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Annual Marketing Plan

Annual Marketing Plan

When running a business, developing a marketing plan should be one of your top priorities. Without a marketing plan , your company may end up investing a significant amount of time and money on a series of failed advertising efforts. Marketing plays a huge role in shaping a consumer’s perspective toward a brand. This includes the products and services offered, along with its overall identity.

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Annual Marketing Plan Template

annual marketing plan template

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Size: A4, US

But creating an annual marketing plan for your company isn’t as easy as it seems. It involves a thorough process of market research and general analysis in order to meet the needs of your target consumers. As a marketer, it is your responsibility to ensure that the company sees a return on investment by the end of a specified period.

Annual Business Marketing Plan Example

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Annual Content Marketing Plan Example

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Annual Marketing Budget Plan Example

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Famous Companies with Successful Marketing Stories

Marketing is a competitive sport, where the competitors are also the spectators. You can learn from the mistakes and successes of other brands by observing how they perform in the marketplace, and then turning them into campaigns of your own.

With the easy access of technology and other forms of digital marketing , companies have learned to move boundaries with their campaigns by using the Internet and social media as platforms for brand promotion. Thanks to these advanced means of communication, global reach is no longer exclusive for deep-pocketed brands. Leaving a lasting impression to the local and global market is one of the primary marketing goals for any aspiring business.

So if you’re looking for inspiration on how to design an effective marketing plan, check out these inspiring marketing stories of the following companies:

In early 2018, retailer brand CVS announced they’re putting a ban on the use of Photoshop or any image enhancement software in the marketing of its beauty products. The stand against image alterations to retouch or enhance the beauty of models has been a common issue in the world of marketing for many years. You may also see strategic marketing plan examples .

From blemish-free faces to body size reduction, CVS vowed to stamp or label other brands who continue to refine the image of their models using photo enhancing applications. Such strategy was implemented to promote positive self-esteem and healthy beauty standards among men and women in society. You may also like restaurant marketing plan examples .

Along with the company’s ban on tobacco products, people have since praised CVS for taking a stand on social issues affecting our world.

This triumphant effort exhibited by CVS depicts how a powerful platform that people can rally behind can make a huge difference among consumers.

After sorting through 140,000 applications to find the new Gerber spokesbaby, the company surprised everyone by selecting the brand’s very first baby with Down Syndrome after 90 years in the business. The announcement received a standing ovation from netizens all over social media after the brand made this bold yet clever move. According to Gerber’s CEO Bill Partyka, it was Lucas’s (the baby) winning smile and joyful expression that landed him the role.

Society has long fought for equality in the entertainment and modeling industry for individuals who weren’t your typical “Barbie Doll” image. In this example, Gerber successfully lived up to its long-lasting mantra of inclusion that says, “Every baby is a Gerber baby,” which garnered marketing success with its audience. You may also see marketing strategy plan examples .

Traveling can be very costly, especially with the high price tags on hotel rooms and established motels. Fortunately, the folks over at Airbnb thought it would be a great idea if they developed a marketplace for people to list and book accommodations, such as hotels, condos, houses, inns, and apartments from around the world. Thanks to social media marketing , Airbnb has grown to 1,500,000+ listings in 34,000+ cities worldwide since it was first founded in 2008.

In January 2015, Airbnb launched a social media campaign with the hashtag #OneLessStranger which was a social experiment that encouraged the community to perform random acts of hospitality to complete strangers around their neighborhood. The company also urged people to take a photo or video with the person and share it on social media to inspire others. You may also like how to write a marketing plan for a business .

After only 3 weeks since the campaign launched, there were over 3,000,000 people who were engaged in the project, created their own content, or were mentioning it on different social networks.

Annual Marketing Plan Outline Template

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Annual Marketing Tactical Plan Example

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Annual Online Marketing Plan Example

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Music Marketing Budget Plan Example

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It’s almost impossible to even talk about marketing success without giving a special shout out to the popular sports apparel brand Nike. Many years after the company first launched its Just Do It campaign, Nike continues to take the marketing world by storm with its innovative ideas and engaging content. You may also see marketing strategy business plan examples .

But who would’ve thought that the brand could go as far as developing a co-creation platform for customers to design their own unique footwear?

Nike’s NIKEiD is a special online service that allows consumers to personalize their own merchandise to align with their cultural preferences and style. This marketing strategy made a huge impact in the consumer market thanks to its user-friendly interface and customer-oriented purpose. By putting the power of design into the creative hands of the customer, Nike is able to cater to the individual needs and demands of its audience.

5. McDonald’s

No matter where you are in the world, McDonald’s continues to be one of the most popular fast-food restaurants in the market. But little do people know just how far the company is willing to go to reach out to its local and global audience. You may also like event marketing plan examples .

While you’re busy munching on your box of chicken nuggets, somewhere in the Middle East, a child just took a bite out of his McArabia. If you haven’t heard about it before, the McArabia is a flatbread sandwich that’s made exclusive to McDonald’s outlets in the Middle East. You may also check out business marketing plan examples .

France even has its own McDonald’s version of the French macaroons. And over in the Philippines, people eat their chicken with a plate of McSpaghetti.

These global marketing campaigns have helped the restaurant brand gain worldwide attention from its target consumers.

For clothing brands like H&M, it’s all about designing the perfect online experience for shoppers.

These days, people would rather do their shopping with an instant click of a button than to go through the hassle of running to the nearest store. This can be very convenient for shoppers who live relatively far from any shopping centers and malls. For this reason, H&M is doing everything in its power to appeal to its consumer market by creating easy-to-navigate mobile-friendly shopping experience. You may also see product marketing plan examples .

A marketing tactic like this can easily appeal to consumers from different parts of the world. Instead of worrying about the city traffic and hour-long commutes, companies can bring their offered products and services to buyers in the comfort of their homes through the World Wide Web. You may also like affiliate marketing plan examples .

7. Coca-Cola

Who could forget Coca-Cola’s promotional anthem Wavin’ Flag  for the 2010 FIFA World Cup? Or how about the #ShareACoke campaign that allowed consumers to customize their own Coke bottle with their names printed on it?

Coca-Cola has always taken the lead with various marketing campaigns in the food and beverage industry. Not only does Coca-Cola center on creating memorable advertising campaigns for its consumers, but the brand also focuses on small community programs and charity works for the minority groups of society.

From building 650 clean water installations in the rural village of Beni Suef, Egypt, to sponsoring Ramadan meals for children across the Middle East. The brand continues to promote the one emotion that can never get lost in translation: happiness. You may also check out implementation plan examples .

Small Business Annual Marketing Plan Example

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Tri-Annual Marketing Plan Example

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Annual Marketing Plan Outline Example

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Tips for Developing an Effective Marketing Plan

A successful marketing plan can do wonders for a business. From addressing business and marketing challenges to delivering solutions through a holistic approach, a good marketing plan can help a team aligned and focused on the end goal.

But sometimes, the time and effort invested in the process of developing a marketing plan is either abandoned or wasted due to several factors that marketers fail to acknowledge. To guide you and your teams in your quest to build a strong marketing plan, here are some tips to keep in mind:

1. Know your niche.

Every brand has a niche. This constitutes to the specific market you’re targeting with your products or services offered. For instance, if your business specializes in 30-minute tasty meals , then your consumers are likely to belong to those who are part of the 9-to-5 job category. Once you have identified your audience, it becomes your responsibility to understand their struggles and provide possible solutions for them.

2. Identify your challenges.

Though there are many business opportunities to invest on, there are also many challenges for your team to overcome. It’s important to identify and acknowledge these issues along the way, or they could potentially hinder you from reaching your better goals .

3. Define your SMART goals.

It’s always important to implement SMART goals that can keep you and your team on track. This can help you conduct a SWOT analysis for your annual marketing plan to see whether the company’s marketing spend is delivering the expected return on investment.

4. Create time frames.

Success doesn’t occur overnight. Since marketing objectives  are often based on long-term goals , start setting short- and long-term milestones as well. This will help keep you motivated despite the obstacles and shortcomings that stand in your way.

5. Study market competitors.

Regardless of how original your product concept can be, there will always be competition in the market. These are the entities that can easily steal your customers from right under your nose. This is why it’s important to gain an in-depth understanding of your competitor’s marketing efforts. You may also see integrated marketing plan examples .

Knowing who they are, what advantages they have over you, and how they may respond to your offerings will help you figure out various strategies to keep your business afloat.

6. Make your brand position known.

Oftentimes, it’s all about the brand image. The best way to gain a competitive advantage is by shaping a consumer’s mind-set toward your brand. For instance, when Kylie Jenner first launched her makeup line, Kylie Cosmetics, it generated so much backlash from critics due to its insane price range and disappointing product quality—yet, fans of the brand (and the woman behind it) can tell you otherwise. You may also see personal marketing plan examples .

Despite the negative criticism surrounding the brand, it still made history for becoming one of the fastest-selling product launches in history. The success of the brand can pay its gratitude toward the image that Kylie Jenner has built for herself in the beauty and fashion industry. Fortunately, since its launch in 2016, the brand has released several products with satisfying results. You may also like apartment marketing plan examples .

Ultimately, creating a well-defined plan that addresses the budget, resources, professional goals , and action items for a company’s marketing strategies can help turn your brand’s vision into a reality. In order to meet your goals and objectives effectively, it’s important to constantly examine your efforts, optimize your strategies, and update your marketing plan to attain successful results.

marketing business annual plan

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Seven steps to an effective annual marketing plan | forrester, digital marketing, a sound annual marketing plan begins with process.

As a new fiscal year dawns, marketers are presented with a pivotal opportunity: to craft an annual plan that not only propels business objectives forward but also optimizes resource utilization. However, this potential often goes untapped, as many marketing organizations opt for disjointed, tactic-heavy “ plans ” that keep teams busy but yield limited impact.

Recognizing the critical importance of a structured annual planning process is paramount for marketing success. In this comprehensive guide, explore the Forrester B2B Marketing Planning Process—a logical approach to annual planning that ensures marketing’s endeavors advance overall business strategy and objectives while aligning with other revenue-generating efforts.

Each step of the process is meticulously outlined, empowering marketers to unite various marketing functions around shared goals, plan specific actions, and anticipate potential risks.

Seven Steps To An Effective Annual Marketing Plan | DMC

  • Review And Align On Business Objectives : Initiate annual planning by gaining alignment with sales and product leaders on overarching business strategy and objectives. Forrester’s research highlights the significance of alignment among sales, marketing, and product functions, correlating with accelerated revenue growth and heightened profitability.
  • Define Marketing Intent : With a clear understanding of business objectives, delineate strategic directions and approaches that marketing will adopt to support them. The B2B Marketing Planning Process encompasses six strategic approaches, each aiming to achieve distinct business objectives.
  • Establish Marketing Priorities : Translate strategic approaches into actionable priorities, considering finite marketing resources. Conduct value analysis exercises to organize and prioritize potential projects across stakeholders and time frames, thereby ensuring alignment with short-term results and long-term ROI.
  • Set Marketing Goals : Define specific goals and measurement criteria that delineate marketing’s contribution to business objectives. Goals may vary across planning segments, encompassing revenue, profit, retention, new customer acquisition, and more.
  • Determine Key Actions : Transition to tactical planning by identifying campaigns, programs, and actions that align with marketing goals. Review current and proposed initiatives, ensuring alignment with global, regional, channel, and functional teams.
  • Identify Risks And Dependencies : Anticipate potential obstacles that could hinder plan execution, considering factors such as process gaps, team competencies, measurement metrics, and communication with sales and product groups.
  • Govern And Evolve The Plan : Embrace a resilient planning process that accommodates change. Regularly revisit the plan to identify what’s working, what’s not, and necessary adjustments, particularly amidst evolving market landscapes and strategic insights.

By adhering to this systematic approach, marketing teams can navigate annual planning with precision and purpose, driving meaningful business outcomes and fostering ongoing collaboration across functions.

  • Make Annual Planning A Foundation for Success

While it may seem appealing to overhaul current activities during the planning process by introducing new messaging, campaigns, and content, it’s crucial to resist this temptation. Instead, the focus should be on identifying what is effective and maintaining those aspects.

A structured planning process, firmly grounded in business objectives, offers a methodical approach to implementing changes. Given the typically lengthy B2B sales cycles, frequent alterations to campaigns, messaging, and content can disrupt operations.

Forrester offers an extensive array of tools and templates to support every stage of the annual planning process. These resources are specifically crafted to aid marketing leaders in prioritizing initiatives, clearly articulating marketing commitments, evaluating effectiveness, and facilitating adjustments as needed. Additionally, hands-on guidance is provided throughout the planning journey to ensure optimal outcomes.

To delve deeper into the annual planning process and access valuable resources, click to learn more and download the guide.

The Table of Contents of “Seven Steps To An Effective Annual Marketing Plan” Guide:

  • Review And Align Business Objectives
  • Define Marketing Intent
  • Establish Marketing Priorities
  • Set Marketing Goals
  • Determine Key Actions
  • Identify Risks And Dependencies
  • Govern And Evolve The Plan

Number of Pages:

B2b marketing, digital marketing objectives, digital marketing plan, digital marketing strategies, marketing objective.

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How to Create a Profitable Annual Business Plan [+Free Template]

Jody Sutter

Published: February 09, 2023

The beginning of a new quarter is the perfect time to start planning the next year for your business. Start the next year or quarter off on the right foot by creating an annual business plan for your company.

marketing business annual plan

Q4 often brings a flurry of business-related activity. And while all this activity helps fill the pipeline, it can distract you from reflecting on past performance and preparing for the year or quarter ahead.

Fortunately, you can write an annual business plan at any time of the year. Start your plan now to set your team up for success.

What is an annual business plan?

An annual business plan is just that — a plan for you and your employees to help achieve the company’s goals for the year. Think of an annual business plan as the guide to complete all of your company’s overall goals outlined in your initial business plan.

The first business plan you wrote for your business is the blueprint and the annual business plan is the detailed instructions to keep your business running long-term.

Usually, an annual business plan contains a short description of your company, a marketing analysis, and a sales/marketing plan.

Because an annual business plan is for the year, you’ll want to review your business at the end of four consecutive quarters and revise your plan for the next four quarters.

Why is annual business planning important?

Even though the fourth quarter might be a busy time of year, don’t put off creating an annual business plan.

Not only will your annual business plan keep you on track, it will also help you map out a strategy to keep your employees accountable. You can then more easily achieve the overall goals of your business.

Here are some reasons why it’s well worth creating an annual business plan for your company.

You can measure your success.

An annual business plan is the best way to measure your success. And I’m referring to the collective “you” here because it takes the entire company or all of your employees to make new business efforts effective.

An annual plan not only sets expectations for you but also for others within your company who need to contribute to the business’s success.

You can reflect on the past and plan ahead.

Creating an annual business plan allows you to reflect on the past 12 months.

As you reflect on the previous year, you’ll be able to get a good idea of what your business is capable of doing and set accurate, attainable projections based on previous numbers.

You’ll define your business goals.

Your annual business plan will shed some light on what the heck you do at your company. For those who are not routinely involved in new business, it can seem like a black hole of mystery.

Sharing your plan — whether to an executive committee, department heads, or even the entire staff — adds clarity and gives everyone something to aim for.

You can impress your boss.

If you head a department that could benefit from an annual business plan, don’t wait to be asked before you start writing. Get on your CEO’s schedule to review your outline and discuss your intentions for putting this plan together.

Sometimes the hardest part is getting started. You can get the ball rolling with the basic template that follows.

Annual Business Plan Template

Each section of your annual business plan will help tell the story of your company and clearly define your company’s goals for the year.

Let’s take a look at each section of the annual business plan template .

Executive Summary

Annual business plan template, executive summary

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How to Create an Annual Marketing Plan

Dec 18, '17

Posted in Marketing

Marketing is the fuel that drives the sales engine for every successful company’s growth and profitability.

Your marketing plan and corresponding marketing budget are essential components to achieving your revenue goals. They provide the information you need to allocate the amount to spend on your marketing efforts in order to achieve your revenue goals within a certain timeframe.

Unfortunately, far too many businesses do not take the time to plan out their process and develop a solid marketing budget. As a result, they underspend, spend haphazardly on ad-hoc, reactive efforts, or overspend on activities that do not bring a return on investment (ROI).

Below are the 3 critical steps that you need to take to create an annual marketing plan that gets results for your company:

Step #1: Gather your numbers

The first step in creating your marketing budget is to organize your current finances. More specifically, you need to know what your company makes on a monthly basis, along with any seasonal fluctuations. You’ll also need to know what your operational costs are each month - what does it cost you in time and labor to deliver your products and services?

The other set of numbers that you need (if you have them) are your sales conversion numbers. You can harvest this information from your accounting software, customer relationship management ( CRM ) software, and Google Analytics account.

Information that is helpful includes:

  • How many website visitors do we get each month?
  • How many leads are we generating each month? Where did they come from?
  • How many leads convert to buyers?
  • What’s the cost of generating each lead? What is the cost of generating each buyer?
  • What is the typical lifetime value of each customer?

In addition, be sure to analyze your sales and revenue trends from last year. Where did most of your business come from - new or existing customers? How long was your typical sales cycle? What were your best lead sources?

Document your lessons learned from the past year and think about improvements you’d like to make this year. Reviewing your past marketing performance plays a crucial part in effectively creating a marketing plan that builds upon your successes.

Step #2: Set your business goals

Before you can plan your marketing activities, it’s important to set your your company’s strategic growth and revenue goals. For example, if you plan to grow your business by 20 percent then you’ll want to do a lot more than just design a new brochure.

Questions that will help you determine your company goals include:

  • What are your revenue objectives and profit goals for the year?
  • What are your revenue and profit goals for each quarter?
  • Are there specific business goals that you want to accomplish in the next year/quarter that will require resources (ex: launch a new service line, hire a new employee, increase the sales of a particular product, etc.)?

Your number one priority is to determine where you would like to see your company a year from now, and then you work backwards into each quarter. From there, plan the the steps and activities you’ll need to each week, each month, and each quarter to help you achieve your overarching business goals.

Step #3: Build your marketing plan

Once you have gathered your numbers and understand your business goals and activities, you are armed with the information you need to develop a marketing plan to achieve them.

Developing a marketing plan will ensure that you are spending your marketing dollars on the right efforts at the right time - you develop marketing activities to support the realization of your business goals.  

Developing a marketing plan will ensure that you are spending your marketing dollars on the right efforts at the right time - you develop marketing activities to support the realization of your business goals.

As you create your marketing plan, specify which marketing activities your company will focus on to achieve the revenue, profit, and business goals you want to accomplish for the year. Be sure to build upon successes you’ve had in the past. For example, if you’ve noticed that you are getting a steady stream of leads from your website, then see if there are opportunities to strengthen its marketing power through a redesign or enhancement.

For example, you might want to plan activities around any or all of the below:

  • Social media
  • Email newsletters
  • Gated Content
  • Direct mail such as postcards or letters
  • Advertising (print, radio, television)
  • Marketing materials (brochures, trade show materials, packaging)

Remember to consider which marketing channels allow you to reach the right audiences. If you are a newer business, perhaps you will need to build brand awareness across multiple platforms. Or, if you’re launching a new product or service to a specific industry, focus on the best channel to reach that audience.

Create a calendar as part of your marketing plan

From there, build a marketing calendar that lists the discrete marketing activities that your company will be undertaking.

Plot your major campaigns first - for example a website redesign or product launch - these require more resources and time to get things done than smaller ongoing efforts. Then plug in your smaller campaigns and ongoing marketing activities like blog posts and e-newsletters.

Even if you do not plan to allocate budget to a category - such as social media - make sure you are still including it in your marketing plan so you can define the specific activities and allocate staff time to the endeavor.

Keep in mind: marketing activities are not constant throughout the year. Review the busy seasons in your business and plan marketing activities accordingly. In Part 2 of this series , we will discuss how to plan your marketing budget and set up the metrics to measure your results.

If you need help with your marketing planning, Harvest Media can help! Get in touch with us at 847-352-4345.

This is the second of a two part series. Make sure you also read Part 2: How to create a marketing budget .

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Blog Marketing

What is a Marketing Plan & How to Create One [with Examples]

By Sara McGuire , Oct 26, 2023

Marketing Plan Venngage

After employee salaries, marketing is typically the biggest expense for most businesses.

As a business owner or marketer, don’t you want to make sure your marketing dollars are being spent in the most productive way possible? Yeah, me too.

But what often ends up happening is most businesses try different marketing tactics without a clear plan, and walk away with little success.

Or they’ll get lucky and score a big marketing win but soon find themselves unable to  scale their marketing tactics, goals and strategies  to drive consistent growth.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to grow your business strategically and maximize ROI  generated from your marketing dollars with a well-defined marketing plan.

Don’t know how to create a marketing plan? Start with one of Venngage’s templates today. You don’t need any design skills to make a great plan that helps align your team and grow your business.

Click to jump ahead:

What is a marketing plan.

  • How to create a marketing plan
  • Marketing plan vs. Marketing strategy
  • Types of marketing plans
  • 9 marketing plan templates
  • Marketing plan design and writing tips

A marketing plan is a report that outlines your marketing strategy for your products or services, which could be applicable for the coming year, quarter or month.  

Watch this quick, 13-minute video for more details on what a marketing plan is and how to make one yourself:

Typically, a marketing plan includes:

  • An overview of your business’s marketing and advertising goals
  • A description of your business’s current marketing position
  • A timeline of when tasks within your strategy will be completed
  • Key performance indicators (KPIs) you will be tracking
  • A description of your business’s target market and customer needs
  • A description of how you will measure the performance of the strategy

For example, this marketing plan template provides a high-level overview of the business and competitors before diving deep into specific goals, KPIs and tactics:

Orange Content Marketing Plan Template

Learning how to write a marketing plan forces you to think through the important steps that lead to an effective marketing strategy . And a well-defined plan will help you stay focused on your high-level marketing goals.

With Venngage’s extensive catalog of marketing plan templates , creating your marketing plan isn’t going to be hard or tedious. In fact, Venngage has plenty of helpful communications and design resources for marketers. If you’re ready to get started, sign up for  Venngage for Marketers   now. It’s free to register and start designing.

Venngage for Marketers Page Header

Whether you’re a team trying to set smarter marketing goals, a consultant trying to set your client in the right direction, or a one-person team hustling it out, Venngage for Marketers helps you get things done. You’ll also get helpful webinars and presentations delivered right to your inbox, like this one:

Growth By Content Webinar Banner

How to write a marketing plan 

As mentioned above, the scope of your marketing plan varies depending on its purpose or the type of organization it’s for.

For example, you could create a marketing plan that provides an overview of a company’s entire marketing strategy or simply focus on a specific channel like SEO, social media marketing, content marketing and more, like in this example:

content marketing plan template

Marketing plan outline

A typical outline of a marketing plan includes:

  • Executive summary
  • Goals and objectives
  • User personas
  • Competitor analysis/SWOT analysis
  • Baseline metrics
  • Marketing strategy
  • Tracking guidelines

Below you will see in details how to write each section as well as some examples of how you can design each section in a marketing plan.

Let’s look at how to create a successful marketing plan (click to jump ahead):

  • Write a simple executive summary
  • Set metric-driven marketing goals
  • Outline your user personas
  • Research all of your competitors
  • Set accurate key baselines & metrics
  • Create an actionable marketing strategy
  • Set tracking or reporting guidelines

1. Write a simple executive summary

Starting your marketing plan off on the right foot is important. You want to pull people into your amazing plan for marketing domination. Not bore them to tears.

Creative Marketing Plan Executive Summary

One of the best ways to get people excited to read your marketing plan is with a well-written executive summary. An executive summary introduces readers to your company goals, marketing triumphs, future plans, and other important contextual facts.

Standard Business Proposal Executive Summary

Basically, you can use the Executive Summary as a primer for the rest of your marketing plan.

Include things like:

  • Simple marketing goals
  • High-level metrics
  • Important company milestones
  • Facts about your brand
  • Employee anecdotes
  • Future goals & plans

Try to keep your executive summary rather brief and to the point. You aren’t writing a novel, so try to keep it under three to four paragraphs.

Take a look at the executive summary in the marketing plan example below:

Content Marketing Proposal Executive Summary

The executive summary is only two paragraphs long — short but effective.

The executive summary tells readers about the company’s growth, and how they are about to overtake one of their competitors. But there’s no mention of specific metrics or figures. That will be highlighted in the next section of the marketing plan.

An effective executive summary should have enough information to pique the reader’s interest, but not bog them down with specifics yet. That’s what the rest of your marketing plan is for!

The executive summary also sets the tone for your marketing plan. Think about what tone will fit your brand ? Friendly and humorous? Professional and reliable? Inspiring and visionary?

2. Set metric-driven marketing goals

After you perfect your executive summary, it’s time to outline your marketing goals.

(If you’ve never set data-driven goals like this before, it would be worth reading this growth strategy guide ).

This is one of the most important parts of the entire marketing plan, so be sure to take your time and be as clear as possible.

As a rule of thumb, be as specific as possible. The folks over at  VoyMedia  advise that you should set goals that impact website traffic, conversions, and customer success — and to use real numbers.

Avoid outlining vague goals like:

  • Get more Twitter followers
  • Write more articles
  • Create more YouTube videos (like educational or Explainer videos )
  • Increase retention rate
  • Decrease bounce rate

Instead, identify  key performance metrics  (KPI) you want to impact and the percentage you want to increase them by.

Take a look at the goals page in the marketing plan example below:

Creative Marketing Plan Goals

They not only identify a specific metric in each of their goals, but they also set a timeline for when they will be increased.

The same vague goals listed earlier become much clearer when specific numbers and timelines are applied to them:

  • Get 100 new Twitter followers per month
  • Write 5 more articles per week
  • Create 10 YouTube videos each year
  • Increase retention rate by 15% by 2020
  • Decrease bounce rate by 5% by Q1
  • Create an online course  and get 1,000 new leads

You can dive even deeper into your marketing goals if you want (generally, the more specific, the better). Here’s a marketing plan example that shows how to outline your growth goals:

Growth Goals Roadmap Template for a Marketing Plan

3. Outline your user personas

Now, this may not seem like the most important part of your marketing plan, but I think it holds a ton of value.

Outlining your user personas is an important part of a marketing plan that should not be overlooked.

You should be asking not just how you can get the most visitors to your business, but how you can get the right visitors.

Who are your ideal customers? What are their goals? What are their biggest problems? How does your business solve customer problems?

Answering these questions will take lots of research, but it’s essential information to get.

Some ways to conduct user research are:

  • Interviewing your users (either in person or on the phone)
  • Conducting focus groups
  • Researching other businesses in the same industry
  • Surveying your audience

Then, you will need to compile your user data into a user persona  guide.

Take a look at how detailed this user persona template is below:

Persona Marketing Report Template

Taking the time to identify specific demographic traits, habits and goals will make it easier for you to cater your marketing plan to them.

Here’s how you can create a user persona guide:

The first thing you should add is a profile picture or icon for each user persona. It can help to put a face to your personas, so they seem more real.

Marketing Persona

Next, list demographic information like:

  • Identifiers
  • Activities/Hobbies

The user persona example above uses sliding scales to identify personality traits like introversion vs. extroversion and thinking vs. feeling. Identifying what type of personality your target users tend to have an influence on the messaging you use in your marketing content.

Meanwhile, this user persona guide identifies specific challenges the user faces each day:

Content Marketing Proposal Audience Personas

But if you don’t want to go into such precise detail, you can stick to basic information, like in this marketing plan example:

Social Media Plan Proposal Template Ideal Customers

Most businesses will have a few different types of target users. That’s why it’s pertinent to identify and create several different user personas . That way, you can better segment your marketing campaigns and set separate goals, if necessary.

Here’s a marketing plan example with a segmented user persona guide:

Mobile App Market Report

The important thing is for your team or client to have a clear picture of who their target user is and how they can appeal to their specific problems.

Start creating robust user personas using Venngage’s user persona guide .

4. Conduct an extensive competitor analysis

Next, on the marketing plan checklist, we have the competitor research section. This section will help you identify who your competitors are, what they’re doing, and how you could carve yourself a place alongside them in your niche — and ideally, surpass them. It’s something you can learn to do with rank tracking software .

Competitor research is also incredibly important if you are starting a blog .

Typically, your competitor research should include:

  • Who their marketing team is
  • Who their leadership team is
  • What their marketing strategy is (this will probably revolve some reverse-engineering)
  • What their sales strategy is (same deal)
  • Social Media strategy (are they using discounting strategies such as coupon marketing to get conversions)
  • Their market cap/financials
  • Their yearly growth (you will probably need to use a marketing tool like Ahrefs to do this)
  • The number of customers they have & their user personas

Also, take as deep a dive as you can into the strategies they use across their:

  • Blog/Content marketing
  • Social media marketing
  • SEO Marketing
  • Video marketing
  • And any other marketing tactics they use

Research their strengths and weaknesses in all parts of their company, and you will find some great opportunities. Bookmark has a great guide to different marketing strategies for small businesses  if you need some more information there.

You can use this simple SWOT analysis worksheet to quickly work through all parts of their strategy as well:

Competitive SWOT Analysis

Click the template above to create a SWOT chart . Customize the template to your liking — no design know-how needed.

Since you have already done all the research beforehand, adding this information to your marketing plan shouldn’t be that hard.

In this marketing plan example, some high-level research is outlined for 3 competing brands:

Content Marketing Proposal Competitive Research

But you could take a deeper dive into different facets of your competitors’ strategies. This marketing plan example analyses a competitor’s content marketing strategy:

Competitor-Analysis-Content-Marketing-Plan-Template

It can also be helpful to divide your competitors into Primary and Secondary groups. For example, Apple’s primary competitor may be Dell for computers, but its secondary competitor could be a company that makes tablets.

Your most dangerous competitors may not even be in the same industry as you. Like the CEO of Netflix said, “Sleep is our competition.”

5. Set accurate key baselines & metrics

It’s pretty hard to plan for the future if you don’t know where your business stands right now.

Before we do anything at Venngage, we find the baselines so we can compare future results to something. We do it so much it’s almost like second nature now!

Setting baselines will allow you to more accurately track your progress. You will also be able to better analyze what worked and what didn’t work, so you can build a stronger strategy. It will definitely help them clearly understand your goals and strategy as well.

Here’s a marketing plan example where the baselines are visualized:

Social Media Marketing Proposal Success Metrics

Another way to include baselines in your plan is with a simple chart, like in the marketing plan example below:

Simple-Blue-Social-Media-Marketing-Plan

Because data can be intimidating to a lot of people, visualizing your data using charts and infographics will help demystify the information.

6. Create an actionable marketing strategy

After pulling all the contextual information and relevant metrics into your marketing plan, it’s time to break down your marketing strategy.

Once again, it’s easier to communicate your information to your team or clients using visuals .

Mind maps are an effective way to show how a strategy with many moving parts ties together. For example, this mind map shows how the four main components of a marketing strategy interact together:

Marketing Plan Mind Map Template

You can also use a flow chart to map out your strategy by objectives:

Action Plan Mind Map

However you choose to visualize your strategy, your team should know exactly what they need to do. This is not the time to keep your cards close to your chest.

Your strategy section may need to take up a few pages to explain, like in the marketing plan example below:

Creative-Modern-Content-Marketing-Plan-Template

With all of this information, even someone from the development team will understand what the marketing team is working on.

This minimalistic marketing plan example uses color blocks to make the different parts of the strategy easy to scan:

Blue-Simple-Social-Media-Marketing-Plan-Template

Breaking your strategy down into tasks will make it easier to tackle.

Another important way to visualize your marketing strategy is to create a project roadmap. A project roadmap visualizes the timeline of your product with individual tasks. Our roadmap maker can help you with this.

For example, this project roadmap shows how tasks on both the marketing and web design side run parallel to each other:

Simple Product Roadmap Plan Template

A simple timeline can also be used in your marketing plan:

Strategy Timeline Infographic

Or a mind map, if you want to include a ton of information in a more organized way:

Business Strategy Mindmap Template

Even a simple “Next, Now, Later” chart can help visualize your strategy:

3 Step Product Roadmap Template

7. Set tracking or reporting guidelines

Close your marketing plan with a brief explanation of how you plan to track or measure your results. This will save you a lot of frustration down the line by standardizing how you track results across your team.

Like the other sections of your marketing plan, you can choose how in-depth you want to go. But there need to be some clear guidelines on how to measure the progress and results of your marketing plan.

At the bare minimum, your results tracking guidelines should specify:

  • What you plan to track
  • How you plan to track results
  • How often you plan to measure

But you can more add tracking guidelines to your marketing plan if you see the need to. You may also want to include a template that your team or client can follow,  for  client reporting ,  ensure that the right metrics are being tracked.

Marketing Checklist

The marketing plan example below dedicates a whole page to tracking criteria:

SEO Marketing Proposal Measuring Results

Use a task tracker to track tasks and marketing results, and a checklist maker to note down tasks, important life events, or tracking your daily life.

Similarly, the marketing plan example below talks about tracking content marketing instead:

Social Media Marketing Proposal

Marketing plan vs. marketing strategy

Although often used interchangeably, the terms “marketing plan” and “marketing strategy” do have some differences.

Simply speaking, a marketing strategy presents what the business will do in order to reach a certain goal. A marketing plan outlines the specific daily, weekly, monthly or yearly activities that the marketing strategy calls for. As a business, you can create a marketing proposal for the marketing strategies defined in your company’s marketing plan. There are various marketing proposal examples that you can look at to help with this.

A company’s extended marketing strategy can be like this:

marketing strategy mind map

Notice how it’s more general and doesn’t include the actual activities required to complete each strategy or the timeframe those marketing activities will take place. That kind of information is included in a marketing plan, like this marketing plan template which talks about the content strategy in detail:

Content Marketing Proposal

Types of marketing plans that can transform your business strategy

Let’s take a look at several types of marketing plans you can create, along with specific examples for each.

1. General marketing strategic plan / Annual marketing plan

This is a good example of a marketing plan that covers the overarching annual marketing strategy for a company:

marketing strategy template marketing plan

Another good example would be this Starbucks marketing plan:

Starbucks marketing plan example

This one-page marketing plan example from coffee chain Starbucks has everything at a glance. The bold headers and subheadings make it easier to segment the sections so readers can focus on the area most relevant to them.

What we like about this example is how much it covers. From the ideal buyer persona to actional activities, as well as positioning and metrics, this marketing plan has it all.

Another marketing plan example that caught our eye is this one from Cengage. Although a bit text-heavy and traditional, it explains the various sections well. The clean layout makes this plan easy to read and absorb.

Cengage marketing plan example

The last marketing plan example we would like to feature in this section is this one from Lush cosmetics.

It is a long one but it’s also very detailed. The plan outlines numerous areas, including the company mission, SWOT analysis , brand positioning, packaging, geographical criteria, and much more.

Lush marketing plan

2. Content marketing plan

A content marketing plan highlights different strategies , campaigns or tactics you can use for your content to help your business reach its goals.

This one-page marketing plan example from Contently outlines a content strategy and workflow using simple colors and blocks. The bullet points detail more information but this plan can easily be understood at a glance, which makes it so effective.

contently marketing plan

For a more detailed content marketing plan example, take a look at this template which features an editorial calendar you can share with the whole team:

nonprofit content marketing plan

3. SEO marketing plan

Your SEO marketing plan highlights what you plan to do for your SEO marketing strategy . This could include tactics for website on-page optimization , off-page optimization using AI SEO , and link building using an SEO PowerSuite backlink API for quick backlink profile checks.

This SEO marketing plan example discusses in detail the target audience of the business and the SEO plan laid out in different stages:

SEO marketing plan example

4. Social media marketing plan

Your social media marketing plan presents what you’ll do to reach your marketing goal through social media. This could include tactics specific to each social media channel that you own, recommendations on developing a new channel, specific campaigns you want to run, and so on, like how B2B channels use Linkedin to generate leads with automation tools and expand their customer base; or like making use of Twitter walls that could display live Twitter feeds from Twitter in real-time on digital screens.

Edit this social media marketing plan example easily with Venngage’s drag-and-drop editor:

social media marketing plan example

5. Demand generation marketing plan

This could cover your paid marketing strategy (which can include search ads, paid social media ads, traditional advertisements, etc.), email marketing strategy and more. Here’s an example:

promotional marketing plan

9 marketing plan examples to inspire your growth strategy

1. free marketing plan template.

Here’s a free nonprofit marketing plan example that is ideal for organizations with a comprehensive vision to share. It’s a simple plan that is incredibly effective. Not only does the plan outline the core values of the company, it also shares the ideal buyer persona.

marketing business annual plan

Note how the branding is consistent throughout this example so there is no doubt which company is presenting this plan. The content plan is an added incentive for anyone viewing the document to go ahead and give the team the green light.

2. Pastel social media marketing campaign template

Two-page marketing plan samples aren’t very common, but this free template proves how effective they are. There’s a dedicated section for business goals as well as for project planning .

Pastel Social Media Marketing Plan Template

The milestones for the marketing campaign are clearly laid out, which is a great way to show how organized this business strategy is.

3. Small business marketing strategy template

This marketing plan template is perfect for small businesses who set out to develop an overarching marketing strategy for the whole year:

Notice how this aligns pretty well with the marketing plan outline we discussed in previous sections.

In terms of specific tactics for the company’s marketing strategy, the template only discusses SEO strategy, but you can certainly expand on that section to discuss any other strategies — such as link building , that you would like to build out a complete marketing plan for.

4. Orange simple marketing proposal template

Marketing plans, like the sample below, are a great way to highlight what your business strategy and the proposal you wan to put forward to win potential customers.

Orange Simple Marketing Proposal Template

5. One-page marketing fact sheet template

This one-page marketing plan example is great for showcasing marketing efforts in a persuasive presentation or to print out for an in-person meeting.

Nonprofit Healthcare Company Fact Sheet Template

Note how the fact sheet breaks down the marketing budget as well as the key metrics for the organization. You can win over clients and partners with a plan like this.

6. Light company business fact sheet template

This one-page sample marketing plan clearly outlines the marketing objectives for the organization. It’s a simple but effective way to share a large amount of information in a short amount of time.

Light Company Business Fact Sheet Template

What really works with this example is that includes a mission statement, key contact information alongside all the key metrics.

7. Marketing media press kit template

This press kit marketing plan template is bright and unmistakable as belonging to the Cloud Nine marketing agency . The way the brand colors are used also helps diversify the layouts for each page, making the plan easier to read.

Marketing Media Press Kit Template

We like the way the marketing department has outlined the important facts about the organization. The bold and large numbers draw the eye and look impressive.

8. Professional marketing proposal template

Start your marketing campaign on a promising note with this marketing plan template. It’s short, sharp and to the point. The table of contents sets out the agenda, and there’s a page for the company overview and mission statement.

Professional Marketing Proposal Template

9. Social media marketing proposal template

A complete marketing plan example, like the one below, not only breaks down the business goals to be achieved but a whole lot more. Note how the terms and conditions and payment schedule are included, which makes this one of the most comprehensive marketing plans on our list.

Checkered Social Media Marketing Proposal Template

7 tips to keep in mind while you’re creating your marketing plan

While a marketing plan doesn’t necessarily have to be pretty, an impressive design certainly helps if you want your plan to be more convincing.

Presentation is especially important if you’re presenting your marketing plan to investors, or if you need to convince your boss to approve your requested marketing budget.

That’s where a marketing plan template can help. If you don’t have a designer available, or even if you want a framework to base your own design on, a template gives you a solid foundation to work with.

Start creating your marketing plan with a template and then customize the design to fit your information and to incorporate your own branding .

Here are seven marketing plan templates to get you started, along with some report design best practices you should follow when creating your plan.

1. Identify, describe and illustrate your target audience

Knowing your target audience is one of the most fundamental steps that every marketing team should take before making any marketing decisions. So by the time you begin writing your marketing plan, you should have your target audience identified.

In your marketing plan, you should dedicate a section to introducing your target audience.

To help keep your target audience top-of-mind when planning and executing your marketing strategies, it can be helpful to visualize your audience personas. Faux images of your personas, illustrations and icons are all great ways to put a face to your personas’ “names”.

Take this page from a marketing plan example that includes imagery and icons:

A photo of “Cassandra Vane”, their “head of marketing” persona, is provided to make the character seem more real. You can incorporate photos seamlessly into your page design by using image frames.

Icons are also used to visualize the different components that make up this persona (their identifies, their demographic information, their goals and their unique challenges).

2. Visualize important process flows and strategy roadmaps

To effectively outline new marketing strategies, processes, and timelines, it can be very helpful to visualize the flows.

You could opt for a classic flow chart or a more creative marketing plan infographic . Whatever type of visual you choose to create, the goal should be to make the information easier for people to follow.

The first step is to organize your flow into distinct steps. Remember to clearly label each step and to use symbols  like lines or arrows to indicate the direction in which the flow should be read.

It can also be helpful to visualize each step using different shapes, or attaching an icon to each step.

For example, this page visualizes an email campaign flow:

Marketing Business Proposal Email Campaign

Icons represent each email as an individual block, to make it easier for readers to visualize the process. Concise descriptions give readers context to understand the flow chart.

Take a look at how information flows visually throughout this promotional marketing plan template thanks to strategically placed visual cues:

Marketing Business Proposal

3. Emphasize important statistics, metrics, and numbers in your marketing plan

To make your plan both more convincing, and easier to scan, you should create a hierarchy of information in your page design.

For example, you can use charts and pictograms to visualize important stats or metrics. Or you could write important numbers in a bright-colored font so they stand out from the rest of the text.

This is an opportunity to get creative with your page design. Look at how speech bubble pictograms are used in this marketing plan example to show key statistics:

Content Strategy Plan

In that same marketing plan, important content-related data is emphasized using brightly colored shapes, illustrative icons and big fonts:

Content Strategy Plan Content Inventory

Color choice , icons and font styles all help bring key information forward in this content strategy plan template:

Content Strategy Marketing Plan Example

4. Use your main marketing goal to guide your design

One of the main goals of your marketing plan is to identify your high-level marketing goals. Your marketing plan design should be driven by this goal–in your page layouts and in the design elements you use.

You can do this by picking a design motif that reflects your goal and using that throughout your marketing plan. This could be a particular shape or item (for example, using images of plants in a work plan to represent growth) or a color scheme that reflects the mood of your mission.

This social media marketing plan example identifies their goal as being the go-to source of inspiration and information for runners:

Blue-Social-Media-Marketing-Plan-Template-

Take a look at how they use chat bubble icons and a bright, bold color scheme to give their marketing plan a friendly and energetic design:

Creative Social Media Marketing Proposal

Pro Tip: You don’t need to create a comprehensive marketing plan yourself. With our real-time collaboration feature , you can leverage your entire team to help you shape your marketing plan together anytime, anywhere. In real-time.

Real-time-Collaboration-Venngage-1

5. Vary your page designs to make your marketing plan engaging

Putting in the extra bit of effort to use visuals will not only make your marketing plan more engaging, it will also make it easier for readers to retain information.

That’s why while you could use the same page layout throughout your whole plan, it’s a good idea to vary your page design. Mixing up your design will prevent your plan from being too predictable. Plus, you will have more flexibility to visualize information creatively .

For example, this SEO plan template simply inverts the color scheme on each page. While the overall color scheme for the whole plan is cohesive, each individual page is varied:

SEO Marketing Proposal

6. Visualize your top channels using charts, icons, and pictograms

It’s important for your team to understand your highest-performing channels. That way, you can identify areas you may want to funnel more resources into, whether it be social media, paid ads , mobile app advertising , organic or referral traffic.

This is where visual communication can be highly effective. A simple but effective way to analyze your channels is to visualize the data. You can do this using charts , pictograms and infographics with Venngage’s infographic creator .

For example, a pie chart can put into perspective where the bulk of your traffic is coming from:

Green Business Marketing Plan Presentation Template

A stacked bar would also work well to visualize this information.

You can also use icons to emphasize and differentiate between channels, like in this marketing plan slide:

White Business Marketing Plan Presentation Template

Take a look at how charts, icons and color-coding make it easy to scan this marketing agenda presentation for information about specific channels:

Marketing Agenda Business Presentation

7. Use borders or color blocks to organize your pages into sections

Generally, it’s good practice to stick to one topic per page. This will help keep your marketing plan more organized and make it easier for readers to scan for information.

That being said, you may want to put more than one topic on the same page, like if both topics are directly related. In that case, you can organize the page into sections using borders or blocks of background color.

For example, look at how this page is clearly divided into two sections, thanks to the use of a color block background:

Promotional Marketing Plan Messaging

Blocks of color are also used to make the sections headers stand out. Take a look at the different pages in this promotional plan template:

Promotional Marketing Plan

A few more marketing plan design best practices:

Here are a few quick tips to keep in mind when start designing your marketing plan.

Keep your design elements like fonts, icons and colors consistent

While it’s good to switch up the layout of your pages to keep your marketing plan engaging, it’s important to keep your design consistent. That means:

  • Using the same font styles for your headers, body text, and accent text (generally, try to stick to only using 2-3 different font styles in one report)
  • Using the same color scheme throughout your plan, and using the same colors for specific types of information (ex. blue for “social media goals” and green for “SEO goals”)
  • Using the same style of icons throughout your report, like flat icons, line art icons, or illustrated icons

marketing plan example

Download your marketing plan as a PDF

It’s important that your team is on the same page. Sharing your marketing plan via Google Docs or a file-sharing service can be unreliable. In most cases, it’s easier to simply download your marketing plan as a PDF and share it with your team that way.

You can download your marketing plan in high-quality PDF digital flipbook or interactive PDF format with Venngage.

Include a table of contents to make it easy to find specific information

This tip is pretty self-explanatory. Even if you’re putting together your marketing plan as a presentation, a simple table of contents at the beginning will give your audience an idea of what they can expect.

Marketing Plan FAQs

What should marketing plans include.

Marketing plans should include:

  • A detailed analysis of the target market and customer segments.
  • Clear and achievable marketing objectives and goals.
  • Strategies and tactics for product promotion and distribution.
  • Budget allocation for various marketing activities.
  • Timelines and milestones for the implementation of marketing strategies.
  • Evaluation metrics and methods for tracking the success of the marketing plan.

What is an executive summary in a marketing plan and what is its main goal?

An executive summary in a marketing plan is a brief overview of the entire document, summarizing the key points, goals, and strategies. Its main goal is to provide readers with a quick understanding of the plan’s purpose and to entice them to read further.

What are the results when a marketing plan is effective?

When a marketing plan is effective, businesses can experience increased brand visibility, higher customer engagement, improved sales and revenue, and strengthened customer loyalty.

What is the first section of a marketing plan?

The first section of a marketing plan is typically the “Executive Summary,” which provides a concise overview of the entire plan, including the business’s goals and the strategies to achieve them.

Now that you have the basics for designing your own marketing plan, it’s time to get started:

More marketing design guides and templates:.

15 Marketing Infographic Templates and Tips to Boost Audience Engagement

12 Business Pitch Deck Templates and Design Best Practices to Impress Investors

10 Page-Turning White Paper Examples and Design Tips

The Evolution of Marketing [Infographic]

Seven Steps To An Effective Annual Marketing Plan

A successful B2B marketing plan starts with a solid course of action. It includes targeted steps and processes designed to unite marketing and business around shared goals, objectives, actions, and outcomes.  

One small error in your marketing plan can wreak havoc on your end-of-year outcomes — and impact your revenue goals.   

Download this e-book to explore Forrester’s seven-step guide to developing an effective marketing plan and learn:  

  • The most overlooked planning step you’re missing.  
  • The secret to defining your strategic direction.  
  • Two exercises for narrowing your focus.  

marketing business annual plan

  • Content Marketing
  • Brainstorming

VUCAC Blog

How to Create an Annual Marketing Plan [with Template]

Annual Marketing Plan

An annual marketing plan is a comprehensive document that outlines a company’s marketing objectives, strategies, tactics, and budget for the upcoming year. It serves as a roadmap for the marketing team to follow to achieve the company’s overall business goals.

An annual marketing plan typically includes a situational analysis, which assesses the current market environment, competitors, and customer needs. Based on this analysis, the plan identifies the target audience, marketing objectives, and the strategies and tactics that will be used to achieve those objectives.

The strategies and tactics outlined in the plan may include a mix of traditional and digital marketing channels, such as advertising, public relations, social media, email marketing, and content marketing. The plan will also include a budget for each activity and a timeline for implementation.

An annual marketing plan is a crucial tool for aligning the marketing department with the overall business strategy and measuring the success of marketing efforts over time. It can be updated and revised throughout the year as needed to respond to market or business environment changes.

Creating An Annual Marketing Plan

  • It’s time to start your annual marketing plan.
  • The development process takes 8-12 weeks, depending on complexity.
  • Start planning for about six months for flexibility and adaptability.
  • Avoid doing marketing plans during busy times of the year.
  • Begin with a situational analysis, including SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats).
  • Identify strengths that give you a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
  • Recognize weaknesses that could harm your organization.
  • Look for external factors that provide opportunities for competitive advantage (opportunities).
  • Be aware of external factors that could harm your organization (threats).
  • Collaborate with your team to understand your brand and move forward together toward target audience goals.

How to Create Annual Marketing Planning

  • Ashley Booth is a director on the consulting team.
  • Annual planning involves reading about marketing trends and keeping up with industry changes.
  • There is no magic solution to solve all business problems.
  • Taking a step back and thinking about the business during annual planning is important.
  • Determine where your business will be in three years, set goals accordingly, and work backward from there.
  • Consider channels, tactics, strategies, and personnel when creating an annual plan.
  • Transparent conversations about marketing budgets are essential for maximizing available resources.
  • An outside perspective can be helpful even if you’re not at a tipping point of growth or ready for a partner.
  • Talk to people inside and outside your organization for additional perspectives on what you should focus on during annual planning.
  • Sometimes it’s necessary to suck it up and invest in less exciting things like analytics or rebuilding websites to achieve long-term goals.

How to Build a Perfect Annual Marketing Plan for Your Database

  • Marketers must understand the importance of not being myopic in their marketing approach.
  • The database of past clients and sphere of influence contacts is a valuable source of business.
  • Repeat or referral business is the number one way buyers and sellers find an agent.
  • A marketing plan should be created to position oneself as the top-of-mind agent for past clients and sphere of influence contacts.
  • Social media should be used daily, prioritizing video content, engagement with followers, and retargeting through ads.
  • Email marketing should be utilized weekly with personalized value-add content rather than canned material.
  • Print postcards can also be effective monthly for multi-channel marketing efforts.
  • Quarterly activities could include handwritten notes or other pattern interrupters to keep communication fresh and engaging with database contacts.
  • Semi-annual check-ins help maintain relationships while providing updates on market trends or local happenings that may interest them.
  • Annual events such as client appreciation parties can further solidify relationships and show gratitude towards past clients.

How to Create an Annual Real Estate Marketing Plan

  • Marketing is important for agents and needs to be repeatable, easy, and fun.
  • A system should map out when emails, videos, client events, pop buys, and geographic farm mailings will occur.
  • The speaker has a proven system that works every year.
  • The system involves writing down marketing activities on sticky notes or pads of paper.
  • Events, vacations, and other commitments are mapped out on a calendar.
  • Different colors can be used for different activities (e.g., vacation vs business trips).
  • Once the entire year is mapped out, it can be duplicated in future years.
  • This method is more fun than using Trello or a traditional calendar.
  • Viewers are encouraged to subscribe to the channel for more helpful weekly content.

How to Create an Annual Marketing Plan in Minutes

  • The webinar is about building a marketing strategy for 2021 in less than an hour.
  • Kevin and Shy are hosting the webinar; both work in Marketing for ECPs.
  • They will cover three-year plans, one-year plans, objectives, budgets, and annual plan execution.
  • Attendees can ask questions during the Q&A session at the end of the webinar.
  • The strategy allocates time and resources toward activities that generate desired outcomes while knowing what to say no to.
  • A marketing plan is important because it guides critical business decisions and keeps businesses on track.
  • It’s essential to focus on future industry trends, current demographics, and customer habits/needs/wants/preferences when creating a marketing plan.
  • Sales and marketing are two different things but work hand in hand; strong marketing generates leads/revenue/profitability, allowing businesses to grow/sustain themselves without being dependent on any person or staff member.
  • Three years from today, goals should be articulated by answering four questions: What will my revenue be? What will my profit be? Who will my customers be? How do I achieve entrepreneurial ambitions?
  • KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) can help define these goals with specific numbers/targets that must be achieved over time.

How to Create a Marketing Plan: a Step-by-Step Guide

  • Marketing is necessary for any business looking to succeed.
  • A marketing plan helps understand the business, clarify goals, and keep everyone on the same page.
  • A marketing plan should include short- and long-term goals, target audience descriptions, and high-level strategies/tactics.
  • Researching the market and competition is crucial before creating a marketing plan.
  • Identifying target customers allows for more informed and tailored marketing strategies.
  • Specific numbers should be included when outlining marketing goals to measure progress effectively.
  • Laying out a clear strategy from beginning to end with specific dates or deadlines can help teams stay on track.
  • Budget considerations must be detailed upfront as marketing can be costly with hidden expenses.
  • Visme offers various templates for different industries, such as restaurants, real estate, content companies, etc., making it easier to create a personalized plan.
  • Infographics effectively present information in a fun, animated design that will be manageable for your audience.

B2B Marketing Plan Example – Advanced Top 1%

  • The video teaches advanced business-to-business marketing for creating a comprehensive plan.
  • The speaker, Dekker Fraser, has experience in marketing for Google and Sony and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management.
  • The framework is based on a time series, with the primary focus being new customer acquisition.
  • Potential customers may be at different stages of awareness, starting with brand unawareness and ending with paying customers.
  • Specific channels such as Facebook and LinkedIn are dominant but can vary depending on the company’s size or product type.
  • Most demand generation outbound marketing fails because it doesn’t reach people at their awareness stage.
  • Different types of offers (free vs. paid) are used to convert prospects into paying customers.
  • Content is created to cater to people at different stages of awareness and distributed through various channels such as email, direct mail, phone calls, etc.
  • Video advertising is dominant initially, while text becomes more important towards the end when engagement is key through email campaigns.
  • The approach to copywriting differs between emotional brand awareness campaigns versus rational messaging aimed at appealing to analytical decision-making.

Learn how to create a successful marketing plan with clear goals, target audience identification, and budget considerations. Research the market and competition before outlining high-level strategies/tactics. Use Visme’s templates for personalized plans and infographics for fun animated designs. Understand the importance of repeat or referral business, social media engagement, email marketing, and multi-channel efforts in real marketing.

Develop a comprehensive B2B strategy based on customer awareness stages using specific channels such as Facebook and LinkedIn. Collaborate with your team to understand your brand while focusing on future industry trends when creating an annual plan that guides critical business decisions toward desired outcomes. Remember that planning is not the same as strategy; develop an integrative set of choices that positions your company to win against competitors who are only focused on participating in the market rather than winning it.

Related posts:

  • How to Create a Channel Marketing Plan: Template & Example
  • How to Create a One-Page Marketing Plan [Free Template]
  • Marketing Plan Creator: How to Create Digital Marketing Plan
  • How to Create Quarterly Marketing Plan: Template & Examples

marketing business annual plan

HubSpot

MARKETING PLAN GENERATOR

This high-level template will help you outline your annual marketing strategy, identify your most important initiatives, and track the right metrics all year long. Tell us a little about your marketing goals and you’ll receive a 12-month plan in less than 10 minutes.

Press enter/arrow keys (or swipe on mobile) to continue

You smart planner, you. We're so excited to help you create a marketing plan that will drive big results!

Let's start by getting acquainted. What's your name?

Awesome. it's great to meet you .

We'll be diving into some questions about your company, what you do there, and what your team's goals are for this year. These questions will help us customize your plan to fit your company's exact needs. If you're not 100% sure how to answer a question, that's okay. Just put in a quick answer for now — you can always go back in and edit your answers later.

Where do you work?

Very cool how many employees work at your company .

A written mission helps align your team around common goals. Patagonia's mission is to "build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis." Want another example? Click here.

What's your company 's mission?

Just add a few words outlining your direction. You can always change this answer later.

Sounds like a great place to be . What exactly do you do at your company ?

74% of marketers say that converting leads into customers is their company's top priority over the next 12 months.

State of Inbound 2016

What's your team's main focus this year?

What key objectives do you want to achieve? Remember: You can always come back and change this answer later.

Select up to 3 initiatives your team should prioritize this year to help carry out that focus:

(Scroll for more options)

  • Build Brand Awareness
  • Close Deals
  • Create a High-Quality Pipeline
  • Create Content
  • Create Paid Advertisement Program
  • Decrease Churn
  • Decrease Customer Acquisition Cost
  • Define or Update Personas
  • Differentiate Brand From Competitors
  • Diversify Promotion Efforts
  • Grow Event Attendance
  • Grow International Brand
  • Grow Paid Users
  • Grow Revenue
  • Grow Social Media Reach
  • Improve Customer NPS
  • Improve Lead Quality
  • Improve Sales Rep Productivity
  • Increase Clickthrough Rate
  • Increase Conversion Rate
  • Increase Leads
  • Increase Product Adoption
  • Increase Traffic
  • Introduce New Product/Service
  • Optimize Sales Cycle
  • Recruit Top Talent
  • Scale Company Culture
  • Shorten Sales Cycle
  • Unify Products/Services

What are your goals for these initiatives?

Example: Grow lead generation by 1,000 leads per month

( Enter options on previous slide to view content )

Which initiatives would you consider for a future year?

Now that you have your top priorities in place, it’s time to select 1-3 initiatives that, while valuable, will only distract you from achieving this year’s goals. These could be considered later on, but for now, you don’t have the resources in place to focus on them.

Well, would you look at that! You're almost finished. That wasn't so hard, was it?

One final thing: How do we get in touch to discuss your goals for next year?

We're committed to your privacy. HubSpot uses the information you provide to us to contact you about our relevant content, products, and services. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For more information, check out our Privacy Policy .

12-Month Marketing Campaign Plan Template by HubSpot

What is in the Marketing Plan Template?

HubSpot's marketing plan generator offers a template displaying your company's mission, strategy, and initiatives following the information entered in the tool while also identifying future opportunities. The project planner tool delivers a 12-month marketing plan template dividing actions for your team into initiatives, measurement metrics, and goals. This free resource for your business can be downloaded as a CSV file and shared with your team.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the marketing plan template generator do.

The Marketing Plan Generator uses the information you provide about your marketing goals to create a personalized 12-month plan that will help your business reach new heights of success.

How Does the Marketing Plan Template Generator Work?

As a marketing plan software, it uses the answers you provide in the assessment to generate your company marketing priorities for the year to come. It identifies relevant initiatives to prioritize following the goals entered and delivers a practical template.

Why is a Marketing Plan Important?

Developing a marketing plan is crucial as it allows you to determine what to focus on by setting clear objectives. It also helps in managing resources better and maximize the impact of every marketing action. This is in a nutshell why you need a marketing plan.

When Do You Need to Use a Marketing Plan?

When your product is ready to be marketed, which is most likely right now as you are reading these lines! Instead of an example, why not spend some time taking our MPTG assessment and discover what you can do today to improve your marketing?

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More hubspot tools.

  • Make My Persona
  • Blog Idea Generator
  • Website Grader
  • Email Signature Generator
  • Business Templates

How to Create a Marketing Plan for 2023: Follow These 5 Steps

Stacy Bouchard

Creating an annual marketing plan that aligns with your company’s growth objectives is no picnic. However, next-level inbound marketing programs — the ones that align marketing, sales, and service teams — use the power of the flywheel .

An inbound marketing plan centered around the flywheel leverages force, friction, and the momentum the combination creates, and it’s designed to help complex organizations meet  their growth goals . 

inbound methodology flywheel

As you begin your marketing planning process for 2023, refer to our infographic for an at-a-glance look at the process that sums up how to build a plan . Below that, we’ll dig into each step, so read on!

RELATED: Free Annual Inbound Marketing Plan Template

the five steps to the annual marketing planning process

1. Identify business growth initiatives for the upcoming year

A marketing plan developed around unclear — or worse, unknown — business growth initiatives is an exercise in futility. Reach out to key department heads and decision makers to gather their input on the collective vision of the future. Lean into conversations and roundtables that get everyone on the same page before you start formulating a plan.

Avoiding the mistake of building a marketing plan in a silo adds value, expedites buy-in, and provides a dedicated path for your inbound efforts.

2. Set well-defined goals and progress benchmarks

Assembling a team to provide insights and perspectives about growth initiatives is one thing. Coming to consensus on goals and what successful completion of those goals looks like is another.

The key here is twofold. First, be realistic . Review current year goals and performance to-date to understand what is reasonable in terms of expectations and achievement.

Second, define how progress will be measured . Be specific about key performance indicators (KPIs) for lead attraction and conversion, MQL and SQL percentages, and a regular progress/goals review cadence — generally 90-day intervals.

3. Specify budget parameters

Just like with goals and benchmarks, you have to be realistic about the money you have to spend to execute an annual inbound marketing plan. Knowing the gross budget simply helps in “big picture” management.

Which tactics are worth putting money behind to maximize return on investment (ROI)? Is there a better way to adjust frequency, content format, technologies, etc. to stay within the planned spend and still generate sufficient results ?

RELATED: The Absolute Best Marketing Budget Templates — A Must-Read For B2B Marketing Managers  

4. Prioritize strategies and tactics that align with growth initiatives and goals

With everything in place — the path, goals, progress benchmarks, budget — you can finally settle into the annual marketing planning process, most importantly: the tactics . Since inbound is fueled by content , it’s essential to identify both the type of content you’ll want to develop and the channels you’ll use for distribution.

Creating quarterly content plans that specify the topics and formats is an effective way to develop a regular cadence and to ensure you’re using each distribution channel (blogs, videos, advanced content, etc.) to your best advantage — including your website. 

Commit to not letting it lag by implementing growth driven design (GDD) to keep your site fresh , relevant , and updated with continuous learning and improvements. Don’t ignore proven target-based strategies either. Account based marketing (ABM) focuses your efforts on prospective best fits. Plus, boost results with direct mail, email blasts, and trade shows.

5. Remain flexible and agile

Your annual marketing plan is essential for navigating the upcoming year. But remember, it’s not written in stone; unforeseen circumstances will arise. You’ll want to be nimble enough to use data about what’s working and what’s not throughout the year to adjust.

Consider using an annual marketing plan in tandem with quarterly marketing roadmaps that contain specific focus areas and tactics for the next 90 days. This doesn’t mean derailing your marketing plan, simply adjusting it to address the variables while keeping your larger initiatives on track.

Now, when you’re thinking about how to create a B2B marketing plan , look at the above infographic. You’ll be reminded that the marketing planning process isn’t quite so intimidating.

Learn more about the essentials of creating an annual marketing plan in our free guide . Click below to read it now and then download the accompanying template to start creating your own plan.

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Topics: Inbound Marketing , Marketing Planning

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marketing business annual plan

Written by Jesse Sumrak | December 12, 2022

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Marketing is an often misunderstood profession. Peers often stereotype marketing with massive budgets, loosey-goosey timelines, haphazard tactics, high-profile influencers, and Snapchat filters. In reality, modern marketing plans are more complex and orchestrated than a Premier League-winning football team.

Businesses have big goals to hit and fine margins to walk—and they need realistic, yet imaginative, marketing plans to make it happen. Sure, bigger companies can spend all willy-nilly hiring Taylor Swift for a commercial op and dropping a quarter million on Facebook advertising, but small businesses and startups have to get downright strategic with every dollar they spend.

If your business is trying to stretch every penny, you’ve come to the right place. This article will show you how to create a marketing plan in 2023 that actually works with a down-to-earth budget. We’ve included step-by-step actions, outlines, examples, and more to give you everything you need to take an idea to the market with laser precision.

Table of Contents

What is a marketing plan?

How to create a marketing plan

Marketing plan template

Marketing plan example

Marketing Plan FAQs

What is a marketing plan.

A marketing plan is a documented roadmap for how you plan to drive awareness, sales, signups, attendance, or other marketing initiatives. It outlines your KPIs, budget, and timeline, dictating everything from the critical milestones to the nitty-gritty to-do items.

Marketing plans come in all shapes and sizes. You could build an overarching marketing plan to document and guide your entire department’s annual goals and strategies for the upcoming year. Or you might create a marketing plan detailing the launch strategy for the brand-new product release coming out next quarter. Big plans can even include small plans, just like an adorable collection of Russian nesting dolls.

Plans can be short, long, fat, or thin—just remember what your plan is trying to accomplish. If you’re trying to pitch an idea to a team of venture capitalists or a local bank, you might need a chunky document with accompanying spreadsheets and financial figures. However, if you’re trying to communicate the plan to your marketing team leads, you’ll want to skip straight to the point with tactics, deadlines, and deliverables.

Regardless of your use case, the next section will give you the building blocks you need to create a marketing plan that works.

ERIC BANDHOLZ: Growing Beards and Brands with Content Marketing

How to Create a Marketing Plan

This section will show you the 7-step process to creating a marketing plan. Plans are fluid and versatile, so we don’t recommend filling out one of these with pen and paper—get your eraser ready because a marketing plan is never perfect from the get-go.

Here’s an overview of the 7-step process:

  • Establish Your Marketing Goal
  • Identify Your Audience and Competitors
  • Set Your Marketing Budget
  • Determine Your Deadline(s)
  • Pick Your Marketing Channels and Tactics
  • Outline the To-Do List and Make Assignments
  • Track Performance and Review Analytics

Don’t worry too much about making it all nice and pretty right now. Later, you can use our provided marketing outline to copy, paste, and format a more articulated version for widespread distribution. For now, just focus on hashing out each section and answering the thought-provoking questions.

1. Establish Your Marketing Goal

Define exactly what you’re trying to achieve. Do you want to drive more sales? How much? What about recurring customers? How many? Do you need to increase brand awareness? To whom and by how much?

Work out the details of what you want to accomplish, why, and how you’re going to measure it. Establish your KPIs early on to measure the success of your marketing campaign. You’ll refer to these numbers throughout the rest of your marketing plan, so get specific.

For example, how many website visitors you’re trying to drive will affect your marketing budget, deadlines, and tactics. And if you’re targeting a specific demographic, you may need to engage different marketing teams to use the appropriate channels and messaging.

Fine-tune your marketing goal so that you can communicate it simply in a single sentence. For example: “The goal is to drive 25,000 key decision-makers to the new product page by the end of October with a limited marketing budget of $75,000.”

Content marketing frameworks button

2. Identify Your Audience and Competitors

Explain who this campaign is targeting. If you’ve already built out your buyer personas, you’ll just plug in the persona appropriate to this campaign. However, if this is your first time thinking long and hard about your target audience, really get to know the person you’re marketing to.

Depending on your product, industry, and market, you’ll want to know demographics like:

  • Marital status

These details help you identify a broad audience, but you’ll want to narrow it down with psychographics.

Psychographics dig deeper . They cover your audience’s:

  • Influencers
  • Shopping behaviors

Demographics explain the “who,” while psychographics explain the “why.”

Think about if you were trying to sell a baseball glove. How you market that glove is going to be very different depending on the buyer. Are your messaging and channels targeting a college athlete, recreational youngster, mom, dad, or low-income family? It’s hard to know what to say and how to say it unless you know who you’re talking to.

Don’t just gloss over this section. Without a target audience, you’ll be blindly throwing darts at a board—sure, some plans might work out, but it’ll come down less to strategy and more to sheer luck. A target audience and replicable formula make your success a science and not a game of Russian roulette.

Once you’ve identified your audience, you need to figure out who’s also targeted the same people. Competition research is a way to understand who you are up against for eyeballs, SEO rankings, and influence, but it also can serve as an opportunity to fill gaps in our needs that your competitors are missing.

One easy way to do this is to look at comment sections or reviews of similar companies in your industry. Look for:

  • Frequent complaints about product design.
  • Consistent issues with customer service.
  • Ads or branding language that falls flat.
  • If the competitor hasn’t made a product their customers are asking for.

By identifying your competitor’s weaknesses or gaps their missing with their customers, you’ll have a treasure trove of marketing copy to use in order to differentiate your business from the pack.

3. Set Your Marketing Budget

Marketing plans need budget constraints. Without a cap, plans could hypothetically include:

  • 60-second Super Bowl commercial
  • Cristiano Ronaldo as a celebrity endorser
  • Billboard advertisements along the entirety of Route 66

For most startups, that’s just not a possibility.

And it’s not where the magic happens. Powerful marketing plans turn tiny marketing budgets into impressive ROI. They prioritize the right channels, messaging, and tactics to stretch every dollar to the max.

Decide beforehand how much budget you’ll need to allocate to meet the goals you set in Step 1. When push comes to shove, you may need to throw additional money at the campaign later to get it across the finish line, but stay strong and do your best to create a marketing plan that works with the budget constraints.

Tight on budget but full on creativity? Check out our Small Business Marketing Guide: From Scratch to Success .

Influencer vs Celebrity Marketing | Ecommerce Tips

4. Determine Your Deadline(s)

Deadlines create the boundaries to your marketing campaign—you can’t have a plan without them. No deadlines mean there’s a never-ending period to achieve your objective, and it’s probably not a good idea to have a 20-year free pass to accomplish that sales goal you set.

Set your deadline. Be realistic, but also be ambitious. The faster you achieve this goal, the faster you can move on to the next one—and each progressive goal should be moving your business forward.

Establish the final deadline for achieving your primary KPI. Then, set the necessary milestones along the journey. For example, you might set milestones for launching different aspects of your campaign, such as hosting 4 webinars, publishing 10 supporting blog posts, or earning a callout in 2 prime news outlets.

Finally, set the start date for when you’ll need to get the ball rolling to meet your deadlines. Don’t assume it’s ASAP—you might have a few weeks to get your ducks in a row instead of immediately heading off into a chaotic marketing battle.

5. Pick Your Marketing Channels and Tactics

This is arguably the funnest part of creating a marketing plan. This is the step where you get to choose the channels, tactics, and deliverables. The right channels and tactics will vary depending on your audience and product or service, but here are the most popular ones to consider:

  • Email Marketing: Email marketing is one of the tried-and-true tactics of the digital marketing world. It generates an average ROI of $40 for every $1 invested —you can’t get much more bang for your buck than that. (Check out our complete email masterclass to learn how to conquer this lucrative channel.)
  • Social Media Marketing: Whether you’re running organic strategies or targeted paid campaigns , social media marketing is an excellent modern-day tactic for reaching consumers where they’re most comfortable: Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube, or TikTok.
  • PPC Marketing: Pay-per-click (PPC) marketing lets you run advertising campaigns on search engine pages and other websites across the internet. It’s a competitive way to get your content in front of the right eyeballs.
  • Content Marketing: Content marketing paired with a solid search engine optimization (SEO) strategy is a long-term tactic that can drive organic traffic (read: free) to your website for years to come.

And do you know what all these channels have in common? They each give you the ability to monitor your results and track your progress to prove if a channel is worth your time and money. Unlike traditional outbound advertising and its estimated impressions and influence, you know exactly what you’re getting with these digital marketing strategies.

marketing business annual plan

6. Outline the To-Do List and Make Assignments

Here’s where you get into the nitty-gritty of your marketing plan. Step 6 is where you’ll outline everything that needs to get done:

  • Launch meeting
  • Recurring meetings and syncs
  • Creative assets
  • Promotional channels
  • Post-mortems

And that’s just the start. Outline everything that needs to happen to make your plan a reality. Once you know what needs to happen, it’s time to start making assignments. Someone needs to be responsible for every deliverable.

Here’s where you may run into roadblocks. You may discover that your creative team is overwhelmed and won’t be able to handle the creative requests until later, or you may find that other email campaigns or social media advertisements are the top priority.

If that’s the case, go back to Step 4 to revisit your timeline. Make adjustments to ensure there’s bandwidth available to make your marketing plan a reality.

7. Track Performance and Review Analytics

No marketing plan will go off without a hitch. That’s why you need your ear to the ground to understand what’s working. Through analytic tools, you can understand if your marketing plan’s target audience, messaging, or creative needs adjusting. Thankfully, most digital tactics allow you to do this on the fly.

Make sure you familiarize yourself with these basic marketing analytics tools:

  • Facebook Ads Manager
  • Google Analytics
  • Google Search Console
  • Semrush or Ahrefs for SEO

For more on analytics, read our marketing metrics guide .

Top 10 Ecommerce Marketing Tips (100% PROVEN)

Marketing Plan Template (Copy/Paste)

Marketing Plan Template: [Name of Project]

Marketing Plan Example (Filled Out)

Here’s a fake content marketing plan example for a fictitious shoe company.

Marketing Plan Template: [Project Zeus Running Collection]

Marketing Goal Drive $200,000 in sales for the new Zeus running collection within the first 4 months of launch day.

Target Audience The primary audience is 35 to 50-year-old male recreational runners who tend to run 30-40 miles a week at an average page of 8:00-10:00 minutes per mile. They’re not overly competitive, but they like to race 5K and 10K races occasionally throughout the year and are always trying to beat their personal best. Many have experienced mild injuries over the last few years that the Zeus Running Collection can help alleviate.

Marketing Budget We have a budget of $40,000 for the initial launch period. If we can prove out the Zeus Running Collection, we’ll allocate additional budget after the first 4 months.

  • Launch Day: June 1
  • Marketing Assets Ready to Go: May 28
  • Pre-Launch Teaser: May 24
  • Creative Assets Finished: May 21
  • Product Beta Tester Reviews Submitted: May 10
  • Written Content Creation Period: April 12 – May 7
  • Enlist Beta Testers: April 12
  • Project Kickoff Meeting: April 5

Marketing Tactics

  • Social Media Marketing: Target runners on Instagram and Facebook with paid ads featuring our endorsed runner racing in the shoe.
  • Email Marketing: Email existing customers with a 15% off discount code on the new Zeus Running Collection. Email prospects with a link to the product breakdown page with a code for free shipping.

Responsibilities and Assignments

  • Lizzy K: Creative assets
  • Mark B: Blog post announcement + product page
  • Spencer S: Beta tester outreach
  • Larry G: Email and social media marketing campaigns
  • Carly M: Project manager

Do I need to write a marketing plan for everything?

As stated earlier, marketing plans can come in all shapes and sizes. But that doesn't mean you need one for every single Facebook ad or whitepaper your team creates. The best marketing plans serve as a source of truth for your team to reach a goal. Within the marketing plan, you should have enough wiggle room to adjust your strategy and tactics. Marketing is an art and science, so there are bound to be surprises once you start executing your plan.

How do I know if my marketing plan is a success?

One of the most common mistakes marketers make is creating a seemingly perfect marketing plan and then going off script as soon as there's a sign of trouble or distraction. Using the SMART goal method (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound) is a simple way to ensure your marketing plan is applicable. Every marketing plan should be a success, whether you hit your goal or not, because you'll learn something new about your customer, tactics, and business throughout the process.

Who should make a marketing plan?

If you're reading this article, ideally you. A marketing manager or marketing team member typically writes marketing plans, but marketing strategy should start at an enterprise level. The more people understand the marketing plan for your business, the more you can work together (not in silos) to achieve a common goal. You'll see this happen in larger organizations where the marketing team works plan that the product or sales team have no idea about.

Plan It Out—Make It Happen

Every great campaign starts with an even better plan. Don’t leave your startup’s success up to chance—give it all the thought and attention you can.

With the right plan in place, you won’t be crossing your fingers on launch day or during the quarterly review. You’ll be sitting confidently, knowing that everything is running according to plan.

Need a high-level plan for your startup? We got you covered with our free content marketing training .

marketing business annual plan

About Jesse Sumrak

Jesse Sumrak is a writing zealot focused on creating killer content. He’s spent almost a decade writing about startup, marketing, and entrepreneurship topics, having built and sold his own post-apocalyptic fitness bootstrapped business. A writer by day and a peak bagger by night (and early early morning), you can usually find Jesse preparing for the apocalypse on a precipitous peak somewhere in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

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Your Comprehensive Guide to Annual Marketing Planning

Annual planning can feel like a balancing act for most small to mid-sized businesses. On one hand, small business owners and marketers recognize its necessity for long-term success and sustainable growth. On the other hand, developing an annual marketing plan can seem like an obstacle course (at best) or an exercise in futility (at worst). Can we develop an annual marketing plan that works? More than that, is it possible to enjoy the process of creating one?

After more than a decade of walking businesses through our approach to building a marketing strategy , our team has learned several valuable lessons regarding annual planning. We’ve discovered how to ensure your yearly plan is aligned with other critical areas of your business—from supporting business development efforts to coordinating with operations . We know the common pitfalls that prevent businesses from gaining traction. 

As we prepare for the new year, we wanted to offer helpful insights for annual planning and ideas for businesses requiring a more needs-based approach to marketing planning. In this article, we’re highlighting some of the principles for effective yearly marketing planning and a few essential questions that your strategy should be able to answer.

5 Principles for Effective Annual Marketing Planning

Here are a few essential principles we utilize when developing annual marketing plans: 

Embrace proactive planning.

Effective annual marketing planning requires ample time and consideration. This keeps you from feeling rushed and avoids the obstacles created by the hustle and bustle of the holidays. 

At Green Apple, we typically initiate the planning process for clients in Q4, but the ideal timing may vary depending on the client’s industry and specific needs. For some clients, an earlier start may be necessary based on the scope of planning requirements and implementation deadlines.

Align long-term vision with short-term execution.

One of the temptations of developing an annual plan is that you may come up with dozens of great ideas but need help implementing them. While it’s essential to incorporate a long-term vision, you also want to be realistic.

Balancing long-term vision with execution helps you evaluate your brand holistically and get a clear picture of where you’re headed. Then, you can break those goals down into more manageable steps. For example, your company might know where you want to be in three years. By balancing that vision with short-term execution, you can create an annual marketing strategy that fits into your overarching company goals. 

Collaborate with various departments and key stakeholders as needed. 

Effective annual marketing planning requires buy-in and participation from all relevant departments, including sales, operations, and customer service. This collaborative approach ensures that marketing efforts are aligned with the broader business strategy and contribute to achieving common goals.

For instance, at Green Apple, we want to make sure we know our clients’ sales and operational goals for the next year. With this information, we can ensure their marketing and advertising plans for the next year can help them reach those objectives. When objectives and departments are overly siloed, your marketing strategy won’t be as successful. 

Start with a comprehensive understanding of your current marketing plan. 

The foundation of effective annual marketing planning lies in a thorough assessment of current marketing efforts. This includes identifying successes, challenges, and areas for improvement.

During annual planning with our clients, we ask insightful questions that help us evaluate their marketing efforts from the previous year. This includes identifying everything the client needs to be doing. All of this information is used to help us determine what strategies are working, what can be improved, and what efforts aren’t providing sufficient ROI. 

Use data to inform your strategy.

Developing a data-driven approach to marketing is essential. Data analytics can help you identify the most effective channels and messaging for reaching your target audience. Continuously refining your understanding of that target audience is also essential for deploying effective marketing campaigns. By understanding your target audience’s demographics, preferences, and behaviors, your marketing efforts can be tailored to resonate effectively and achieve your desired outcomes.

7 Questions Every Annual Marketing Plan Should Answer

Once you’ve developed your annual marketing plan, here are seven critical questions you should be able to answer. Recognizing these before you get started can help you as you go: 

  • What is your overall marketing budget for the year? How will you allocate your budget across different marketing channels and tactics?
  • What are your marketing goals, and how will you track and measure your progress toward them on an annual, quarterly, and monthly basis?
  • Is every marketing tactic connected to a goal, and do you clearly understand how each strategy will help you achieve that goal?
  • What specific tactics and content will you create for each marketing area of marketing, including email, paid advertising, social media, and PR?
  • What new marketing initiatives do you plan to launch in the next year? How will you promote and launch each new initiative?
  • Do you understand what’s being implemented monthly and who executes each marketing initiative?
  • How will you adapt your marketing plan based on insights you discover through data or changing market conditions?

By answering these questions, you can develop a comprehensive marketing plan to help you achieve your marketing goals.

Let Green Apple Strategy Help You Develop Your Annual Plan

Need some help getting started on developing your annual marketing plan? 

Our team can help you build an effective strategy to help your business achieve its goals—and actually enjoy the process! Learn more about our approach or connect with our team to start a conversation.

From Reactive to Proactive: Navigating Need-Based Marketing Planning

Wrap it up: the year's top marketing trends we're taking into 2024.

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How to Create an Effective Sales and Marketing Plan

marketing business annual plan

A comprehensive sales and marketing plan sets up organizations for long-term growth and success. In this guide, we’ll dig into the differences between sales and marketing plans, how to create your plan, and templates to get the ball rolling.

What is a Sales and Marketing Plan?

Sales plan vs. marketing plan, marketing plan template: the essential components, sales plan template: the essential components, steps to create a sales and marketing plan.

A well-crafted sales and marketing plan is indispensable for the success and growth of any company, whether it’s a startup, small business, or enterprise. This plan serves as a roadmap, outlining clear objectives, targeted customer segments, and actionable tactics to drive sales and promote brand awareness.

It enables companies to understand their market position, competitive landscape, and customer needs. On top of that, it provides a structured approach to buyer engagement , ensuring consistent and effective communication across various touchpoints.

By defining specific goals and identifying key performance indicators (KPIs), a sales and marketing plan provides a structured framework for marketing and sales to align their go-to-market efforts. And when teams are aligned, companies can generate up to 208% more revenue from their marketing efforts.

While sales and marketing are integral to an overall business plan, they serve distinct purposes and focus on different aspects of the customer journey. Here are the key differences between a sales plan and a marketing plan:

Focus and Objectives

Sales Plan: Primarily focuses on the activities and strategies to drive direct revenue generation. It outlines the specific actions the sales team will take to achieve targets and goals.

Marketing Plan: Concentrates on creating awareness, generating interest, and positioning new products or services in the market. It aims to build and maintain the brand, nurture leads, and create favorable conditions for sales.

Sales Plan: Typically more tactical and operational, it details the sales team’s day-to-day activities. It addresses how sales representatives engage with prospects, close deals, and meet revenue targets.

Marketing Plan: Has a broader scope, encompassing the overall market strategy, brand positioning, promotional activities, and communication efforts. It sets the stage for sales by creating a favorable market environment.

Sales Plan: Often focuses on short-term goals and immediate revenue generation. It may have a more immediate and tactical orientation focusing on quarterly or annual targets.

Marketing Plan: Can have a longer-term perspective, building brand equity and customer relationships over time. It may include short-term and long-term initiatives aligned with the overall business strategy.

Sales Plan: Includes sales tactics, prospecting strategies, target setting, and customer relationship management (CRM) activities.

Marketing Plan: Encompasses market research, target audience identification, advertising, content creation, social media strategy, and overall brand positioning.

Sales Plan: Metrics focus on sales performance , revenue targets, conversion rates, customer acquisition costs, and individual sales representative performance.

Marketing Plan: Metrics include brand awareness, lead generation, website traffic, social media engagement, customer acquisition costs, and marketing ROI.

Collaboration

Sales Plan: Primarily involves collaboration within the sales team, setting individual and team goals, and coordinating efforts to meet targets.

Marketing Plan: Requires collaboration between marketing and other departments to ensure a consistent brand message and a seamless customer experience. This collaboration extends to content creation, advertising, and customer relationship strategies.

Here, you can see that a sales plan is more tactical and concentrates on direct revenue generation. In contrast, the marketing plan is strategic, focusing on creating a favorable market environment and building brand equity.

An effective marketing plan outlines a business’s strategies and tactics to achieve its marketing objectives. Here are the key components that typically go into creating a new marketing plan:

Executive Summary

  • Brief overview of the marketing plan, including goals, strategies, and key components.

Market Analysis

  • Analysis of the target market, including demographics, trends, and opportunities.
  • Competitor analysis, highlighting strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis).

Target Audience and Buyer Personas

  • Detailed profiles of the target customers, specifying their needs, pain points, preferences, and behaviors.
  • Development of buyer personas to guide marketing strategies, messaging, and sales outreach.

Marketing Goals and Objectives

  • Clearly defined SMART goals for the marketing efforts.
  • Specific objectives, such as brand awareness, lead generation, customer acquisition, or market share.

Positioning and Messaging

  • Clear articulation of the brand positioning and competitive advantages.
  • Development of consistent messaging that resonates with the target audience.

Marketing Strategies

  • Overview of the overarching marketing strategies, including product positioning, pricing, distribution, and promotion.
  • Differentiation strategies and competitive positioning.

Marketing Mix (4Ps)

  • Product: Details about the products or services being marketed.
  • Price: Pricing strategy, discounts, and payment terms.
  • Place: Distribution channels and logistics.
  • Promotion: Advertising, public relations, digital marketing, content marketing, and other promotional activities.

Marketing Budget

  • Allocation of budget for each marketing activity and channel.
  • Cost projections and expected return on investment (ROI).

Marketing Calendar

  • Timeline for planned marketing activities, campaigns, and promotions.
  • Seasonal considerations and industry-specific events.

Marketing Channels

  • Identification and description of the marketing channels to be utilized (online and offline).
  • Social media strategy, content marketing plan, email marketing, advertising channels, etc.

Content Strategy

  • Development of a content plan, including types of content (i.e. case studies, one-pagers), frequency, and distribution channels.
  • Content creation and distribution strategy.
  • Regular content audit to see what’s working and what isn’t.

Measurement and Analytics

  • KPIs to benchmark the success of marketing activities.
  • Tools and methods for data collection and analysis.

A sales plan is a strategic document that outlines the tactics and activities a business will undertake to achieve its sales objectives. Here are the key components that typically go into a sales plan:

  • Brief overview of the entire sales plan, summarizing the goals, strategies, and key components.

Sales Objectives

  • Clearly defined and measurable sales goals, such as revenue targets, market share, or customer acquisition metrics.
  • Specific and realistic objectives for the sales team.

Target Market and Customer Segmentation

  • Identification of the target market and specific customer segments.
  • Create ideal customer profiles and characteristics to guide sales efforts.

Product or Service Offering

  • Detailed information about the products or services being sold.
  • Value propositions and key differentiators.

Sales Strategies

  • Overview of the overarching sales strategies , including prospecting, lead generation, and conversion tactics.
  • Strategies for acquiring new customers, upselling, cross-selling, and customer retention.

Sales Team Structure

  • Organization of the sales team, including roles, responsibilities, and reporting structure.

Sales Tactics and Techniques

  • Detailed description of the tactics and techniques the sales team will use to engage with potential customers and increase the bottom line.
  • Sales methodologies employed by the team.

Sales Forecast

  • Prediction of sales performance over a specific period.
  • Revenue projections, taking into account market conditions and other relevant factors.

Sales Territories and Distribution Channels

  • Definition of sales territories and distribution channels.
  • Strategies for reaching and serving customers in different geographic areas.

Sales Metrics and KPIs

  • Identification of key metrics to measure sales performance.
  • KPIs such as conversion rates, average deal size, and customer acquisition costs.

Sales Training and Development

  • Plans for training and developing the sales team.
  • Continuous improvement strategies.

Now that you have templates in place, let’s put them together to create an overall plan and what it could look like.

Look for trends in the data

Before you start digging into the meat of your plan, you need to gather data, drawing from internal company insights and external market trends. Internally, you can look at historical sales data, customer behaviors, and product performance, providing a foundation for understanding the company’s strengths and areas for improvement.

On the other hand, keeping a keen eye on external market trends, consumer preferences, and industry developments allows for a proactive approach to shifts in the market. This data-driven strategy enables businesses to effectively tailor their sales and marketing initiatives , aligning them with evolving customer needs. By combining internal insights with external trends, organizations can craft a dynamic plan that is not only grounded in historical performance but is also adaptable to the changing landscape of the business environment.

Know your customer

One of the most important steps when creating a sales and marketing plan is to know who you’re selling to. You should develop in-depth buyer personas based on demographic, psychographic, and behavioral attributes. By understanding your target audience’s characteristics, preferences, and pain points, you can tailor your sales and marketing strategies to resonate more effectively.

This key step not only enhances the efficiency of marketing campaigns but also streamlines the sales process by aligning efforts with the expectations and behaviors of your customers.

Set achievable goals

Now that you have a clear image of who you’re selling to, where you stand, and where the market is, you and various stakeholders can begin to set realistic goals and targets for your team.

Setting goals is crucial for your success. They allow you to track if you’re making a real impact on your business. They create alignment between teams so they know what they must do to achieve those goals. A recent study by HubSpot found that 25% of companies say their sales and marketing teams are either “misaligned” or “rarely aligned” on goals, leading to confusion and poor performance.

To get your teams on the same page, you should consider setting SMART goals. Here is a great example of how to think about goal setting:

Specific: Make sure your goals are clear. What will be accomplished? What actions will you take? Don’t just say you want to increase revenue — explain how you plan to achieve it. For example, you can say: We will increase revenue by 15% by using a guided selling approach.

Measurable: What metrics will you use to determine if you met your goal? This makes a goal more tangible because it provides a way to measure progress.

Achievable: Consider how to accomplish the goal, if you have the tools and skills needed, and what it would take to attain it. Don’t set objectives that are impossible to reach. The goals are meant to inspire motivation, not discouragement.

Relevant: Goals need to fit your current situation and sales strategy. They should align with the overall business goals and department objectives.

Time-Bound: Realistic timing for when you can achieve your goals is crucial. Provide deadlines and target dates to hold teams accountable.

Determine how you will measure success

Now that you’ve set goals, it’s time to start measuring them.

KPIs are crucial metrics that help measure the effectiveness of sales and marketing efforts. Here’s a list of KPIs for a sales and marketing plan:

Sales KPIs:

  • Revenue: Total income generated from sales.
  • Sales Growth Rate: Percentage increase in sales over a specific period.
  • Conversion Rate: Percentage of leads that convert into customers.
  • Average Deal Size: Average value of a sales transaction.
  • Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): Cost incurred to acquire a new customer.
  • Sales Cycle Length: Average time it takes to close a sale.
  • Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Predicted revenue generated throughout a customer’s lifecycle.
  • Win Rate: Percentage of opportunities that result in a sale.
  • Churn Rate: Percentage of customers lost over a given period.
  • Upsell and Cross-sell Rate: Percentage of existing customers who purchase additional products or services.

Marketing KPIs:

  • Lead Generation: Number of new leads acquired.
  • Website Traffic: Number of visitors to the website.
  • Conversion Rate (Marketing): Percentage of website visitors who take a desired action.
  • Click-Through Rate (CTR): Percentage of people who click on a specific link.
  • Cost per Lead (CPL): Cost associated with acquiring a new lead.
  • Social Media Engagement: Likes, shares, comments, and other interactions on social media.
  • Email Open and Click-through Rates: Percentage of opened emails and clicked links.
  • Content Engagement: Interaction with blog posts, videos, or other content.
  • Brand Awareness: Measured through surveys, social media mentions, or search volume.
  • Return on Investment (ROI): Ratio of the net profit from marketing campaigns to the cost of those campaigns.

Overall Business KPIs:

  • Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): Measurement of customer satisfaction.
  • Net Promoter Score (NPS): Indicator of customer loyalty and likelihood to recommend.
  • Market Share: Company’s portion of the total market.
  • Brand Equity: Perceived value and strength of a brand in the market.
  • Customer Retention Rate: Percentage of customers retained over a period.

Regularly monitoring these metrics provides insights into performance, helping businesses make informed decisions and optimize their sales and marketing strategies.

Define your sales and marketing strategies

How are you going to generate demand for your product or service? At this stage in your plan, you can start to define how you will reach your ideal customers and move them through the buyer’s journey. Integrated marketing campaigns that use various channels, such as social media and paid ads, are a great way to get started. Additionally, you should include lead generation strategies such as content marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and targeted promotions to nurture prospects and guide them through the sales funnel.

It’s important here that you work with your sales enablement team to create relevant content for the sales team .

Formulate a sales team structure and training program

A well-defined sales team structure and comprehensive training program are vital to a successful sales and marketing plan. The structure of the sales team should outline roles, responsibilities, and reporting hierarchies to ensure efficient workflow and clear lines of communication.

Along with getting the structure right, you must ensure that your sales reps have the right training and coaching to improve their skills, ramp up product knowledge, and stay aligned with the right messaging and communication techniques.

Teams should work closely with sales enablement to schedule regular training sessions that not only focus on enhancing existing skills but also address emerging market trends and customer expectations. Continuous improvement is key, and fostering a culture of learning within the sales team contributes to adaptability and responsiveness. This dual emphasis on structure and training ensures the sales team is well-organized and equipped to navigate challenges.

Download resource: What Good Onboarding, Training, and Coaching Look Like

Create a sales forecasting model

Creating a sound forecasting model provides a structured framework for predicting future sales performance. This model involves analysis of historical sales data, market trends, and external factors that might impact sales.

The sales forecasting model should incorporate variables such as product demand, pricing strategies, and market conditions to provide a comprehensive and accurate estimation.

A well-crafted model not only aids in resource allocation, inventory management, and budgeting but also serves as a proactive tool for anticipating challenges and capitalizing on emerging opportunities, contributing to the overall success of the sales and marketing plan.

Continuously Optimize

Recognizing that markets, consumer behaviors, and competitive landscapes evolve, an effective plan should be agile and responsive. This involves regularly reviewing KPIs, analyzing data, and soliciting feedback to identify areas for improvement.

Whether refining marketing strategies, adjusting sales tactics, or fine-tuning messaging, the goal is to stay attuned to shifts in customer preferences and market trends. By fostering a culture of continuous optimization, businesses can adapt swiftly, capitalize on emerging opportunities, and mitigate potential challenges.

Execute Your Sales and Marketing Plan with Highspot’s Sales Enablement Platform

Aligning your sales and marketing plans is no easy task. Highspot’s sales enablement platform aligns marketing initiatives with sales goals to maximize collaboration. By tracking key metrics across the buyer’s journey, you’ll know how to drive measurable revenue growth that improves lead acquisition and retention. Book a demo today !

The Highspot Team works to create and promote the Highspot sales enablement platform, which gives businesses a powerful sales advantage to engage in more relevant buyer conversations and achieve their revenue goals. Through AI-powered search, analytics, in-context training, guided selling, and 50+ integrations, the Highspot platform delivers enterprise-ready sales enablement in a modern design that sales reps and marketers love.

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Create an Annual Marketing Plan in Minutes

Create an Annual Marketing Plan in Minutes

“Banners have 99 problems and a click ain’t one.” So said Scott Sorokin, Chief Strategy Officer at Razorfish, in June 2017—and boy have things evolved even more since then. For better or worse, banner ads are well on their way to extinction, and marketing in general is so much more complicated (and far more nuanced, and increasingly more specialized) than it's ever been before. But, fear not —we're here to help you get a game plan together that will not only organize your thoughts on strategy and deliverables, but impress your entire team with its professional appearance.

Note: This is the 3rd installment in "The Five Essentials: How to Start a New Business” series, dedicated to small, medium and startup businesses. In this series, we cover how to create a Business Plan and Company Overview , as well as the best Tech Tools to grow your business fast and Sales Proposal templates you can customize. Here, you'll learn how to draft an Annual Marketing Plan.

One way to begin drafting a marketing plan is by using a customizable marketing plan template . You can just drag-and-drop your content into pre-designed slides based on professional recommendations and sources. The sample Annual Marketing Plan presentation suggests high-level topics to cover, outlines specific scopes of work, and visualizes marketing concepts to better communicate with and motivate your team. We dig into what you should include on each page of an Annual Marketing Plan presentation below.

Marketing plans need big goals

Highlighting a single, high-impact goal at the start of your marketing plan demonstrates you have a handle on what drives the business. For everything that follows you should be able to trace a line back to this goal. For now, show the clarity of your vision by keeping the slide simple. Sure, there's much to discuss here. But that doesn't mean you need to plaster it all on the slide.

Pick a target that really means something to sales, but that you can affect in the near term. Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs) is a good choice. Sales knows exactly what those are and that 1 in 5 (or whatever the math is) convert to won deals. Your organization may call these Sales Accepted Leads (SALs), or Stage 1 Opportunities. The point is, consider focusing your marketing efforts goal on the first moment where Sales looks at a lead and says, "yes, that's a good one".

marketing business annual plan

How will you get there?

Chances are you're a ways away from hitting your Big Goal. So, you gotta show the incremental climb for how you'll get there. Show historicals so folks can see your current growth trajectory and highlight when you'll reach your big goal. Of course there's a spreadsheet that cascades these numbers down to specific campaigns. But this is not the moment for those details. The simple message is the growth curve is reasonable.

marketing business annual plan

Always be prioritizing

Don't fall victim to "check-list" marketing. That is, don't feel compelled to create a giant list of all the marketing activities you can possibly execute. Hold on to the focus you established with your Big Goal and Growth Plan. Pick the 3 most important aspects of your marketing plan that will drive 80% of your results. Position these as your big levers. You will not be derailed from making them a success.

marketing business annual plan

A nod to the other stuff

Just because you're hyper-focused on 3 priorities doesn't mean that's all you do. There's low-hanging fruit to be had with a number of secondary marketing activities. You'll grab the goods and move on, but you won't get bogged down in these activities. This is a powerful slide because it serves as a shield for you to say "no" later on when people start asking for more press releases and product sheets. And believe me, they will.

marketing business annual plan

Target personas

Selecting your target personas bridges the strategic and tactical marketing gap. It implies you've already done your segmentation and now you're ready to discuss the exact humans you'll be targeting for each segment. You don't need the details on each, simply point out who you'll be targeting and why at a high level. Some will be the actual buyers, some will be just influencers, etc. Make sure you make that point to avoid confusing sales folks.

marketing business annual plan

Marketing funnels make everybody's day

Who doesn't love the marketing funnel? We've seen some crazy ones in our time, and have found the simpler ones are the better ones. As mentioned before, all Sales really cares about are SQLs and Won deals. But you still will want to share your thinking on how leads will progress through your funnel. It's often best to present this as a cohort, that is, a visualization of leads who registered in a given and how many converted to MQLs, SQLs, etc. It may take a week or two for all your MQLs to to convert over (or not) to SQLs so there is always a time lag in there.

marketing business annual plan

Nothing so sweet as a SWOT

A SWOT analysis is an effective way to encapsulate a whole lot of thinking in a single slide. You may have other detailed versions of the SWOT analysis, but this one should only hit the highlights. And while the slide may be simple, the work needed to distill down your tribal knowledge is going to take some doing. Plan your time accordingly.

marketing business annual plan

And there you have it—a complete, comprehensive marketing plan that will guide you and your team for the next year. Of course, there may be some adjustments, but remember that the "big goal" you outlined at the very beginning of your presentation is the thing to commit to and remain dedicated to achieving for the next 12 months. Now it's time to customize your own marketing plan !

Diana Christine Bitting

Diana Christine Bitting

Diana Christine Bitting is a content director, tech journalist and marketing strategist at Beautiful.ai.

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What Is a Marketing Plan? And How to Create One

Learn what a marketing plan is, how they help businesses, and the steps for building yours.

[Featured image] A woman in a blue shirt shows a marketing plan on a whiteboard to a group.

What is a marketing plan?

A marketing plan is a document that a business uses to execute a marketing strategy. It is tactical in nature, 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 analyzing campaign  results.  

What is the purpose of a marketing plan?

In general, a marketing plan serves several purposes: 

Streamline and organize 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 of time, such as every quarter, six months, or year

Marketing plan vs. marketing strategy vs. business plan

In researching what a marketing plan is, 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, but there are some important differences to know as you build these roadmaps, as we’ve laid out in the chart below. 

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 ones that follow. Once you complete all of the sections, review your entire plan for areas that need refining. 

1. Executive summary

Here, you will write a short summary, usually no longer than a few paragraphs, to introduce the sections that follow. 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 last, after you’ve written and refined the marketing plan as a whole. 

2. Marketing campaign goals 

Borrowing 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 percent 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 percent to 5 percent.”

3. Key performance indicators (KPIs)

KPIs are the specific metrics you’ll monitor to measure the success of your marketing efforts. It’s important to determine KPIs so that you can continually optimize your tactics, reduce inefficiencies, and steer your marketing campaign toward success.  

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 crystalize target market insights into detailed buyer personas. You can think of a buyer persona as a fictional character that you create based on your existing customers and extensive market research. 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 making a purchase.

5. Competitor analysis 

Refer again to your marketing strategy and business plan to extract key information about how competing brands are reaching 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 are leveraging 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 right in their inboxes. 

6. Action plan 

Your campaign’s action plan should include the specific 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 analyzing results 

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

Be sure to set up analytic tools for each of your marketing channels, including your social media accounts, email system, website and landing pages, and event registration pages. 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 be able to 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 practice the latest strategies. Learn which web analytics tools are right for you, how to use them to analyze data, and more in the Digital Marketing Specialization or with Meta Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate .

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Sample Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan

Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan

Writing a business plan is a crucial step in starting a digital marketing agency. Not only does it provide structure and guidance for the future, but it also helps to create funding opportunities and attract potential investors. For aspiring digital marketing agency owners, having access to a sample digital marketing agency business plan can be especially helpful in providing direction and gaining insight into how to draft their own digital marketing agency business plan.

Download our Ultimate Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan Template

Having a thorough business plan in place is critical for any successful digital marketing agency venture. It will serve as the foundation for your operations, setting out the goals and objectives that will help guide your decisions and actions. A well-written business plan can give you clarity on realistic financial projections and help you secure financing from lenders or investors. A digital marketing agency business plan example can be a great resource to draw upon when creating your own plan, making sure that all the key components are included in your document.

The digital marketing agency business plan sample below will give you an idea of what one should look like. It is not as comprehensive and successful in raising capital for your digital marketing agency as Growthink’s Ultimate Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan Template , but it can help you write a digital marketing agency business plan of your own.

Example – ClickPulse Strategies

Table of contents, executive summary, company overview, industry analysis, customer analysis, competitive analysis, marketing plan, operations plan, management team, financial plan.

Welcome to ClickPulse Strategies, our innovative digital marketing agency based in the heart of Washington, DC. We identified a niche in the local market for premium digital marketing services and have positioned ourselves to meet this demand. Our mission is to amplify our clients’ online presence through a comprehensive suite of services including Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Marketing (SMM), and Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC). We are dedicated to providing tailored strategies and personalized attention to our clients, ensuring they achieve their digital marketing goals. With our strategic location in Washington, DC, we have a unique insight into the local market dynamics, which enables us to serve our clients with the understanding and efficiency they deserve.

Our foundation is solidly built on the rich experience of our founder, who previously led a successful digital marketing agency. This experience is crucial to our confidence in steering our clients towards success. Since our inception on January 5, 2024, we have achieved significant milestones including the development of our unique company logo, securing a prime office location, and crafting a distinct company name. These accomplishments, though early in our journey, have laid a strong foundation for our future growth. Our comprehensive range of services, coupled with our commitment to excellence, sets us apart from competitors, making us the preferred choice for businesses seeking to enhance their digital presence.

The Digital Marketing Agency industry in the United States is valued at over $50 billion, reflecting the critical role of digital marketing in today’s business landscape. With a projected compound annual growth rate of 10% over the next five years, the industry is on a steady trajectory of growth, driven by the widespread adoption of digital technologies, the rise of social media, and the emphasis on data-driven marketing strategies. Trends such as personalized marketing campaigns, artificial intelligence, and mobile marketing align well with our services at ClickPulse Strategies. Located in Washington, DC, we are perfectly positioned to leverage these industry trends to offer innovative solutions to businesses aiming to enhance their online visibility and engagement.

At ClickPulse Strategies, we target a diverse clientele including local residents of Washington, DC, small to mid-sized businesses, non-profit organizations, and educational institutions. Our tailored services are designed to meet the unique digital marketing needs of each group, ensuring high engagement and satisfaction. By focusing on the specific goals and audiences of our clients, we provide customized digital marketing solutions that significantly improve their online presence and customer engagement, making digital marketing accessible and effective for everyone.

Our main competitors in the Washington, DC area include Alliance Interactive, Elevation, and Capital Practice Consulting, each offering specialized digital marketing services. Despite their strengths, ClickPulse Strategies differentiates itself through a comprehensive suite of services, expertise in the latest digital trends, and a commitment to delivering measurable results. Our wide array of services, from SEO to PPC and content marketing, enables us to serve a broad range of clients, ensuring their digital marketing needs are met efficiently and effectively. Our approach is holistic and integrated, setting us apart as a leader in the digital marketing domain.

ClickPulse Strategies offers a range of digital marketing services including SEO, SMM, and PPC, tailored to enhance our clients’ online presence. Our pricing is transparent, with services such as SEO ranging from $1,000 to $2,500 per month, SMM from $500 to $1,500 per month, and PPC from $1,000 to $2,000 per month, excluding ad spend. We are committed to delivering measurable results and helping our clients succeed in the competitive digital landscape. To attract customers, we will leverage online marketing strategies including SEO, PPC, social media, content marketing, and email marketing. We will also engage in networking events and workshops in Washington, DC, to showcase our expertise and build personal relationships with potential clients. Our promotional efforts are designed to build a community around our brand, establish ClickPulse Strategies as a thought leader, and drive profitable customer action.

Our operational processes are designed to ensure the smooth running of ClickPulse Strategies and include maintaining constant communication with clients, conducting market research, developing and executing campaigns, analyzing data, and managing finances. We will focus on building a talented team, developing strategic partnerships, and implementing scalable processes. Our milestones for the coming months include launching our business, securing initial client contracts, developing a skilled team, forming partnerships, and achieving operational profitability. These steps will help us build a strong foundation, mitigate startup risks, and position ourselves for sustainable growth and success.

Under the leadership of Harper Lewis, our President, ClickPulse Strategies boasts a management team with a wealth of experience and a proven track record in digital marketing. Lewis’s extensive background in leading a successful digital marketing agency equips him with the expertise necessary to navigate the complexities of the industry. His leadership ensures that we are well-positioned to achieve our long-term business objectives and sustain success in the competitive digital marketing landscape.

Welcome to ClickPulse Strategies, a fresh face in the digital marketing landscape stationed right here in Washington, DC. As a local digital marketing agency, we’ve observed a gap in the market for high-quality services within our area, and we’re here to fill that void. Our mission is to elevate our clients’ online presence, ensuring they stand out in today’s competitive digital world.

At ClickPulse Strategies, our offerings are designed to cover all the bases of digital marketing. Our services include Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to ensure your website ranks high in search results, Social Media Marketing (SMM) to engage and grow your audience on platforms where they spend their time, and Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC) to give you an immediate boost in visibility. We understand that each client has unique needs, and we’re prepared to cater to those with our comprehensive range of services.

Our home and heart lie in Washington, DC. This strategic location allows us to serve customers right here in the nation’s capital, providing us with a unique understanding of the local market dynamics. Our proximity to our clients ensures we can offer them the personalized attention and tailored strategies they deserve.

Why are we uniquely qualified to steer your digital marketing efforts towards success? Firstly, our founder brings invaluable experience from previously running a successful digital marketing agency. This experience is the cornerstone upon which ClickPulse Strategies is built. Furthermore, we pride ourselves on offering superior marketing services compared to our competitors. Our wide array of services ensures we can meet the diverse needs of our clients, setting us apart as a versatile and competent agency.

ClickPulse Strategies officially came into existence on January 5, 2024, adopting the legal structure of an S Corporation. Since our inception, we’ve hit several key milestones, including the development of our distinct company logo, the creation of our unique company name, and securing a prime location for our operations. These accomplishments, though early in our journey, lay a solid foundation for our future endeavors.

The Digital Marketing Agency industry in the United States is currently estimated to be worth over $50 billion. This figure reflects the growing importance of digital marketing in reaching and engaging with consumers in today’s digital age. With businesses increasingly shifting their advertising budgets towards online platforms, the demand for digital marketing services continues to rise.

Market research projects that the Digital Marketing Agency industry in the United States is expected to experience steady growth in the coming years. Forecasts suggest that the industry will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 10% over the next five years, reaching a value of over $80 billion by 2025. This growth is driven by factors such as the increasing adoption of digital technologies by businesses, the rise of social media platforms, and the growing importance of data-driven marketing strategies.

Recent trends in the Digital Marketing Agency industry, such as the focus on personalized marketing campaigns, the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, and the emphasis on mobile marketing, all bode well for ClickPulse Strategies. As a new Digital Marketing Agency serving customers in Washington, DC, ClickPulse Strategies is well-positioned to capitalize on these trends and offer innovative digital marketing solutions to businesses looking to enhance their online presence and reach their target audience effectively.

Below is a description of our target customers and their core needs.

Target Customers

ClickPulse Strategies will target a diverse range of customers, with local residents of Washington, DC being a primary focus. These residents are often looking for reliable and easily accessible digital marketing solutions to promote personal projects, small businesses, or events. ClickPulse Strategies will tailor its services to meet the unique needs of this demographic, ensuring high engagement and satisfaction.

In addition to local residents, ClickPulse Strategies will also serve small to mid-sized businesses operating within the Washington, DC area. These businesses, ranging from startups to more established companies, require sophisticated digital marketing strategies to compete effectively in their respective markets. The agency will offer customized digital marketing solutions that align with their specific business goals and target audience, ensuring a significant improvement in their online presence and customer engagement.

Furthermore, ClickPulse Strategies will target non-profit organizations and educational institutions in Washington, DC. These entities are in constant need of digital marketing services to boost their fundraising campaigns, promote events, and increase overall awareness. The agency will provide specialized services that not only cater to their unique needs but also fit their often limited budgets, making digital marketing accessible and effective for them.

Customer Needs

ClickPulse Strategies recognizes the increasing demand for high-quality digital marketing services among businesses looking to stand out in the competitive Washington, DC market. Clients can expect a comprehensive suite of services tailored to elevate their online presence, from cutting-edge SEO strategies to impactful social media campaigns. This approach ensures that businesses not only reach but engage their target audience effectively, driving growth and increasing visibility.

In addition to providing top-tier digital marketing solutions, ClickPulse Strategies understands the importance of data-driven decision-making. Clients have access to detailed analytics and reporting tools, enabling them to make informed choices about their marketing strategies. This level of insight helps businesses optimize their campaigns for better performance, ensuring a higher return on investment and a deeper understanding of their customer base.

Moreover, ClickPulse Strategies places a significant emphasis on customer service and collaboration. Clients can expect personalized support tailored to their specific needs and goals, ensuring a partnership that feels both empowering and productive. This focus on building strong, communicative relationships helps ensure that each marketing initiative is aligned with the client’s vision, fostering innovation and creativity in every campaign.

ClickPulse Strategies’s competitors include the following companies.

Alliance Interactive offers a comprehensive range of digital marketing services, including website design and development, SEO, content marketing, and brand strategy. Their price points vary depending on the complexity and scope of the project, with custom solutions tailored to meet the needs of each client. They generate revenue by offering these bespoke services, focusing on delivering high-quality, results-driven solutions. Alliance Interactive is headquartered in Washington, DC, and serves clients globally, with a strong presence in the North American market. Their customer segments include small to medium-sized businesses, non-profits, and large enterprises across various industries. A key strength of Alliance Interactive is their emphasis on creating engaging digital experiences that drive user engagement and conversion. However, their bespoke approach might be perceived as a weakness by clients looking for more standardized, cost-effective solutions.

Elevation specializes in web design, digital marketing, and branding services for non-profits and social enterprises. They offer a sliding scale pricing model to accommodate the budget constraints of their target clients, making their services accessible to organizations of different sizes. Elevation’s revenue comes from a mix of project-based work and ongoing support services. Located in Washington, DC, Elevation has carved out a niche for itself by serving non-profits and social enterprises both locally and across the United States. Their key strength lies in their deep understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities within the non-profit sector. However, their niche focus might limit their appeal to a broader range of potential clients outside the non-profit and social enterprise sectors.

Capital Practice Consulting focuses on digital marketing solutions for healthcare providers and medical practices. Their services include SEO, social media marketing, website design, and online reputation management. Pricing is project-based, with options for ongoing management services, allowing for flexibility based on the specific needs of healthcare professionals. They generate revenue through a combination of upfront project fees and recurring management fees. The company operates primarily in the Washington, DC area but serves clients across the United States. Their customer segments include individual healthcare practitioners, small to medium-sized medical practices, and healthcare organizations. Capital Practice Consulting’s strength lies in their specialized knowledge of the healthcare industry, which enables them to provide tailored marketing solutions that adhere to industry regulations. A potential weakness is their industry-specific focus, which might not appeal to clients outside the healthcare sector looking for more generalized digital marketing services.

Competitive Advantages

At ClickPulse Strategies, we pride ourselves on delivering unparalleled marketing services that distinctly set us apart from our competitors. Our proficiency stems from a deep understanding of the dynamic digital landscape and an unwavering commitment to staying ahead of industry trends. This expertise allows us to craft innovative, results-driven strategies tailored to each client’s unique needs. We believe that our ability to generate measurable outcomes, from increased brand visibility to substantial growth in customer engagement and conversion rates, stands as a testament to the superiority of our services. Our team’s dedication to excellence ensures that we not only meet but exceed client expectations, establishing us as a leader in the digital marketing domain.

Moreover, our comprehensive suite of services encompasses everything from search engine optimization and social media marketing to email marketing and content creation. This versatility enables us to serve a diverse range of clients, from startups seeking to establish their online presence to established brands aiming to enhance their digital footprint. Our approach is holistic; we consider every facet of digital marketing to ensure a cohesive and integrated strategy that amplifies our clients’ online influence. By offering such a wide array of services, we eliminate the need for businesses to juggle multiple agencies, providing a streamlined, efficient, and more effective marketing solution. Our commitment to innovation, coupled with our broad service offering, positions ClickPulse Strategies as a premier choice for businesses aiming to achieve unparalleled digital success.

Our marketing plan, included below, details our products/services, pricing and promotions plan.

Products and Services

At ClickPulse Strategies, we specialize in providing comprehensive digital marketing services designed to enhance our clients’ online presence and drive their business growth. Our core offerings encompass Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Marketing (SMM), and Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC), each tailored to meet the unique needs and objectives of our customers.

Our Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services are essential for businesses aiming to increase their visibility in search engine results, attract more website traffic, and improve their online authority. We employ the latest SEO strategies and practices to ensure that our clients’ websites rank highly for relevant keywords and phrases. Clients can expect to invest an average of $1,000 to $2,500 per month for our SEO services, depending on the scope and complexity of their project.

Social Media Marketing (SMM) is another key service we offer, designed to help businesses expand their reach, engage with their audience, and build their brand across various social media platforms. Our team crafts customized social media strategies that align with our clients’ brand values and business goals, ensuring a cohesive and effective online presence. For our SMM services, clients can anticipate an average cost of $500 to $1,500 per month, based on the extent of the campaign and the number of platforms managed.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC) is a powerful tool for driving targeted traffic to our clients’ websites and generating leads or sales in a cost-effective manner. We manage every aspect of our clients’ PPC campaigns, from keyword research and ad creation to optimization and analytics. Our expertise in PPC ensures that our clients achieve a high return on investment. The average price for our PPC services ranges from $1,000 to $2,000 per month, excluding ad spend, which varies based on the campaign’s scale and objectives.

At ClickPulse Strategies, we pride ourselves on offering transparent pricing and customized digital marketing solutions that cater to the specific needs of our clients. We are dedicated to delivering measurable results and helping our clients succeed in the competitive digital landscape.

Promotions Plan

ClickPulse Strategies embarks on a dynamic journey to attract customers through a comprehensive suite of promotional methods tailored to highlight its expertise in the digital realm. Central to its strategy, online marketing emerges as a pivotal tool, leveraging the vast potential of the internet to reach a broad audience with precision and efficiency. This agency understands the power of digital visibility and will employ a multi-faceted online marketing approach to ensure its message resonates with its target market.

At the heart of its online marketing endeavors, ClickPulse Strategies will harness the capabilities of search engine optimization (SEO) to improve its website’s ranking on search engines like Google. This ensures that when potential clients search for digital marketing services in Washington, DC, ClickPulse Strategies appears prominently in their search results. Additionally, the agency will utilize pay-per-click (PPC) advertising to instantly increase its visibility online. By carefully selecting relevant keywords, ClickPulse Strategies aims to appear at the top of search results, driving targeted traffic to its website efficiently.

Social media marketing will play a crucial role in ClickPulse Strategies’ promotional efforts. By actively engaging with its audience on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter, the agency will build a community around its brand. This not only enhances brand awareness but also fosters trust and loyalty among potential clients. Content marketing, through the creation and distribution of valuable, relevant, and consistent content, will further establish ClickPulse Strategies as a thought leader in the digital marketing space. This approach will attract and retain a clearly defined audience, ultimately driving profitable customer action.

Email marketing will serve as another vital component of ClickPulse Strategies’ promotional toolkit. By developing personalized email campaigns, the agency will maintain regular contact with its prospects and clients, keeping them informed about the latest digital marketing trends, services, and special offers. This direct line of communication will nurture leads and encourage repeat business, contributing to the agency’s growth.

In addition to these online marketing strategies, ClickPulse Strategies will also explore opportunities in networking events and local workshops. Participating in industry conferences and seminars in Washington, DC, allows the agency to connect with potential clients face-to-face, showcasing its expertise and building personal relationships. Hosting workshops on digital marketing topics will position ClickPulse Strategies as an authority in the field, attracting businesses looking for guidance in navigating the digital landscape.

By integrating these promotional methods into a cohesive strategy, ClickPulse Strategies expects to attract a diverse clientele, ranging from startups to established businesses seeking to enhance their digital presence. With a focus on delivering measurable results and fostering long-term partnerships, ClickPulse Strategies is poised to make a significant impact in the digital marketing arena.

Our Operations Plan details:

  • The key day-to-day processes that our business performs to serve our customers
  • The key business milestones that our company expects to accomplish as we grow

Key Operational Processes

To ensure the success of ClickPulse Strategies, there are several key day-to-day operational processes that we will perform.

  • Client Communication: Maintain constant communication with clients to understand their needs, expectations, and to keep them updated on campaign progress. This includes scheduling regular meetings, sending updates, and being available for queries.
  • Market Research: Conduct ongoing market research to stay ahead of digital marketing trends, understand the competitive landscape in Washington, DC, and identify new opportunities for client campaigns.
  • Campaign Development and Execution: Design and implement digital marketing campaigns tailored to the specific needs of each client. This involves brainstorming creative ideas, selecting appropriate digital platforms, and utilizing SEO, content marketing, social media, and paid advertising strategies.
  • Data Analysis and Reporting: Collect and analyze data from ongoing campaigns to measure their effectiveness. Use analytics tools to track performance indicators such as website traffic, conversion rates, and engagement levels. Prepare comprehensive reports to share with clients.
  • Financial Management: Manage the agency’s finances, including budgeting for campaigns, invoicing clients, and ensuring that expenses stay within budget. Monitor cash flow and make adjustments as necessary to maintain financial health.
  • Team Collaboration: Facilitate collaboration among team members to ensure that all projects are progressing smoothly. Hold regular team meetings to discuss campaign strategies, delegate tasks, and address any challenges.
  • Professional Development: Encourage continuous learning and professional growth within the team. Stay updated with the latest digital marketing tools and techniques, and invest in training and development opportunities for staff.
  • Quality Control: Implement quality control measures to ensure that all work produced meets the high standards expected by clients. This includes reviewing campaign materials, monitoring ongoing campaigns for issues, and making necessary adjustments to strategies.
  • Client Acquisition and Retention: Work on expanding the client base through networking, marketing efforts, and referrals. Also, focus on retaining existing clients by delivering exceptional service and demonstrating the value of ongoing investment in digital marketing.
  • Compliance and Legal Considerations: Ensure that all marketing campaigns comply with legal requirements and industry standards, including data protection laws and advertising regulations. Stay informed about changes in legislation that could affect digital marketing strategies.

ClickPulse Strategies expects to complete the following milestones in the coming months in order to ensure its success:

  • Launch our Digital Marketing Agency: Officially opening our doors for business is the first critical milestone. This involves setting up the legal structure of the business, creating a brand identity, developing a company website, and establishing our presence on social media platforms.
  • Secure Initial Client Contracts: Signing on a certain number of clients, for instance, 5 to 10, depending on the project size, within the first three months. This validates our business model and provides initial revenue and case studies for future marketing efforts.
  • Build a Talented Team: Recruiting and hiring a skilled team with expertise in various digital marketing disciplines (e.g., SEO, PPC, content marketing, social media) within the first six months. This includes both full-time employees and freelancers or contractors as needed.
  • Develop Strategic Partnerships: Forming partnerships with non-competing businesses in the digital and broader marketing ecosystem within the first nine months. These partnerships can provide referral business and enhance service offerings.
  • Implement Scalable Processes and Tools: Establishing efficient, scalable processes and implementing necessary digital tools for project management, client reporting, and other operations within the first year. This foundation is critical for handling growth without sacrificing service quality.
  • Achieve $15,000/month in Revenue: Reaching this revenue milestone within the first 12 to 18 months. This involves not only acquiring new clients but also retaining existing clients and possibly increasing the services provided to them.
  • Expand Service Offerings: Based on market demand and the team’s expertise, gradually introducing additional services or specialized offerings within the first 18 months. This could include branching out into emerging digital marketing channels or technologies.
  • Establish a Strong Brand Reputation: Earning positive client testimonials, case studies, and industry recognition within the first 24 months. This could involve winning awards, securing speaking engagements for team members at industry events, or earning certifications that demonstrate expertise.
  • Reach Operational Profitability: Ensuring that monthly revenue exceeds operational costs by the end of the second year. This includes costs such as salaries, marketing, tools, and office space if applicable.
  • Develop a Client Retention Strategy: Implementing a client retention program by the end of the second year to maintain a steady revenue stream. This could include loyalty discounts, referral programs, or regular strategy review meetings to ensure client satisfaction and identify upselling opportunities. These milestones are designed to build a solid foundation for ClickPulse Strategies, mitigate risks associated with starting a new business, and position the company for sustainable growth and success.

ClickPulse Strategies management team, which includes the following members, has the experience and expertise to successfully execute on our business plan:

Harper Lewis, President

With a proven track record of achievement, Harper Lewis brings a wealth of experience to ClickPulse Strategies. Having previously helmed a Digital Marketing Agency, Lewis’s leadership skills are well-tested and proven in the realm of digital marketing. This background has endowed him with a deep understanding of the digital landscape, including the nuances of SEO, content marketing, and social media strategies. His expertise not only lies in crafting compelling digital marketing strategies but also in his ability to steer a team towards achieving long-term business objectives. Lewis’s experience is a cornerstone for ClickPulse Strategies, ensuring the company is well-positioned to navigate the complexities of the digital marketing industry and achieve sustained success.

To achieve our growth goals, ClickPulse Strategies requires $234,000 in funding. This investment will cover capital investments such as location buildout, furniture, and equipment, along with non-capital investments including working capital, initial rent, staff salaries, marketing, supplies, and insurance. This funding is crucial for establishing our operations, building our team, and launching our marketing efforts, setting the stage for our success in the digital marketing industry.

Financial Statements

Balance sheet.

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Income Statement

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Cash Flow Statement

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Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan Example PDF

Download our Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan PDF here. This is a free digital marketing agency business plan example to help you get started on your own digital marketing agency plan.  

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  • 6 steps for operations leaders to build ...

6 steps for operations leaders to build a better annual plan

Julia Martins contributor headshot

An effective annual plan is critical to keep your teams, departments, and company together, working toward the same goals. 

As an operations leader, you oversee how your organization runs its business. By reviewing how your company performed in the past year, you and your operations teams can identify which strategies worked—and which fell short—to build an effective annual plan designed to maximize the impact of every department.

Here’s what you need to know about building a successful annual plan.

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Annual plans drive clarity and accountability 

With an annual plan, departments can start the year off with a strong understanding of the overall vision and how their work contributes to larger business goals. Without an overarching plan, it can be difficult to understand how a specific project or initiative moves the business forward. 

Clear goals establish benchmarks for project progress

Your annual plan shouldn’t be a set-it-and-forget-it goal. Rather, periodically check project progress against your annual plan so you can see how your operations teams are doing. Doing this throughout the year will not only give you a sense of how your teams are tracking towards their overall goals—it can also help you understand if they’re ahead or behind schedule, and adjust accordingly. 

If you notice that a specific initiative is not on track to meet the strategic goals outlined in your company’s annual plan, you can use this data to pivot and double down on—or divest from—specific initiatives. 

Establish concrete goals for a specific time period

The more specific your goal, the more concrete your action plan. Providing detailed and specific goals gives your employees a clear understanding of what work to prioritize and what deliverables they’re responsible for. 

Make sure your goals are measurable, as well. Clear KPIs and OKRs demonstrate how tangible work connects back to larger business goals. 

6 steps for annual business planning

The annual planning process often takes place near the end of the calendar year or at the end of your company’s fiscal year. As you get closer to annual planning time, consider these six steps of the annual planning process. 

1. Reflect on previous strategies—and develop new ones

Before your business can start planning for next year, ask yourself, your stakeholders, and your operations teams: How did we perform against the strategies laid out in last year’s annual plan?

No matter the answer, use these recent data points to steer your decision-making when building your next annual plan. That could mean doubling down on big programs or initiatives born in the last year—or going a different direction entirely. 

A well-built annual plan factors in reflection on what did and didn’t work—and improves off of it.

2. Transform your business’s greatest needs into goals

After reflecting on last year’s performance, hone in on the most significant growth and improvement opportunities. Use this for guidance as you construct company- and department-wide goals.

It helps to have a consistent framework for goals across the business, to accelerate the goal-setting process and ensure greater understanding of goals within all corners of the organization.

The exact goal framework you use will depend on your company, but a few good ones to consider are: 

The Objectives and Key Results (OKR) method , which helps your business set goals using the framework “I will [objective] as measured by [key result].”

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) , which use leading and lagging indicators to track how you’re performing towards your goals. 

The SMART goals framework , which helps ensure the goals your organization sets are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound.

3. Create an action plan to maximize impact

The next step is to create an action plan for your business to achieve the goals outlined in step three. Your action plan should outline the list of steps your teams need to take to accomplish their goals. Think of an action plan like the map you’ll use to arrive at your final destination. 

From there, delegate the work laid out in the action plan to specific teams and departments. Connecting the work that your operations teams complete to larger company goals makes it easier for each team to understand the impact their work has on the business.

4. Ensure the annual plan is everyone’s plan

Not everyone can be involved in building the annual plan for your company—but every team member should feel like their work is seen and accounted for in the plan. 

As the annual plan comes together, meet with leaders and employees across the business to ensure varying perspectives and priorities are factored into the final product. This step is critical for getting buy-in and generating excitement across the business. 

You don’t want to be in a position where you’re just telling everyone what the annual plan is—you want to bring every department along for the journey and get them excited about what they’re working toward in the coming year. Consider conducting a presentation to not only share the company plan and why this plan matters, but also to outline timelines and how departments will use it to achieve the company’s goals. 

5. Execute your strategy, monitor metrics, and adjust as needed

At this point, your organization’s annual plan is completed, but nothing is ever fully set in stone. As the year progresses, make sure you’re continually monitoring success metrics and KPIs. If the results of your strategies are not behaving as you expected them to, it’s important to adjust so your business will still hit the goals outlined in your annual plan. 

6. Repeat again for next year 

At the end of the year, it’s time to start the process over again. Align with your strategic plan, look back at the past year’s results, and create another plan to achieve those business goals. 

What does a good annual plan include?

Effective annual plans should contain components that are essential for completing the work outlined in the plan itself, and context for why this plan will be effective. Here are a few examples of components you would find in an annual plan:

Reports of the previous year’s performance: Your company’s annual plan for the upcoming year should be based on the data from the previous year’s performance. This provides context for your teams as to what they’re capable of doing within one calendar year.

Budget estimates: A common KPI investors track is return on investment (ROI). Knowing how much money different teams are spending makes it easier for your organization to calculate ROI and adjust strategies. Providing budget estimations also gives departments the context they need for the amount of resources they have at their disposal for the year.

Clear and specific goals: Annual plans should use the SMART goal framework so that your company can easily measure progress and report back on it later. 

Important milestones: Your business can accomplish a lot of work within one year—but to do that, each department needs to know how they're doing. Milestones operate like checkpoints, giving teams and departments a sense of direction and an idea of how they're pacing against annual goals.

Project buffers and contingency plans: Unexpected things happen all the time, and it’s better to be prepared than caught off guard. Develop a contingency plan for how your organization will get back on track in the event of an unexpected roadblock. Also set aside some resource buffers, such as a small portion of your company’s budget, to accommodate for unexpected expenses.

Gear up for next year

After a year of hard work, it’s time to reflect back and plan for more great things in the future. While annual planning takes time, collaboration, and thoughtful strategy, the efforts show in the form of your business success. 

Still have questions? We have answers. 

What is annual planning.

Annual planning is the act of developing a strategy for the upcoming year based on the learnings from the current year’s performance. This provides an opportunity for your operations teams to iterate on strategy from the past year and incorporate those learnings into your upcoming plans. 

In essence, your annual plan should contain: 

The goals your business needs to achieve

A strategy for how your organization will hit those goals

Clear tactics for what each department will work on

Any important milestones that benchmark progress

What’s the difference between annual planning and strategic planning? 

Strategic planning and annual planning are both important business planning methods that help set your team's strategy for the future. However, the scale of these planning strategies are different.

Strategic planning is the long-term strategy for your business. This encompasses a basic roadmap of how business should develop within three to five years. You will use your strategic planning process to inform your annual plan. 

Annual planning represents all of the goals and strategies that you want your business to achieve, similar to a strategic goal. The main difference here is that an annual plan only encompasses one calendar year, instead of a few years. If you think of it like a pie, annual planning is just one slice of the larger strategic plan pie.

When should your operations teams start annual planning?

Begin your annual planning process during Q4, so you can begin day one of Q1 with your plan in hand. If that’s not an option, do your annual planning as close to the start of the new year as possible. 

There are two benefits to planning earlier. First off, you’ll beat the end-of-year crunch, and avoid the stress that traditionally comes with the end of the year. Additionally, if you run an efficient annual planning process with your leadership team, your operations teams will still be free to execute on high-impact projects throughout Q4.

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4 Factors to Consider When Creating a Digital Marketing Budget

Team of three business professionals examining charts on paper and a computer while budgeting

  • 22 Feb 2024

A robust digital marketing plan is pivotal to long-term business success. Yet, economic challenges—like rising inflation —have forced many organizations to reassess their marketing budgets.

According to a report by consulting firm Deloitte , nearly half of marketers reported a decrease in marketing spending in 2023 because of inflationary pressures. As a result, it’s imperative to know how to prepare for economic challenges by budgeting strategically.

Even if you aren’t responsible for making financial decisions at your organization, understanding budget allocation can help you become a more effective digital marketer.

Here’s an overview of why a digital marketing budget is important and factors to consider when creating yours.

Access your free e-book today.

Why Is a Digital Marketing Budget Important?

Your digital marketing budget outlines the funds you can allocate to marketing initiatives. It helps you track expenses and revenue to determine strategies’ return on investment (ROI).

Since digital marketing is constantly evolving, it’s crucial to have an agile budgeting approach to deal with financial fluctuations. Despite a decline in marketing funds over the past two years, businesses expect an increase by the end of 2024 due to trends like increased social media use .

According to Deloitte , companies’ social media spending is expected to increase by 19 percent in 2024 and by 24 percent over the next five years.

Mobile spending is also projected to grow. Deloitte’s data shows that companies making 50 percent or more of their sales online spend roughly 27 percent of their marketing budgets on mobile—and that number is predicted to rise to 40 percent in the next five years.

“These strategies require significant investment, and companies need to ensure that their marketing strategy has been successful for the bottom line of the business,” says Harvard Business School Professor Sunil Gupta, who teaches the online course Digital Marketing Strategy . “This requires the use of quantitative metrics as well as qualitative judgment.”

If you want to help drive your organization’s performance, here are four factors to consider when creating your digital marketing budget.

4 Factors to Consider in Your Digital Marketing Budget

1. goals and objectives.

Your digital marketing plan's goals and objectives are essential to your budget. They provide clear direction and ensure your organization’s marketing efforts align with its broader strategy and desired outcomes.

“Budgets are finite,” Gupta says in Digital Marketing Strategy . “Managers need to allocate their budget toward the methods best suited to their goals.”

For example, during its first few years of business, athletic wear company Gymshark aimed to build brand awareness. Yet, it didn’t have the funds to launch extensive marketing campaigns. To expand its reach and boost sales , the company partnered with fitness influencers to showcase its products in workout videos, product reviews, and lifestyle content.

“If you’re a new brand with a limited budget, you might want to share free products that would allow influencers to engage with their followers through new and exciting offerings,” Gupta says in Digital Marketing Strategy .

Digital Marketing Strategy | Develop digital marketing strategies that reach and retain customers | Learn More

2. Marketing Metrics

Marketing metrics are crucial to your marketing budget.

“Measuring success and allocating a budget are two sides of the same coin,” Gupta says in Digital Marketing Strategy . “To make wise budget allocation decisions, we must understand which efforts have been successful and which haven’t.”

The best way to do this is by monitoring profit-focused key performance indicators (KPIs) , such as customer acquisition cost (CAC) —the total expense acquiring a new customer incurs. This metric is critical because it helps you assess your digital marketing strategy’s cost-effectiveness.

“As more and more companies shift their marketing budgets to digital media, the cost of customer acquisition through digital channels keeps increasing,” Gupta says in the course.

Reasons for that include:

  • Bidding wars: Competitive digital platform bidding for target keywords or audiences
  • Personalization costs: Expensive tools and technologies needed for audience targeting
  • Consumer decision-making: Ad fatigue necessitating increased content development and testing investment

CAC is just one piece of the puzzle. ROI also helps determine your marketing strategy’s financial return by providing valuable insights into lead quality and channel effectiveness.

Check out the video below to learn more about ROI, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more explainer content!

For instance, opting for digital channels with low CACs can appear cost-effective but may attract price-sensitive customers—diminishing your ROI. Similarly, a high CAC doesn't ensure customer engagement because investing in channels they don’t use can yield minimal returns.

Related: How to Calculate ROI to Justify a Project

3. Target Audiences

Your target audience —the consumers most likely interested in your products or services—is vital to consider when creating your budget.

“While you can try and market a product to everyone, consumers have different needs and preferences,” Gupta says in Digital Marketing Strategy . “What appeals to one group of consumers may not appeal to another group.”

For example, Digital Marketing Strategy features footwear company OOFOS, which has four main audiences:

  • Workout warriors: Fitness and sports enthusiasts with active lifestyles
  • Regular exercisers: People who pursue fitness activities three to five times per week
  • Active occupation: Professionals who constantly work standing up, such as health care workers and teachers
  • Pain sufferers: Those who suffer from constant foot and joint pain

OOFOS uses digital channels—like social media platforms—to connect with a wide audience, strategically focusing on young fitness enthusiasts without excluding older individuals who experience pain.

Related: Paid vs. Owned vs. Earned Media: What’s the Difference?

4. Attribution

Attribution —the link between your marketing efforts and the customers you acquire—can guide your budget allocation decisions.

By identifying the channels, campaigns, and actions that drive the most value, you can determine customers’ journeys through the marketing funnel across digital platforms.

The funnel’s three stages are:

  • Awareness: Introducing customers to your brand or product to address a problem they have
  • Consideration: Making customers aware of your brand or product while they evaluate alternatives
  • Decision: Using information gathered during the previous stages to influence consumers’ purchasing decisions

A graphic showing the marketing funnel's three stages: awareness, consideration, and decision

When a potential customer encounters your product through a social media ad, it raises interest but rarely results in a purchase. That doesn’t mean you should shy away from spending money on the awareness stage.

“A display ad might not immediately lead to purchase and therefore have low ROI,” Gupta says in Digital Marketing Strategy . “But this ad might generate interest among potential customers who later click on a search ad to buy the product.”

This is why attribution is crucial. By considering how one channel impacts others, you can understand your strategy’s overall value.

Common approaches to accounting for attribution include:

  • First interaction: Attributes 100 percent of the sale to the first ad a customer was exposed to
  • Last interaction: Awards 100 percent of the credit to the last ad a customer saw or interacted with
  • Linear attribution: Gives equal weights to all ads a customer is exposed to
  • Time decay attribution: Gives more weight to recent ads a customer encountered
  • Position-based attribution: Takes all ads into account but weighs the first and last higher

All these methods can be beneficial when creating your marketing budget—but they don’t account for real consumer behavior. If you need more information, experiments like A/B testing can help you determine the role different ads play in generating revenue.

Your Guide to Online Learning Success | Download Your Free E-Book

Create Your Digital Marketing Budget

While it can be challenging, budgeting's importance is undeniable in business. Understanding costs and returns is essential for crafting strategies that aren’t just creative but financially sustainable and able to achieve business objectives and goals .

One of the most effective ways to learn how to create your digital marketing budget is by enrolling in an online marketing course , such as Digital Marketing Strategy . Through real-world case studies and interactive exercises, you can develop the digital marketing skills to make financial decisions that best serve your brand.

Do you want to dive deeper into marketing budgeting? Explore Digital Marketing Strategy to discover how to allocate funds throughout the customer journey. If you’re interested in exploring online education but aren’t sure where to start, download our free guide to online learning success .

marketing business annual plan

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College of Business and Economics announces annual faculty awards

The College of Business and Economics recently announced the recipients of their annual faculty awards and stipends. The following faculty members were selected from a strong and deep pool of nominees. A few of their many accomplishments and contributions are listed below.

COBE Advisory Council Research Award

Kyle Allen, an associate professor in the Department of Finance received this award which recognizes a faculty member’s research accomplishments.

Kyle Allen

Allen’s research area is broadly defined as financial markets and institutions,  specifically examining the risk and inefficiencies in the community banking sector. He has published 15 peer-reviewed journal publications in highly respected finance journals such as the Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Financial Stability, The Financial Review and Finance Research Letters.

Allen published a six peer-reviewed academic papers in 2023. One of these papers was published in the Journal of Banking and Finance, marking his second publication in this leading scholarly journal. He has several papers under review at other leading finance journals as well, showcasing his ongoing commitment to scholarly excellence.

COBE Advisory Council Service Award

Christie Fuller, an associate professor in the Department of Information Technology and Supply Chain Management, received this award which recognizes a faculty member’s dedication to service outside of the classroom.

Christie Fuller

Fuller has taken on engagement opportunities at the university, in the community and in her profession throughout her career. She has followed her passion for community engagement and preparing her students for their careers, creating or co-creating a student analytics group doing projects for nonprofits, an event series connecting students with former students, industry professionals and faculty in her department, an analytics certificate, and a mentoring program.

Fuller has had more than 20 service assignments in the last five years. These include serving on department employee search committees and the college’s committees for promotion and tenure, curriculum, improvement and assessment. She also recently joined the Boise State University LGBTQIA+ advocacy board.

Over the course of Fuller’s career, she has made many contributions to the profession. She have completed reviews for nine journals, two conferences and a textbook publisher in the past five years. She serves on the editorial boards for three analytics-focused journals.

John Elorriaga Endowed Fellowship

Susan Park, an associate professor in the Department of Management, received this fellowship. Funded by the late John Elorriaga, a business graduate of Boise Junior College and CEO of U.S. Bank, recognizes a faculty member for accomplishments in teaching.

Susan Park

Park’s approach to teaching is distinguished by her true commitment to continuous improvement. Never complacent or satisfied with ‘good enough,’ she always seeks to find the best way to reach students. She has taught an impressive portfolio of courses which reflect her willingness to take on teaching challenges. She has the courage to change and to experiment with new formats, methods and content. She has consistently enrolled in training seminars, including a year-long Teaching Scholars seminar in which participants develop new strategies to engage students in large enrollment courses.

“It was a great course, my favorite course this semester. I found it very interesting and the instructor did a wonderful job, she really wants to help her students succeed,” a sample of a student testimonial said.

“Professor Park was one of the best instructors I had in this program. She was responsive, accommodating and extremely helpful with providing feedback on assignments. It was apparent she was engaged,” another said.

Ada Burke Endowed Fellowship

Shikhar Sarin, a professor in the Department of Marketing received this award which recognizes overall accomplishments in teaching, research and service. John Elorriaga funds this award in honor of Ada Burke, a valued and dedicated teacher of his at Boise Junior College.

Shikhar Sarin

Sarin leads his undergraduate courses in ways that help students connect the latest insights about marketing and research design to real-world problems, incorporating live case clients into his classes. During his career at Boise State, his students have completed numerous projects for nonprofit and for-profit organizations throughout the Treasure Valley. This approach brings marketing research topics to life, illustrating how complex marketing strategy and research concepts are applied to tangible business challenges.

Sarin has made remarkable research contributions to the field of marketing. He has works in 34 journals, 33 conference publications and his work has appeared in some of the leading journals in marketing and related fields over the course of his over 20 year career.

Sarin’s service role as a senior faculty involves serving many different constituencies. He serves his discipline, university, college, department and community in varied capacities.

Distinguished Teaching Professorship

Jeff Lingwall, an associate professor in the Department of Management, received this professorship which rewards outstanding teaching effectiveness and developments that advance the quality of the educational delivery. Recipients exemplify the mission, values and culture of the College of Business and Economics.

Jeff Lingwall

Lingwall’s stellar ratings and reviews from his students are a testament to his passion for teaching and his dedication to students. His evaluations are consistently among the highest in the Department of Management.

Students have said, “Experience and knowledge were off the charts,” “Phenomenal lectures,” “I have never been so excited to attend a lecture,” “My favorite class from the whole [MBA] program,” and “THIS CLASS WAS HANDS DOWN THE BEST COLLEGE CLASS I’VE EVER TAKEN!

Lindwall consistently provides students energetic lectures using interactive demonstrations and hypotheticals which cultivate comprehension and prompt collaboration. His application of multimedia platforms gets students to participate in class. His teaching innovations and extra efforts benefit not only his students, but students across the college and country. He has written three Open Educational Resource (OER) textbooks that he uses in his legal studies and ethics courses, each free to students. A faculty member from another university referred to one of Lingwall’s textbooks as “by far the best business law OER I’ve seen yet.”

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How to Write a Dog Grooming Business Plan + Free Sample Plan PDF

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Elon Glucklich

8 min. read

Updated February 20, 2024

Download a free one-page dog grooming sample business plan

The bond between humans and their canine companions has always been strong. But spurred by increases in dog ownership across the U.S. , household spending on pets has risen in recent years.

The $5.4 billion global pet grooming services market is projected to grow at a 7% annual rate through 2030, creating new opportunities for dog-loving entrepreneurs to turn their passion into a business opportunity.

Whether you’re starting a boutique grooming salon or a mobile grooming service—a business plan can significantly increase your chances of success.

Download a free dog grooming sample business plan and complete it as you work through this guide.

  • What should you include in a dog grooming business plan?

Here are the common sections to consider when writing your dog grooming business plan.

  • Executive summary
  • Market analysis
  • Services and products
  • Marketing and sales strategy
  • Operations plan
  • Company summary
  • Financial plan and forecasts

The details of your plan will differ based on factors like the services you offer, whether you hire full-time employees or contractors, and whether your business is based in a brick-and-mortar building or goes to clients’ homes.

Check out our step-by-step guide to writing a full business plan for more details.

A sample dog grooming business plan outline.

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  • The 8 elements of an effective dog grooming business plan

Don’t make your dog grooming business plan longer than it needs to be . If you’re writing it for yourself, stick with a few pages and cover the aspects that will help you run your business.

But if you’re writing the plan because you’re seeking a bank loan or investment , it will likely need to be more detailed.

1. Executive summary

The executive summary is a concise overview of your dog grooming business plan. The executive summary should briefly touch on your company overview target market but shouldn’t be more than 2 pages long.

Its purpose is to highlight the mission and unique aspects of your business, whether that’s to provide superior pet care or introduce innovative grooming techniques to your market. 

2. Market analysis

What’s the opportunity that exists for your business? 

The market analysis section is a detailed assessment of the market you’re entering. In this case, you should cover current trends in the dog grooming industry, such as increasing pet ownership rates and a growing emphasis on pet care and wellness.

You must also identify your primary customer segments . Include demographics that help define who your customers are and what they want. Maybe you target pet owners in urban areas, busy professionals, or families seeking convenient and comprehensive grooming services.

Be sure to list out key competitors in your region, noting their service offerings, pricing, and market positioning. This analysis will help you identify opportunities to differentiate your business. For instance, your research might lead you to realize there are a lack of options in your area for mobile grooming services, or specialized care for anxious pets.

3. Services and products

The products and services section is where you detail the full range of grooming services and products you plan to offer. 

Consider writing them out as a list, like this example:

Basic services

  • Washing and drying
  • Hair trimming
  • Nail clipping
  • Ear cleaning.

Specialty services

  • Breed-specific grooming
  • Skin care treatments
  • Flea and tick treatments

Also, consider incorporating related products for sale, such as dog shampoos, conditioners, brushes, and other grooming tools. Whatever mix of products and services you choose to offer, connect them to your market opportunity. At its most basic, running a successful business is about identifying customer problems and providing solutions .

Detailing these services and products gives your customers a clear understanding of what your business provides and its value proposition .

4. Marketing and sales strategy

Your marketing and sales strategy turns your market research into a set of marketing strategies you can execute to attract customers. 

Through your research, you should understand how your target customers find dog grooming services — online, in print advertisements or commercials, through social media or word of mouth, etc.

Based on what you think are the most relevant marketing channels , develop strategies to make your business more visible. Strategies to consider include:

  • Advertising online or in local publications
  • Creating a website and establishing a social media presence
  • Interacting with the public at community events
  • Pursuing partnership opportunities with local pet stores

You may also want to consider discounts or special offers for repeat customers to build loyalty. 

Whatever tactics you deploy, it’s crucial to measure the impact of your marketing efforts through key performance indicators, and adjust your strategies based on what delivers value.

5. Operations plan

The operations section outlines how you will run your dog grooming business efficiently day to day. 

Whether you’re operating out of a brick-and-mortar building, a mobile van, or in clients’ homes, include details on the physical setup of your grooming salon, equipment needs, and staff requirements.

You should also discuss the process for booking appointments and managing customer relationships. Detail any software or systems you’ll use for scheduling and record-keeping. Also, outline your plan for meeting regulatory requirements and maintaining a clean, safe environment for pets.

6. Milestones

Outlining the key milestones for your business can help you determine how long it will take to meet your goals. You can keep these brief, even writing them in bullet points. Milestones for a dog grooming business could include:

  • Obtaining initial financing
  • Securing relevant permits
  • Initiating marketing efforts
  • Acquiring a certain number of clients
  • Reaching specific revenue benchmarks

Each milestone should have an estimated completion date and designated team members responsible for achieving them.

7. Company summary

Summarize the history of your business, including its legal structure and location. Also, highlight your background in pet grooming and your reasons for wanting to start a dog grooming business.

If you’re just starting out, discuss the initial startup costs required to get the business off the ground. If you’re writing your business plan to secure a bank loan, state how much funding you need, what you will use it for, and how it will benefit your grooming business.

8. Financial plan

The financial plan is where you provide a look into your dog grooming business’s financial projections, including sales , costs , and profitability .

Remember, financial forecasts are really just educated guesses created to give you a sense of how your business can be profitable over the long term. 

They’re meant to be adjusted over time as your actual financial numbers come in, helping you determine which aspects of your business are performing as expected and where you might need to adjust your strategy.

Your financial plan should include a cash flow statement , income statement , and balance sheet .

  • Tips for writing a dog grooming business plan

Understanding pet owners’ needs and how you can best serve them is vital for writing a dog grooming business plan that you can actually use to help your business grow.

As you write the plan, give some attention to these key points.

1. Consider your business structure

Choosing the right structure is pivotal. When writing the company overview section, consider factors like taxation, liability, and business growth potential to determine whether an LLC, sole proprietorship, or corporation best suits your needs. This decision will influence your operational flexibility, financial management, and legal obligations.

2. Develop a pricing strategy

Establishing a pricing strategy that balances market competitiveness with profitability is essential. As part of your market analysis, take the time to explore pricing tiers and client expectations. Offering a variety of service packages can cater to different customer needs and enhance revenue streams. Connect those packages and pricing tiers to your projected revenues and expenses as you create your financial forecasts.

3. Create an online presence

A strong online presence is non-negotiable. So, even if you plan to leverage traditional marketing channels, you will still want to have digital marketing efforts be part of your plan. 

At a minimum, invest in a professional website, optimize for local search , and engage actively on social media platforms. This visibility attracts new clients and serves as a platform for showcasing your work and customer testimonials.

4. Highlight your credentials and training

Highlighting your credentials and commitment to ongoing professional development can set your business apart. 

Regular training in new grooming techniques, customer service excellence, and pet safety reassure clients of the quality and reliability of your services. Start by mentioning the qualifications of you and your team and include any supporting documentation, like resumes or awards, in your appendix.

5. Build on success with client referrals and reviews

Encourage satisfied customers to refer others and leave positive online reviews . Word-of-mouth and digital endorsements can significantly impact your business’s reputation and trustworthiness. Consider implementing a referral program to incentivize clients to share their positive experiences.

  • Download your free dog grooming one page sample business plan

Download your dog grooming business plan sample now for free. You can also explore Bplans’ collection of over 550 sample business plans to find other examples.

Writing a business plan for your dog grooming business helps you stand out in a crowded market. It’s one of numerous reasons that a business plan increases your chance of success. 

The plan is essential for getting your business funded. But even if you don’t need a bank loan, thinking through each aspect of your business will help you make the best strategic decisions and use your limited resources effectively.

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

Content Author: Elon Glucklich

Elon is a marketing specialist at Palo Alto Software, working with consultants, accountants, business instructors and others who use LivePlan at scale. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism and an MBA from the University of Oregon.

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  7. 7 Steps To An Effective Annual Marketing Plan

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  8. How to Create a Profitable Annual Business Plan [+Free Template]

    Published: February 09, 2023 The beginning of a new quarter is the perfect time to start planning the next year for your business. Start the next year or quarter off on the right foot by creating an annual business plan for your company. Q4 often brings a flurry of business-related activity.

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    Step #2: Set your business goals. Before you can plan your marketing activities, it's important to set your your company's strategic growth and revenue goals. For example, if you plan to grow your business by 20 percent then you'll want to do a lot more than just design a new brochure. Questions that will help you determine your company ...

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  14. How to Create an Annual Marketing Plan [with Template]

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  16. How to Create a Marketing Plan for 2023: Follow These 5 Steps

    view image larger. 1. Identify business growth initiatives for the upcoming year. A marketing plan developed around unclear — or worse, unknown — business growth initiatives is an exercise in futility. Reach out to key department heads and decision makers to gather their input on the collective vision of the future.

  17. 2024 Digital Marketing Strategy Guide

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    Establish the final deadline for achieving your primary KPI. Then, set the necessary milestones along the journey. For example, you might set milestones for launching different aspects of your campaign, such as hosting 4 webinars, publishing 10 supporting blog posts, or earning a callout in 2 prime news outlets.

  19. Your Comprehensive Guide to Annual Marketing Planning

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    Sep 17, 2021. 2. Office Space. Most annual marketing planning is an orgy of frustration and mental masturbation. (An image of a conference room — or, in today's digital world, a bunch of Zoom boxes muting and unmuting — of executives tripping over each other, spurting out "creative ideas" and a long list of "P1 priorities" should ...

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