful for brands in the personal care industry, among others.

8. Coca-Cola

Industry titan Coca-Cola released a strategy video that encompasses all seven elements of a holistic marketing plan. The proposal primarily explains the major content initiatives for the coming year, and focuses on how the brand’s initial ideas can be practically implemented into the existing strategy. 

9. Naperville Park District

Publicly funded recreational parks often have limited access to resources, which is why the Naperville Park District created a strategic marketing plan right at the beginning. This extremely detailed document walks through the company’s mission, situational analysis, strategy, and budget, on a micro-level.

10. Starbucks

Unlike the longform documents we’ve seen already, Starbucks takes a more concise approach. This six-page release details a strategy to elevate CX and brand ambassadors around the world. The marketing plan touches on individual strategies and tactics, as well as the methods used to ensure success. It’s important to note the detailed customer journey profiles that fit into a five-year strategy.

How to approach a marketing plan

Now that you know what a marketing plan looks like, it’s time to explore the initial stages of drafting and publishing your very first plan. Once you establish some basic starting points, a little research is all you need to get started.

Determine your goals

Directions simply don’t matter without an endpoint in mind. Craft some meaningful goals for your marketing campaign that envelop your brand’s values, objectives, and year-end plans. It’s best to use the SMART goal framework:

The more specific your goals are, the more effective your marketing plan will be.

Check your competitors

Staying abreast of your competitors and market share is critical in the early stages of a marketing plan. Using competitive analysis tools or an internal process, take some time to evaluate the approach that others are using — and how you can do better.

You might want to:

• Perform a competitive analysis
• Keep a close eye on industry news
• Browse competitor social media content

Keep in mind that it’s possible to hire freelancers to perform competitive analysis for you, depending on your needs and time constraints.

Identify your audience

Understanding your target market — including their goals, ages, values, and demographics — is the golden rule of marketing. This can be done several ways, either by using data, creating personas, or outlying features in a document.

It’s best to consider everything that may be relevant to your audience in the marketing plan, including how products can be positioned in a way that makes them relevant. For example, a customer with a degree in IT would be more interested in ads that speak to their experience and industry pain points.

If you don’t have a target audience in mind yet, consider using programs like Google Analytics or in-platform insights from Facebook to identify specific segments.

Craft final KPIs

The difference between a good marketing plan and a great marketing plan starts with key performance metrics (KPIs). These will be used to measure the effectiveness of your campaign and provide detailed information about what worked, what didn’t, and what you can change in the future.

Every marketing plan should rely on its own unique set of metrics, all fitted to individual needs. If you’re looking for specific examples, you might want to try:

• Raising the number of followers on a social media account
• Generating a certain amount of website leads 
• Achieving higher email open rates 

Keep in mind that your final metrics should adhere to the SMART method for best results.

Perform your revisions

The marketing plan is a living document and must be updated regularly to remain current. The average plan only has a shelf life of one to five years , on average, and should receive regular revisions in the meantime.

Take a closer look at your past goals, competitors, audience, and KPIs. Are any of these outdated or ill-aligned? What has changed for the company since its initial publication date? Make these adjustments accordingly (and hopefully with members of a team or committee).

Create marketing plans that guide your business well

It’s not enough to just write a marketing plan. In an increasingly competitive world of iron-clad strategies, marketing pros should take their time developing a plan that lasts. The above examples are a great place to start, especially as you craft an approach that is catered to your industry. 

Keep an eye on the growth of your business once your marketing plan hits the shelves. Continue to find new ways to optimize, refine, and otherwise make what you have even better than before. With an airtight marketing plan by your side, the possibilities are virtually limitless.

Want to learn more?

• How to Create a Killer Social Media Marketing Plan
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Plan Projections

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Home > Business Plan > Marketing Strategy in a Business Plan

Marketing Strategy in a Business Plan

… we will get this market share by …

• Product USP : Why buy our product? What characteristics does the product have to meet customer needs?
• Promotion : What marketing activities will be undertaken? What means of communication will the business use to persuade customers of the benefits of the product? Will it use above the line promotion or below the line promotion?
• Place : What are the distribution channels? How is the business going to reach customers with its product?
• Price : What price will the business charge for the product, and what goal is it pursuing with the pricing strategy? Will the business use premium, penetration, economy or skimming pricing strategies.

Marketing Strategy Presentation

The marketing strategy section of the business plan can be presented in four sections relating to each of the four P’s product, promotion, place, and price as shown in the example layout below.

The marketing strategy is a key section of the business plan, at this stage you are not trying to present a complete marketing plan, but simply trying to show the investor that each major section of the marketing strategy has been thought about and that you have a good marketing mix.

All of the four sections should be consistent with and support each other, for example, if you are planning to adopt a high price strategy, then the product would be aimed at an upmarket target customer, distributed at high end stores, and make use of one to one personal selling.

This is part of the financial projections and Contents of a Business Plan Guide , a series of posts on what each section of a simple business plan should include. The next post in this series sets out the business model which the business intends to use to generate revenue.

About the Author

Chartered accountant Michael Brown is the founder and CEO of Plan Projections. He has worked as an accountant and consultant for more than 25 years and has built financial models for all types of industries. He has been the CFO or controller of both small and medium sized companies and has run small businesses of his own. He has been a manager and an auditor with Deloitte, a big 4 accountancy firm, and holds a degree from Loughborough University.

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Marketing Strategy Business Plan

Marketing is one of the key components of any business organization. Without marketing, companies would never succeed and will definite go bankrupt in a span of months. The importance of a marketing plan cannot be understated, that is the reason why marketing plans are formulated by both small enterprises and large corporations.

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To help you create your own marketing strategy business plan, we have provided some tips on how to write one as well as examples (in PDF format) you can use as a reference.

Marketing Strategy Business Plan Example

• Google Docs

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Strategic Marketing Plan Template

Career Marketing Strategy Business Plan Example

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Intro Outline Marketing Strategy Business Plan Example

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Marketing Strategy Business Plan Checklist Example

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What Is a Marketing Plan?

A marketing plan is a document that identifies and analyzes what marketing tools the company should use to achieve maximum profitability. A simple marketing plan incorporates all campaigns that will be used, in which the said campaigns will also be monitored and measured. A marketing plan is also involved in the following functions:

• Create market research to support pricing decisions and new product lines
• Disseminate the main message of the product to demographics and geographic areas
• Choose from numerous platforms to promote products and services (i.e. digital, radio, Internet, magazines, television, print media, or a combination of those platforms)
• Set up results metrics and reporting timelines

Marketing plans and marketing strategies are often used interchangeably. This is because a marketing plan cannot exist if there is no strategy (or strategies) that is implemented in the said plan. There are instances where a marketing plan and marketing strategy can be merged, although it is more applicable for smaller companies since they only run very few marketing campaigns in a year.

But take note that marketing plan outlines the the company’s marketing activities while the strategy is only a tool that is being used to achieve the goals of the marketing plan.

When creating a marketing plan, the value proposition of the business should be considered and the plan should have a set time period. When identifying a target audience, market research is often used. Market research is also used to identify which marketing channel should be used (for example, online ads, radio, social media, and TV advertising spots).

The general marketing plan also describes the overall marketing strategy and lists down the rationale for each marketing decision. Additionally, the plan should also focus on the creation, timing and placement of specific campaigns, and how the outcome of those campaigns will be measured.

For a marketing plan to be properly executed, the marketing plan should be adjusted at any point and at any time based on the results. For example, if your digital ads are performing better than it was initially expected, the budget for digital ads can be increased to fund the platform that is performing at a more effective rate. You may also see simple business plan examples .

Marketing leaders often face the challenge of ensuring every platform has sufficient time to show results, a challenge in today’s fast-paced digital world.

Going back to the digital ads example, digital marketing shows results in near real-time, while traditional television ads still undergo a long process before it can be aired, which results in a longer time for results to be collated and analyzed. You may also like business plan examples .

A marketing plan would fall under the category of “promotion” in a traditional marketing mix model. Promotion is one of the Four P’s of Marketing   (a term coined by famous American professor Neil Borden), together with product, price, and place.

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Non-Profit Marketing Strategy Business Plan Example

Tips in Creating a Marketing Strategy Business Plan

Here are some tips in creating a marketing strategy business plan. Remember to incorporate the tips listed below to maximize the effectiveness of your marketing plan.

1. Situation analysis

You first need to determine the position of your business before you start developing a plan. Your company might want to move into a new market segment but you are still meeting your financial goals on your current market. Remember that any marketing plan will not be of help if your employees or untrained.

Most of the data you create for your situation analysis is mostly found in your company reports. If the said information is not available, you can always conduct a SWOT analysis to identify potential issues. You should be clear on what makes your company stand out from the competition.

2. Define the ideal customer

No business owner in his right mind will say that “everyone is my client” and “I cater to all types of markets.” Demographics is very important in determining the ideal customer base of a company. Not all market segments purchase the same products. For example, senior citizens are not the ideal market for smartphone manufacturers. You may also see business plan examples .

Similarly, teenagers aging 12 to 16 years old should not be the target market of antibiotic medicine for life-threatening diseases. It should be priority for you to do research first to identify your target market or ideal customer. Once you have identified your ideal customer or market segment, define how your products solve a need in that group. You may also like importance of business plan .

3. Establish marketing goals

The end goal of marketing should be sales. You should list down how your marketing efforts will improve revenues. For example, you can give discounts to customers who have already purchased your products more than once, or give out gift certificates to your loyal customers. Set a time frame so that you can be specific in the goals you want to achieve.

4. Select marketing tools

Your marketing tools will determine how you deal with your customers or clients. Choose from digital or traditional marketing methods, but you can always choose both although it will be more expensive on your end. Also, keep in touch with your customers via professional email , postal letter, or phone call/text.

5. Budget funds

Every commodity costs money. That is the reason why you should establish a budget for each marketing strategy you create. You should also monitor results to determine the effectiveness of the strategies you formulated, and do not hesitate to adjust the budget if you feel some marketing campaigns are not working in your favor.

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Product Marketing Strategy Business Plan Example

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Components of a Marketing Strategy Business Plan

Before you start writing your marketing strategy business plan , make sure to incorporate the components listed below. They are essential to the success of your marketing plan.

1. Market research

Research is the backbone of any marketing plan. There are numerous online resources where you can gather important information for your strategy business plan (consumer buying habits, market size, market growth or decline, current trends, etc.). You may also see how to make a business plan .

2. Target market

The target market is essentially the demographic of customers where you will be selling your product. But take note that selling to a single market segment will not be advantageous to your business. Diversify your portfolio to fit multiple market segments. You may also like business plan outline with examples .

3. Positioning

Positioning is the perception of your product or brand in the marketplace. Basically, your business will never profit if you position yourself in an identical way as your competitors. Take priority in developing your company’s brand and clearly communicate to your target market on how you want your business to be perceived. You may also check out maintenance strategy plan examples .

4. Competitive analysis

Identify your competitors and analyze how your products provide a competitive advantage. Competitive analysis and positioning are similar as you will developing a brand that will give an an edge against your competitors.

To create an effective competitive analysis, you should answer these questions: “What are the prices of the products your competitors are selling?” “To which market segment are they catering to?” “What are the distinct features of their products or services?” “How long have they been in the industry?” “What technology are they implementing in their products?” You might be interested in networking strategy plan examples .

5. Market strategy

Revenue goals is the ultimate professional goal of market strategy. Identify and apply methods that you think will reach your customers in the most accessible and convenient way possible, and the methods should always translate to revenues for your business. You can choose from traditional or digital methods, or you can implement both in your market strategy.

As similar to almost all types of business activities, budget is needed to maintain a market strategy business plan. A sizable budget is not mandatory though, as you just need to be smart on how you handle your resources. A budget action plan or schedule is also beneficial as you budget your marketing activities.

Metrics is very helpful in tracking the results of your marketing activities. One software you can use is Google Analytics. This software tracks website visits, the demographics of your website visitors as well as their location, and other visitor information. The great thing about Google Analytics is that the free version does not hold back on the functionality which is very beneficial if you can’t afford the paid version. You may also see website strategy plan examples .

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Creating a marketing strategy business plan should be on the top of your priority list when identifying and analyzing the marketing activities of your company. A business, either a small enterprise or large corporation, will not be able to last in the industry it’s operating if it does not implement an effective marketing strategy business plan.

We hope you found this article to be informative as well as helpful when you will be making your own marketing strategy business plan. We have also provided some examples in PDF format for your reference.

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How to Create a Marketing Plan: Tips and Essential Components

Learn how to create a marketing plan that will help you attract & convert more customers. Learn strategies to drive business growth & maximize ROI.

Table of Contents

For acquiring and converting consumers in the realm of business-to-business (B2B) marketing, having a thoughtful marketing strategy is essential. B2B marketing places more of an emphasis on selling goods and services to other businesses than it does on individual customers. It entails special methods and strategies created to meet the distinct requirements and preferences of organizations.

Recent data shows that B2B marketers that have a structured marketing plan are 538 percent more likely to be successful than those without one. This emphasizes how crucial it is to have a detailed marketing plan in place.

Essential components of a great marketing plan

There are a number of crucial elements that you must incorporate into your B2B marketing approach. These elements provide your marketing initiatives a strong basis and increase success. Let's look more closely at each of these elements.

1. Setting clear goals

Prior to beginning any marketing initiatives, it's critical to define specific, attainable targets. Your objectives should be in line with your overall business goals and serve as a guide for your marketing initiatives. Whether you want to grow revenue, attract more leads, or raise brand recognition, setting clear goals can help you stay motivated.

2. Effective web design strategy

A successful B2B marketing strategy in the modern digital era requires a well-designed, user-friendly website. Your website acts as a digital showroom and should showcase your company's principles, products, and brand identity.

Make sure your website is user-friendly, pleasing to the eye, and mobile-friendly. Use engaging content, user-friendly design features, and clear calls to action to capture visitors' attention and boost conversion rates.

3. Generating compelling content

The foundation of B2B marketing is content. Building trust with potential consumers via the creation of high-quality, educational, and interesting content positions your company as an industry thought leader.

Create a content plan that includes infographics, videos, whitepapers, case studies, and blog entries. Create content that is specifically tailored to your target audience's problems and issues by offering insightful information and solutions.

4. Social media presence

Social media platforms are essential for B2B marketing because they provide you the chance to engage with your target market and spread the word about your business. Develop a strong presence on the social media channels that are most appropriate for your industry and target demographic.

In order to increase your audience and draw in new clients, share engaging material, interact with your followers, and make use of social media advertising.

5. Robust SEO strategy

Implementing and understanding search engine optimization (SEO) is critical for ensuring your business is discoverable online. To find the words and phrases your target audience uses to search, conduct keyword research, and then optimize your website and content accordingly.

Create a link-building plan to raise your website's search engine ranks and increase organic traffic. To make data-driven modifications and stay ahead of the competition, regularly track and analyze your SEO performance.

6. Comprehensive analytics

Effective measurement and analysis of your marketing efforts are crucial for optimizing your strategies and achieving your goals. To monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) including website traffic, conversion rates, lead generation, and client acquisition expenses, implement powerful analytics solutions.

Make educated judgments based on the data analysis results to determine trends, marketing campaign strengths, and shortcomings.

5 Types of marketing plans

After going through the key elements of a solid marketing strategy, let's examine the various types of marketing strategies that can be used in B2B marketing.

1. Quarterly or annual marketing plans

These plans outline marketing strategies and activities for a specific time period, usually a quarter or a year. They provide a comprehensive overview of your marketing goals, target audience, messaging, channels, and budgets.

2. Social media marketing plan

This plan focuses on using social media channels to interact with your target market, increase brand recognition, and accelerate conversions. It includes content creation, posting schedules, engagement strategies, and performance tracking.

3. Content marketing plan

A content marketing plan focuses on producing and delivering useful, timely, and consistent content to draw in and keep your target market. In order to increase reach, it specifies the content kinds to be created, the platforms to be used, and the distribution methods.

4. New product launch marketing plan

A focused marketing strategy is required when launching a new good or service. To guarantee a successful product launch, it specifies the launch plan, target audience, messaging, promotional activities, and key performance measures.

5. Growth marketing plan

This plan focuses on strategies and tactics to drive business growth. It includes customer acquisition, retention, and upselling strategies, as well as referral programs, partnerships, and expansion into new markets.

6 Marketing plan examples

Let's take a look at some real-world marketing plan examples:

1. Visit Oxnard

Visit Oxnard, a destination marketing organization, developed a comprehensive marketing plan to promote tourism in Oxnard, California. Their plan included a mix of digital marketing, content creation, social media campaigns, and partnerships with local businesses to attract visitors.

2. Safe Haven Family Shelter

Safe Haven Family Shelter, a nonprofit organization, created a marketing plan to raise awareness and attract donations. Their plan involved storytelling through impactful videos, social media campaigns, and partnerships with local businesses to generate support for their cause.

3. Wright County Economic Development

Wright County Economic Development focused on attracting businesses to the region through a targeted marketing plan. They utilized digital marketing strategies, content creation, and industry partnerships to showcase the benefits and opportunities available in Wright County.

4. The Cultural Council of Palm Beach County

The Cultural Council of Palm Beach County developed a marketing plan to promote the cultural offerings of the region. Their plan included a mix of online and offline marketing tactics, collaborations with local artists, and engaging content to position Palm Beach County as a vibrant cultural destination.

5. Cabarrus County Convention and Visitors Bureau

In order to draw tourists and business travelers to Cabarrus County, North Carolina, the Cabarrus County Convention and visitors bureau adopted a marketing strategy. To highlight the region's unique offerings, their strategy includes collaborations with nearby hotels and attractions, targeted digital advertising, and social media initiatives.

6. Visit Billings

Visit Billings, a destination marketing organization, developed a marketing plan to promote tourism in Billings, Montana. Their plan incorporated a mix of online and offline marketing strategies, content creation, and collaboration with local businesses to position Billings as a must-visit destination.

A well-executed B2B marketing plan is crucial for attracting and converting customers in today's competitive business landscape. By setting clear goals, leveraging effective web design, creating compelling content, establishing a social media presence, implementing robust SEO strategies, and utilizing comprehensive analytics, businesses can develop successful marketing plans.

Don't forget to adjust your marketing plan to your particular sector, target market, and business goals. You may increase client attraction and conversion rates, which will fuel the expansion and success of your B2B business, by following the instructions provided in this article and getting ideas from actual case studies.

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Put Marketing at the Core of Your Growth Strategy

• Marc Brodherson,
• Jennifer Ellinas,

Three ways to use marketing as a lever for growth, according to McKinsey research.

Companies that make the decision to put marketing at the core of their growth strategy outperform the competition, according to McKinsey research. Specifically, both B2C and B2B companies who view branding and advertising as a top two growth strategy are twice as likely to see revenue growth of 5% or more than those that don’t (67% to 33%). Yet their research also showed that few CEOs recognize the potential for marketing as a growth accelerator. They recommend three actions for CEOs to hit the reset button. The first is to define what you need from marketing. While it sounds obvious, their research found that more than half the time CEOs and CMOs in the same company were misaligned on marketing’s primary role. Second, nominate one person to serve as the chief voice of the customer. In two many organizations this is fragmented, and when everyone owns the customer, then no one does. Third, the CEO should function as a growth coach. They should have a handle on the challenges and opportunities of modern marketing, but their job is to draw up the strategy, not toss the ball down the field.

Growth is a perpetual business priority. So it’s imperative that CEOs understand how their marketing function and chief marketing officers (CMOs) can contribute to that goal. Few do — and that misalignment can be costly.

• Marc Brodherson is a senior partner in McKinsey & Company’s New York office.
• Jennifer Ellinas is an associate partner in McKinsey & Company’s Toronto office.
• Ed See is a partner in McKinsey & Company’s Stamford, Connecticut office.
• Robert Tas is a partner in McKinsey & Company’s Stamford, Connecticut office.

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5 Steps to Create an Outstanding Marketing Plan [Free Templates]

Published: January 04, 2024

Free Marketing Plan Template

Outline your company's marketing strategy in one simple, coherent plan.

Thank you for downloading the offer.

Do you take a good, hard look at your team's marketing strategy every year?

You should. Without an annual marketing plan, things can get messy — and it's nearly impossible to put a number on your budget for the projects, hiring, and outsourcing over the course of a year if you don't have a plan.

To make your plan's creation easier, we've put together a list of what to include in your plan and a few different planning templates where you can easily fill in the blanks.

To start, let's dive into how to create a marketing plan and then take a look at what a high-level marketing plan has inside.

In this article, we're going to discuss:

• What a High-Level Marketing Plan Includes

How to Create a Marketing Plan

• Marketing Plan Templates You Can Use
• Simplified Marketing Plan Template
• Plus — Social Media Plan Templates

• Pre-Sectioned Template
• Completely Customizable
• Example Prompts
• Professionally Designed

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

Fill out this form to access a free marketing plan template.

Marketing plan outline.

Download This Marketing Plan Outline for Free

The above marketing plan outline will help you create an effective plan that easily generates buy-in from stakeholders and effectively guides your marketing efforts.

Marketing plans can get quite granular to reflect the industry you're in, whether you're selling to consumers (B2C) or other businesses (B2B), and how big your digital presence is. Nonetheless, here are the elements every effective marketing plan includes:

1. Business Summary

In a marketing plan, your business summary is exactly what it sounds like: a summary of the organization. It's essential to include this information so that all stakeholders, including your direct reports, learn about your company in detail before delving into the more strategic components of your plan.

Even if you’re presenting this plan to people who’ve been in the company for a while, it doesn’t hurt to get everyone on the same page.

Most business summaries include:

The company name

Where it's headquartered

Its mission statement

Our marketing plan outline also includes information on marketing leadership, which is especially helpful for companies with large marketing teams.

2. SWOT Analysis

Your marketing plan's business summary also includes a SWOT analysis , which covers your business's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It’s essential to include this information so you can create targeted strategies that help you capitalize on your strengths and improve upon your weaknesses.

In my experience, you need a lot of patience when doing a SWOT analysis; it requires market research and competitive analysis to become truly accurate. I tend to revisit this section periodically, adjusting it as I discover more information about my own business and competition.

3. Business Initiatives

The business initiatives element of a marketing plan helps you segment the various goals of your department. Be careful not to include big-picture company initiatives, which you'd normally find in a business plan. This section should outline the projects that are specific to marketing. You'll also describe the goals of those projects and how those goals will be measured.

Every initiative should follow the SMART method for goal-making . They should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. For example, a broad goal might be something like, "Increase my Facebook following." But a SMART-ified version of this goal could be, "Increase my Facebook following by 30% by June." See the difference?

4. Customer Analysis

In this part of the marketing plan outline, you get plenty of space to share all the data you collected during your market research . If your company has already done a thorough market research study, this section of your marketing plan might be easier to put together. Either way, try to do your research before synthesizing it in a shareable document like this one.

Ultimately, this element of your marketing plan will help you describe the industry you're selling to and your buyer persona . A buyer persona is a semi-fictional description of your ideal customer, focusing on traits like:

Personal challenges

Triggering event

5. Competitor Analysis

Positioning

Market share

Our marketing plan template includes space to list out the specific products you compete with, as well as other facets of the other company’s strategy, such as their blogging efforts or customer service reputation. Keep this part of your plan simple — your full competitive analysis should be done separately. Here are a few competitive analysis templates to get started.

6. Market Strategy

Your market strategy uses the information included in the above sections to describe how your company should approach the market. 

For instance, when I'm filling out this section, I always pull insights from my SWOT analysis, my competitive analysis, and my general market research. This helps me write targeted, effective descriptions of my strategies.

Here's an example: if you found that one of your competitors employs stronger social media marketing strategies , you might add "We'll post 3 times per week on our social media profiles" under "Promotion."

In our full-length marketing plan outline, the market strategy section contains the "seven Ps of marketing" (or the “ extended marketing mix ”):

Physical Evidence

(You'll learn more about these seven sub-components inside our free marketing plan template, which you can download below.)

When I created my first marketing plan, I made the mistake of confusing the marketing budget section of my plan with my product's price and other financials.

Here's a better way to think of this section: it should describe how much money the business has allotted the marketing team to pursue the initiatives and goals outlined in the elements above.

Depending on how many individual expenses you have, you should consider itemizing this budget by what specifically you'll spend your budget on. Example marketing expenses include:

Outsourcing costs to a marketing agency and/or other providers

Marketing software

Paid promotions

Events (those you'll host and/or attend)

Knowing the budget and doing analysis on the marketing channels you want to invest in, you should be able to come up with a plan for how much budget to invest in which tactics based on expected ROI. From there, you'll be able to come up with financial projections for the year. These won't be 100% accurate but can help with executive planning.

Remember: Your marketing plan only includes a summary of the costs. We recommend keeping a separate document or Excel sheet to help you calculate your budget much more effectively. Here’s a marketing budget template to get started .

8. Marketing Channels

Your marketing plan should also include a list of your marketing channels. While your company might promote the product itself using certain ad space, your marketing channels are where you'll publish the content that educates your buyers, generates leads, and spreads awareness of your brand.

If you publish (or intend to publish) on social media, this is the place to talk about it. Use the Marketing Channels section of your marketing plan to map out which social networks you want to launch a business page on, what you'll use this social network for, and how you'll measure your success on this network.

Part of this section's purpose is to prove to your superiors, both inside and outside the marketing department, that these channels will serve to grow the business.

Businesses with extensive social media presences might even consider elaborating on their social strategy in a separate social media plan template.

9. Marketing Technology

Last, but certainly not least, your marketing plan should include an overview of the tools you'll include in your marketing technology (MarTech) stack . These are the tools that will help you achieve the goals you outlined in the previous sections. Since all types of marketing software usually need a generous investment from your company’s leadership, it’s essential to connect them to a potential ROI for your business.

For each tool, describe what exactly you’ll use it for, and be sure that it’s a strategy that you’ve mentioned elsewhere. For instance, we wouldn't recommend listing an advertising management tool if you didn’t list “ PPC Advertising ” under “Marketing Channels.”

• Conduct a situation analysis.
• Define your target audience.
• Write SMART goals.
• Analyze your tactics.
• Set your budget.

1. Conduct a situation analysis.

The first step I take when creating a marketing plan is conducting a SWOT analysis. It helps me uncover the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing my business.

Additionally, I need a good picture of the current market. How do I compare to my competitors? Doing a competitor analysis can help.

In doing so, I can identify the gaps (and opportunities) in a competitor's approach. What are they missing? What can I offer that'll give me a competitive advantage?

Answering questions like this should help you figure out what your customer wants, which brings us to step number two.

2. Define your target audience.

If your company already has buyer personas , this step might just mean you have to refine your current personas.

But if you don't have a buyer persona, you should create one. To do this, you might have to conduct market research.

Your buyer persona should include demographic information such as age, gender, and income. However, it will also include psychographic information such as pain points and goals. What drives your audience? What problems do they have that your product or service can fix?

Once you have this information written out, it'll help you define your goals, which brings us to step number three.

3. Write SMART goals.

My mother always used to tell me, "You can't go somewhere unless you have a road map." Now, for me, someone who's geographically challenged, that was literal advice.

However, it can also be applied metaphorically to marketing. You can't improve your ROI unless you know what your goals are.

After you've figured out your current situation and know your audience, you can begin to define your SMART goals .

SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. This means that all your goals should be specific and include a time frame for which you want to complete them.

For example, your goal could be to increase your Instagram followers by 15% in three months. Depending on your overall marketing goals, this should be relevant and attainable. Additionally, this goal is specific, measurable, and time-bound.

Before you start any tactic, you should write out your goals. Then, you can begin to analyze which tactics will help you achieve that goal. That brings us to step number four.

4. Analyze your tactics.

At this point, you've written down your goals based on your target audience and current situation.

Now, you have to figure out what tactics will help you achieve your goals. Plus, what are the right channels and action items to focus on?

For example, if your goal is to increase your Instagram followers by 15% in three months, your tactics might include hosting a giveaway, responding to every comment, and posting three times on Instagram per week.

Once you know your goals, brainstorming several tactics to achieve them should be easy. That said, you may not be able to pursue every tactic on your list (unless you have an unlimited budget, which, if so, jealous ) — which brings us to step number five.

5. Set your budget.

Before you can begin implementing any of the ideas that you've come up with in the steps above, you have to know your budget.

For example, your tactics might include social media advertising. However, if you don't have the budget for that, then you might not be able to achieve your goals.

While you're writing out your tactics, be sure to note an estimated budget. You can include the time it'll take to complete each tactic in addition to the assets you might need to purchase, such as ad space.

Now that you know how to create your marketing plan, let's dive into creating a marketing campaign outline that will help you reach the goals outlined plan.

Marketing Plan Timeline

Rolling out a new marketing plan is a big lift. To make sure things are running smoothly with all of your projects, you'll want to create a timeline that maps out when each project is happening.

A marketing plan timeline allows your team to view all projects, campaigns, events, and other related tasks in one place — along with their deadlines. This ensures everyone on your team knows what’s due, when it’s due, and what’s up next in the pipeline. Typically these plans cover marketing efforts for the entire year, but some companies may operate on a bi-annual or quarterly basis.

Once you’ve completed your analysis, research, and set goals, it’s time to set deadlines for your assignments. From new blog posts and content initiatives to product launches, everything will need a deadline. Take into account any holidays or events taking place over the course of the year.

While setting deadlines for the entire year may seem daunting, start by estimating how long you think each task will take and set a deadline accordingly. Track the time it actually takes for you to complete similar types of projects. Once you’ve completed a few of them, you’ll have a better idea of how long each takes and will be able to set more accurate deadlines.

For each project, you’ll want to build in time for:

• Brainstorming : This is the first phase where your idea comes to life in a project outline. Decide what you want to achieve and which stakeholders need to be involved to meet your goal. Set a due date and set up any necessary meetings.
• Planning : This can include determining the project’s scope, figuring out how much budget will be allocated for it, finalizing deadlines and who is working on each task. Map out any campaigns needed for each project (social media, PR, sales promotions, landing pages, events, etc.).
• Execution : This third phase is all about your project launch. Decide on a date to launch and monitor the progress of the project. Set up a system for tracking metrics and KPIs.
• Analysis : In this final phase you will analyze all of your performance data to see whether or not your marketing efforts paid off. Did you meet your goals? Did you complete your projects on time and within budget?

All projects and their deadlines should be in a central location where your team can access them whether that’s a calendar like HubSpot's tool , shared document, or project management tool.

One-Page Marketing Plan Template

As demonstrated above, a marketing plan can be a long document. When you want to share information with stakeholders or simply want an overview of your plan for quick reference, having a shorter version on hand can be helpful. A one-page marketing plan can be the solution, and we’ll discuss its elements below.

Include your company name, list the names of individuals responsible for enacting the different stages of your plan, and a brief mission statement.

2. Business Initiatives

3. Target Market

Outline your target audience(s) that your efforts will reach. You can include a brief overview of your industry and buyer personas.

This is an overview of the money you’ll spend to help you meet your marketing goals. Create a good estimate of how much you'll spend on each facet of your marketing program.

5. Marketing Channels

List the channels you’ll use to achieve your marketing goals. Describe why you're using each channel and what you want to accomplish so everyone is on the same page.

Free Marketing Plan Template [Word]

Now that you know what to include in your marketing plan, it's time to grab your marketing plan template and see how best to organize the six elements explained above. The following marketing plan template opens directly in Microsoft Word, so you can edit each section as you see fit:

Download your marketing plan template here .

Marketing campaign template.

Your marketing plan is a high-level view of the different marketing strategies you’ll use to meet your business objectives. A marketing campaign template is a focused plan that will help achieve those marketing goals.

A marketing campaign template should include the following key components:

• Goals and KPIs: Identify the end goal for each of the individual campaigns you’ll run and the metrics you will use to measure the results of your campaign when it ends. For example, conversion rates, sales, sign-ups, etc.
• Channels: Identify the different channels you’ll use to enact your marketing campaign to reach your audience. Maybe you run a social media campaign on Twitter to raise brand awareness or a direct mail campaign to notify your audience of upcoming sales.
• Budget : Identify the budget you’ll need to run your campaign and how it will be distributed, like the amount you’ll spend on creating content or ad placements in different areas. Having these numbers also helps you later on when you quantify the success of your campaign, like ROI.
• Content: Identify the type of content you’ll create and distribute during your campaigns—for example, blog posts , video ads, email newsletters, etc.
• Teams and DRIs: Identify the teams and people that will be part of enacting your marketing plan from start to finish, like those responsible for creating your marketing assets, budgets, or analyzing metrics once campaigns are complete.
• Design: Identify what your marketing campaigns will look like and how you’ll use design elements to attract your audience. It’s important to note that your design should directly relate to the purpose of your campaign.

Digital Marketing Plan Template

A digital marketing plan is similar to a marketing campaign plan, but, as the name suggests, it’s tailored to the campaigns that you run online. Let’s go over the key components of a digital marketing plan template to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

• Objectives: The goals for your digital marketing and what you’re hoping to accomplish, like driving more traffic to your website . Maybe you want to drive more traffic to your website, or
• Budget : Identify how much it will cost to run your digital marketing campaign and how the money will be distributed. For example, ad placement on different social media sites costs money, and so does creating your assets.
• Target audience: Which segments of your audience are you hoping to reach with this campaign? It’s essential to identify the audiences you want to reach with your digital marketing, as different channels house different audience segments.
• Channels: Identifies the channels that are central to your digital marketing campaign.
• Timeline: Explains the length of time your digital campaigns will run, from how long it should take to create your assets to the final day of the campaign.

Many people use social media in their digital campaigns, and below we’ll discuss some ideas you can use for inspiration.

Social Media Marketing Plan Templates

As your marketing department grows, so will your presence on social media. And as your social media presence grows, so will your need to measure, plan, and re-plan what types of content you want to publish across each network.

If you're looking for a way to deepen your social media marketing strategy — even further than the marketing plan template above — the following collection of social media marketing plan templates is perfect for you:

Download 10 social media reporting templates here .

In the above collection of marketing plan templates, you'll get to fill in the following contents (and more) to suit your company:

• Annual social media budget tracking
• Weekly social media themes
• Required social media image dimension key
• Pie chart on social media traffic sorted by platform
• Social media post calendar and publish time

Below, let's review the social media reporting templates, and what you'll find in each one.

1. Social Media Questions

This template lists out questions to help you decide which social media management platform you should use.

What We Like

Once you know what social media tactics you're going to implement in your marketing plan, it's time to figure out what channels are right for you. This template will help you do that.

2. Facebook Live Schedule

If Facebook Live is one of the marketing tactics in your plan, this template will help you design an editorial calendar. With this template, you can organize what Facebook live's you want to do and when.

Once you've decided on dates, you can color-code your FB calendar and coordinate with your editorial calendar so everyone can see what lives are running in relation to other campaigns.

3. Instagram Post Log

Are you going to begin using Instagram regularly? Do you want to increase your following? With this template, you can organize your Instagram posts, so everyone on your team knows what posts are going live and when.

This is more than just a content calendar. You can use this doc to collaborate with your team on messaging, landing pages linked in your bio, and campaign rollouts.

4. Paid Social Media Template

With this template, you can organize your annual and monthly budget for your paid social media calendar.

With this spreadsheet, all you need to do is plug in your numbers and the formulas will do the works for you. I recommend using this in conjunction with your marketing plan budget to make sure you are not overspending and funds are allocated appropriately.

5. Social Media Audit

Conducting a social media audit? You can use this template to help you gather the right analytics. Tracking the results of your marketing efforts is key to determining ROI.

Use this template to track each of your campaigns to determine what worked and what didn't. From there, you can allocate funds for the strategies that deliver the results you want.

6. Social Media Editorial Calendar

With this template, you can organize your social media editorial calendar. For example, you can include social media posts for each platform, so your team knows what's going live on any given day.

This calendar makes it easy to track activity across every social media platform, since each platform is assigned a specific color. 

7. Social Media Image Sizes

With this template, your team can have the latest social media image sizes handy. This template includes image sizes for all major social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Having a resource like this readily available for your team ensures that everyone is on the same page regarding image sizes and prevents delays.

8. Social Media Marketing Proposal

With this template, you can create an entire social media marketing proposal. This will outline the social media goals, the scope of the work, and the tactics that you plan to implement.

This proposal functions as more of a deep dive into the marketing channel section of your marketing plan. It's relatively straightforward and contains all the essential sections of a proposal.

9. Social Media Reporting Template

With this template, you'll gain access to a slide deck that includes templates for social media reporting.

If you plan to implement social media in your marketing plan, these reporting templates can help you track your progress. If using the social media audit above, you can add all of your data here once it's been collected.

10. Hashtag Holidays

If you're going to lean into social media in your marketing plan, you can use hashtag holidays to generate ideas.

These holidays are a great way to fill out your social media publishing schedule. With this template, you'll get a list of all the hashtag holidays for the year. Once you've come up with content ideas, you can add them to your social media calendar.

Simple Marketing Plan Template

Of course, this type of planning takes a lot of time and effort. So if you're strapped for time before the holidays, give our new Marketing Plan Generator a try.

This tool simplifies yearly planning by asking prompted questions to help guide your process. You’ll be asked to input information about:

Try our free Marketing Plan Generator here .

• Your annual marketing mission statement, which is what your marketing is focused on for the year.
• The strategy that you’ll take with your marketing throughout the year to accomplish your marketing goals.
• Three main marketing initiatives that you’ll focus on during the year (i.e., brand awareness or building a high-quality pipeline) metrics you’ll use to measure your success.
• Your target goals for those marketing initiatives like generating 100 leads per week.
• Marketing initiatives that are not aligned with your current strategy to stay focused on your goals and activities that will help you be successful.

Once you input all information, the tool will spit out a table (as shown in the image below) that you can use to guide your processes.

Pro Tip: If the tool doesn't work, clear your browser's cache or access it in incognito mode.

Start the Marketing Planning Process Today

The best way to set up your marketing plan for the year is to start with quick wins first, that way you can ramp up fast and set yourself (and your team) up to hit more challenging goals and take on more sophisticated projects by Q4. So, what do you say? Are you ready to give it a spin?

Editor's note: This post was originally published in December 2016 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Don't forget to share this post!

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How to Choose the Right Business Model for Strategic Success

by Nick Greenhalgh | Mar 22, 2024

What is a business model and how do I pick one?

Daniels professor andrew schnackenberg defines the term business model and provides tips for picking the right framework for your business..

Whether you’re in the infancy of building your business or a decade in and looking for a change, finding the right business model for your firm is a crucial strategic decision.

Key Term: Business Model

A business model outlines how a company creates and delivers value to its customer base. Typically a business model identifies key aspects of the business such as the target customer, the company’s products or services and its various revenue streams.

Andrew Schnackenberg teaches strategic management at the Daniels College of Business and recognizes that business models can be challenging to define. In this article, he’ll share details on the types of business models, how to find the right one for your business and what you need to know before you choose a framework.

Andrew Schnackenberg

The Importance of Picking a Business Model

Selecting the right business plan is key to a successful business. Famous examples from business history such as Blockbuster and Netflix illustrate the importance of picking the right model for the business type.

Netflix’s Subscription-Based Model

Netflix saw an opportunity in the movie rental space and quickly entered with a subscription model in the late 1990s. It started by sending physical copies of DVDs to consumers’ homes and migrated to a streaming platform when technology advanced.

Now, it even produces its own movies and TV shows, a shining example of business model innovation.

While the company was doing all this, how did Blockbuster respond? Slowly, if at all.

Blockbuster’s lack of ability to change its brick-and-mortar business model, despite market pressures, led to its downfall.

Numerous other examples display the importance of picking the right plan out of the dozens of successful business models.

Types of Business Models

Common business models change as rapidly as the business landscape does. That being said, there are some standard models to consider when you’re forming or adjusting your business. The most popular include:

• Advertising-based business models
• Franchising or leasing business models
• Freemium business models
• Subscription business models

There are thousands more variations of business models including agency, wholesale and bundling.

Schnackenberg tries to simplify how companies should think about the varying types of business models.

“One way to think about it is a business model is a cognitive framework to explain, interpret and understand business activities,” he said.

Characteristics of an effective business model

When envisioning your company’s business model, it’s important to correctly identify the company’s strengths, weaknesses and priorities. Schnackenberg likes to compare it to a ladder with three rungs. The top rung is value, the middle is price and then the bottom rung is cost.

For managers, Schnackenberg recommends looking for ways to bridge the gap between each rung on the ladder. Between value and price is the value proposition. Between price and cost is a company’s margin.

And while it may seem like businesses can impact each of these rungs, Schnackenberg says the focus should be on value and cost. If value falls below price, customers won’t want to purchase your now overpriced product. If the cost to produce exceeds the price of sale, a business is losing money.

What to know before you choose

Like all strategic business decisions, the selection of the right business model is complex. You must gather insights from a variety of sources to make an informed conclusion on which model is right for you. Schnackenberg suggests a few places to start.

“It’s a strategic decision, like pretty much everything else in a business,” he said. “So, what are your capabilities? What do you do in the firm that’s valuable, rare, inimitable and non-substitutable?”

Maybe you’ve got access to some cheap goods that serve as a lead generator for higher ticket items; then you might consider the razor-blade model . If you have an efficient supply chain and your cost is a differentiator, the wholesale model might be the fit.

Once you’ve identified the capabilities, next comes putting them into action and looking at the long-term trajectory of your business. Schnackenberg rattled off a list of questions you should ask next.

• Where do you want to take this organization?
• Do you want to focus more on a certain niche?
• How broad or narrow do you want to focus your marketing strategy?
• Are you a producer? Are you a retailer, are you an intermediary?

“You’ll see the market opportunities, recognize what your capabilities are and then start doing an ongoing calculus on how to configure those things,” Schnackenberg said.

Once you decide on a business model, now what?

For newer businesses, the next step will be to secure funding. You’ll need to finalize your business model and begin to approach investors to infuse capital into your new business. By setting your business model, you’ll have a clearer understanding of how much money you’ll need and what it will be put toward.

For legacy businesses that are looking to change their business model, the next step will be to reconfigure internal processes and capital resources, Schnackenberg said. You’re looking at how to move things around to fit this new strategy you’ve laid out.

Can you change models on the fly?

Netfix is an example of a successful pivot, moving from mailed DVDs to streaming, and now to production. But the company is an outlier, Schnackenberg said.

“Most of the time, firms fail at changing business models and this is why they go out of business. Because they’re not paying attention,” he said. “And this is a very typical situation. In organizations, they can see the rising tide on the horizon. It’s not very hard to spot the vulnerabilities, yet they are unable to modify their business model in such a way that would enable them to adapt and evolve.”

He said examples of firms that are able to modify their business models are rare, but it’s almost imperative for the modern company. If you look at a list of all the organizations that have thrived over the last century, you’ll find that most of them don’t look anything like what they were founded to do. American Express was a delivery company, Marriott sold root beer and Wrigley started with soap before gum. Those were successes, but there are many multitudes more of failures.

“ Thinking through all of that change is tremendously difficult and implementing it is even more difficult,” Schnackenberg said.

Learn the right model for you at Daniels

If you’re looking to learn more about business models and strategic decision-making, Daniels offers top-of-the-line coursework for undergraduate and graduate business professionals, as well as non-degree Executive Education.

Schnackenberg said Daniels stands out for its ability to keep its students informed on changes within the rapidly changing business world. This will prove crucial for developing a sustainable business model.

“Understanding what a business model actually is and understanding how to adapt in the face of tumultuous headwinds is going to be imperative for businesses to succeed over the next two to three decades,” he said. “If they’re not able to understand, incorporate and pivot to emerging technologies—in particular information technologies—they won’t succeed.”

Learn more about degree options at the Daniels College of Business, or reach out to our admissions team with any questions.

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Executive Education at the Daniels College of Business offers webinars, workshops, courses and customized programs in a variety of leadership and business topics. We focus on education for working professionals, lessons for lifelong learners and bonding experiences for teams. Learn More >

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TikTok Shop joins the social commerce boom but Meta is still on top

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The merging of shopping and social media is more than a trend; it’s a response to evolving consumer behavior. Social commerce is fueled by the significant amount of time that consumers spend on social media —US adults will spend 11.4% of their total daily media time and 17.9% of their digital media time with social platforms in 2024, per EMARKETER’s June 2023 forecast. 

With social commerce, every interaction on social platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram is a revenue-driving opportunity without the friction of leaving that digital environment. 

In this guide, we’ll explore the state of social commerce , examining the most popular platforms so retailers and advertisers can make the most of this dynamic digital shopping journey.

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Overview of social commerce

Social commerce fuses social media with ecommerce, allowing purchases to be made directly within a social platform. Social commerce enables consumers to not only discover products and engage with a brand’s greater community, but also to shop from brands without switching platforms and disrupting the customer experience. 

For marketers, the ability to advertise and sell in the same space streamlines the buying journey and gives them access to a host of benefits, including direct access to customers, more transparent return on ad spend, and new opportunities to take advantage of peer recommendations and the creator economy .

Social commerce thrives on inspiration, trends, and generating demand for products users may not have considered. Unlike ecommerce, where people often shop with specific products in mind, social commerce excels in promoting discretionary items like fashion and beauty products.

Who engages in social commerce?

Although early social commerce adopters have included younger generations who are more comfortable with navigating digital spaces, older generations are also embracing it as social media platforms become more user-friendly. 

• Nearly a quarter (23.1%) of US social buyers are between the ages of 25 and 34, per a September 2023 EMARKETER forecast, and more than two-thirds (66.5%) are under 44.
• US digital buyers ages 18 to 34 have made purchases on Instagram (28%), Facebook (26%), and TikTok (22%), per an October 2023 EMARKETER survey conducted by Bizrate Insights. 
• More than half (53%) of US shoppers ages 18 to 29 planned to use TikTok for holiday shopping in 2023, compared with just 36% of adults overall, according to September 2023 ESW data. 

Swayed by endorsements, peer reviews, and social connections, shoppers who follow influencers also make up a large social commerce audience. 

• A third (33%) of Gen Zers have purchased a product from an influencer-founded brand in the last year, per a November 2023 Morning Consult survey. 
• Gen Z is more likely than any other generation to purchase a product after watching a review from an influencer they follow, per November 2022 data from Deloitte. 

Top social commerce platforms

Major social media platforms have evolved, seamlessly integrating commerce into their core experience. These platforms have not only redefined manners of social interaction—they’ve also established themselves as modern digital storefronts. 

Facebook Marketplace

Facebook leads with the largest number of social commerce buyers, expected to reach 64.6 million in 2024, according to a September 2023 EMARKETER forecast. Its massive user base allows brands to reach a diverse, global audience, while extensive storefront features and insights-collecting capabilities add to a competitive ecosystem for online shopping. 

Facebook Marketplace is a dedicated platform for buying and selling secondhand items. Although the platform allows businesses to sell products and place ads, its roots are in local, community-based listings. Marketplace is a major reason why Facebook has such a strong lead in social commerce. In fact, Instagram would take the top spot with the biggest social buyer audience among platforms if Marketplace was excluded from social commerce data, according to third-party research cited in EMARKETER’s Social Commerce Forecast 2023 report. 

Facebook Shops

Unlike the peer-to-peer nature of Facebook Marketplace, Facebook Shops enables businesses to set up digital storefronts, where customers can explore and purchase products without leaving the platform. 

The storefront functionality allows richer product catalogs, visuals, and descriptions. For immersive, customizable experiences, businesses can also showcase featured products, seasonal collections and launches, promotions, and bundles.

Instagram Shopping

In 2024, Instagram will see 46.8 million US social buyers, per EMARKETER’s September 2023 forecast.

At its core is Instagram Shopping, which allows businesses to tag products in their posts and stories. When users click on a tagged item, they can view product details, prices, and a direct link to make a purchase.

Instagram and Facebook parent Meta is mandating all Meta Shops in the US to use Checkout on Facebook and Instagram in 2024. While frustrations have arisen regarding the in-app checkout tool’s effectiveness among both sellers and buyers, Meta is pushing forward as a way to compensate for the losses incurred due to iOS 14.5 changes, which reduced access to tracking data for advertisers and publishers. By making Checkout mandatory, Meta aims to boost adoption, particularly on Instagram, which plays a vital role in social commerce strategies. This move will also limit consumers’ options, as they won’t have the choice to complete their purchases on a retailer’s website.

TikTok Shop

With its Gen Z stronghold, the TikTok user base alone—which passed 100 million in the US in 2023 (102.3 million), according to EMARKETER’s May 2023 forecast—is enough to make it a competitive social commerce platform. We predict TikTok will reach 107.8 million users in 2024. In 2023, 35.3 million of those users were social buyers; during that time, TikTok gained more shoppers (11.6 million) than the net increase of Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest combined (6.4 million), per a September 2023 EMARKETER forecast. We predict TikTok will continue adding social buyers in 2024, reaching 40.7 million. 

However, uncertainty looms over the viability of the platform’s integrated commerce solution, TikTok Shop , given the slow adoption by US merchants, lukewarm reception to live shopping, and a potential nationwide ban.

TikTok Shop enables brands and creators to offer products directly to their viewers. Starting from short videos or livestreams, TikTok Shop aims to own the full buyer journey. A standout feature is the ability for users to consolidate products from various brands into a single cart and finalize their purchase without navigating away from the app.

The shopping service’s US journey seems to have encountered early turbulence:

• TikTok Shop was projected to lose more than $500 million in the US in 2023, per The Information, due to major investments—in its staff, building out a fulfillment network, and seller incentivizations—that hadn’t paid off. 
• In the summer of 2023, US consumers were spending around $3 million to $4 million per day on TikTok. The platform expected that figure to exceed $10 million by the end of 2023.

Social commerce stats and growth 

Continued growth for social shopping is on the horizon, with sales growing well into the double digits through the end of EMARKETER’s forecast period in 2027. Although converting non-buyer social media users into buyers is becoming more challenging, the overall landscape remains robust. One significant trend is the increasing spending per buyer, which is expected to nearly double between 2023 and 2027, per an October 2023 EMARKETER forecast. This is expected to drive most of the sales growth, rather than the acquisition of new buyers.

Consumers aren’t sold yet on social commerce.

• Almost 4 in 10 shoppers hold back from shopping on social media over concerns about how platforms manage personal data, per a May 2023 PYMNTS.com survey.
• Younger consumers don’t want to use a social platform’s in-app checkout tools. In fact, about three-quarters of US social shoppers ages 16 to 24 prefer purchasing through established retailers that handle transactions, shipping, and delivery, per an October 2022 SimplicityDX survey.
• UK shoppers have reported counterfeit goods and poor shipping experiences on TikTok Shop, according to the Financial Times, which could trigger more apprehension in other markets. 

Still, social commerce is on an upward trajectory. 

• US retail social commerce sales will pass the $100 billion milestone in 2025, representing a 22.4% growth from the year prior, per EMARKETER’s September 2023 forecast. 
• In 2024, there will be 110.4 million US social buyers, accounting for 42.0% of all internet users and nearly half (50.3%) of all social media users.  
• US social commerce sales will claim 6.6% of total ecommerce sales in 2024.
• For now, most social commerce transactions take place off platform, by clicking links to retailer product pages. 

The rise in new buyers is only marginally ahead of the growth in the total social media user population, resulting in a relatively consistent percentage of users engaging in purchasing activities, holding steady at around 50% through 2027, per a September 2023 forecast.

Marketing strategies for social commerce 

User-generated content (UGC) and influencer marketing are two effective strategies that brands can harness to connect with consumers authentically.

UGC is generally created by consumers, showcasing their experiences without direct brand involvement, whereas influencer marketing involves brand collaboration and incentives to ensure the content aligns with the correct messaging and goals.  

User-generated content 

UGC is a powerful tool that taps into authenticity and trust. Forty-six percent of US consumers are more likely to trust a brand if an online content creator they trust has reviewed it, according to a November 2022 Deloitte survey. Encouraging users to create and share content featuring their experiences with products or services cultivates a sense of community and credibility. 

Brands can initiate UGC campaigns, prompting customers to share testimonials, unboxing videos, or creative uses of their purchases. By showcasing real-life experiences, UGC bolsters brand authenticity, fosters engagement, and influences potential buyers’ perceptions positively. Additionally, reposting and engaging with UGC amplifies brand reach while nurturing a loyal and involved customer base.

Influencer marketing

From large, well-known influencers with massive followings to micro-influencers with niche communities, choosing the right person to vouch for your brand can bolster your social commerce investments. 

Collaborating with influencers allows brands to tap into their audience and leverage their credibility. Influencers create engaging content, seamlessly integrating product endorsements or reviews into their posts, stories, or videos. These endorsements often resonate deeply with their audience, establishing trust and driving purchasing decisions. 

Social commerce trends in 2024 and beyond 

Tech innovations, immersive experiences, and retailer collaborations will present new opportunities in the social commerce space.

AI integration 

Social platforms are taking advantage of AI to enhance the user experience and streamline product discovery. TikTok’s product identification feature, now in its testing phase, uses AI to suggest similar or relevant items available on its ecommerce marketplace. This new shoppable feature to non-shopping content is TikTok’s attempt at fully embedding commerce into the in-app experience.

In-person events 

Events help bridge the gap between the real world and social media, and can help drive user engagement and sales. The Pinterest Predicts pop-up event held in New York City in December 2023 brought to life its anticipated trends, allowing users to draw inspiration for the year ahead and, more importantly, shop. 

Retailer partnerships 

Retailers are also getting behind social commerce, partnering with streaming platforms to have their products in front of new audiences. Walmart’s holiday-themed romantic comedy “Add to Heart” is its first shoppable video series. Available on Roku, TikTok, and YouTube, the 23-part series integrates 330 shoppable products throughout its plot, creating a new avenue for Walmart to connect with consumers through content. 

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What Is a Marketing Plan? And How to Create One

Let’s learn about a marketing plan, how it helps businesses and the steps for building your own.

What is a marketing plan?

A marketing plan is a document that a business uses to execute a marketing strategy. It is tactical, and, as later sections of this article explore, it typically includes campaign objectives, buyer personas, competitive analysis, key performance indicators, an action plan, and a method for analysing campaign results.  

What is the purpose of a marketing plan?

In general, a marketing plan serves several purposes: 

Streamline and organise marketing efforts 

Guide businesses and their marketing teams through a sequence of marketing activities 

Determine how to measure a campaign's success  

Effectively allocate the marketing campaign budget  

A business might develop a marketing plan for a specific need, campaign, or goal within its larger mission. Here are some examples: 

Launching a new product or service

Carrying out campaigns through different marketing channels, including social media, email marketing, print media, TV, or offline events  

Implementing paid advertising 

Measuring marketing efforts over specific periods, such as every quarter, six months, or year

Marketing plan vs marketing strategy vs business plan

In researching a marketing plan, you may come across the related concepts of marketing strategy and business plan. Think of all three as written roadmaps for developing your business. You'll find similarities among them, including your business objectives and information on your target market. Still, as we've laid out in the chart below, there are some important differences to know as you build these roadmaps. 

Review these roadmaps periodically to measure the success of your marketing and business efforts.

How to create a marketing plan 

The following sections describe the components of a solid marketing plan and the steps to building each one. Develop each section in the order listed, and use insights from each section to guide your process in the following ones. Once you complete all the sections, review your plan for areas that need refining. 

1. Executive summary

Here, you will write a summary, usually a few paragraphs at maximum, to introduce the following sections. In a few paragraphs, orient readers to the following:

General information about the business, such as its mission, past accomplishments and setbacks, and brand identity

Information specific to the marketing campaign driving this plan and how it will advance or improve upon past marketing efforts 

You might choose to compose this section after you've written and refined the marketing plan. 

2. Marketing campaign goals 

From your marketing strategy and business plan, state the marketing campaign's goals with specificity and data-driven metrics. For example:

Specify 'Get more email subscribers' as 'Increase email subscribers by 50 per cent by next quarter'. 

'Generate more online purchases' could be specified as 'Drive traffic from paid Facebook ads to a sales page and increase the site's conversion rate from 2 to 5 per cent.

3. Key performance indicators (KPIs)

KPIs are the specific metrics you'll monitor to measure the success of your marketing efforts. Determining KPIs to continually optimise your tactics, reduce inefficiencies, and steer your marketing campaign toward success is important.  

KPI examples include:

The number of website visitors

The number of new email subscribers

The number of event registrants 

The rate of converting leads into customers

Sales revenue figures

4. Buyer personas 

Refer to your marketing strategy and business plan to crystalise target market insights into detailed buyer personas. Based on your existing customers and extensive market research, you can think of a buyer persona as a fictional character you create. Building clear buyer personas helps to focus your marketing efforts and drive campaign results. 

Answer these questions to get started:

What is this persona's demographic profile, including age, income, location, occupation, etc? 

Where do they go to find information? 

What keywords do they use to search?

How do they prefer to purchase products and services?

At what times of the day are they most likely active on social media or other marketing channels, online or offline?

What words, phrases, and questions do they use to describe their challenges and goals?

Use answers to tailor every detail of your marketing campaign to your buyer persona and guide potential customers toward an action, such as subscribing to your email list or purchasing.

5. Competitor analysis 

Refer again to your marketing strategy and business plan to extract key information about how competing brands reach customers in your target market. Then, examine competitors' marketing strategies in more detail.

Here are three ways to generate marketing-specific information about competitors:

Use SEO tools like SEMRush to discover how your competitors leverage popular keywords, content, and ad copy to attract an audience.

Study competitors' social media accounts and note the content they post to engage followers. 

Subscribe to competitors' email lists to learn how they market and sell to potential leads in their inboxes. 

6. Action plan 

Your campaign's action plan should include the tactics and methods you'll use to market your products and services to potential customers. 

Include the following information in your action plan:  

The campaign budget and target date of completion

Key milestones you need to pass on your way to achieving the goals 

The marketing channels you will use, offline and online 

The kinds of content you will create and your schedule for delivering it

Organic and paid marketing activities

7. Method of analysing results 

Your marketing plan should describe how you will monitor KPIs and analyse your campaign results at each milestone. That way, you can find out what's working and what's not and adjust your plan accordingly. 

Set up analytic tools for your marketing channels, including your social media accounts, email system, website and landing pages, and event registration pages. You can also set calendar alerts based on your action plan for reviewing KPIs.

Which channels see the most traffic?

Which channels are converting at the highest rates? 

How are individual pieces of content performing?

How efficiently is your budget performing?

Which metrics are improving, staying the same, or declining over time? 

Marketing plan key takeaways

Remember: Having a solid marketing plan can make it possible to allocate your marketing budget effectively and streamline your marketing activities. By following the seven steps above, you may see improvements in your marketing efforts, from attracting more ideal customers to inspiring them to take action. 

Improve your marketing with Coursera

One way to become a skilled marketer is to take online courses and practise the latest strategies. Learn which web analytics tools are right for you, how to use them to analyse data and more in the Google Digital Marketing and E-commerce Professional Certificate or with Meta Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate .

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This content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.