2021

MARKETING
PLAN TEMPLATE

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A well-designed marketing plan is an essential component to any successful small business’s

overall business strategy. A marketing plan helps small business owners identify target
customers, understand the current market, build brand identity and awareness, and align
marketing tactics with business goals. An effective marketing plan becomes the roadmap to
gaining more customers and improving the success of your company.

Follow below for essential elements to include in your small business marketing plan:

Vision: Identifies forward-thinking

SECTION 1:
aspiration for your company and what
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY you hope to achieve.

An executive summary typically summarizes

Mission Statement: Describes what the
each of the sections of the marketing plan
organization does or provides in order
and gives stakeholders a brief overview of
to achieve the vision.
your marketing strategy. Write this section
last, to make sure you provide a high-level
Core Values: Defines core pillars of
view of your marketing strategy. An
what the company believes in and
executive summary may include:
shapes company culture.

How you intend to reach your target

Tagline: A distinctive catchphrase that
audience
communicates your brand and what you
Description of your company and team
provide.
Overview of market factors and trends
Introduction to your products and
Unique Seller Proposition (USP):
services
Describes company’s value to the
Summary of marketing objectives and
customer and key differentiators from
strategies
the competition.
Summary of financial projections

SECTION 2: SECTION 3: TARGET CUSTOMER

BRAND MESSAGING & BUYER PERSONAS

Before designing a detailed strategy to Provide a general overview about your target
reach your top marketing goals, it’s customer, who they are, what they want, and
important to establish a cohesive brand what motivates them to interact with your
voice that is unique to your brand and business. Even if you accept business from a
speaks to the needs and ethos of your wide range of customers, targeting specific
target customer. Brand messaging includes groups of consumers will help you speak
elements such as: directly to certain audiences and helps shape
future marketing campaigns and initiatives.
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Basic demographic information (age, SWOT Analysis: An assessment of the

gender, income level, location, etc.) strengths, weaknesses, opportunities,
Purchasing behaviors and threats of your organization.
Motivation for buying (ex: furnishing
their homes, wanting to look good, learn Competitive Analysis: Identifies market
about a specific skill, etc.) competitors and evaluates their
Where does your target customer strengths and weaknesses relative to
typically consume media and your current business strategy.
information? (ex: magazines,
newspapers, tv, social media, trade
shows, etc.) SECTION 5: MARKETING
GOALS & OBJECTIVES
To dive deeper into your target audience,
you may want to create buyer personas,
In this section, list your business’s
which are semi-fictional customer profiles
marketing and sales goals for the year.
detailing relevant demographics,
These goals should be SMART (specific,
background information, identifiers,
measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-
motivations and challenges based on data
bound), and include information about
and research about current and prospective
target sales goals, KPI’s, marketing
consumers.
benchmarks, and plans for growth and
expansion. Some example marketing goals
SECTION 4: are:
SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS
Generate 30% more leads on XYZ
landing page in six months as a result of
A situational analysis reviews the current
XYZ Facebook marketing campaign.
state of the market and gives insight into
the health of your business and
Increase Spotify podcast listeners by
opportunities for growth. Market research
15% by investing $xxx in our media
and analysis is a key factor in developing a
department in the next four months.
practical marketing strategy within your
industry. This section may include:
Attain a 20% increase in webinar signups
by next July through our “Free Webinar”
Core Competencies: Defining
email marketing campaign.
capabilities and characteristics of your
organization that make you stand out
from the competition and can be a
strategic advantage in your market.
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SECTION 6: Future Marketing Campaigns:

Some examples include:
MARKETING STRATEGY
Referral Program
Customer Testimonials
Your marketing strategy details how you will
YouTube Marketing
promote your products and services, and
Social Media Campaigns
how you plan to use these methods to
Influencer Marketing
achieve your marketing goals. Be sure to
include specific tactics that will be used to Contests and Giveaways

efficiently meet each outlined marketing Brand Partnerships

objective. Some ideas to consider include:

Promotions Strategy: How you will SECTION 7:

reach new customers.
FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS
Pricing Strategy: How your goods and
In the last section, break down projected
services are strategically priced to
promotional expenses and expected results
remain competitive.
of your strategy in terms of new customers,
sales, and profits. Be sure to:
Distribution Strategy: How customers
will purchase your goods and services.
Include a calculated budget that will
fund each component of your marketing
Conversion Strategy: How you will turn
strategy, as a part of your overall annual
prospective customers into paying
financial plan.
customers.

Identify which expenses and tactics will

Marketing Channels and Materials:
yield the highest return on investment
Print Marketing (flyers, brochures,
and use those findings to prioritize
business cards, banners, etc.)
outlined marketing initiatives.
Website
Social Media
Digital Advertising (Google Ads, SEO,
Email Marketing, Facebook Ads, etc.)
Traditional Advertising (TV, radio,
billboards, magazines, newspapers,
etc.)
PR and Media Releases
Trade shows and special events