Insights / Marketing Strategy
How to Build a Marketing Plan.
A marketing plan turns your business objectives into specific actions. It defines what you're trying to accomplish, who you need to reach, what you need to say, where you should say it, what you're prepared to spend and how you'll measure success. You don't need a 50-page document. You need a plan your business can actually use.
Start With the Business Objective.
Don't start with Instagram, Google Ads or a new website. Start here:
What does the business need marketing to accomplish?
That might be:
Generate qualified leads
Increase sales
Launch a new product or service
Enter a new market
Increase awareness
Drive store traffic
Improve customer retention
Recruit employees
The clearer the objective, the easier it becomes to determine what marketing should do next.
7 Steps to Build a Marketing Plan
01
Define the Objective
Be specific about what needs to change and what success looks like.
02
Identify the Audience
Who needs to take action for you to achieve that objective? Avoid defining your audience as “everyone.” Prioritize the people most likely to matter.
03
Understand Their Motivation
What problem are they trying to solve? What matters to them? What questions are they asking? What might prevent them from choosing you?
04
Define Your Position
Why should someone choose your business instead of another option? Your marketing becomes much easier when you can answer that clearly.
05
Develop the Message
Translate your positioning into something the audience will understand and care about. Don't start with what you want to say. Start with what they need to hear.
06
Choose the Channels
Now decide where the message belongs. That could include:
Search
Social
Content
Video
Digital Advertising
Traditional Media
Website
Choose channels because they connect the objective with the audience—not because they're popular.
07
Measure and Improve
Decide what you'll measure before the campaign begins. Depending on the objective, that could include inquiries, qualified leads, sales, appointments, store visits, conversions, engagement or other meaningful actions. Then use what you learn to improve the plan.
How Much Should You Budget?
There isn't one marketing-budget percentage that's right for every business. Your budget should reflect factors such as:
Growth objectives
Revenue
Margins
Competition
Customer value
Market opportunity
Available resources
A business aggressively pursuing growth will usually approach marketing differently from an established organization focused primarily on retention.
Next insight
How Much Should a Business Spend on Marketing?
Keep the Plan Useful.
A marketing plan should provide direction without becoming a document nobody looks at again. At minimum, everyone involved should understand:
Objective
Audience
Position
Message
Channels
Budget
Measurement
If those seven things are clear, you've already created something far more useful than a collection of disconnected marketing tactics.
What Comes Next?
Once you've defined the plan, the next question is usually: How much should we spend?
That answer depends on what you're trying to accomplish, how quickly you're trying to accomplish it and the economics of your business.
Have a marketing question?
A good marketing plan doesn't need to be long. It needs to be used.
PLAY helps businesses turn objectives, audiences and budgets into practical marketing plans.