marketing objectives examples

Get Inspired by These 11 Marketing Objectives Examples

  • March 18, 2022

Written by Alexandra

Content Manager at SocialBee

What came first: the marketing objectives or the marketing plan ? That is the question. 

To us, the answer is obvious — marketing objectives come before your company’s marketing plan. Why? Because you can’t achieve something that you don’t define. 

For this reason, we decided to provide clear marketing objectives examples that will help you:

  • Structure your key business objectives properly
  • Add focus to your marketing efforts

But enough with the chit-chat. Let’s start learning more about smart marketing objectives.

Access our editable marketing calendar template to easily organize your strategy.

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What Are Marketing Objectives?

Marketing objectives are the outcomes that the marketing team plans to achieve in the future. As such, they outline both a clear direction for the marketing strategy and the specific actions that need to be taken to reach the desired results.

Therefore, great marketing objectives must follow the SMART framework:

1. Specific

Focus on what you want to achieve and how you want to achieve it.

2. Measurable

Identify KPIs that will help you measure your progress.

3. Attainable

Aim for a target that is ambitious but realistic.

4. Relevant

Make sure your objectives align with your business needs.

5. Time-based

Set a deadline for your objectives to help you stay focused on achieving them in a limited time frame.

What Are Marketing KPIs?

Now that you know how to write down your business ambitions, let’s move on to our next important lesson: how to measure marketing objectives .

As we mentioned in the ‘Measurable’ stage, marketing KPIs (or Key Performance Indicators) are values that help you monitor your progress and find out if you are on the right track for achieving your smart marketing goals.

To be more specific, let’s go back to our previous SMART objective example: “We will grow our Facebook audience by gaining 100 followers every month for the next 3 months.” 

The KPI from this SMART objective is the number of new followers approximated (follower growth).

Here are the main marketing KPIs you should use to evaluate the progress you made in achieving your marketing objectives: 

  • Return on investment –  The profit you make compared to the money invested in marketing.
  • Return on ad spend –  The generated profit for money spent on advertising.
  • Customer acquisition cost –  The financial resources you need to spend to turn a lead into a customer. 
  • Marketing qualified leads –  Leads that have engaged with your business and have the potential to become prospective customers.
  • Sales qualified leads –  A serious prospect that is ready to make a purchase.
  • Conversion rate –  The number of visitors that performed the desired action.
  • Website visitors –  The number of people that visited your website. Note: remember that website visitors can return to your website for a second, third visit. Hence, it’s important you split your audience into “New Visitors” and “Returning Visitors” in Google Analytics.
  • Referral traffic –  The source of your website visitors.
  • Social media engagement –  The number of likes/comments/shares/mentions on social media.
  • Follower growth –  The number of new followers you gain on social media.
  • Net promoter score – Customer satisfaction or customer loyalty 
  • Organic traffic –  The free traffic you get on your website from search engines. 
  • Customer retention rate – The ability to retain a new customer over a period of time. 
  • Number of new customers: The number of new customers acquired over a certain period; 
  • The lifetime value of a customer –  The total amount of profit a business can make from just one customer.

marketing plan strategic objective

To monitor the effectiveness of your marketing strategy, you need to pay attention to all your promotional channels, including your digital advertising campaigns.

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What Are the Objectives of a Marketing Strategy?

The objectives of a marketing strategy are to:

  • Identify and target the right audience/market.
  • Create an effective value proposition that resonates with the target customer.
  • Develop a clear positioning statement.
  • Create brand awareness and recognition.
  • Drive brand engagement through various channels such as social media, SEO, email campaigns, etc.
  • Generate leads and build relationships with prospects.
  • Increase sales and revenue.

All these objectives must be aligned with the overall mission and objectives of your business in order to ensure success.

And remember, a good marketing strategy should be based on a thorough market research in order to devise an effective plan that will deliver long-term growth.

Why Is Objective-Setting Important in Marketing?

Objective-setting is important in marketing because it helps you focus on the desired outcomes while providing a clear path for achieving those results.

Setting objectives can also help marketers measure progress, track performance, stay motivated, and identify areas for improvement. Objectives can serve as a guide to direct resources in the most effective way and make sure that time, energy, and money are spent efficiently.

Objective-setting also provides a sense of accountability for the marketing department and encourages a smooth collaboration among clients, partners, and marketing teams.

What Is the Difference Between Marketing Objectives and Business Objectives?

Marketing objectives are the specific objectives a company sets to achieve through its marketing efforts. These objectives can include increasing brand awareness, generating more leads, and converting prospects into customers. They are typically focused on short-term results and often involve tactics such as creating campaigns, setting up promotions and events, or launching new products.

Business objectives, on the other hand, are the objectives that a company sets to achieve its overall business strategy. These objectives can include expanding into new markets, increasing brand loyalty, and improving operational efficiency.

Business objectives tend to be broader in scope than marketing objectives, as they often involve creating relationships with partners, investing in technology or infrastructure, and introducing new products or services.

Business objectives also serve as the foundation of a company’s marketing strategy, by providing the target market, budget, and resources needed to achieve marketing objectives.

How Do You Connect a Marketing Goal to Business Goal?

The key to connecting marketing objectives to business objectives is understanding how each tactic and strategy will support the overall company growth and profitability.

First, ask yourself: How will this marketing action help me reach my ultimate business objectives? Then, look for ways to measure the efficiency of each marketing activity and track its impact on your business’s bottom line.

If there are activities that don’t seem to directly support your business objectives, explore more marketing strategies until you find the perfect solution for your specific company.

11 Effective Marketing Objectives Examples

Now that we know how to define marketing objectives and what makes them valuable to a marketing strategy , it’s time to explore the topic from a more practical angle.

Let’s have a look at 11 examples of marketing objectives that you should use for your business.

1. Increase Sales

If you are a business that sells products or services, your main focus will be to make more profit by selling more of what you have to offer. 

To do so, you have several marketing initiatives at your disposal that help you attract new customers and increase your sales down the line (e.g. running digital ads and banner ads, increasing website visitors , starting a limited promotion, distributing interactive digital catalogs ). 

It all depends on how much you want to achieve in a limited timeframe with your current sales process and the means available to you. Don’t forget to always measure customer acquisition with each new marketing campaign or process you launch. 

2. Generate Brand Awareness

Are you looking to increase your visibility as a business? In this case, you might want to grow your brand awareness . This will help you establish your business as a trustworthy entity.

By generating brand awareness you get your target audience interested in your business — the first step that allows you to turn leads into paying customers.

Having your target audience recognize, remember, and associate your business with key values means that you become their top-of-mind when they are considering making a purchase.

3. Increase Market Share 

Market share represents the percentage of a market dominated by a business. More exactly, the market share of a business is the number of sales made in a limited time frame compared to the total sales in the industry. 

For example, if there are 100 chairs sold every week, and a business sells 40 chairs a week, it means that the business in question has a market share of 40%.

Market share is important for any business because:

  • It develops a cost advantage against the competition.
  • It increases sales and profitability.
  • It expands the customer base and helps you find a new market for your products and services.
  • It helps with brand building.

4. Boost Customer Retention Rates

Focusing on customer loyalty is as important as gaining more customers. Moreover, experts say that it’s even more cost-effective to keep existing customers than it is to gain new ones. A business can pay up to 25% more to gain a new customer than to maintain one.

Having a loyal customer base offers stability to a business by providing a consistent revenue stream. 

To keep your customers interested in what you have to offer, you can invest in the quality of your customer service, improve your community management on social media , develop a loyalty program, and more.

If you want to keep your Instagram community happy and engaged, SocialBee has the perfect service for you that allows you to interact with your customers without the work that comes with it.

5. Generate New Leads

Attracting new leads increases your chances of gaining potential customers and ultimately selling more of your products and services. Also, it keeps your business relevant and profitable.

Lead generation is a practice that draws new prospects to a brand and maintains their interest through lead nurturing.

A great way of generating new leads for your business is by creating lead magnets (offers such as free guides, templates, and free consultations customers can benefit from by revealing their contact information) and posting them on your blog and social media accounts. This will f ill your client relationship management (C RM) system with qualified prospects.

With the help of marketing communication strategies , interactive content, and practices such as influencer collaborations, the leads start to trust and connect with a brand and ideally become paying customers. 

6. Gain More Website Traffic

Your website is a valuable part of your business and digital marketing strategy. It is part of your image, it communicates your brand identity, and most importantly is where you convert your leads into customers. 

That is why businesses tend to focus on getting as much traffic to their website as possible through both paid initiatives and organic strategies.

7. Increase Profits

All marketing efforts focus on generating profit. Sometimes, smart financial decisions include both reducing costs and investing resources in profitable marketing tools and practices (planning an advertising campaign, for example).

So, make sure you set marketing and advertising objectives that will help you generate more profit while also keeping your budget in mind.

Ideally, businesses should find a balance between paid and organic strategies and constantly monitor what works best for their needs. To do so, marketers can regularly calculate the return on investment (ROI) for the tools and services they use in their strategy, as well as the customer acquisition cost (CAC).

8. Develop a Social Media Presence

Social media has become the perfect environment for business growth. With more and more users turning to social media to research businesses before making a purchase, there is no doubt about the impact it has on business growth, brand awareness, and brand authority.

Don’t forget to use social media management tools like SocialBee to create, schedule, and post your content. Thus, you will stay consistent and improve your reach and engagement rate.

9. Grow Your Email List

Email marketing is a powerful marketing channel. With more than four billion users and an ROI of $42 for every dollar spent , it’s safe to say that it’s a great marketing investment.

The best advantage of email marketing is that you can easily measure if it’s working or not because you know exactly who received your email and the actions they took once they saw it.

To create great email marketing campaigns, you have to:

  • Have a significant email list.
  • Invest in an email service provider.
  • Use powerful subject lines.
  • Create an engaging copy.

You need reliable software to succeed in email marketing. Thankfully , there are many free email marketing software available. You can take them for a test drive and if you like the features, you can incorporate them into your marketing toolset.

10. Optimize Brand Positioning

Last but not least on our list of marketing objective examples — brand positioning .

Positioning your brand is extremely important, as it controls the way your audience views and perceives your business. Also, it helps businesses stand out from the crowd and differentiates their products and services from the competition.

Furthermore, setting goals and focusing on brand positioning should be a priority for your marketing team, as it helps you manage your reputation and brand image.

11. Increase Customer Lifetime Value

In order to get more value from your customers and increase AOV (average order value) you have two options: cross-sell and upsell. 

Put in simple terms, you’re encouraging your customers to add more products/ services to their part, whether it’s for a complementary service you have (cross-sell) or for a higher tier of the same service (up-sell). 

Before asking your customers to do so, make sure they need those services and that they might be willing to expand their budget in this direction. One way to make sure your customers stay open to such purchases is to ensure an excellent post-sale experience.

Are You Ready to Form Marketing Objectives for Your Brand?

Now that you know all about setting smart business goals through the power of 11 strong measurable marketing objectives examples, you are all set to go.

So, make sure you start the path to a successful marketing strategy with clear and measurable objectives. Define what you want to achieve, and you will have a way to measure success and maintain it by adjusting your marketing plan as you go.

To put it in other words, the secret is to track marketing objectives as well and often as you can. 

Don’t forget that SocialBee can bring you closer to your marketing goals. Start your 14-day free trial today and build a social presence that will help you increase brand awareness and generate more leads. 

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Article written by

Alexandra

Content writer at SocialBee

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Developing a Strategic Marketing Plan [With Template + Examples]

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In a challenging economy, it’s easy for marketers to lose sight of strategic goals and miss the mark.  However, developing a strategic marketing plan can help you stay on target and successfully accomplish your marketing goals.

What is a Strategic Marketing Plan?

A strategic marketing plan can be used as a guide to focus marketing efforts and prioritize tasks. It also makes it easier to keep track of results as they occur, which is great for both marketing purposes as well as reporting back accurate information to stakeholders.

To make sure that you put your best foot forward when finalizing your marketing plan, we’ve made things more convenient by providing a template for this process along with some helpful tips and guidelines.

Marketing Planning & Strategy Process

Nowadays, marketing has become so important to every business. Having a good marketing plan is the key to success in any industry because it will help you have an idea of how you are going to promote your company’s products and services. Marketers are responsible for devising marketing strategies that will attract more ideal customers into buying their product or service.

The Marketing Planning Process

Picture this: You are the marketing manager in a new company and have been tasked with increasing gross revenue. You have all of these marketing ideas in mind, but how will you know which ones will be most effective? 

Marketing plans can help give direction to strategic thinking. They also give a framework for implementation so that you don’t waste time on strategies that aren’t likely to work.

In order to create a marketing plan that is tailored to your specific objectives and business goals, you’ll need to decide exactly what it is that you’re hoping to accomplish. For example, maybe your goal is to increase brand awareness by 20% over the next six months, or perhaps it’s acquiring more customers through social media activities.

One of the first steps in the marketing planning process is to decide on your objectives and goals.  For example, you might want to increase traffic to your website or improve lead quality using online resources that are readily available.

Next, outline the marketing strategy behind your objectives. For example, it makes sense that increasing website traffic could help generate leads for a business because more visitors mean increased exposure (and possible sales conversions). However, this doesn’t mean that simply driving up web traffic will automatically result in an increase in leads. It’s helpful to think about other factors like social media participation or relevant content creation as strategic goals alongside your main objective to achieve better results.

The Marketing Strategy Process

It sounds simple but knowing how to write a marketing plan can be very tricky. Below are some steps how to write a great marketing plan:

Step 1: Identify What Your Consumers Want

The first thing you need to do is get together all the necessary information about your target audience which includes demographics, social media behavior, buying habits, shopping preferences, etc. Finding out where they hang out at least three times a week will help you reach them more easily. Ask yourself how your product or service can fulfill their needs and how much they are willing to pay for it.

Step 2: Define a Goal for Your Campaign

What do you want to achieve with this marketing plan? What is the purpose of the campaign? Do you want to increase awareness, boost sales, generate leads, or grow market share? Write down all your goals and make sure that they are SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound). Your marketing activities should clearly speak to these measurable goals.

Step 3: Develop Strategies to Achieve Those Goals Using Consumer Insights

After gathering data about your target market, identify how your product or service can fill the needs of those consumers. What can you offer to them? What is their perception of your product or service and how it will impact the buying decision?

Based on market research, develop strategies on how you can reach out to your target audience and how they will respond to your marketing messages. This should be tailored specifically for each group: who they are, what type of message or media they are most likely to engage with, how often do they shop, what price range is acceptable for them, how much they are willing to pay, etc. These are important details that marketers need in order to maximize ROI.

Step 4: Determine Your Marketing Budget & Implementing Your Plan

After defining all necessary information on how can you achieve your goals and how much will it cost you, create a budget for your marketing plan. 

Also, make sure that your marketing team is capable of implementing the said strategies and how they’re going to do it. 

Pay special attention to any newly developed content to ensure it responds to the target audience’s needs to help convince them of engaging with your brand, buying a product, or contacting you for service.

Step 5: Evaluate the Results

Now, you need to determine if your campaign was successful or how you can improve your future campaigns. 

You should track how many leads were generated by each source, how many sales were closed from each channel, what type of media and message engaged with consumers most effectively, and so on. Only by doing this analysis during and after launching a marketing campaign can marketers learn what works best for them and how to enhance their next marketing activities.

Most importantly, involve people who work on a daily basis with customers (sales reps, customer service, etc.) and let them share how your marketing activities impacted their business.

Types of Marketing Goals, Strategies & Tactics + Examples

Strategic marketing planning starts with strategic thinking about your business goals and how you hope to achieve them.

Customer Segmentation

Customer segmentation is a strategic marketing goal that can be useful for achieving personalization with your content. By differentiating the needs of your target audiences, you are able to best promote the products and services to meet those needs.

For example, this strategic marketing plan outlines an approach to achieve customer segmentation by using market research data to better understand the demographic makeup of the organization’s current clientele. This marketing plan could look something like this:

  • Marketing Goal : Develop Customer Segmentation Approach
  • Marketing Strategy : Conduct Market Research & Analysis
  • Determine Target Personas based on Key Findings from Data
  • Develop Personas into Target Audience Groupings    
  • Create Customer Segments based on Demographics, Psychographics & Overall Needs
  • Develop Marketing Approach for each Target Audience based on Key Findings

Increase Traffic to Company Website

Let’s say that one strategic marketing goal is to increase traffic to the company website by 10% over the next six months. The following marketing plan outlines an actual approach for achieving this goal:

  • Marketing Goal : Increase Traffic on Company Website by 10% in 6 Months (currently at 35%)
  • Marketing Strategy : Develop a Cohesive Content Strategy
  • Develop a Blog that is Quirky, Fun & Authentic
  • Develop New Page on Company Website that Highlights Blog Posts    
  • Distribute Content to Social Media Channels
  • Schedule Promotion of Content Throughout 6 Month Period (including Email Campaigns)
  • Track Customer Response to Content Production & Analysis for Future Growth

Increase Sales Through eCommerce Site

You might decide to start with an increase in sales through the eCommerce site by 10% over the next six months. The following marketing plan outlines strategic marketing goals, strategic tactics for success, and the specific results you’re hoping to achieve.

  • Marketing Goal : Increase Sales on eCommerce Site by 10% in 6 Months (currently at $50K)
  • Marketing Strategy : Increase Average Order Value on eCommerce Site
  • Optimize Product Titles, Images & Descriptions for Lead Generation
  • Monitor Competitor’s Prices & Adjust eCommerce Pricing Strategy as Necessary    
  • Develop Lookalike Audience Using Custom Audiences Feature on Ads Manager Platform    
  • Promote Email Campaigns to New Subscribers & Customers
  • Campaign Results : Goal Achieved of Increasing Sales on eCommerce Site by 30% in 6 Months

Increase Social Engagement Rate

Consider this strategic goal of increasing the social engagement rate by 5% over the next six months. For example, here is how one organization approached a similar challenge using strategic tactics for success and specific results they hope to achieve:

  • Marketing Goal : Increase Social Engagement Rate by 5% in 6 Months (current rate is 3%) 
  • Develop a Content Strategy that Meets New Business Objectives    
  • Develop Cohesive Approach for Each Social Media Channel
  • Determine Editorial Calendar based on Business Objectives    
  • Optimize Title & Descriptions for Social Media Channels    
  • Create Graphics for Content Promotion
  • Campaign Results : Social Engagement Rate Increased by 5.2% in 6 Months

Strategic marketing plans can be a very powerful document that helps to keep everyone on the same page and accountable. By including strategic marketing goals, strategic outcomes, strategic tactics, and a strategic timeframe, you will develop a strategic plan for success.

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10 Marketing Objective Examples To Guide and Focus Your Strategy

10 Marketing Objective Examples To Guide and Focus Your Strategy

9 marketing objectives examples

  • Increase lead quality
  • Shorten the sales cycle
  • Reduce percentage of lost deals/sales
  • Increase customer lifetime value
  • Improve awareness and demand around new products/services
  • Increase positive reviews
  • Launch product or service in a new market
  • Increase profitability
  • Increase brand authority
  • Develop an engaged audience

As marketers, there will never be a shortage of things to work on — strategy, content, video, social media, sales alignment. The list is long and growing. 

Prioritizing work that will actually make an impact on the business is key. That’s why having objectives is important. 

The problem is, marketing objectives too often are siloed, disconnected from the greater goals of the organization — sales, revenue, and growth. 

Most successful small businesses we work with have marketing objectives that tie directly back to revenue and sales (thanks to the development of a revenue team ). 

Revenue is the lifeblood of every business, and when sales and marketing work together to drive it, the results can be incredible.

When your marketing objectives are closely aligned with the organization’s monetary goals, it helps you achieve results in the leanest way possible.  

After working with hundreds of companies over the past 10 years, we’ve found the following to be some of the best marketing objectives examples that align digital strategy with the rest of the organization’s goals.

In this article, we will share:

  • The difference between marketing objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs)
  • 10 examples of marketing objectives
  • KPIs that can be used to track those objectives

You can use this list to determine how to measure your success with the right objectives and KPIs.

Marketing objectives vs. KPIs

Some say objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs) are the same things. Others disagree. 

We're the latter at IMPACT. 

Here is how we define objectives and KPIs:

  • Objective: The thing you’re trying to achieve. Objectives should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) goals that are clearly defined.
  • KPI: A measurable metric used to determine if you are on track to achieve your objective. (Often multiple KPIs contribute to one objective.)

In other words, objectives are what you're trying to achieve, a KPI is a number you track to measure your progress. 

From company and sales objectives to marketing objectives

We coach our clients to begin by aligning their sales and marketing teams, especially when it comes to defining marketing objectives and KPIs. 

The best way to do this is by forming what we call a revenue team.

A revenue team is made up of the key players in your sales and marketing units.

Even though different members might focus on specific parts of the process, the team will come together and plan to work toward a common goal: driving revenue.

If sales and marketing are not aligned and working toward the same goals, a number of problems ensue, including:

  • Marketing campaigns that fall flat with your audience
  • Siloed data and metrics
  • An inconsistent buying experience for customers 
  • Tension and miscommunication between the teams

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Whether you’re a large or small business, here are 10 marketing objective examples that can bring your teams together and unite your efforts 

Examples of marketing objectives

1. increase lead quality.

This objective is about increasing the probability that the sales team closes a higher percentage of deals. The higher quality leads you can attract as a marketing team, the happier your sales team will be. 

Your KPIs for this objective should be focused on initiatives that define what a “quality lead” is or indicators of whether your efforts are working along the way. 

Examples of related KPIs:

  • Number of good fit leads 
  • Number of booked initial sales conversations.
  • Number of closed deals associated with marketing.

2. Shorten the sales cycle

It’s not just up to the sales team to be more efficient or effective with their conversations. Marketing can help shorten the sales cycle too.

Because modern prospects get so much information before talking with sales, it’s marketing’s job to deliver consistent messaging, branding, and relevant materials to help them progress toward making a purchase. 

KPIs for this objective can be focused on sales enablement materials.

  • Pieces of sales enablement content created
  • New product pages launched
  • Case studies produced

( Note: Our The They Ask, You Answer framework is a great starting point for creating sales enablement materials that empower the sales team and shorten the sales cycle by wielding the power of assignment selling .)

3. Reduce the percentage of lost deals/sales

Though sales has the most impact on this objective, marketing can have a significant influence as well.

Marketing sets the tone for prospects entering the sales process. And if marketing is not qualifying leads properly or setting the right expectations, it will be nearly impossible for a salesperson to change course and still close the deal.

For e-commerce companies, KPIs may be metrics or initiatives around reducing cart abandonment rates. For non-e-commerce, on the other hand, marketing can assist by updating website content or other materials that prospects see before talking with sales. 

  • Decreased shopping cart abandonment percentage
  • Sales enablement materials launched

4. Increase customer lifetime value

Focusing on increasing the average amount that each customer spends with you can be an easy way to impact revenue with less effort because the relationship is already built. 

KPIs for this objective can be based on the activities you’ll need to accomplish to re-engage customers with new products or new deals. 

  • Percentage increase on average client spend
  • Number of return or upsold clients

5. Improve awareness and demand around new products or services

If your organization is ready to launch a new product or service, promotion and demand generation will be essential. 

KPIs could pertain to social media or the number of requests or opportunities that sales have in the pipeline related to new products. 

  • Social media engagement related to new products
  • Content produced that answers questions about new products
  • Traffic to website pages for new products
  • Number of inquiries about new products

6. Increase positive reviews

Any brand, whether you’re B2B or B2C, can benefit from product or service reviews.

Depending on your industry, you may have a particular platform where reviews have special importance, but no matter what, they’re important. 

This objective will certainly direct more business — the more positive reviews, the more likely others will find you through review sites. 

  • Number of reviews in X directory
  • Number of past clients likely to recommend you (based on NPS score or other metric)

7. Launch product or service in a new market

Beyond “make more money for the company,” you can get more specific with your objectives when it comes to launching a product in a new market. 

  • Number of products/services sold in a new market by X date
  • Engagement in product trials

8. Increase profitability

Marketing can play a huge role in increasing the profitability of the company. 

After defining what products or services are most profitable, marketing can put more effort into promoting those items, effectively driving more leads to the profit center.

  • Number of new sales opportunities
  • Recurring revenue rate (often monthly)
  • Improved sales velocity

9. Increase brand authority 

With increased brand authority comes additional opportunities to engage audiences, and this, in turn, makes it easier to compete against other companies.

Of course, your product or services can make your brand the best of its kind in the space, but what beyond that can you do to delight customers? Marketing plays a huge role in educating prospects, and this is your opportunity to put your stake in the ground. 

  • Number of media interviews
  • Number of backlinks to your website
  • Number of placements in outside publications
  • Number of bookings on podcasts, events, or industry group meetings

10. Develop an engaged audience

Now, this is an objective many smaller organizations think they can get away with ignoring, but for your long-term company health, it is essential. You want to grow the size of your engaged audience.

Even if they are not ready to buy from you now, they are the ones who will be most likely to turn to you when they are ready to buy or even to recommend you.

If y ou’re doing objectives 1-9 exceptionally well, tracking this objective is even easier. 

Related KPIs should look at email metrics or social engagement to know if you’re on track to nurturing an engaged audience. Using these metrics allows you to measure without paying for market research.

  • Number of newsletter subscribers
  • Email open/click rates
  • Social media impressions, interactions, and comments
  • Website traffic

Thinking beyond traffic

Now that we’ve gone through these objectives, you’re probably thinking — what about traffic.

Traffic is certainly something you should be tracking, but it is something that is more useful to marketing than the company as a whole.

Traffic should be monitored as an indicator of the objective’s success. 

For example, traffic can be an indicator of increased brand awareness, which leads to other successes. Traffic alone will not mean a lot to upper management or a board of directors. 

If the focus of the conversation is not on revenue or revenue-driven objectives, then you’re not putting your energy into the right focus area.

At the end of the day, if you grew traffic but sales plummeted, no one would be celebrating marketing. 

If marketing’s primary role is to assist the sales team, then make sure your marketing objectives align with your sales objectives, and with those of the organization.

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Strategic Marketing Plan Template & Examples

marketing plan strategic objective

Imagine setting out to climb Mt. Everest guided only by intuition. You wouldn’t make it very far without a detailed plan (and an experienced sherpa) to guide the way. 

Marketing may not be an extreme sport with life-or-death consequences, but you’ve got big goals to reach nonetheless. And your team’s success relies on a lot more than gut instinct. 

That’s why a strategic marketing plan is a must, no matter your industry. Think of it as the roadmap that gets your business where it needs to go each and every year. 

Drafting your first marketing plan can feel intimidating, but don’t worry. We’ll walk you through the basics, show you what a strategic marketing plan looks like, and even give you a couple of free templates to get started. Here’s what we’ll cover:

What is a strategic marketing plan?

Essential elements of a strategic marketing plan, free marketing plan templates and examples.

Let’s start from square one and define what a strategic marketing plan is. 

A strategic marketing plan is a formal document that guides your team’s marketing efforts throughout the year. It maps your annual marketing goals to your company’s overall business objectives, while also outlining how you’ll spend your yearly marketing budget.

A good marketing plan clearly outlines:

  • Your target market and key competitors
  • Major goals for the year and how they’ll help you get ahead
  • Key results that serve as indicators for success
  • How you’ll use your money and resources to meet your goals 

Keep in mind that your plan may vary based on your industry and goals. Length and format don’t matter as much as the details you include. Do your research, and make it as easy as possible for company leaders to understand how your strategic marketing plan helps business grow.

What’s the difference between a marketing strategy vs. marketing plan?

A marketing strategy details how you’ll execute a piece of your marketing plan with a specific tactical goal in mind. You might do this by launching an email or social media campaign, publishing a blog series, offering a special promo, or hosting a live event. 

A marketing plan , on the other hand, is the high-level framework that drives all your marketing strategies. It’s a big-picture look at the who, what, and why behind your marketing goals, with a focus on tying them to larger organizational objectives. 

No two marketing plans are exactly the same, but they do share some common threads. Here are 6 important elements you’ll want to identify and research before you build out your next strategic marketing plan.

  • Business objectives

Everything you do as a marketing team should support your company’s overall strategy and goals. So summarize your organization’s business objectives, and let it serve as your marketing plan’s true north. Your team and stakeholders should be able to clearly see how the marketing strategies and goals you outline in your plan align with your company’s top priorities.  

  • SWOT analysis

A SWOT analysis breaks down your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This enables you to assess both the internal and external factors that influence your success so you can build targeted strategies that close gaps and drive results. 

  • Strengths and weaknesses : Take stock of your organization’s inner workings. Where does your team or company really shine? What’s working well, and what needs to be improved? Do you have any resource limitations?
  • Opportunities and threats : Now look outward to consider your market and competition. Where do you have a chance to push ahead? Where are you struggling to keep up? Are there any market changes to consider?
  • Market research

Research is the core of any marketing plan because it’s what you’ll use to shape your goals and strategy. Don’t be afraid to dive deep into the details here. A well-researched marketing plan is worth the time invested. 

Focusing your research energy on these areas will equip you with a solid base for smart marketing decisions.

It’s important to understand major movements in the industry you’re marketing to so you have a feel for the pulse of the market. Thoroughly research the industry your organization works in, and be sure to report on the general climate, as well as any noteworthy happenings. If your company serves any subindustries, don’t forget to include them in your analysis too. 

Target market

Marketing to the masses rarely pays off. That’s why narrowing down your target audience is a must for any marketing plan. Consider it the filter you run every marketing strategy through. 

The more specific you can get, the better. Answering questions like these can help you paint a clear picture of your ideal buyer so you know how to focus your resources for a bigger impact on the people you want to reach.

  • What are your ideal buyer’s key demographics (e.g., age, location, job title)?
  • What do they care about (e.g., interests, values)?
  • What are their biggest challenges or pain points? 
  • Where does your ideal buyer hang out (e.g., Twitter, LinkedIn, industry conferences or events)?

Competitive analysis

It’s also important to understand who and what you’re up against when it comes to attracting your perfect buyer. Identify the key players in your space, and give a brief rundown of what they’re doing to win. This groundwork will make it easier to see how to differentiate yourself from the competition. 

  • Strategic marketing goals

Now that you’ve laid the groundwork, it’s time to talk strategy. Outline your strategic marketing goals for the year, and briefly explain how these strategies support company-wide goals. Use a gantt chart to establish a timeline for each goal and monitor results along the way. This is an easy way to set expectations and keep your team and stakeholders in the loop.

  • Key marketing metrics

Metrics are where the rubber meets the road in your marketing plan. Use your market research to define specific KPIs or key marketing metrics that will serve as your measure for success. This will help you track progress so you know if you need to change course mid-project to ensure you hit your strategic marketing goals.

  • Marketing channels

Marketing channels are the vehicles you’ll use to reach your target audience and grow your brand. Choose your channels wisely based on where you expect to get the most bang for your marketing buck. Briefly explain the purpose of each channel and how it supports your overall marketing strategy and business goals. 

Want to build a more detailed plan for each marketing channel so you can bring your ideas to life? Check out our free social media strategy plan and editorial content plan templates for more information on planning by channel. 

Marketing budget

Establishing a monthly budget for your marketing plan—and tracking it along the way—helps you maximize ROI and identify wasted spend before it drains your marketing dollars. 

Start by listing any ongoing expenses you have so you know what you can afford to spend on new initiatives. Then do your best to estimate any new costs you expect in the coming year. Don’t forget to account for any new hires, freelance workers, or third-party agencies you might need to rely on to get the work done. 

Not sure where to start? We’ve got you! Here are a few examples of how you might structure a marketing plan so you can easily start writing your own. 

Your marketing plan may shake out differently depending on the industry you work in or the goals you’re focused on. Use these marketing plan templates and samples as a guide to jumpstart the process and come up with a marketing plan structure that works for you. 

Google Docs marketing plan template and example

The most common way to create a marketing plan is simply to write it out as a text document. This format enables you to freely elaborate on any research findings you gathered during discovery, while also making a clear case for the marketing goals you’ve set for the year.

We put together a free Google Docs marketing plan template to help you save time so you can get your planning process off the ground faster. This marketing plan example is perfect for documenting and sharing the full scope of your strategic marketing plan with your team and stakeholders.

marketing plan strategic objective

Here’s a basic breakdown of what the Google Docs marketing plan template covers:

  • Company mission

Save a copy of the template to your Google Drive or download it as a Word document, and customize it to fit your own strategic marketing plan needs.  ‍

Use template in Google Docs

Gantt chart marketing plan template and examples

A plan’s no good if you set it and forget it. That’s where a gantt chart comes in handy. Use this free gantt chart marketing plan template to track your strategic marketing plan all the way to success. 

A gantt chart is a great way to lay your marketing plan out in a simple, visual timeline that’s easy to update as work progresses. It gives you a high-level view of your plan’s major goals and strategies, while enabling you to collaborate on and share your plan with your team and stakeholders.

How you use a gantt chart to put your plan into action is up to you. Build a timeline for the tasks you need to complete as you develop your marketing plan, like the example below. 

marketing plan strategic objective

Once you’ve fleshed out the details of your marketing plan, you can use a gantt chart to define and track your strategic marketing goals. For example, you could break your marketing plan down by quarter to show when specific objectives will come into play and update progress as you close in on your goal. Here’s how that might look.

marketing plan strategic objective

Use template in TeamGantt

Ready to build a strategic marketing plan of your own? 

We’ve created a free marketing plan template for you in TeamGantt so you can jump right in!

Customizing the template is quick and easy, thanks to TeamGantt’s drag and drop simplicity. And since everything’s online, your whole team can collaborate on activities in real time.

Here are a few pointers to help you get the most out of our free TeamGantt strategic marketing plan template.

Drag and drop tasks to schedule your plan

Configuring your marketing plan is as easy as dragging and dropping tasks—or entire task groups—into their new rightful place. Click and drag the edges of each taskbar to set a new task duration. 

marketing plan strategic objective

Communicate with comments 

Collaboration is easy with TeamGantt's discussion feature . Share documents and chat with your team directly from a task’s Comments section. Use Notes to communicate important information—like goals, target audience, and budget—at the project level. 

Have a more formal marketing plan document? Attach the file or link to your project so everyone has easy access to it.

marketing plan strategic objective

Share a copy with stakeholders

Plans are meant to be shared, so we made it easy to keep even the most inquisitive stakeholders in the loop. Export your plan to a printer-friendly PDF , or share a view-only link to your project so stakeholders can see your marketing plan progress in real time. 

marketing plan strategic objective

Sign up for a free TeamGantt account today , and save time on project setup with this free marketing plan template!

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Total Guide to Creating Marketing Goals in a Marketing Plan

Reading Time: 17 Minutes

GRIN also recommends this free guide:

The ROI of Influencer Marketing

Have a great idea for a new marketing campaign? It can be tempting to jump right in and start sharing it with your audience. But not so fast! First, you need to set clear marketing objectives to keep you and your team honest along the way.

This becomes even more crucial when you begin partnering with more and more influencers with a wide array of skills and interests. Having clear marketing objectives in a marketing plan in place for each of them makes sure everyone is paddling in the right direction toward a common goal. 

Why clear marketing objectives are critical to success

Marketing objectives serve as a guiding light when making strategic decisions for your business. They provide clarity and direction, ensuring your efforts align with your overall goals. Here’s how marketing objectives guide strategic decision-making:

Improve focus and prioritization.

With clear objectives in place, you can identify the strategies and tactics that will have the greatest impact on achieving your goals. This prevents you from wasting time and effort in areas offering little value toward your main objectives.

Allocate resources.

Marketing objectives help you determine where to allocate your budget, time, and staffing. By understanding your objectives, you can take the guesswork out of budget planning and focus solely on your highest-impact areas.

Align with your target audience. 

Your marketing objectives help you define your target audience and tailor your messaging and campaigns accordingly. They guide you in understanding your most likely buyers’ needs, preferences, and behaviors, enabling you to create more relevant and compelling marketing strategies.

Guide success measurement and evaluation.

By aligning your tactics with your objectives, you can establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to track progress and measure success. This data-driven approach helps you identify what’s working and what needs adjustment.

Adapt and pivot.

As the landscape evolves, you can refer to your objectives to assess whether your strategies need adjustment or if new opportunities align with your goals. That way, you can make informed decisions and respond effectively to changes in the market.

Hold your team (and yourself) accountable. 

Clear marketing goals ensure everyone is aligned and working towards a common goal. Decision-making becomes more cohesive and collaborative when there’s a shared understanding of the desired outcomes.

Two women discussing marketing objectives in a marketing plan in front of a board with sticky notes

Understanding influencer marketing objectives

Influencer marketing objectives are the specific goals that brands aim to achieve through campaigns with content creators. They’re there to guide you as you plan and execute influencer collaborations, ensuring campaigns align with desired outcomes.

Let’s start with some basics:

Influencer marketing’s role within digital marketing

Influencer marketing plays a vital role in digital marketing by harnessing the influence of online content creators to endorse brands, products, or services. By collaborating with creators with a dedicated following, businesses can authentically reach their target audience, ultimately boosting brand visibility and conversions. It also provides an opportunity to tap into niche markets, generate user-generated content, and establish long-term partnerships with influencers for ongoing collaborations.

How influencer marketing objectives differ from traditional marketing objectives

Influencer marketing objectives are often similar to traditional marketing objectives but with a few subtle differences. For example:

Target niche audiences.

Influencer marketing focuses on leveraging the influence and reach of specific individuals to target niche audiences. Traditional marketing often employs broader targeting strategies to reach a wider audience.

Establish trust and credibility. 

Influencer marketing aims to leverage the trust and credibility that influencers have built with their audience. Traditional marketing may rely more on advertising and promotional messaging.

Win with authenticity. 

Influencer marketing prioritizes authentic content creation and storytelling, aligning with the influencer’s personal brand and style. Traditional marketing often involves scripted advertisements or marketing messages.

Nurture engagement and long-term relationships.

Influencer marketing emphasizes fostering engagement and building relationships with the influencer’s audience. Traditional marketing may focus more on generating one-time sales or immediate conversions.

Collect user-generated content (UGC). 

Influencer marketing often involves the creation of user-generated content, where influencers and their followers actively participate in content creation. Traditional marketing typically relies on company-generated content.

Common types of influencer marketing objectives

There’s no limit to the number of objectives you can achieve with influencer marketing. As you get more comfortable with your strategy, you’ll develop more unique use cases. But for the sake of this blog, we’ll go over the most common goals influencer marketing can help with. 

Brand awareness

Most brands leverage influencers to introduce their products and services to a wider audience. The goal is to generate buzz, increase visibility, and create a positive association ( halo effect ) with your brand in the minds of consumers. 

If brand awareness is your goal, avoid getting too hung up on partnering with big-name influencers. Often, partnering with several micro or nano influencers can be as effective (and cost-efficient) as collaborating with a splashy name.

See Also: Is Going Viral with Nano Influencers Likely? The Answer Lies in Brand Love

Audience reach and engagement

Influencer marketing is a powerful tool for reaching and engaging specific target audiences. Brands collaborate with influencers whose followers align with their target demographic, allowing them to tap into an engaged community more likely to be interested in their offerings. The goal is to extend the brand’s reach, spark meaningful conversations, and foster authentic engagement with the audience.

Product or service promotion

This goal involves working with influencers to showcase and highlight specific products or services to their audience. By leveraging the influencer’s expertise, credibility, and personal experiences, brands can create compelling product promotions that drive interest, consideration, and potentially lead to sales.

Lead generation and conversion

Influencer marketing helps generate leads and conversions by encouraging followers to take action, such as signing up for newsletters, downloading content, or making purchases. Collaborate with influencers to drive traffic to your website, landing pages, or ecommerce platforms, with the ultimate goal of converting interested leads into paying customers.

Content creation and user-generated content (UGC)

Influencers are masters at creating engaging and visually appealing content that can showcase your products authentically. They can also encourage their audience to do the same. You can repurpose UGC from these efforts across various marketing channels to enhance brand storytelling, boost engagement, and provide social proof. Just make sure you have all the necessary content rights first. 

See Also: The Do’s & Don’ts of User-Generated Content Rights in Influencer Marketing

Tips for developing marketing objectives for influencer campaigns

Ready to create some marketing objectives for your next influencer campaign? Let’s take it from the top. 

Define overall campaign goals. 

First things first, let’s establish your goals. You can use the SMART goal formula for the best results. 

  • Specific: Ensure your goals are specific and clearly defined. 
  • Measurable: You should be able to easily track the progress and success of each goal you set. 
  • Achievable: Think big but not too big. Your goals should be realistic and attainable within the given resources and timeframe. 
  • Relevant: Make sure your goals align with your overall marketing strategy and target audience. 
  • Time-bound: Set a specific timeframe or deadline for achieving your goals. 

SMART marketing objectives examples

If you need some help getting the gears turning, here are a couple SMART goal examples based on the common objectives listed above:

  • Brand awareness: Increase brand mentions by X% within a specific timeframe
  • Audience reach and engagement: Achieving X number of video views and X engagement rate on influencer content within a specific timeframe.
  • Product or service promotion: Generate X number of conversions or sales from influencer-driven promotions within a specific timeframe.
  • Lead generation and conversion: Obtain X number of leads or email sign-ups through influencer campaigns within a specific timeframe.
  • Content creation and UGC: Encouraging X number of user-generated content submissions related to your brand within a specific timeframe.

How to write marketing objectives (free SMART goal template)

If you need a little help visualizing how to organize your SMART goals, feel free to check out our free SMART goal template to start getting everything down on paper. 

Free Download: SMART Goal Template

Conduct audience research.

You’ll need to learn everything you can about your audience before you can set objectives to help you effectively reach them. Here are a few thought-starters:

Define your target audience.

Start by clearly defining your target audience based on demographics, interests, behaviors, and psychographics. Consider factors like age, gender, location, hobbies, lifestyle, values, and preferences. 

From there, you can break your audience down into unique buyer personas. Having a persona for each member of your target audience helps you tailor your messaging and speak to their individual goals and pain points. 

See Also: How to Build a Buyer Persona: A Beginner’s Guide + Free Template

Utilize analytics and insights.

Gather data from your existing customer base, website analytics, social media insights, and other relevant sources. This data can provide valuable insights into your audience’s demographics, online behavior, interests, and engagement patterns. Analyze this information to understand who your current customers are and identify potential gaps or opportunities.

Conduct surveys and interviews.

Conduct surveys or interviews to gather direct feedback from your target audience. Ask questions about their preferences, needs, pain points, and interactions with influencers or social media. This qualitative data can provide deeper insights into their motivations, decision-making process, and preferences regarding influencer content.

Analyze competitor data.

Study your competitors and their influencer marketing strategies. Identify influencers they collaborate with and analyze the audience engagement and response to their campaigns. This can help you understand what resonates with your target audience and uncover potential gaps or opportunities in the influencer landscape. 

See Also: How to Use Your Competitors’ Customer Feedback To Your Advantage

Collaborate with content creators. 

Consider involving your content creators in the goal-setting process rather than just delivering a list of predetermined objectives. Getting their input beforehand ensures you’re setting goals that align with their strengths so they can provide the most possible value to your campaign. 

Set key performance indicators (KPIs).

KPIs are all the little stepping stones along the way to achieving your big-picture goals. They will help you know you’re on the right track and identify any roadblocks in your strategy before it’s too late to pivot. 

If your goal is to improve brand awareness, some KPIs might include:

  • Engagement rate: The number of post engagements divided by the number of followers. Multiply that number by 100 to get a percentage. 
  • Impressions: The total number of times people see the content.
  • Reach: The number of unique people who see your content.

If your goal is to encourage a specific action (sales, newsletter sign-ups, etc.), some KPIs might include:

  • Conversions: The number of times a prospect completes the desired action. 
  • ROI: The value earned from conversions divided by the cost to get them. 
  • CVR: The dollar amount spent per customer to earn a conversion.

If your goal is to generate content, some KPIs might include:

  • Number of pieces: How many repurposable pieces of content you receive. 
  • Engagement: How the creator’s audience responds to the content. 
  • Ad metrics: How well content performs when repurposed as paid media. 

If your goal is to improve website traffic, some KPIs might include:

  • Total visitors: the number of people coming to your site thanks to your creators. 
  • Time on site: How long someone spends navigating your website. 
  • Pages per session: How many pages visitors look at when they come to your site. 

 Track and evaluate objective performance.

Tracking and evaluating the performance of your influencer marketing objectives is crucial. It helps measure effectiveness, optimize strategies, determine ROI, identify opportunities and challenges, make data-driven decisions, and provide accountability. By analyzing the data, you can refine your approach, allocate resources effectively, and demonstrate the value of influencer marketing to stakeholders. It ensures continuous improvement and maximizes the impact of your campaigns on your overall marketing goals.

Marketing plan objectives: examples from brands that got it right

True citrus.

Drink mix brand True Citrus recently set a lofty goal to increase its creator roster from zero to 300 in just one quarter. Through careful planning and some help from GRIN’s Creator Discovery Suite , True Citrus accumulated 300+ net new content creators within the set timeframe and collected over 1,000 pieces of creator content. 

See Also: True Citrus: An Influencer Marketing Case Study

Orangetheory

In November 2022, Orangetheory’s small influencer marketing team ran a month-long campaign to capture leads and promote brand awareness. They aimed to work with at least 20 creators and accumulate no less than 1 million impressions. With a strong set of clear goals, Orangetheory shared its vision with brand-aligned content creators who soon became passionate advocates for the studio. 

See Also: Orangetheory Marketing: An Influencer Marketing Case Study

Key takeaway: Clear marketing objectives are the North Star for your influencer campaigns.

Successful marketing campaigns begin and end with clear objectives. For influencer marketing, be sure to get your influencers involved in the planning process. Pay attention to their performance as the campaign plays out, keeping a close eye on ways you can optimize your approach.  

Learn more about influencer marketing: Influencer Marketing 101

Frequently Asked Questions

Some of the most common marketing objective examples include:

  • Improving brand awareness
  • Driving website traffic
  • Generating leads
  • Increasing sales
  • Promoting a new product launch
  • Improving brand reputation
  • Expanding into new markets

When writing marketing objectives, be sure to use the SMART goal formula—specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. 

Some examples include: 

  • Increase brand mentions by X% within X amount of time.
  • Achieve X number of video views and X engagement rate on influencer content within X amount of time.
  • Generate X number of conversions or sales from influencer-driven promotions within X amount of time.
  • Obtain X number of leads or email sign-ups through influencer campaigns within X amount of time.
  • Encourage X number of user-generated content submissions related to your brand within X amount of time.

There is no one best marketing objective. The best objective for your brand will depend on your unique goals. However, some common ones include:

  • Generate brand awareness.
  • Increase conversions.
  • Drive sales.
  • Collect content. 
  • Improve web traffic.

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Written by Quinn Schwartz

Quinn studied journalism at the University of Kentucky and now lives in Portland, Oregon. He’s particularly interested in storytelling in digital marketing and cost-effective creator strategies for smaller brands. When he’s not writing, you can find him at a concert, dog park, or debating whether or not to go on a run.

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Can't find what you're looking for?

The Ultimate Marketing Plan Template: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Winning Strategy

Unlock strategic marketing with our guide on creating a dynamic plan. Explore key components, goal-setting, and tailored approaches for business success. Elevate your brand's visibility and drive results with expert insights. Your roadmap to marketing excellence starts here!

What's Inside?

In the dynamic realm of business, a well-crafted marketing plan is the compass that guides companies toward their goals. Whether you're a seasoned marketer or a budding entrepreneur, having a strategic roadmap is indispensable in navigating the competitive landscape.

This blog will delve into the intricacies of a robust marketing plan template, shedding light on its importance, key components, and the art of tailoring it to your unique business needs.

Join us on this journey as we demystify the process of creating a comprehensive marketing plan that not only elevates brand visibility but also drives tangible results.

marketing plan strategic objective

What is the Marketing Plan Template?

An organized document that describes a business's marketing strategy and methods for accomplishing particular goals is called a marketing plan template . It acts as a road map, giving businesses a methodical framework to organize, carry out, and assess their marketing initiatives.

A marketing plan template, which usually includes important components like goals, budgeting, target audience identification, market analysis, and execution schedules, helps companies match their marketing initiatives with their overarching objectives.

It guarantees that all stakeholders are in agreement with the marketing strategy and its implementation by offering a standardized framework that promotes consistency and clarity in communication.

marketing plan strategic objective

Why Does Every Business Need a Solid Marketing Plan?

No matter the size or sector, a strong marketing plan is an essential tool for any company. Having a strong marketing plan is essential for the following reasons:

Straightforward Focus and Direction:

A marketing strategy offers a well-defined path for the business's marketing initiatives. It helps to maintain team alignment and concentrate on common goals by outlining precise goals, target audiences, and methods.

Strategic Decision-Making:

Businesses are able to make well-informed and strategic judgments when they have a clearly defined marketing plan. Based on a careful examination of market trends and customer behavior, it directs decisions on the distribution of resources, the order of importance for campaigns, and the choice of marketing channels.

Efficient Allocation of Resources:

Marketing plans aid in the effective allocation of scarce funds and resources. Businesses may optimize the results of their marketing efforts by prioritizing projects and establishing reasonable budgets.

Competitive Advantage:

Businesses may pinpoint their distinct value propositions and differentiators with the help of a well-crafted marketing plan. Companies may successfully position themselves and obtain a competitive edge in the market by understanding the competitive landscape.

Engaging Your Target Audience: 

Effective marketing requires a thorough understanding of your target market. By using a marketing strategy, organizations may better focus their messaging and campaigns for maximum impact by gaining insight into the requirements, tastes, and behaviors of their target audience.

marketing plan strategic objective

Marketing Strategy vs. Marketing Plan

A marketing strategy is a broad, high-level plan that describes a company's long-term aims and objectives in order to gain a competitive edge that will last. The marketing department's decision-making is guided by this plan.

A marketing plan is a thorough, executable document produced from the marketing strategy. It converts the strategy into targeted campaigns, actions, and tactics that can be carried out in a shorter amount of time usually a year.

To sum up, a marketing plan template is an important resource for companies looking to launch a planned and methodical marketing strategy. It guarantees that marketing concepts are converted into workable plans, offering a precise road map for accomplishing goals and promoting effective teamwork.

marketing plan strategic objective

The Benefits of a Marketing Plan Template

  • Organized Framework:

Marketing strategy, techniques, and actions may be systematically organized with the help of a marketing plan template. This clarity facilitates the development of a coherent and well-structured plan.

  • Clearly Stated Objectives:

With the help of the template, firms can precisely outline their marketing goals, ensuring that all parties are on the same page and working toward the same goal.

  • Allocate Funds:

The template assists firms in successfully allocating resources across various marketing channels by providing sections dedicated to budgeting, therefore averting overpaying or underspending in particular areas.

  • A thorough analysis of the market

Usually, the template has sections for analysis and market research. This makes it easier to analyze market trends, the competitive environment, and the target audience in-depth, which offers insightful information for making strategic decisions.

  • Instrument of Communication:

Serving as a means of communication, the template guarantees that the marketing team and other relevant parties are in agreement with the overarching marketing plan. It functions as a reference guide for cooperation and alignment.

  • Consistency:

Consistency in language, branding, and general strategy across several marketing media is encouraged by the template. This guarantees a consistent and logical brand image.

  • Effectiveness:

The template saves time and effort throughout the planning phase by offering a uniform framework. When numerous team members are involved in the marketing planning process, this efficiency is quite useful.

marketing plan strategic objective

What questions should you ask when making a marketing plan?

When you're stuck or want to confirm that you've included all the necessary information, questions may be a helpful tool. When you're drafting your marketing strategy, consider starting with one or more of these inquiries:

  • Who is the audience I want to reach?
  • What problem does your company/blog/product solve for them?
  • What are their goals, objectives, and areas of discomfort?
  • How does our offering address their issues?
  • How can I interact with them?
  • Who are the people that compete with me?
  • Do they compete directly or indirectly?
  • What makes my product or service stand out from the competition?
  • Which avenues of marketing work best for the brand?
  • What is our timeframe and budget?
  • How will I assess whether my marketing efforts were successful?"

What is included in a Marketing Plan Template?

A comprehensive marketing plan template usually consists of a few essential elements that work together to provide a strategic road map for a company's marketing initiatives. The following are the key components of a marketing plan template:

Create an outline for your marketing plan

A marketing strategy outline may function as a table of contents for your finished plan and help you organize your ideas to make sense for the good or service you are providing. Depending on the type of business you run and your position in the market, your plan's specifics will change depending on whether you are a little or large corporation, a business-to-business (B2B), or B2C company.

Here is an example of a simple marketing strategy outline that you can customize to fit the demands of your company:

  • Table of Contents
  • Executive Summary
  • Mission and Vision Statement
  • Situational Analysis:
  • SWOT Analysis
  • 5C Analysis
  • Marketing Plan:
  • The Buying Cycle of Buyers
  • Specialty Product Offering
  • Financial Overview:
  • Budgetary ProjectioAnalyzing Breakeven
  • Presumptions

Here is some Table of Content examples from Decktopus :

marketing plan strategic objective

Let's explain what should include these key components:

  • Executive Summary : A brief outline of the full marketing plan.

Highlights the main objectives, tactics, and expected results.

  • Business Overview: Mission, vision, and values of the firm.

Overviews of the goods and services provided.

  • Market Analysis : competitive analysis, market trends, and industry overview.

Segments of the target market are identified.

  • Target Audience : Detailed profiles of the target audience.

Purchasing patterns, psychographics, and demographics.

  • Marketing Strategies: Selected methods to connect with and involve the intended audience.

Choice of marketing strategies and channels.

  • Marketing Goals and Objectives: Measurable aims that are in line with corporate goals

Definite, time-bound goals for any marketing campaign.

  • Competitor Analysis

When writing a marketing plan, a competition analysis must be included. When it comes to finding answers to their problems, your buyer persona has options. These options include the kinds of solutions they are considering and the suppliers that can implement them.

You should analyze your competitors' strengths and weaknesses as well as any gaps in the market that you might be able to close throughout your market research.

This may consist of:

  • Market portion

The precise items you compete with can be listed in Decktopus marketing plan Template, along with other aspects of the other company's approach like their blogging endeavors or reputation for customer service.

marketing plan strategic objective

  • Situational Analysis (SWOT Analysis): Analyzing the advantages, disadvantages, opportunities, and threats

Guides decision-making and strategic planning.

You can also create a SWOT Analysis with Decktopus.

Decktopus AI

Types of Marketing Plan Templates

Templates for marketing plans might differ according to the goals of the company, the industry, and the industry. The following categories of marketing plan templates address various facets of marketing strategy:

Quarter Marketing Plan Template

A quarter marketing plan template is an organized document that lists the marketing objectives, goals, and plans that a company wants to work on for a certain quarter, which is usually three months long. It offers a thorough road map for marketing initiatives carried out in a shorter amount of time and is a subset of the yearly marketing strategy as a whole.

Businesses who wish to divide up their yearly marketing strategy into doable, manageable plans might benefit from this kind of template, which gives them greater flexibility and adaptability to shifting market conditions.

marketing plan strategic objective

Digital Marketing Plan Template for SME's

A strategy document known as a Digital Marketing Plan for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) describes how a small or medium-sized company will use online channels and technology to accomplish its marketing objectives.

Since SMEs frequently have limited funding, the digital marketing strategy must be targeted, economical, and customized to the particular requirements of the company.

marketing plan strategic objective

Digital Marketing Plan Template

A digital marketing plan template is an organized document that lists the objectives, strategies, and methods that a company plans to use for its online marketing campaigns. Specifically created for the digital sphere, this template helps companies use different online platforms and tools to accomplish their marketing goals.

marketing plan strategic objective

Content Marketing Plan Template

A content marketing plan template is an organized document that lists the objectives, strategies, and methods that a company plans to use in its content marketing campaigns.

In order to draw in and keep the interest of a target audience, content marketing entails producing and disseminating worthwhile, timely, and consistent information. The purpose of the template is to help businesses plan, carry out, and assess the results of their content marketing campaigns.

marketing plan strategic objective

Brand Marketing Plan Template

A brand marketing template is a type of specialized framework that is used to direct the creation and implementation of strategies that are intended to establish and market a brand. Important components include target audience study, visual identity, message, brand positioning, and brand guidelines.

This template functions as an all-inclusive instrument to guarantee uniformity and coherence throughout all endeavors associated with the brand.

marketing plan strategic objective

These templates can be adjusted to a business's unique requirements and circumstances, or they can be used as starting points. In order to create a marketing strategy that is more successful and practical, it is important to select a template that is in line with the objectives of the business and the sector.

With Decktopus AI , users can effortlessly create engaging marketing plans presented as visually appealing decks. The platform's AI assistant offers real time Q&A and tips during presentations, fostering interactivity.

By adopting a storytelling format, Decktopus ensures more effective and memorable presentations, transforming traditional marketing plans into dynamic and immersive experiences.

How Can You Easily Create a Marketing Plan Template?

Here are the 10 steps for you to easily create a marketing plan template:

Marketing Plan Steps

  • Set Clear Objectives

Establish SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals for your marketing initiatives. These goals should give your marketing strategy a clear direction and be in line with your overall business objectives.

  • Identify Target Audience

Clearly identify and comprehend who your target market is. Determine the psychographics, behaviors, and demographics of the target audience so that you may effectively target and engage them with your marketing messages and initiatives.

  • Conduct a SWOT Analysis

Analyze the external opportunities and threats facing your company as well as its internal strengths and weaknesses. Using strengths, fixing weaknesses, seizing opportunities, and reducing risks, the findings from this study can help direct your marketing plan.

  • . Develop Key Strategies

Formulate overarching strategies that support your goals based on your SWOT analysis. The general method you will use to accomplish your objectives, such as diversification, product development, and market penetration, should be outlined in these strategies.

  • Create Tactical Plans

Provide concrete plans by outlining your strategies' precise techniques. This could include any activity that helps with the implementation of your strategies, such as email marketing, social media campaigns, SEO optimization, and content production.

  • Allocate Budget

Establish a budget by figuring out how much money is required for each strategy. In order to guarantee that your tactical plans are implemented effectively, take into account the expenses related to advertising, content development, tools, and personnel.

  • Define Metrics and KPIs

Decide on quantifiable measurements and key performance indicators (KPIs) that correspond with your goals. These KPIs will assist you in evaluating the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns and offer insightful information for future improvements.

  • Set Timeline and Milestones

Make a schedule that specifies the start and end dates of each strategy and set benchmarks to monitor your success. By doing this, you can make sure that your marketing campaigns are on schedule and in keeping with your company's overall goals.

  • Specify Team Responsibilities

Give each team member's tasks and responsibilities in carrying out the marketing plan a clear definition. This guarantees responsibility and an efficient workflow during the whole implementation phase.

  • Regular Review and Update

Plan frequent assessments to evaluate the effectiveness of your marketing initiatives in relation to predetermined KPIs. Make judgments based on the new knowledge, modify your approach as necessary, and make sure your marketing strategy continues to work in the ever-changing business environment.

These steps, when followed, will provide you a well-organized and thorough roadmap for creating and carrying out an effective marketing strategy. Frequent evaluations and upgrades guarantee flexibility in response to shifting market dynamics and aid in the accomplishment of long-term corporate goals.

To sum up, Explore the key steps to build an impactful marketing plan template using Decktopus . From setting objectives to defining KPIs, we guide you through the process seamlessly. Discover how Decktopus streamlines budget allocation, eases tactical planning, and facilitates collaborative team efforts.

With its user-friendly design, the platform simplifies the creation of dynamic marketing plans, making it accessible for both seasoned marketers and beginners. Elevate your strategy and adapt to market changes efficiently with Decktopus.

marketing plan strategic objective

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1) what is a marketing plan template.

A marketing plan template is a structured guide that outlines a business's marketing goals, strategies, and tactics for organized and effective campaigns.

2) Why is a Marketing Plan Important for Businesses?

A marketing plan is vital for goal achievement, consistent messaging, resource allocation, and informed decision-making, contributing to overall business success.

3) What Should be Included in a Marketing Plan Template?

Include clear objectives, target audience identification, SWOT analysis, key strategies, tactical plans, budget allocation, defined metrics, and a timeline. Decktopus simplifies this with user-friendly templates.

4) How Do I Create a Marketing Plan Using a Template?

Creating a marketing plan involves setting objectives, identifying the target audience, conducting a SWOT analysis, and developing key strategies. Decktopus streamlines this process with customizable templates and interactive features.

5) Can I Use a Marketing Plan Template for Different Types of Businesses?

Yes, a well-structured marketing plan template can be adapted for various business types. Decktopus provides versatile templates, customizable to suit the unique needs of different businesses, making it valuable for diverse industries.

marketing plan strategic objective

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Easy Step-by-Step Guide to the Marketing Planning Process

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An effective marketing planning process ensures your efforts are focused, your objectives are clear, and your campaigns are both creative and results-driven. It acts as a roadmap that keeps your marketing activities on track.

In this guide, we will walk you through the marketing planning process, breaking down its steps, highlighting its benefits with templates for practical use and showing you how to create a well-coordinated, strategic marketing plan.

What is a Marketing Planning Process?

Marketing planning process steps, benefits of a marketing planning process, who are involved in the marketing planning process, when to use the marketing planning process, how to improve your marketing planning process using creately.

The marketing planning process is a systematic series of steps that businesses and marketing teams follow to create a strategic plan for their marketing activities.

This process involves setting clear objectives, analyzing the market and competition, defining target audiences, selecting marketing strategies and tactics, creating a budget, and establishing timelines for execution. It makes sure that marketing efforts are well-organized, goal-oriented, and aligned with the company’s overall business objectives.

Regular assessment and adjustments are also part of the process to maximize the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

What is a Marketing Plan

Here’s how to create a marketing plan with 6 effective steps .

Marketing planning toolkit

The marketing planning toolkit is a complete collection of tools, templates, and resources that you can use to streamline and improve your marketing planning processes. It serves as a centralized hub for essential materials that help with the development, execution, and evaluation of marketing strategies. This toolkit is designed to simplify planning, collaboration, and analysis, catering to the diverse needs of marketing teams.

exit full-screen

The marketing planning process typically involves several key steps, which are as follows:

Set clear objectives

Start by defining specific and measurable marketing objectives. These objectives should align with the broader business goals and provide a clear direction for your marketing efforts.

Know your Market

Conduct a thorough analysis of the market, including an analysis of your competition , industry trends, and customer behavior. Understanding the market landscape is essential for crafting effective strategies.

Identify your target audience

Define your ideal customers or target audience segments. Understand their demographics, preferences, and pain points to tailor your marketing efforts accordingly.

Learn how to find your idea customer with our guide on target audience analysis .

Develop your strategy

Identify the overarching marketing strategies that will help you achieve your objectives. This may include product positioning, pricing strategies, distribution channels, and promotional tactics.

Create a detailed action plan that outlines the specific marketing activities and campaigns you’ll implement. This step should include timelines, budgets, and responsibilities for each task.

Allocate a budget

Allocate financial resources to various marketing activities in a way that ensures cost-effectiveness and supports the achievement of objectives.

Implement your plan

Execute the planned marketing activities, such as content creation, advertising, social media campaigns, and more. Make sure that these activities are aligned with the strategy and tactics outlined in the plan.

Monitor and measure results

Continuously track and measure the performance of your marketing efforts. Use key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to evaluate the success of your campaigns.

Adjust and optimize

Based on the data and insights gathered from monitoring, be prepared to make necessary adjustments to your marketing strategies and tactics to improve performance and better achieve your objectives.

An effective marketing planning process offers several key benefits to businesses and marketing professionals, such as:

Clarity and focus : An effective marketing planning process gives a clear purpose and direction for marketing efforts making sure that everyone involved understands what is expected of them.

Alignment with business objectives : Marketing plans are designed to align closely with the broader business goals, making sure that marketing efforts contribute directly to the company’s success.

Efficient resource allocation : It helps in allocating resources, such as time and budget, more efficiently, reducing the risk of wasted efforts or overspending on ineffective strategies.

Risk mitigation : By conducting market research and careful planning, it minimizes the risk of investing in campaigns or strategies that may not resonate with the target audience or market conditions.

Measurable results : Marketing plans include clear objectives and metrics for success, making it easier to measure the impact of marketing activities and make data-driven decisions.

Consistency and coherence : It helps make sure that marketing efforts are consistent across various channels and messages, creating a unified brand image.

Increased collaboration : The planning process involves various team members and stakeholders, fostering collaboration and ensuring that everyone is on the same page.

Competitive advantage : A well-planned marketing strategy can give a business a competitive edge by identifying and capitalizing on unique selling points and market opportunities.

The marketing planning process typically involves various individuals and roles within an organization.

  • Marketing team : Responsible for developing and executing marketing strategies.
  • Senior management : Provides guidance and approval for the overall marketing strategy.
  • Sales team : Collaborates to ensure alignment with sales objectives.
  • Product managers : Offer insights into product positioning.
  • Market research analysts : Provide data-driven insights.
  • Creative teams : Contribute to content and materials.
  • Finance department : Manages budget and resource allocation.
  • External agencies : Collaborate on strategy and execution.
  • Legal and compliance teams : Ensure adherence to regulations.
  • IT and technology teams : Implement marketing technology.
  • Customer service and support : Offer customer feedback insights.
  • Suppliers and partners : Involved in collaborations or partnerships.

The marketing planning process is essential whenever a business wants to introduce a new product, expand its market reach, rebrand, or improve its competitive position. It’s also crucial during times of significant change, such as mergers, market shifts, or when there’s a need to address declining sales.

Moreover, it’s beneficial for startups looking to establish a market presence or for established companies aiming to refresh their strategies. Essentially, whenever there’s a need for a clear, structured approach to achieve marketing goals or when there’s uncertainty in the market, the marketing planning process becomes an invaluable tool for guiding successful marketing initiatives.

Creately serves as a versatile, collaborative space where marketing professionals can visually brainstorm, plan, and execute their marketing strategies efficiently, making the marketing planning process more dynamic and accessible.

Visual workspaces

Start by setting up a virtual workspace on Creately. Create boards that represent different aspects of your marketing plan, such as market analysis, user personas, objectives, strategies, and tactics.

Collaborative brainstorming

Invite your marketing team to the workspace and encourage them to brainstorm ideas visually . Use digital sticky notes, brainstorming templates from the in-app templates library, and text to capture insights, objectives, and strategies. This collaborative approach allows for a diverse range of ideas.

Market research

Embed market research findings, competitor analyses, and relevant data into your workspace. Or attach documents, reports, etc. under the notes section of relevant shapes. This provides a shared resource for the team to reference during planning.

Visual mapping

Use Creately’s visual mapping tools to outline the customer journey, sales funnel, or any visual representation that helps convey your strategies and tactics more effectively. Additionally you can also find templates for these from the in-app template library or the templates community on the site.

Task assignment

Assign tasks and responsibilities with shape data. You can use Kanban boards and task cards to create tasks and assign them to team members and track their progress.

Real-time collaboration

Creately allows real-time collaboration with real-time multi-user editing, comments, Microsoft Teams integration, etc. so team members can work together, even remotely. It’s perfect for cross-functional teams working on marketing planning.

Presentation and sharing

Once your marketing plan is ready, you can export it for presentations or sharing with stakeholders. Creately offers various export options to ensure your marketing plan reaches the right audience effectively.

An effective marketing planning process is your key to successful marketing strategies. By setting goals, understanding your market, and creating a well-structured plan, you’ve laid the groundwork for marketing success. With the right approach, your marketing efforts will not only be creative but also well-aimed at achieving your business goals.

Join over thousands of organizations that use Creately to brainstorm, plan, analyze, and execute their projects successfully.

More Related Articles

Create a Detailed Marketing Plan With 6 Effective Templates

Amanda Athuraliya is the communication specialist/content writer at Creately, online diagramming and collaboration tool. She is an avid reader, a budding writer and a passionate researcher who loves to write about all kinds of topics.

Buying Journey Optimization | Pathmonk

A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your 2024 Marketing Plan

  • Lindsay Dowling
  • Growth Marketing
  • October 12, 2023

marketing plan strategic objective

It’s time to start planning next year’s marketing plan, that moment that some marketers dread. The challenges facing marketers in 2024 are multifaceted. Consumer behavior is shifting, technology is advancing at breakneck speed, and the competition is fiercer than ever. In order to thrive in this environment, your marketing plan must not only be comprehensive but also nimble , capable of adjusting to the ever-changing landscape.

Crafting a successful marketing strategy for the upcoming year requires more than just a creative spark; it demands a structured and data-driven approach. In this guide, we will navigate the intricate steps of building a marketing plan that will not only meet the demands of 2024 but also drive your organization toward success.

Assessing Your Current State

Creating an effective marketing plan for the next year begins with a deep dive into your current marketing landscape . You will likely have some knowledge already of what we’re covering in this initial step, but it’s still essential to gather a comprehensive understanding of all these areas because they might have evolved over the past months.

Step 1: Evaluating the Previous Year's Marketing Efforts

To move forward successfully, it’s essential to look back. Begin by conducting a comprehensive evaluation of your marketing efforts from the previous year. Scrutinize every campaign, channel, and tactic used. Key aspects of this evaluation include:

  • Performance Analysis: Dive into the data to understand what worked and what didn’t. Review key performance indicators (KPIs) such as conversion rates, click-through rates, and ROI for each campaign.
  • Budget Review: Evaluate how well you used your marketing budget. Identify areas where you overspent or underspent and assess whether the allocation aligned with your goals.
  • Content Review: Examine the content produced in the past year. Was it engaging, relevant, and aligned with your brand’s messaging? Did it resonate with your target audience?
  • Feedback and Surveys: Collect feedback from customers and stakeholders to gain insights into their perceptions of your marketing efforts. Identify areas for improvement based on their comments and suggestions.

Step 2. Analyzing Your Audience and Market Trends

Understanding your audience is paramount in crafting a successful marketing plan. In 2024, consumer behavior continues to evolve rapidly , driven by technological advancements and shifting cultural norms. Here’s how to stay ahead:

  • Audience Segmentation: Refine your understanding of your target audience by creating detailed buyer personas with the help of Pathmonk Intelligence and our template . Segment your audience based on demographics, psychographics, and behavior patterns.
  • Market Trends: Stay attuned to market trends and emerging technologies. Conduct market research to identify new opportunities and potential threats. This knowledge will help you anticipate shifts in consumer preferences and adjust your strategies accordingly.
  • Competitor Benchmarking: Analyze your competitors’ strategies and performance. Identify what sets them apart and where you can gain a competitive edge. Benchmarking can unveil untapped market opportunities.

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marketing plan strategic objective

Step 3: Identifying Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT Analysis)

A SWOT analysis is a valuable tool to gain a holistic view of your current position . It allows you to identify internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats. Here’s how to conduct a SWOT analysis effectively:

  • Strengths: Evaluate your organization’s internal advantages. What are you doing exceptionally well? This could be your talented team, unique products or services, strong brand reputation, or proprietary data.
  • Weaknesses: Identify areas where your organization falls short. These could include resource constraints, outdated technology, or gaps in your marketing capabilities.
  • Opportunities: Examine external factors that could positively impact your marketing efforts. This might involve emerging market trends, new platforms, or changing consumer behaviors that you can leverage.
  • Threats: Consider external factors that pose potential risks to your marketing plan. These could include increased competition, economic fluctuations, or regulatory changes.

By conducting a comprehensive assessment of your current state, you’ll be well-equipped to make informed decisions as you progress through the marketing planning process. This groundwork will ensure that your strategies are aligned with your business’s realities and poised for success in the dynamic marketing landscape of 2024.

Defining Your Marketing Objectives

In the journey to creating a comprehensive marketing plan for 2024, setting clear and strategic objectives is the next crucial step . These objectives will serve as your guiding stars throughout the year, helping you stay on course and measure your progress effectively.

Step 4. Setting SMART Goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound

  • Specific: Your marketing objectives should be highly specific and well-defined. Rather than a vague goal like ‘increase website traffic’, aim for something more precise, such as ‘increase organic website traffic by 25%.’
  • Measurable: Ensure that your objectives are quantifiable. This allows you to track progress and determine success. For example, if you want to boost social media engagement, you might set a goal to ‘increase average monthly likes and shares by 20%.’
  • Achievable: While it’s important to aim high, your objectives should also be realistic. Consider your available resources, budget, and capabilities. Setting unattainable goals can lead to frustration and burnout.
  • Relevant: Each objective should align with your overall marketing strategy and contribute to your company’s broader goals. Ensure that your marketing efforts are driving meaningful outcomes that matter to the business.
  • Time-bound: Set clear deadlines for achieving your objectives. This helps create a sense of urgency and accountability. For instance, you might aim to ‘launch a new email marketing campaign by the end of Q1.’

Step 5: Aligning Objectives with Your Company's Overall Goals

Marketing objectives should never exist in isolation; they must harmonize with your organization’s overarching goals . Here’s how to ensure alignment:

  • Company Vision and Mission: Start by revisiting your company’s vision and mission statements. Your marketing objectives should reflect the broader purpose and values of your organization.
  • Strategic Alignment: Examine your company’s strategic plan for 2024. Identify the key initiatives and growth areas outlined in the plan. Your marketing objectives should directly support and align with these strategic priorities.
  • Cross-Functional Collaboration: Engage with colleagues from other departments, such as sales, product development, and finance. Understand their goals and seek opportunities for synergy and collaboration. A unified approach across departments can lead to more impactful marketing objectives.

Step 6. Prioritizing Objectives Based on Their Impact

Not all marketing objectives are created equal, and it’s essential to prioritize them based on their potential impact on your business. Here’s how to make informed choices:

  • Impact Assessment: Evaluate each objective’s potential impact on key performance indicators (KPIs), such as revenue, customer acquisition, or brand visibility. Consider which objectives have the most significant potential to drive results.
  • Resource Allocation: Take stock of your available resources, including budget, manpower, and technology. Some objectives may require more resources than others. Prioritize objectives that align with your resource capacity.
  • Risk Assessment: Consider the potential risks associated with each objective. High-risk objectives may offer high rewards, but they also come with greater uncertainty. Weigh the risk-reward ratio when prioritizing.

Marketing Budget Allocation

Budget allocation is a critical aspect of any marketing plan. It’s where strategy meets reality , and decisions made in this phase have a profound impact on the success of your marketing efforts. Here’s a detailed exploration of how to effectively allocate your marketing budget:

Step 7: Determining the Marketing Budget for Next Year

  • Historical Data: Begin by examining your historical marketing budgets. Consider how much you allocated in previous years and the results you achieved. This provides a starting point for your 2024 budget.
  • Revenue-Based Approach: Some organizations allocate a percentage of their annual revenue to marketing. This approach ensures that your budget scales with your business’s growth. Common benchmarks range from 5% to 15% of revenue , depending on the industry and growth stage.
  • Goal-Based Budgeting: Align your budget with your marketing objectives. If you have ambitious growth goals, you may need to allocate a larger budget to support those objectives. Conversely, if you’re focused on maintaining market share, your budget may remain relatively stable.
  • Competitive Analysis: Research what competitors in your industry are spending on marketing. While you shouldn’t blindly match their budgets, this information can provide insights into industry norms and benchmarks.
  • Economic and Market Conditions: Consider external factors, such as economic conditions and market trends. Economic downturns may necessitate more cautious budgeting, while opportunities in a growing market may justify increased spending.
  • Emerging Opportunities: Stay open to emerging marketing channels or technologies that could be cost-effective and yield high returns. Allocating a portion of your budget to experimentation can lead to breakthroughs.

Step 8: Allocating Resources Across Various Marketing Channels

  • Channel Prioritization: Identify the most effective marketing channels for your business. This decision should align with your target audience’s preferences and your objectives. For example, if your audience is active on social media, allocate resources to social advertising.
  • Multi-Channel Strategy: Diversify your budget across multiple channels to reduce risk. Consider a mix of online and offline channels, such as paid advertising, content marketing, email campaigns, social media, affiliation, and traditional marketing methods.
  • Resource Allocation: Allocate resources based on channel performance data and historical ROI. Channels that consistently deliver a higher ROI should receive a proportionately larger share of your budget.
  • Testing and Optimization: Reserve a portion of your budget for testing new channels or optimizing existing ones. Continuous experimentation allows you to adapt to changing consumer behavior and market dynamics.

Touchpoints in the Customer Journey: What are Touchpoints in Your Marketing Strategy?

Step 9: Calculating Return on Investment (ROI) Expectations

  • Set Clear ROI Goals: Establish specific ROI goals for each marketing channel and campaign. Clearly define what success looks like in terms of revenue, customer acquisition, or other relevant KPIs.
  • Attribution Modeling: Implement effective attribution modeling to track the impact of each marketing channel on conversions. Understand the customer journey and how different touchpoints contribute to ROI.
  • Monitoring and Analysis: Continuously monitor the performance of your marketing campaigns in real time. Analyze data to identify what’s working and what’s not. Be prepared to adjust your allocation based on these insights.
  • Long-Term vs. Short-Term ROI: Consider the balance between short-term and long-term ROI. Some marketing efforts, like brand-building initiatives, may not yield immediate returns but are essential for sustained growth.
  • Budget Flexibility: Maintain flexibility in your budget to respond to changing ROI trends. If a particular channel is underperforming, reallocate resources to more promising opportunities.

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Crafting Your Marketing Mix

Your marketing mix is the combination of strategies and tactics you use to reach your target audience effectively. Crafting this mix requires careful consideration of various elements.

Step 10: Choosing the Right Marketing Channels

  • Audience Alignment: Start by revisiting your buyer personas and market research. Ensure that your chosen marketing channels align with where your audience spends their time. Different demographics may prefer various channels.
  • Channel Suitability: Consider the nature of your products or services. Some offerings may be better suited for visual platforms like Instagram or Pinterest, while others may thrive on professional networks like LinkedIn.
  • Competitor Analysis: Analyze where your competitors are active. While you shouldn’t blindly follow their choices, understanding their channel selection can provide insights into effective platforms within your industry.
  • Budget Considerations: Evaluate the budget required for each channel. Some channels, such as pay-per-click advertising, may have higher upfront costs, while others, like content marketing, may demand more ongoing resources.
  • Diversification: Maintain a diversified presence across multiple channels to reduce risk. Relying too heavily on one channel can leave you vulnerable to fluctuations in its performance or changes in algorithms.

Step 11: Developing Your Content Strategy and Calendar

This step is about precision, consistency, and delivering value.

Your content strategy is more than just a collection of blog posts and social media updates; it’s a dynamic roadmap that guides your brand’s storytelling, educates your audience, and drives your marketing objectives . A well-structured content strategy paired with a thoughtfully planned calendar ensures that your message reaches the right audience at the right time , delivering maximum impact.

  • Content Alignment: Ensure that your content aligns with your marketing objectives and the preferences of your target audience. Content should provide value, whether it educates, entertains, or solves a problem for your audience.
  • Editorial Calendar: Create a well-defined editorial calendar that outlines the content topics, formats, and publication dates. A calendar helps maintain consistency and ensures that content supports your marketing objectives.
  • Content Cadence: Determine the frequency of content publication. Balance consistency with quality; it’s better to publish high-quality content less frequently than to sacrifice quality for quantity.
  • Content Amplification: Develop a strategy for amplifying your content through social media, email marketing, and other distribution channels. This ensures that your content reaches a wider audience.
  • Measurement and Iteration: Implement tools to measure the performance of your content. Track metrics like engagement rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. Use this data to refine your content strategy over time.

Step 12: Leveraging New Technologies and Automation

Technology and automation have become the unsung heroes of marketing, providing the tools and capabilities that can elevate your strategies to new heights of efficiency and effectiveness. Review the following:

  • Marketing Technology Stack: Assess your existing marketing technology stack and identify any gaps or opportunities for improvement. Invest in tools that streamline your processes and enhance efficiency.
  • Marketing Automation: Implement marketing automation to reduce manual tasks and improve personalization. Automation can help with email marketing, lead nurturing, and customer segmentation, among other tasks.
  • Data Analytics: Leverage data analytics tools to gain deeper insights into customer behavior and campaign performance. Analyze data to identify trends, optimize strategies, and make data-driven decisions.
  • Personalization: Use AI to deliver personalized experiences to your audience. Tailor content, product recommendations, and messaging to individual preferences and behavior with Pathmonk Accelerate . You can preview how it will work on your website with our Interactive demo.

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Building Campaigns and Tactical Plans

This phase is all about transforming your strategic vision into tangible, action-oriented marketing campaigns and tactical plans.

Step 13: Creating Marketing Campaigns Aligned with Objectives

  • Objective-Centric Approach: Every marketing campaign you create should be a strategic endeavor, purposefully designed to achieve one or more of your predefined marketing objectives (review step 4). Align the campaign’s goals with the broader mission of your marketing plan.
  • Tactic Prioritization: In crafting your marketing plan, avoid a scattergun approach. Consider two vital factors— impact and resources —before diving into execution. You can create a matrix with these factors on the axis for better understanding. Always focus on tactics that promise significant results with minimal resource investment . This ensures efficient use of your assets and a strategic path to success.
  • Message Consistency: Ensure that your campaign messaging is consistent with your brand’s voice and values. Cohesive messaging builds brand recognition and trust with your audience.
  • Segmentation and Personalization: Tailor your campaigns to specific audience segments. Leverage the data gathered in Step 2 to create personalized content and offers that resonate with each segment.

Step 14: Setting Up Tracking and Reporting Mechanisms for Your Campaigns

  • KPIs and Metrics: Define the key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics that will measure the success of your campaigns. These could include conversion rates, click-through rates, engagement metrics, and revenue generated.
  • Analytics Tools: Implement robust analytics and tracking tools to monitor campaign performance in real time. Platforms like Pathmonk Intelligence can provide valuable data about your campaign performance without using privacy-invasive cookies.
  • Reporting Frequency: Determine how frequently you will generate campaign reports. Regular reporting ensures that you stay informed about your campaign’s progress and can make timely adjustments. Set up your custom reports on Pathmonk Intelligence and get your updated metrics with just one click.
  • Data Integration: Integrate data from various sources to create a holistic view of campaign performance. Cross-channel insights can uncover valuable trends and opportunities.

By building well-defined campaigns that align with your objectives, setting clear timelines and milestones, and establishing robust tracking and reporting mechanisms, you’ll be poised for successful execution in your 2024 marketing plan. This phase b ridges the gap between strategy and results , enabling you to measure the impact of your efforts and refine your approach for optimal performance.

Measuring ROI and Analytics

As the saying goes, ‘What gets measured gets managed’. You will not reach this phase until your campaigns are over, but it’s worth developing it here as you will have to include it in your marketing plan evaluation. 

In this pivotal phase, the focus sharpens on quantifying the outcomes of your marketing efforts and harnessing the power of data-driven insights to steer your strategies toward greater success.

Step 15: Analyzing Campaign Performance Against KPIs

  • KPI Assessment: Evaluate each campaign’s performance against the key performance indicators (KPIs) you set earlier in your plan. Analyze data such as conversion rates, click-through rates, engagement metrics, and more.
  • Comparative Analysis: Compare campaign data with historical performance and industry benchmarks. Identify what worked exceptionally well and where improvements are needed.
  • Segmentation Insights: Dive into data segmentation to understand how different audience segments responded to your campaigns. Tailor your strategies to better meet the needs of specific segments.

Step 16: Calculating Return on Investment

  • ROI Calculation: Calculate the return on investment for each campaign by weighing the gains against the costs. Consider both direct revenue generated and the long-term value of acquired customers.
  • Cost Analysis: Scrutinize the campaign expenses, including budget allocation and resource utilization. Identify areas where cost-efficiency can be improved.
  • ROI Benchmarking: Benchmark your ROI against industry standards and competitor performance. This context provides valuable insights into your campaign’s success.

Reporting and Communication

In the final step of your 2024 marketing plan, we shift our focus to the crucial tasks of reporting and communication. This phase is where you bring together all your hard work, data, and insights to showcase the impact of your marketing efforts and foster a collaborative environment for future enhancements.

Step 17: Preparing Comprehensive Marketing Reports

  • Data Compilation: Gather and compile data from various sources, including campaign performance metrics, ROI calculations, and customer feedback, as gathered in previous steps. Ensure accuracy and completeness in your data.
  • Visual Representation: Create visually engaging reports that present data in a clear and understandable format. Use graphs, charts, and infographics to convey key insights effectively.
  • Executive Summary: Include an executive summary at the beginning of your report to provide a concise overview of your marketing achievements and key findings.

Your marketing plan is more than just a document; it’s a living, breathing roadmap that will guide your marketing efforts throughout the year. With a solid foundation in place, you’re well-prepared to navigate the challenges and seize the opportunities that lie ahead.

Remember, marketing is not a one-time event but a continuous process of refinement and adaptation . As you implement your plan, be agile, monitor progress, and be open to change. Seek out new trends, technologies, and emerging strategies that can amplify your efforts.

Never underestimate the importance of communication and collaboration. Your ability to report on your achievements, share insights, and engage with stakeholders will be crucial in fostering a culture of innovation and success within your organization.

In the coming years, marketing will continue to be a dynamic and exciting field, driven by technological advancements, shifting consumer behaviors, and evolving industry trends. With your well-crafted marketing plan as your guide, you’re poised for a year of growth, impact, and achievement.

So, as you take the final steps in preparing your marketing plan, do so with confidence, knowing that you have the knowledge, strategies, and insights to make the most of the opportunities that await. Here’s to a year of marketing success and continued growth in 2024 and beyond.

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15 marketing plan examples to inspire your work

Marketing plan examples

Whether you’re a marketer or managing a team of marketers, a marketing plan is essential to keep your department on track. Following a marketing plan ensures your team executes the correct strategy and achieves its goals.

But every business is different, which means every marketing plan is unique. It’s helpful to see marketing plan examples to understand all the different formats and types of marketing plans.

In this guide, we’ll share 15 examples of successful marketing plans to inspire your team to create its next great strategy. We’ll also share best practices and tools to set direction and provide structure for your marketing efforts. At the end of this article, you’ll have a better understanding of how to create the right marketing plan for your organization.

This post will cover:

How to create a marketing plan

  • Visit Baton Rouge
  • University of Illinois
  • Lush Cosmetics
  • The Wisconsin Public Library
  • Botanical Bounty
  • The Palm Beaches, Florida
  • The City of West Chicago
  • Safe Haven Family Shelter
  • Austin, Texas
  • Visit Oxnard

Create a strong marketing plan for your business

Adobe can help, marketing plan faq.

Before we look at marketing plan examples, it’s important to understand the foundational concepts of how companies structure their marketing plans.

Every organization is unique, but you can create a marketing plan by first identifying your business goals and establishing the metrics you’ll use to measure results. From there, learn about the customers you’re targeting and conduct competitor research. Then you can organize a team and set a budget before creating the marketing plan.

When it’s time to write the marketing plan, make sure your document includes these seven sections at a minimum:

  • Executive summary. This is a high-level overview of your business and the marketing approach you’ll follow.
  • Mission statement. Describe your company’s unique selling proposition (USP) and your brand’s purpose.
  • Marketing objectives. This section of the plan should focus on marketing-specific goals that will help you achieve your broader business objectives.
  • SWOT analysis. Through a SWOT analysis, your team will identify internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats.
  • Market research. This section of the marketing plan addresses your market, competitors, existing solutions, and target audience.
  • Marketing strategy. The marketing strategy part of your plan should detail exactly how you’re going to achieve your marketing goals. Be as specific as possible to make this document valuable to your marketing team.
  • Budget. Finally, break down your marketing tactics and assign a budget for each area of your strategy. If your budget changes frequently, set aside a certain percentage of your total budget for each tactic, instead of dollar amounts.

Once you create a marketing plan, you might wonder whether it’s effective or if there’s a better way to structure the plan for your situation. For example, a SaaS business has very different needs than an ecommerce company, so your marketing plan likely needs some level of customization.

If you need more direction, check out marketing plan examples from businesses within your industry or with a similar business model. Learn from these 15 successful marketing plan examples to create an effective plan for your own business.

1. Visit Baton Rouge

Visit Baton Rouge as an example for a marketing plan

Baton Rouge, Louisiana might not be as well-known as New Orleans, but the vibrant city wanted to change that through an ambitious new marketing plan . Not only is the plan organized and easy to follow, but it does a great job of highlighting the needs of its multiple audiences.

For example, its separate personas for “Leisure Travelers” and “Sales/Meetings Travelers” help Baton Rouge create custom marketing journeys based on each persona’s unique expectations. The marketing plan has a fully fleshed-out strategy that includes an event calendar, which gives the marketing team actionable next steps after creating its plan.

2. University of Illinois

In 2021, the University of Illinois set out to boost enrollment. Its Office of Undergraduate Admissions created an in-depth marketing plan with three major sections:

  • Section I provides context on the admissions process and knowledge of its target students.
  • Section II dives into market research on the current state of admissions and student demographics.
  • Section III details the university’s strategic action plan, including success metrics.

The University of Illinois marketing plan is effective because it breaks down the high-level components of its strategy, as well as specific marketing tactics. Instead of aiming for generic goals like “interact with high school students,” the plan indicates specific tactics to make that happen, such as direct mail campaigns, swag, and events.

As this marketing plan example for Sony shows, it’s possible to compose a simple but actionable plan for your team. The plan keeps its introduction, vision, and marketing objectives clean, to-the-point, and easy to read.

This marketing plan does a great job of focusing on pricing as a marketing differentiator. Although you might consider pricing to be a sales or product issue, it can have a direct impact on how customers perceive your business. Specify what your prices will be, how the pricing model works, and why your pricing is a differentiator.

4. Coca-Cola

Marketing plans are usually documented in text, but this isn’t the only way you can share your marketing plan with the team. For example, Coca-Cola created its own video marketing plan in 2020. The video follows the typical format of a written marketing plan, but distills big concepts into easily digestible visuals through the power of video.

This approach is ideal if you need to communicate the contents of your marketing plan to a large group or to marketing-adjacent teams, like sales or product development. It doesn’t hurt that the whiteboard-style cartoon animation draws viewers in to ensure everyone truly understands your marketing strategy.

5. Lush Cosmetics

Lush Cosmetics is a renowned international beauty brand. In anticipation of its expansion into Portugal, Lush created a new marketing plan for customers in this new market.

The Lush in-depth marketing plan touches on several elements, including:

  • Specific geographical areas of Lush’s two stores in Portugal, and the unique considerations for shoppers in these areas.
  • Physical marketing within Lush stores, including the store and staff direction, as an extension of the marketing team.
  • The brand’s unique approach to sensory marketing, which describes precisely how Lush products appeal to all of its shoppers’ senses.

When crafting your own marketing plan, consider adding new sections that are unique to your brand, such as Lush’s section on sensory marketing. This will make the plan more relevant to your business and simplify execution.

6. The Wisconsin Public Library

The Wisconsin Public Library created this no-frills marketing plan example specifically for other organizations to copy and use. Although it’s intended for use by libraries, anyone can access and use the components in this free marketing plan template.

The Wisconsin Public Library marketing plan includes several helpful resources. For example, the “Research Your Audience” section links to resources for conducting audience research, including the United States Census and focus groups.

As with any template, be sure to replace the library’s content with information about your business and market. This marketing plan example doesn’t include a list of marketing tools or media. If that’s important to your company, be sure to create a new section detailing the tools your marketing team will use to execute the strategy.

7. Patagonia

Sometimes it’s difficult for companies to articulate their mission statement. However, every business has a greater purpose. Outdoor brand Patagonia is a great example of how large companies should lead marketing initiatives with a mission statement.

On the Patagonia website , the brand makes its mission statement clear: “We're in business to save our home planet.” This isn’t lip service — Patagonia donates a percentage of its profits to protecting the environment.

Your marketing plan needs to marry your corporate mission statement with direct action. For example, if you’re a B2B brand and your mission is to support small businesses with affordable accounting software, your marketing plan could include interviews with small business owners. Or maybe you could host local get-togethers for small business owners while promoting your brand.

The goal is to blend your mission statement with your marketing tactics in a way that makes it clear your business is truly living out its mission statement.

8. Cyberclick

Cyberclick is a marketing agency based in Barcelona, Spain. As a marketing agency, it knows the importance of understanding its target audience.

In this marketing plan example, Cyberclick creates multiple buyer personas to help it understand customer pain points. For example, it has personas like Bilingual Brandon, Millennial Molly, and Donor Dana to understand the unique traits of its target buyers.

When composing your own marketing strategy, follow Cyberclick’s example by creating in-depth personas that your marketing team will find useful. Your personas should include:

  • Demographic information
  • Geographic information
  • Social media preferences
  • Personality
  • Personal and professional goals
  • Pain points
  • Software and tools used

9. Starbucks

Starbucks as an example of a marketing plan

Coffee giant Starbucks is famous for its distinctive brand elements. Consumers immediately recognize the hunter-green mermaid logo, but the Starbucks marketing plan doesn’t just revolve around clever branding. If anything, the company’s success comes down to the buyer experience.

In fact, experience is part of the Starbucks marketing plan . The company targets higher-earning professionals who are willing to pay a premium for drinks. Instead of simply serving coffee, its marketing team works with interior designers and architects to create posh spaces that encourage buyers to spend time in the store as a “third place,” which also increases brand engagement and retention.

Your marketing plan should address the experience buyers can expect from your brand. In an age when many businesses compete over customer service and experience, the quality of service you provide can also give you a competitive marketing advantage.

10. Botanical Bounty

Botanical Bounty is an herbal tea and supplement company based out of New York City. In this marketing plan example , the Botanical Bounty executive summary quickly spells out the problem, solution, market overview, competition, and unique selling proposition (USP) for the company. Formatted like a case study, the executive summary is easy to read and does a great job of summarizing the entire report.

Botanical Bounty also highlights specific due dates for its marketing milestones, as well as target metrics for those milestones. Many marketing plans fail to set specific due dates for milestones, but Botanical Bounty holds itself accountable for executing the plan by assigning due dates for each goal.

11. The Palm Beaches, Florida

The Palm Beaches is known for upscale homes and beaches, but the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County wanted to turn the Florida town into more than a beach destination. In its marketing plan , the council lays out its plan to transform The Palm Beaches into a hub for culture and art in a post-COVID environment.

The marketing plan first describes the council’s past successes in 2020 and 2021, which lays the groundwork for the 2022 marketing plan. This is a great way to show a continuation between different marketing plans, especially if your company’s past initiatives feed into this year’s strategies.

12. The City of West Chicago

The City of West Chicago has a rich history, but it’s largely misunderstood by people in the surrounding areas. In an effort to revitalize tourism, the city created a new marketing plan to rebrand itself and promote the area as a travel destination.

If you’re considering a new image or brand for your company, the West Chicago marketing plan is a great example to follow. The plan creates new market segments for the city’s ideal audience, a plan to drive awareness, and a list of strategic partnerships to aid in the rebrand.

13. Safe Haven Family Shelter

Safe Haven Family Shelter is a nonprofit that aids families experiencing homelessness. Its 2022 marketing plan tells the story of Safe Haven while promoting itself as an industry authority.

In this marketing plan example , Safe Haven takes an action-focused approach. Its template aligns objectives and action steps side by side, assigning staff members to each action step. The marketing plan also includes items like an editorial calendar and social media calendar, which its staff use for planning precise messaging that fits the organization’s larger goals.

14. Austin, Texas

Austin Texas Marketing

Austin, Texas isn’t just the state capital — it’s also considered the live music capital of the world. However, tourism dipped substantially during the pandemic, and the city’s Visit Austin nonprofit responded with an updated marketing plan to attract tourists to the Texas capital.

The Visit Austin marketing plan includes a visual representation of its wins from 2021, which measured the impact of the organization’s work in past years. But this marketing plan truly shines in terms of its market research. Visit Austin not only conducted in-depth research about travelers’ plans to visit Austin, but also visualized this data in an engaging format to boost understanding.

15. Visit Oxnard

Oxnard, California, faced similar challenges with pandemic recovery. Visit Oxnard created a marketing plan to position the city as a destination for both leisure and business.

What’s unique about the Visit Oxnard plan is that it leans heavily into the business side of travel. Its marketing plan includes considerations for business events and meetings, as well as a strategy for attracting film productions as a less expensive alternative to Los Angeles. This is a great example of how marketing plans can introduce new, out-of-the-box positioning and segmentation to take advantage of a gap in the market.

Marketing plans clarify your focus and give marketing teams a solid vision of what they need to do. But not all plans are effective. It’s important to develop a strong marketing plan to give your audience exactly what it needs, as well as make a name for yourself in an increasingly competitive market.

While these 15 marketing plan examples are a great jumping-off point, you might need more guidance on how to create a marketing plan. Check out Adobe’s guide to building a marketing plan to get the most results from your marketing plan. You can also use our marketing plan templates to save time organizing and formatting your marketing plan.

You need a marketing plan to move forward. But then you need to execute your plan, and that’s where things can get complicated.

After investing in a marketing plan, opt for an automation platform to save time and deliver a better user experience. Adobe Marketo Engage helps businesses make sense of complex buying journeys. Build engaging, personalized experiences at scale and prove your impact every step of the way with this all-in-one marketing platform.

Watch the Marketo Engage overview video or take the interactive tour to learn more.

What is a marketing plan?

A marketing plan is a documented strategy for how a business plans to promote itself over a period of time. Organizations use this marketing plan to set goals, learn about their audience, and create marketing campaigns to help the business stand out.

What are some marketing plan examples?

Coca-Cola created a unique marketing plan formatted not as a written document, but as a video. This marketing plan example is a great illustration of how businesses should make their marketing plans as digestible as possible to increase internal adoption and understanding.

What are the elements of a good marketing plan?

Every good marketing plan should include an executive summary, a mission statement, marketing objectives, a SWOT analysis, market research, a marketing strategy, and a budget. Many marketing plans include additional sections as needed, depending on an organization’s goals and strategy.

https://business.adobe.com/blog/basics/digital-marketing-strategy-definition

https://business.adobe.com/blog/basics/strategic-planning

https://business.adobe.com/blog/basics/learn-about-marketing-campaign-management

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Creating a Killer Marketing Communication Strategy: Step-by-Step Guide

ClickUp Contributor

February 5, 2024

Communication and presentation play a crucial role in marketing. If you can’t effectively convey the benefits of your products or services to the target audience, your marketing campaigns will fail to reach their true potential. You need a clear idea of what to say about your offerings, when to say it, and in what manner to win over your customers’ hearts and minds. ❣️

That’s where a marketing communication strategy comes into play. It’s an overarching plan that dictates the tools and channels you’ll use to send a compelling and consistent message that hits home with your audience, all while aligning with your broader marketing objectives.

But how do you craft an effective communication strategy for your marketing campaigns? We’re here to walk you through the nine steps of formulating a perfect marketing plan that ensures your brand message is communicated loud and clear. We’ll also introduce you to a powerful tool that can be your trusty sidekick at each step of this process. 

What Is a Marketing Communication Strategy, and Why Do You Need One?

Step 1: start with the target market, step 2: determine the goal, step 3: focus on your unique selling proposition, step 4: define and maintain your brand identity, step 5: choose your channels, step 6: time your message, step 7: document everything, step 8: measure the results, step 9: be consistent.

A marketing communication strategy is a roadmap for presenting your product and conveying its value to your target customers in a way that speaks to their needs and pain points. It is an essential ingredient for the success of your marketing efforts because your potential customers can make a purchase decision only when they understand how your offering helps solve their problems. 

A marketing communication strategy consists of four key elements:

  • Audience: This refers to your target market—the potential customers who will be buying your products and, therefore, will be the target audience of your marketing content and campaigns
  • Message: This is the point you try to convey through your marketing campaigns. It may consist of your product’s unique selling proposition (USP) and the way it solves problems and addresses the needs of your target groups
  • Medium: This refers to the marketing channels, aka the platforms where you deploy your marketing campaign and its content. The audience you’re trying to target should be present on these channels or mediums
  • Timing: The timing of your message also plays a crucial role in any marketing communication strategy. If your message or campaign is mistimed, it will undoubtedly fall flat without generating any ROI

9 Steps for Crafting a Perfect Marketing Communication Strategy

Below are the nine essential steps for developing a marketing communication strategy that gets your brand message across. Remember, you don’t have to go through them solo—implement them with the help of ClickUp , a platform designed to make any work easier . Let’s dive in! 😇

All things marketing start with identifying target audiences . Kickstart this journey by conducting market research to profile and segment your ideal customers . Some of the data you may want to collect at this point include:

  • Demographic data (i.e., age, gender, location, etc.)
  • Income level
  • Education level
  • Entertainment choices
  • Pain points

Once you have your data, look for patterns in it. Use these insights to build user persona(s) of your targeted audience. No idea how to go about it? No worries! ClickUp has your back with handy user persona templates to give you a head start. 

Pro tip: Use ClickUp AI and templates to build your personas faster

User Persona Template by ClickUp

Use the ClickUp User Persona Template or the User Persona Whiteboard Template to build accurate buyer personas together with your team. The templates provide a solid framework for organizing all the data you collected about your target customers, including gender, ethnicity, occupation, and age group. Once the personas are finalized, you can easily share them with stakeholders.

ClickUp AI , the platform’s native AI assistant , can also come in handy for crafting your user personas. Its AI Persona Generator eliminates the need for cumbersome market research—just input key details about your product and your target audience, and the tool will generate the persona for you in seconds. It can’t be easier than that!

What’s the endgame for your marketing campaign? Are you looking to sell a product, create awareness, or build a brand? In any case, you should clearly understand your marketing objectives and goals because your marketing communication strategy will depend on them.

While you may have a general notion of your marketing and business goals, it’s time to divide them into specific and measurable targets. Outline key performance indicators (KPIs) that will gauge the completion of your goals and establish targets for those KPIs. Here are a few examples of marketing KPIs paired with clearly defined marketing goals:

Keep in mind that your goals should be realistic and achievable . A good reference point is your industry’s average for those metrics. 

Just like you conduct market research to determine who your potential customers are and what they want, you can perform competitor analysis and industry research to reveal the average performance of major players regarding crucial marketing KPIs. Armed with this info, you’ll be well-equipped to set realistic goals for your marketing communication strategy. 

Pro tip: Use ClickUp Goals and Milestones

ClickUp 3.0 Golas simplified

Define and track your goals and objectives using the ClickUp Goals feature, which provides a visual overview of your marketing efforts. You can track sales and revenue targets, task targets, overall project progress, and anything else you want to keep a watchful eye on. This will help you ensure your marketing communication strategy achieves its desired objectives in terms of follower growth, link clicks, subscriptions, and sales revenue.

A unique selling proposition (USP), sometimes referred to as a unique value proposition (UVP), is a brief statement that communicates your product’s distinct benefits. Therefore, you should build your marketing communication strategy around effectively conveying your USP . To do so, it’s crucial that you clearly define it first. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to hammer out your USP:

  • What are the key features of my product or service?
  • How do those key features help my customers? What is the problem or pain point they resolve?
  • What is the terminology and language my target customers use to describe their pain points?
  • How can I communicate the USP of my product using the same language or terminology?
  • How is my offering different from the competition?

Answers to these questions will help you figure out the ideal voice and product aspects to focus on in your marketing communication strategy. It’s also possible that you’ll have more than one USP corresponding to different target customer groups. In that case, you may want to connect your USPs not just to customer pain points but also to buyer groups or personas. 📌

Pro tip: Use ClickUp Whiteboards, Mind Maps, and templates to define your USP

Whiteboard Mapping

ClickUp Whiteboards and Mind Maps help you match target customer pain points and personas with your product to determine the USP(s). Use these virtual canvases to represent your product’s key features and benefits in the form of sticky notes and connect them with your customer’s problems and needs. 

These tools can also be used for brainstorming and planning. They enable seamless, real-time collaboration between you and your team that can lead to new insights about your products and customers.

Meanwhile, the ClickUp Product Positioning Template can help you define the value proposition of your key features. With dedicated fields for mission statements, taglines, features, pain points, and more, it lets you document and clearly define your USP.

If your message isn’t conveyed in a language easily understandable to your target audience or if it’s not in line with the brand image you want to cultivate, the marketing communication strategy is unlikely to be effective. 

All your marketing activities must reflect your brand’s identity by consistently following guidelines for using key branding elements , including brand voice, logo, and imagery. 🖼️

Pro tip: Use ClickUp to find your brand voice and create style guides

ClickUp has various AI-powered features to help define elements of your brand identity, including the ClickUp Brand Tone Generator and ClickUp Style Guide Generator . Both tools come with templated AI prompts for quickly generating a voice and style guide based on the information you provide about your brand and target audience. 

On top of that, ClickUp has several ready-made templates for various branding purposes. Some of them include:

  • ClickUp Branding Template to build a library of brand assets and styling elements
  • ClickUp Branding SOP Template to establish clear guidelines for your brand alignment goals and identity and voice
  • ClickUp Brand Identity Template to create a unique set of assets that reflect your brand’s personality
  • ClickUp Brand Guidelines Whiteboard Template to create your brand guidelines in a visually expressive manner

ClickUp Branding Template

The next step in your marketing communication strategy is choosing the most appropriate communication channels to deliver the right marketing message. Identify the marketing channel(s) your target customers are most likely to use based on the previously defined customer personas and segments. 

For example, if your product caters to younger demographic cohorts, you should most likely focus your communication efforts on online channels like social media platforms. In contrast, if your target audience is made up of baby boomers, consider communicating with them via television or even radio. 📻

Deliver the right marketing message about your product at a time when your target customers are most likely to be looking for a solution to the problem you’re trying to solve. The timing will largely depend on the results of the previous steps, like defining personas and choosing communication channels. Here are some general guidelines to follow:

  • Post on social media platforms when a majority of your potential customers are likely to be online
  • Run audio-visual ad campaigns when most of your target customers are likely to see them
  • Maximize marketing efforts when there’s peak demand for your products (this is especially true for seasonal products)

Personas, goals, USPs, brand guidelines—every aspect of your communication strategy you came up with until this point has to be properly documented and organized for easy access and reference . Doing so allows you to replicate those parts of the strategy that worked and to modify those that didn’t in your future marketing endeavors. 

Pro tip: Use ClickUp Docs to organize your marketing communication strategy

ClickUp 3.0 Docs Subpages Simplified

ClickUp Docs is a text editor and document management system that can help you organize your customer personas, USPs, and branding elements in one easily accessible and searchable place. Import your Whiteboards and Mind Maps, add links, files, and images, and improve the navigation of the strategy document with subpages and relationships. 📃

And thanks to collaboration features like real-time editing, tagging, and commenting, you and your team members can work together until you come up with the perfect communication strategy. Once you’re done, easily share the document with anyone you want using permission control settings. 

Regularly assess the effectiveness of your marketing communication strategy to ensure its success. Keep a close eye on the strategy’s performance by measuring it against predefined business goals and KPIs for optimal results.

Pro tip: Use ClickUp’s reporting and analytics features to extract valuable insights

ClickUp has powerful data analysis features that can help you make sense of how your strategy is performing by monitoring its key success metrics. Use ClickUp Dashboards to track and visualize the real-time progress of your marketing campaigns with pie charts, line graphs, and other visual elements. These dashboards can be shared with stakeholders so they can keep track of the success metrics they care about.

On the other hand, you can use the ClickUp Analytics Report Template and the ClickUp Data Analysis Report Template to create insightful reports about your strategy’s performance. Share these reports with relevant stakeholders to better explain how your strategy is fairing.

Lastly, don’t change your marketing communication strategy frequently. Once you’ve defined it, stick to it for some time (i.e., at least a month or two) before concluding that certain modifications are necessary. And remember, decisions to change your strategy should be based on the careful analysis of your marketing performance data rather than assumptions. 🔬

Build a Solid Marketing Communications Strategy and Maximize Your ROI with ClickUp

Your marketing communications plan influences almost every aspect of your marketing strategies and methods. It serves as a matchmaker between your product and your target customer, defines your brand identity, and dictates your preferred marketing channels. 

The good news is that developing a well-integrated marketing communications strategy is a breeze with ClickUp’s fantastic features and templates. And when it comes to learning from past mistakes and staying accountable, fall back on ClickUp’s nifty reporting features and dashboards.

So, sign up for ClickUp today and start working on a marketing-communication mix that will supercharge your customer engagement and sales! 💪

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

Rebecca Riserbato

Published: January 04, 2024

Free Marketing Plan Template

marketing plan strategic objective

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

Thank you for downloading the offer.

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

marketer using a free marketing plan

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

Download Now: Free Marketing Plan Template [Get Your Copy]

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

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

In this article, we're going to discuss:

  • What a High-Level Marketing Plan Includes

How to Create a Marketing Plan

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

marketing plan strategic objective

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

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

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

Marketing plan outline.

free marketing plan outline

Download This Marketing Plan Outline for Free

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

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

1. Business Summary

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

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

Most business summaries include:

The company name

Where it's headquartered

Its mission statement

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

2. SWOT Analysis

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

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

3. Business Initiatives

marketing plan template for hubspot

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

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

4. Customer Analysis

marketing plan customer analysis template

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

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

Personal challenges

Triggering event

5. Competitor Analysis

marketing plan competitive analysis template

Positioning

Market share

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

6. Market Strategy

marketing strategy for business lan

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

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

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

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

Physical Evidence

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

marketing plan Budget template

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

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

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

Outsourcing costs to a marketing agency and/or other providers

Marketing software

Paid promotions

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

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

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

8. Marketing Channels

marketing plan marketing channels template

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

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

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

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

9. Marketing Technology

marketing plan outline: marketing technology

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

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

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

1. Conduct a situation analysis.

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

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

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

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

2. Define your target audience.

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

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

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

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

3. Write SMART goals.

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

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

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

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

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

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

4. Analyze your tactics.

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

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

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

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

5. Set your budget.

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

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

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

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

Marketing Plan Timeline

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

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

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

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

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

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

HubSpot marketing plan calendar tool

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

One-Page Marketing Plan Template

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

HubSpot one-page marketing plan template

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

business summary example

2. Business Initiatives

Business Initiatives example

3. Target Market

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

Target Market example

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

marketing plan budget example

5. Marketing Channels

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

marketing plan marketing channel example

Free Marketing Plan Template [Word]

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

free marketing plan template

Download your marketing plan template here .

Marketing campaign template.

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

A marketing campaign template should include the following key components:

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

Digital Marketing Plan Template

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

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

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

Social Media Marketing Plan Templates

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

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

Download 10 social media reporting templates here .

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

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

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

1. Social Media Questions

Social media publishing analysis and questions

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

What We Like

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

2. Facebook Live Schedule

facebook live schedule for marketing

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

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

3. Instagram Post Log

Instagram post log for social media publishing management

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

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

4. Paid Social Media Template

paid social media template for annual budgeting

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

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

5. Social Media Audit

Social media audit template

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

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

6. Social Media Editorial Calendar

Social media editorial calendar template

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

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

7. Social Media Image Sizes

Social media image size template

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

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

8. Social Media Marketing Proposal

Social media marketing proposal template

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

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

9. Social Media Reporting Template

Social media report template

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

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

10. Hashtag Holidays

Social media hashtag holidays

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

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

Simple Marketing Plan Template

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

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

Try our free Marketing Plan Generator here .

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

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

simple marketing plan template

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

Start the Marketing Planning Process Today

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

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

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Small Business Trends

How to create an inbound marketing plan + 26 strategies.

Inbound marketing has gained center stage in the digital era. It represents a fundamental shift in how a small business looks at customer engagement. Changes in customer behaviors have fueled the move from television ads, billboards, and cold calling to digital inbound marketing.

This type of marketing supplies relevant and helpful content to an intended audience. Digital technologies like search engines, content platforms, and social media have fueled the change.

Marketing managers need to be aware that inbound marketing is a must-have. They need to craft strategies that take into account data analytics, social media engagement, SEO and other digital tools. 

inbound marketing plan

What is an Inbound Marketing Strategy?

An inbound marketing strategy focuses on attracting customers with good content tailored to meet a target audience’s needs. It uses content creation, SEO, landing pages, and calls to action to build relationships. Tools like social media interactions and personalized email marketing campaigns are included.

Detailed buyer personas are also essential to understanding your desired customer. Inbound marketing needs to integrate different digital channels, such as email, blogs, and social media, into one unified approach. 

inbound marketing plan

Small Business Deals

Crafting your inbound marketing strategy.

There’s a process involved when trying to assemble an inbound marketing plan. Read the following tips to help you align the plan with your business objectives.

Establishing Clear Inbound Marketing Goals

SMART goals are realistic, aligned with a business strategy, and have specific timelines. This is an excellent way to plan, track, and achieve marketing success.

The Role of Marketing Automation in Inbound Strategy

Automation tools play a pivotal role in the realm of inbound marketing, streamlining and optimizing various marketing processes to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. These tools are designed to automate repetitive tasks, allowing marketers to focus on strategy and creativity.

Automation in inbound marketing facilitates personalized communication with prospects and customers at scale, ensuring timely and relevant interactions that nurture leads through the sales funnel. By leveraging data and analytics, these tools help segment audiences, personalize content, and measure marketing campaigns’ performance, thereby improving the overall customer experience and increasing the ROI of marketing efforts.

Key roles of automation tools in inbound marketing include:

  • Automating the capture and nurturing of leads until they are sales-ready.
  • Sending targeted and personalized email campaigns based on user behavior and preferences.
  • Scheduling and posting content across various social platforms, and analyzing engagement.
  • Segmenting audiences based on their interactions, behaviors, and demographics for targeted marketing.
  • Customizing content delivery based on user data to improve relevance and engagement.
  • Automatically tracking and analyzing the performance of marketing campaigns.
  • Streamlining marketing workflows for efficiency and consistency in communications.
  • Integrating with Customer Relationship Management systems for a unified view of customer interactions.
  • Engaging with website visitors in real time to answer queries and gather information.

Automation tools in inbound marketing significantly contribute to a more efficient, effective, and personalized marketing strategy, ultimately leading to better customer experiences and improved business outcomes.

inbound marketing plan

Conducting Keyword Research for SEO Optimization

Proper keyword research is vital to optimizing blog posts and other forms of content. Analyzing the search volume, competition, and relevance is essential to ensure the content ranks and resonates with your intended audience. For example, businesses optimizing local business marketing will likely focus on different keywords than a global e-commerce brand.

Utilizing Inbound Marketing Tools

Excellent marketing tools help create and manage outstanding strategies. There are both paid and free marketing tools that can enhance and streamline strategies by personalizing content, analyzing customer data and automating engagement. Here are some types of inbound marketing tools to consider:

  • For creating, managing, and optimizing website content
  • Examples: WordPress, Drupal, Joomla
  • To improve website visibility in search engine results
  • Examples: Google Analytics, SEMrush, Moz
  • For designing, sending, and tracking email campaigns
  • Examples: Mailchimp, Constant Contact, SendinBlue
  • To manage and analyze social media postings and engagements
  • Examples: Hootsuite, Buffer, Sprout Social
  • For managing interactions with current and potential customers
  • Examples: Salesforce, HubSpot CRM, Zoho CRM
  • To create engaging content like blogs, videos, infographics
  • Examples: Canva, Adobe Creative Cloud, Grammarly
  • For capturing and managing leads from various channels
  • Examples: HubSpot, LeadPages, OptinMonster
  • To track, analyze, and report on marketing campaign performance
  • Examples: Google Analytics, Tableau, Kissmetrics
  • For automating marketing actions like emails, social media, and other website actions
  • Examples: HubSpot, Marketo, Pardot
  • To engage with visitors in real-time on your website
  • Examples: Intercom, Drift, LiveChat
  • For hosting live and recorded webinars as a part of content marketing
  • Examples: Zoom, GoToWebinar, WebEx
  • To connect with and manage relationships with influencers
  • Examples: AspireIQ, Upfluence, Traackr
  • To collect and showcase content created by users or customers
  • Examples: Yotpo, TINT, Curalate
  • For gathering customer feedback and insights
  • Examples: SurveyMonkey, Typeform, Google Forms
  • To manage and track affiliate marketing programs
  • Examples: ShareASale, Commission Junction, Impact
  • For creating and optimizing landing pages for lead conversion
  • Examples: Unbounce, Leadpages, Instapage
  • For testing different versions of webpages to optimize for conversion rates
  • Examples: Optimizely, VWO, Google Optimize

These tools, when used effectively, can significantly enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of an inbound marketing strategy, helping businesses to attract, engage, and delight customers.

inbound marketing plan

26 Inbound Marketing Strategies

Here are some effective inbound marketing strategy choices.

1. Conversion Focused Blogging Strategy

Blogs that convert visitors into leads involve compelling Calls to Action, which must be paired with relevant and informative content.

2. Email Marketing Campaigns

Personalized email campaigns tailor the offers, tone and content based on purchase histories and demographic information.

3. Social Media Engagement

One proven way to engage followers on social media is to host webinars. Q@A sessions work just like regular interactive events. These foster a sense of community and feedback.

4. Interactive Content Creation

Interactive infographics, polls, and quizzes engage audiences by immersing them in a dynamic personal experience.  BuzzFeed often uses quizzes like  “Which City Should You Actually Live In?”

5. Video Marketing

Tutorials and “how-to” videos are highly effective forms of video content.  YouTube has a vast user base that is always looking for instructional and educational videos, making it a good platform for small businesses to engage a big audience.

inbound marketing plan

6. Podcasting

Podcasts are engaging and personal. They help to establish brand authority and build a loyal community that spills over into customer relationships. Industry trends include Q&A sessions and real-time polls that enhance listener feedback and engagement.

7. Webinars and Workshops

Hosting these educational events online does wonders for an inbound campaign. Webinars and workshops can position your brand as an industry thought leader. Try hosting regular topic-specific webinars and or workshops addressing common industry challenges.

8. User-Generated Content in Inbound Marketing Campaigns

User-generated content leverages customer-created material to build trust and authenticity. A small business can run contests where customers can submit testimonials, videos, and photos of product experiences.

9. Content Syndication

Sharing blog posts on other platforms enhances credibility by exposing content to broader audiences. It drives traffic back to your website. Just ensure you align your content with complimentary platforms or industry blogs.

10. Influencer Partnerships

This is about leveraging the credibility and audience of a respected figure in your industry.  Micro-influencers are a good bet for small businesses. Make sure the followers they have match up with your target demographic.

inbound marketing plan

11. Guest Blogging

Guest blogging helps to improve search engine rankings with backlinks. Only write posts for reputable blogs in your niche, offering solutions and insights. Research the optimal length of a blog post.

12. Landing Page Optimization

Effective landing pages create persuasive, focused, user-friendly content that aligns with your campaign goals. A/B testing can help you determine which elements, like layouts, work best.

13. Search Engine Marketing

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) drives targeted traffic. Improve click-through and conversion rates by using the right targeted keywords. This improves the lead nurturing process.

14. Remarketing Campaigns

Re-engaging previous visitors is the goal. Use cookies to track visitors and then remarket by displaying ads to the same people as they browse other websites.

15. Affiliate Marketing

You can drive sales through trusted recommendations using affiliate marketing. An affiliate program can pay a commission to a blogger for every lead or sale they generate.

inbound marketing plan

16. Community Building

You can build a community by engaging on social media. Small businesses can offer informative content and create groups and forums where customers and clients can interact.

17. Customer Referral Programs

Offer rewards, discounts, and other benefits to clients who refer new people to your small business. This is a great way to foster loyalty and expand your client base organically.

18. Q&A Sessions

Q&A sessions are effective at building trust and demonstrating expertise. Host them on webinars or social media platforms.

19. Live Streaming

Choose from different platforms like YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. Showcase Q&A sessions or product demonstrations to enhance your brand’s authenticity.

20. Testimonials and Case Studies

These real-world examples also provide social proof of the value of your service or product. Showcasing testimonials on social media and websites is an effective method, especially for those looking to add empathy in digital marketing .

inbound marketing plan

21. Infographics and Visual Data

These are excellent at presenting complex information in a simple, engaging, easily digestible format. Best practices for infographics include clean design and concise text.

22. Social Media Advertising

Social media connects with specific target audiences based on demographics, behaviors and interests. Make sure that the platform you’re using has advanced contextual targeting options that regularly analyze ad performance.

23. Analytics and Feedback

Analytics and feedback are essential. Feedback is necessary to understand your client’s pain points and preferences. Analytics should track user behavior to optimize content.

inbound marketing plan

24. E-books and Whitepapers

Reports and in-depth guides provide valuable content that positions you as an expert. Offer free downloads to gather contact information to build an email list.

25. Content Marketing

Providing relative content establishes your brand as a trusted resource. High-quality content that includes infographics, videos, and blog posts is vital to driving traffic.

26. Lead Nurturing through Email Sequences

Segmenting email sequences based on subscriber interests and behavior will deliver relevant content.

inbound marketing plan

Creating an Inbound Marketing Plan Template

A template for your one-page marketing plan featuring inbound marketing strategies should include:

  • A definition of clear, measurable goals.
  • An outline of your target audience that includes age, location and gender.
  • An analysis of the competition’s inbound marketing strategies.
  • A content strategy that includes infographics, whitepapers, ebooks and blogs.

Other factors to include in a template include a budget and timelines for each strategy component. You’ll need to have the frequency and tools you will use to track KPIs. Then you can include

Maximizing the Inbound Marketing Plan Template

Using the template properly in the planning stage means putting together a content calendar to stay consistent. In the implementation phase, you should invest in content and customer relationship management tools and research content marketing statistics to optimize your ideal strategies . You’ll also need to choose the proper social media platforms.

 Regular monitoring through analytics will help you understand what’s working and what isn’t.  

inbound marketing plan

Key Takeaways for a Successful Inbound Marketing Campaign

 An excellent campaign starts with a good understanding of your target audience. The content you create should be engaging and valuable. It should educate and inform on a variety of different channels. Remember to implement robust SEO tools to improve organic reach. 

Leveraging your data through analytics will help you improve inbound marketing efforts constantly.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the first steps in creating an inbound marketing plan.

The first steps in creating an inbound marketing plan involve identifying your target audience, defining your marketing goals, and understanding your buyer’s journey. Conduct market research to create detailed buyer personas and map out a content strategy that aligns with your audience’s interests and needs.

How do I set goals for my inbound marketing plan?

Setting goals for your inbound marketing plan should be based on specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) criteria. Common goals include increasing website traffic, generating leads, improving conversion rates, and building brand awareness.

What types of content are essential for an inbound marketing strategy?

Essential types of content for an inbound marketing strategy include blog posts, ebooks, whitepapers, infographics, videos, and podcasts. The content should provide value to your audience, address their questions and pain points, and be optimized for search engines.

How can I use social media in my inbound marketing plan?

Use social media in your inbound marketing plan to distribute content, engage with your audience, and build community. Tailor your content to the specific platform and audience demographics, and use social media analytics to track engagement and refine your strategy.

What role does SEO play in an inbound marketing plan?

SEO plays a pivotal role in an inbound marketing plan by making your content more visible and accessible to your target audience through search engines. This includes keyword research, optimizing website content and structure, and building quality backlinks.

How do I measure the success of my inbound marketing efforts?

Measure the success of your inbound marketing efforts by tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) such as website traffic, lead generation, conversion rates, and customer engagement. Use analytics tools to monitor these metrics and adjust your strategies based on the data.

How often should I review and update my inbound marketing plan?

Review and update your inbound marketing plan regularly, ideally quarterly or bi-annually. This ensures your strategy stays aligned with evolving market trends, customer behaviors, and business objectives. Regular reviews also allow you to adapt to feedback and performance metrics.

Image: Envato Elements

marketing plan strategic objective

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How to Plan a Law Firm Marketing Plan to Guarantee Success

Ivan Vislavskiy

If you’re reading this, you probably don’t. In fact, most marketing managers of law firms we talk to operate on a tactical level and usually give us a blank stare when we ask them about their law firm marketing strategy. And, as Sun Tzu said in The Art of War, “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory, tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”The right marketing strategy is critical in generating new clients and, therefore, increasing revenue for any law practice.

You always develop a strategy before you go into a courtroom to fight for a client, don’t you? So, why overlook marketing planning?

How to Create a Law Firm Marketing Strategy?

  • Define your law firm’s business goals.
  • Choose a target audience for your law firm.
  • Select which digital marketing tool you need to find your ideal client.
  • Decide how much to invest in digital marketing.
  • Know how you’re going to measure your progress.

marketing plan strategic objective

Why Does Your Law Firm Need a Sound Marketing Strategy?

One of the most common and expensive mistakes many law firms make is treating their firm as just a law practice and not a business. A practice typically amounts to a job for the owner, with a few support staff people. It is not worth much without a lawyer, and it can’t be sold for much when he/she decides to retire. Therefore, implementing an effective law firm advertising strategy is key to increasing a law firm’s income.

Consider this fact: the median income for attorneys in the US is $120,900 , that’s after going through really tough law school and working for many years. Yet, the top law firms make $500,000+. What’s the difference? It is certainly not because the former have invested less money in their education or less effort in their careers. The difference is having a high-performance marketing for law firms system in place, the foundation of which is a solid strategy with achievable marketing law firm goals.

The Must-Have Law Firm Marketing Strategies for Any Attorney

Marketing a law firm the only business process that truly attracts prospective clients, which makes it the #1 factor shaping most law firms’ income and business value.

Having said this, we understand developing law firm marketing strategies is a headache, and if you don’t know how to approach it, it could turn into a total waste of time. This is why we’ve created a simple framework to make things easier.

Don’t miss out on the latest law firm marketing tips . Get started on the path to success by checking out our blog.

How to Get More Clients For Your Law Firm

Download the report

How to Create a Law Firm Marketing Strategy

Law firm marketing strategies can be incredibly complex, but it is the simple ones that are usually successfully implemented. So, we’ve created a very easy-to-follow process for implementing active marketing activities for your law firm.

Delivering Business Results: Our Digital Marketing Case Studies

Barr & Douds Attorneys

1. Set up Your Business Goals

In most cases, the goals of law firms we talk to relate to growth: they want a higher client intake and higher revenue. But that’s not enough! You should measure this business development goal financially and attach a time frame to it. This makes it a SMART one: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based.

What are your business goals?

SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound

For example, instead of saying you want more money, say you want your gross revenue to increase by $500 000 within the next 12 months.

A successful law firm marketing strategy should always lead to setting and achieving a “SMART” goal, whether it’s to do with your overall legal services strategy, an email marketing campaign, or developing a new mobile-friendly law firm website.

Setting up your goals with the help of a law firm marketing agency helps identify the crucial factors that predict whether you will actually be able to accomplish your law firm advertising strategy.

Elevate your law firm’s marketing strategy in 2024 with expert guidance on setting effective objectives for lawyers . Explore our insightful blog post.

1.1. Be SMART

You must’ve heard the SMART goals acronym a hundred times:

A good example of a SMART goal is “Increase revenue by 50% by December 31, 2019” . In order to come up with such a goal, you should think about how much you’re making now and what you’d like to be making, what is your average revenue per client, how many more clients your firm can handle, etc.

1.2. Revenue Focused Goals

While you should consider the number of clients you can handle and your average income per client, your ultimate growth goal should be expressed in revenue growth. Think about how much you’re making now and how much you’d like to make, and what is the realistic growth you can achieve within a year, for example.

Setting revenue-based goals can help you estimate what your marketing budget should be and what marketing ROI for lawyers you should expect. This is important because if you don’t have your revenue goal, you can easily choose a marketing company that gives you a lower price without realizing that this lower price really means worse results and lower return on investment, and a lot of missed opportunities.

2. Define Your Target Audience

First, think of whom, exactly, your types of clients are. Based on that answer, you can then start to hone your legal marketing strategies to target more clients that fit your ideal profile. Even if you think you know who you want to serve and who they are, sit down and put it in writing. Here are some questions to ask yourself to get a better grip on your “buyer’s persona” — which is what we call ideal clients in marketing:

  • Where are paying clients based?
  • How old are your potential clients?
  • What problem(s) do they want you to help them solve?
  • How are they most likely to try to solve the problem?
  • What questions or concerns are the most likely to have before hiring you?

Understanding your audience is crucial to reaching the people you want as clients.

Comrade Digital Marketing Agency can help you with the above if you’re unsure how to go about it. Schedule a free consultation .

3. Find Where Your Marketing Can Be Most Effective

Ideally, you wouldn’t have to find them: you would make sure they find you when they need you. A marketing strategy for a legal website should include tools specially tailored to attract your potential clients.

How do you find your ideal clients, and/or how do you want them to find you?

The online search statistics

Either way, the answer to this question should be a list of marketing channels to focus on. While traditional marketing for lawyers still works to a limited extent, we recommend investing most of your law firm budget and efforts in online marketing (according to Clio’s 2018 Legal Trends report, a combined 78% of consumers look for lawyers online). It is more effective and makes it easy for you to see the specific results of your investment.

If you practice law where you serve consumers directly, like criminal defense, personal injury, estate law, and others, make sure you put Google and YouTube on that list of marketing channels. Search engine results pages are where most of your clients go to look for answers to their questions and to choose an attorney to work with.

4. Create a Consistent Law Firm Messaging

Developing the right law firm marketing campaigns for your law firm also depends on your context and expertise. Now that you know your audience, and you’ve defined what will attract them, you should focus on crafting your message. The best way to go about it is by answering the questions you get asked most often by prospective clients . You’re probably answering them over the phone, by email, and even at dinner parties.

What Kind of Law Firm Website Information Would Help Your Marketing Strategy?

What are you going to say to your ideal clients?

Answer the questions your potential customers may ask

Don’t overlook questions and their answers, which may seem simple and obvious to you. Your clients don’t have your expertise. Law firm websites should answer frequently asked questions related to their practice area on their sites.

Using local keyword data to answer legal questions your ideal clients frequently search for online will make your website rank higher in Google searches. Additionally, it boosts your internal linking structure, which also helps improve your ranking on search engine results pages. Every bit of effort helps, considering Google uses over 200 ranking factors.

Next, think about the process your potential clients go through before they reach out to your business online. When a potential client visits your law firm’s website, they want to know that you have solved similar problems to the one they’re having. They may be intimidated by the process of hiring a lawyer (it is expensive, after all). They don’t know how to choose the best lawyer (hopefully, they choose you over your competitors).

When you know what information they need, you can make sure to provide it on a high-performance website and through your content marketing strategy. As long as you answer your prospects’ questions and calm their fears, you’ll be able to turn more of them into clients.

5. Create a Law Firm Marketing Budget

Budgeting for marketing can be difficult for law firms, as there is no clear guidance most of the time. Here is what’s important for you to know before you decide on a marketing budget:

A Poorly Performing Law Firm Marketing Plan Will Be More Costly in the Long Run

How much are you going to invest in marketing your law firm?

Cheap lawyer marketing strategies are always expensive. It may be tempting to hire a cheap law firm marketing agency ($500 -$1,500 per month), but not only will you waste money (an agency cannot deliver many services for this little money), you’ll also lose opportunities.

That’s right, your competitors, who have hired proficient marketing companies, will attract and get the clients you wanted because they’re using effective marketing tactics. And, considering the compound effect of having this happen month after month, this can be incredibly expensive.

On the other hand, a top digital marketing company for lawyers may seem expensive to you. Still, it is usually worthwhile because it generates a strong return on investment.

So, hire a proficient legal marketing agency, and invest a reasonable amount to achieve your growth goal; typically, 7 to 11% of your revenue.

The best marketing strategies for law firms allocate a portion of their marketing budget toward client retention. This is what will get you recommendations and repeat business from past clients who have already used your service. It is essentially picking the low-hanging fruit.

Ready to optimize your law firm’s internet marketing budget ? Unlock expert insights in our comprehensive guide.

5.1. Cost per Lead

marketing plan strategic objective

Speaking of a marketing agency that offers lower costs: here is what you should focus on when you choose an agency to work with:

When an agency explains what they are going to do for you, the questions to ask are “How many new leads would this generate?” and “How much would we be spending per lead?”

Several good leads at a reasonable cost per lead is the desired outcome of the marketing spend, not the money saved on marketing.

Let’s look at an example to illustrate how the cost-per-lead metric can help you choose the agency to work with. If agency A tells you they charge $5000 per month and agency B tells you they charge $3000 per month for absolutely the same type of services, agency B seems like the obvious choice. However, ask them about how many leads you can expect (and they should know and be willing to share that information — if they’re not, that’s a big red flag) and the numbers may look different.

If agency A brings in about 100 leads per month, and agency B brings in 30 leads per month, that’s a cost of $50 per lead against a cost of $100 per lead. Now, what’s the obvious choice?

6. Decide on Concrete Steps That Will Lead to Desired Results

Planning is a great thing, but a marketing plan for lawyers must be acted on to achieve results. Go through all the steps we’ve discussed and write down what you need to do and in what order you need to do it so that you start seeing results.

Business Goals Are Also Key to Developing the Right Attorney Marketing Strategies

What needs to be done in order for you to achieve your goals?

For example, you probably need to schedule a meeting with your partners to decide on your specific digital marketing strategy goals, as well as your marketing budget. You may also have to do some brainstorming to understand who your ideal clients are, write down what legal problems keep them awake at night, and then answer those questions.

Of course, the best thing to do is to hire an experienced digital marketing agency for lawyers, especially if you’re working in a high competition area like Chicago, where the wrong marketing decisions will really cost you. Don’t forget that you never stop marketing your legal services. You just update the tactics, speaking of which…

7. Monitor, Report, and Improve on Your Results

How will you monitor, report and continuously improve results new

Legal directories are a great way to improve your visibility among clients

Marketing is not a set-it-and-forget-it kind of deal. To see the results you want, you need to look at how your law firm marketing campaigns perform and adjust as needed.

If you are working with a digital marketing agency for lawyers, they should explain how they do this. If they can’t, or won’t, it’s best not to hire them or to end your contract with them ASAP.

A reputable law firm marketing company will be able to showcase how their law firm marketing services will improve your business, as well as provide market research and online marketing reports to track your law firm’s progress.

Here are just a few reasons why constant monitoring and adjustment of your marketing plan for a law firm is necessary:

  • Some marketing channels and legal directories work better than others . A good example of this is the use of online platforms for lawyers to boost visibility. While Avvo is the largest platform for lawyers and gets the most traffic, this doesn’t mean that it is the best platform for your law firm. Depending on where you are based and your law practice, something else like social media posts might work better. This is why we always test various content marketing platforms with our clients before selecting the one that consistently produces good results.
  • The competition never sleeps . Say you’re in the top three organic search engine results (the unpaid results below the ads) on Google for a certain keyword. You may think you’re done with SEO , but other law firms will eventually dethrone you if you stop working on it. You see, while getting the top spot on Google is difficult, keeping it — especially for the most competitive keywords and most competitive areas in the country — is even more challenging. Google constantly updates search results based on the authority of each website, plus they also regularly update their algorithms, meaning that marketing tactics to get a higher ranking yesterday may not even be valid today.

Personal injury lawyer near me_new

Google Local 3-Pack includes three top law firms

  • Accumulating positive client reviews . Online reputation is important for any business but is absolutely crucial for lawyers. In fact, it should always be part of your legal marketing plan. We live in an age when you can’t escape getting some online reviews, and chances are they will be negative. Why? Because people tend to share their problems more often than they share their positive experiences. Luckily, there is a way for you to get more positive reviews, and you should start working on that as soon as you can. Just like with search engine optimization (SEO), your competitors are probably already doing as much as they can to get their clients to leave positive reviews online, so it’s a constant battle. The thing is that if a client sees a law firm with 50 reviews and a 4.5-star rating (out of 5), they’re much more likely to choose that firm over another with 3 five-star reviews. So, the more positive client testimonials, the better.

Accumulating positive reviews.

Examples of positive reviews in a legal directory

Want to speak with a law firm marketing expert?

So, all you have to do now is follow the 7 tips above. To make your life easier, we have provided a Successful Law Firm Marketing Strategy template you can use to speed up the process.

If you decide to hire a digital marketing agency to do this for you, it’s important to know how to choose the right one and what exactly they should be doing, or you may end up wasting time, money, and opportunities.

Comrade is a law firm marketing company that specializes in website design and marketing for attorneys and law firms. Over the years, we’ve developed some of the best marketing strategies for law firms.

From social media marketing to law firm SEO and Google Ads, our comprehensive marketing initiatives guarantee new clients and increased revenue. Read more about our content marketing service for law firms.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do law firms need marketing.

While many clients rely on recommendations from people they trust, most begin searching for legal services online. Therefore, investing in digital marketing is paramount to improving your firm's online presence, making it easier for clients to find and hire you.

How much should law firms spend on marketing?

It's typical for law firms to spend between 5% to 12% of their gross revenue on digital marketing, although this varies greatly by area of practice and how established your firm is. New firms or those who don't yet have a strong online presence usually spend more to gain their share of the online market.

What makes a law firm successful?

A genuine passion for helping clients and a desire to win and grow combined with a digital marketing plan that increases client acquisition and boosts revenue is key to having a successful law firm.

What is the target market of a law firm?

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Aligning martech with your business strategy: Your blueprint for success

Y ou’ve explored the crucial link between your martech stack and strategic goals in “ The CMO’s guide to aligning martech and business strategy ,” understanding why syncing these elements boosts efficiency, customer value and growth.

Your martech decisions must align with and advance your company’s core business goals for the next one to two years. Any tool in your arsenal that doesn’t directly contribute to these goals might end up as costly “shelfware.”

It’s your job to sift through myriad tools and platforms, selecting those that promise tangible progress toward your near-term priorities. This blueprint provides actionable steps for martech alignment within your organization.

Developing your alignment roadmap

The following steps will help you create a plan to align your marketing technology with your main business goals.

Define how marketing supports the company’s goals

Clearly define how your marketing efforts can help move the company’s big rocks in the next year or two.

  • Which key goals will your marketing efforts affect?
  • Are you looking to increase sales leads, make customers more valuable over time or break into new areas?

Ensuring everyone knows who’s responsible for what makes it easier to stay focused.

Match the required martech functionalities to these goals

Do you need more robust personalization and experimentation capabilities, content creation tools for different regions or enhancements in mobile engagement? Mapping out these needs against your goals uncovers any existing gaps in your martech stack.

Audit of your current tools

Assess if your platforms deliver the necessary capabilities and whether data and insights can flow seamlessly across your stack. This evaluation lays the groundwork for your roadmap, integrating advanced analytics and AI to fine-tune marketing strategies and improve efficiency.

Analyze sector-specific shifts

Identify trends and customer behaviors specific to your sector to tailor this strategy to your industry’s unique challenges. For example, if you’re in the healthcare industry, focus on privacy and personalized patient engagement technologies.

In retail? Look into omnichannel customer experiences and inventory management integrations. This specificity ensures your martech roadmap directly addresses the nuances of your market, enhancing both relevance and effectiveness.

Martech alignment in action

A leading ecommerce company faced challenges with its fragmented martech stack, which wasn’t aligned with its goal to enhance customer experience and increase sales.

  • By developing a clear alignment roadmap, the company identified the need for a unified customer data platform (CDP) that integrated data across all touchpoints, enabling personalized marketing at scale. 
  • Implementing the CDP led to a 20% increase in customer lifetime value and a 15% uptick in sales within six months, showcasing the power of aligning martech functionalities with strategic business goals.

Addressing alignment gaps

Once you understand your business goals and where your current tools are lacking, you can start fixing these issues by either:

  • Getting new tools that offer what you’re missing.
  • Getting rid of unnecessary ones.
  • Making sure the ones you keep can be integrated to give you easy access to important information.

Your active collaboration with C-suite peers is pivotal in achieving and maintaining martech-business alignment. This partnership guarantees that martech investments are not just tech purchases but strategic moves that support broader business goals.

Consider conducting a competitive analysis to understand the martech stack of leaders in your industry. This exercise can reveal gaps in your stack and inspire solutions proven within your specific market context.

For instance, if your competitors successfully use AI for customer service, explore AI chatbots or automated customer support technologies. If it worked once, it can work again. Tailoring your tools to bridge gaps with an eye on industry best practices ensures you’re not just keeping pace but setting the standard.

Case study: Martech alignment in action

A multinational B2B software provider recognized a significant gap in its ability to track and nurture leads through its sales funnel due to outdated automation tools.

  • By auditing their current tools and addressing these alignment gaps, they adopted a new marketing automation platform better integrated with their CRM system.
  • This change facilitated improved lead scoring and nurturing campaigns, resulting in a 30% increase in lead conversion rates.
  • This case study illustrates the importance of selecting tools that fill functional gaps and align with broader business objectives, including compliance with data privacy standards.

Measuring and reporting alignment success

Martech alignment with business objectives isn’t a “set it and forget it” task. It demands ongoing attention and adaptation as strategic priorities and customer behaviors shift. Establish regular reviews of your strategies and be ready to tweak your tech stack and tactics in response to new challenges and opportunities. This proactive approach ensures your martech investments continue to deliver value.

Showing how your choice of martech has helped the business is key to getting more support and funds. Point out how certain tools have led to better sales, include what people using these tools think and calculate how much value they’ve brought to your customers and the company. These proofs strengthen your case and open the door to more investment in martech that fits well with what your business wants to achieve.

Benchmark your martech success against industry-specific KPIs to gauge your alignment’s effectiveness. If you’re in the financial services sector, this might mean focusing on secure transactions and customer trust indices. In ecommerce, cart abandonment rates and repeat purchase ratios could be more relevant.

Aligning your measurement strategies with industry benchmarks validates your approach and highlights areas for targeted improvement, driving strategic value and competitive advantage.

A retail chain embarked on a digital transformation journey to integrate online and offline customer data to offer a seamless shopping experience.

  • By measuring and reporting on the success of their aligned martech investments, they highlighted how the integration of their online ecommerce platform with in-store customer behavior analytics tools significantly improved cross-channel marketing campaigns.
  • This strategic alignment led to a 25% increase in cross-selling success rates and a 40% improvement in customer satisfaction scores. This highlights the importance of using measurable metrics to show how aligning martech can positively impact the business.

The journey is continuous

This journey toward martech alignment is a continuous cycle of collaboration, evaluation and adaptation. Embrace this blueprint as your roadmap to integrating technology into the fabric of your strategic business decisions. 

Take action now to synchronize your martech with business objectives. Keep track of and share your achievements, providing your marketing team and leaders with the knowledge and resources for continuous advancement.

The post Aligning martech with your business strategy: Your blueprint for success appeared first on MarTech .

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  1. Strategic Marketing Plan

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  4. Benefits To Developing a Strategic Marketing Plan

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  6. Reading: The Role of the Marketing Plan

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COMMENTS

  1. What is a Marketing Plan & How to Write One [+Examples]

    A marketing plan is a strategic roadmap that businesses use to organize, execute, and track their marketing strategy over a given period. Marketing plans can include different marketing strategies for various marketing teams across the company, all working toward the same business goals.

  2. 7 Marketing Objective Examples (+ How to Set Yours Right)

    Marketing objectives are specific and realistic outcomes that your company wants to achieve with its marketing efforts over a certain period of time. They guide what you should focus your marketing activities on, most commonly for the year ahead.

  3. 10 Marketing Plan Objectives To Consider and the KPIs To ...

    SMART goals are: Specific: Marketing goals that are specific allow for effective planning. Measurable: You should have a way to measure your progress toward your goal. If you are unable to measure the effectiveness of your strategy on your goal, then you should probably reevaluate your goal or establish one that's more specific.

  4. The 9 Goals to Consider When Creating a Marketing Strategy

    Published: February 09, 2022 If someone asks you to list a few marketing goal examples, could you? When many think of marketing, they go to the big flashy examples - like SuperBowl commercials and Spotify's annual "Wrapped" campaigns. But the truth is, that's likely the result of months of strategizing.

  5. What Is a Marketing Plan? And How to Create One

    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.

  6. How to Set & Achieve Marketing Objectives in 2021

    Marketing objectives are the goals your team wants to achieve during a certain period of time. They entail choosing a hard number or metric for your team to work towards, as well as details about how you're going to reach your goals and why you want to do so.

  7. How To Write A Marketing Plan

    It is important to know what other people besides you think about your company, so spend some time before writing your marketing plan talking to employees, customers, shareholders and community...

  8. Get Inspired by These 11 Marketing Objectives Examples

    Don't forget to always measure customer acquisition with each new marketing campaign or process you launch. Example of an increasing sales objective: "Boost sales by 10% in the next three months by increasing website traffic with the help of weekly promotional social posts.". 2. Generate Brand Awareness.

  9. How to structure and set goals [Free marketing plan guide]

    " A marketing plan is a strategic document that specifies your organization's target markets, marketing objectives, programs, and activities to achieve them, expected timescales, resources to be utilized, according to defined budgets, and how success will be measured ".

  10. Developing a Strategic Marketing Plan[With Template + Examples]

    The following marketing plan outlines strategic marketing goals, strategic tactics for success, and the specific results you're hoping to achieve. Marketing Goal: Increase Sales on eCommerce Site by 10% in 6 Months (currently at $50K) Marketing Strategy: Increase Average Order Value on eCommerce Site. Marketing Tactics :

  11. Marketing Objectives: 6 Types of Marketing Objectives

    1. Increase sales: A marketing plan may focus on overall sales volume and revenues. Such campaigns are measured via metrics like cash flow and total sales. 2. Increase brand awareness: Some marketing initiatives focus on building overall brand awareness among potential customers in a target market.

  12. 10 Marketing Objective Examples To Guide and Focus Your Strategy

    10 Marketing Objective Examples To Guide and Focus Your Strategy 9 marketing objectives examples Increase lead quality Shorten the sales cycle Reduce percentage of lost deals/sales Increase customer lifetime value Improve awareness and demand around new products/services Increase positive reviews Launch product or service in a new market

  13. Marketing Plan

    The marketing objectives indicate where the organization wishes to be at any specific period in the future. The marketing plan usually assists in the growth of the business by stating appropriate marketing strategies, such as plans for increasing the customer base.

  14. Strategic Marketing Plan Template & Examples

    A strategic marketing plan is a formal document that guides your team's marketing efforts throughout the year. It maps your annual marketing goals to your company's overall business objectives, while also outlining how you'll spend your yearly marketing budget. ... Here are 6 important elements you'll want to identify and research ...

  15. Helpful Guide to Marketing Objectives in a Marketing Plan

    Why clear marketing objectives are critical to success. Marketing objectives serve as a guiding light when making strategic decisions for your business. They provide clarity and direction, ensuring your efforts align with your overall goals. Here's how marketing objectives guide strategic decision-making: Improve focus and prioritization.

  16. 8 Steps to Create a Complete Marketing Strategy in 2023

    A marketing strategy will: Align your team to specific goals. Help you tie your efforts to business objectives. Allow you to identify and test what resonates with your target audience. Empower you to capitalize on emerging trends. The last one is especially important.

  17. 10 Marketing Goals Examples to Achieve Your Objectives

    Table of Contents What are Marketing Goals? Top 10 Marketing Goals Examples 1. Increase brand awareness 2. Boost brand engagement 3. Rank higher in search results 4. Increase website traffic 5. Generate qualified leads 6. Increase revenue 7. Increase customer value 8. Establish brand authority 9. Improve customer retention 10.

  18. The Ultimate Marketing Plan Template: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating

    Straightforward Focus and Direction: A marketing strategy offers a well-defined path for the business's marketing initiatives. It helps to maintain team alignment and concentrate on common goals by outlining precise goals, target audiences, and methods. Strategic Decision-Making:

  19. Easy Step-by-Step Guide to the Marketing Planning Process

    The marketing planning process is a systematic series of steps that businesses and marketing teams follow to create a strategic plan for their marketing activities. This process involves setting clear objectives, analyzing the market and competition, defining target audiences, selecting marketing strategies and tactics, creating a budget, and ...

  20. A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your Marketing Plan

    Objective-Centric Approach: Every marketing campaign you create should be a strategic endeavor, purposefully designed to achieve one or more of your predefined marketing objectives (review step 4). Align the campaign's goals with the broader mission of your marketing plan.

  21. Marketing Planning Process: Step-by-Step Breakdown

    Let's take a closer look at each step. 1. Document your business goals. Before planning a marketing strategy, you and your marketing team should ask your senior management to highlight your corporate objectives. Ideally, every large-scale business goal and objective should span 18-24 months.

  22. 15 marketing plan examples to inspire your work

    Marketing strategy. The marketing strategy part of your plan should detail exactly how you're going to achieve your marketing goals. Be as specific as possible to make this document valuable to your marketing team. Budget. Finally, break down your marketing tactics and assign a budget for each area of your strategy.

  23. 9 Steps to Create a Perfect Marketing Communication Strategy

    Step 1: Start with the target market. All things marketing start with identifying target audiences. Kickstart this journey by conducting market research to profile and segment your ideal customers. Some of the data you may want to collect at this point include: Demographic data (i.e., age, gender, location, etc.)

  24. 5 Steps to Create an Outstanding Marketing Plan [Free Templates]

    4. Customer Analysis. In this part of the marketing plan outline, you get plenty of space to share all the data you collected during your market research. If your company has already done a thorough market research study, this section of your marketing plan might be easier to put together.

  25. How to Create an Inbound Marketing Plan + 26 Strategies

    Crafting Your Inbound Marketing Strategy. There's a process involved when trying to assemble an inbound marketing plan. Read the following tips to help you align the plan with your business objectives. Establishing Clear Inbound Marketing Goals. SMART goals are realistic, aligned with a business strategy, and have specific timelines. This is ...

  26. Law Firm Marketing Plan And Progressive Strategies

    Whether you decide to do this in-house or are working with a digital marketing agency for attorneys, following these 7 guidelines will result in a 1-2 page marketing for law firms strategy uniquely tailored to your law firm's brand. Barr & Douds Attorneys. Brooks & Radchenko. In most cases, the goals of law firms we talk to relate to growth ...

  27. Aligning martech with your business strategy: Your blueprint for ...

    The following steps will help you create a plan to align your marketing technology with your main business goals. Define how marketing supports the company's goals. Clearly define how your ...

  28. What Is a Marketing Plan? And How to Create One

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