A marketing plan is a written plan that sets out what you want to achieve in a year, who you want to persuade, through which channels, when and with what budget. For a small or medium-sized business it fits on a few pages. What matters is not its length but that you open it every month.
Below you will find a six-section marketing plan template, how to keep it alive throughout the year and a short example of how to fill it in.
The template in six sections
- Goals: two or three for the whole year, written so they can be measured. Not “more awareness”, but “more enquiries from the site” or “steady e-shop sales outside the sale seasons too”.
- Audience: who buys, what they are trying to solve, what makes them hesitate and where they look for information. If you have two very different audiences, write them up separately.
- Message: what makes you different, in one or two sentences that even someone who does not know you would understand.
- Channels: a few, each with a clear role. Which one brings in new people, which one reaches those who are already searching, which one keeps in touch with those who know you.
- Calendar: the commercial periods of the year, launches and campaigns, month by month, along with when preparation for each one starts.
- Budget and measurement: how much money and how much time go into each channel, and which metric shows whether it is working.
Write each section in plain language, as if you were explaining it to a new colleague. If something does not fit in two or three lines, it probably has not been decided yet. A document or a spreadsheet with one tab per section is enough to get started, with no special tool required.
Marketing strategy for SMEs: fewer things, done better
The most common trap for a small or medium-sized business is the plan that tries to do everything: five social channels, a newsletter, a blog, advertising on three platforms and an activation every month. With only a few people, all of this ends up as scattered actions that never get measured.
It is better to choose two or three channels and work them properly for several months, so you learn what brings in customers. Once a channel performs consistently, you add the next one.
Each section of the plan also needs someone responsible for it. Even if that is you for everything, write down which hours of the week go to what. A plan with no time set aside for carrying it out stays in the drawer.
Calendar, budget and measurement in practice
Split the year into quarters and give each one a single main priority. Mark the dates that affect your sector, such as Christmas, Easter, the sales, summer or back to school, and count backwards to allow time for preparation. A Christmas photo shoot is not booked in December.
Also add moments to the calendar that are not commercial but give you a reason to communicate: the anniversary of your business, a new product or team member, a collaboration with another business in the neighbourhood.
For the budget, separate three parts: advertising spend, content production and the work of your team or partner. Keep a small reserve too, for an opportunity or to boost something that is working.
For measurement, choose one key metric per goal and look at it every month in the same table. Every quarter, do a bigger review: what worked, what you cut, what you change. The plan is a living document, not a contract.
A good plan does not predict everything. It tells you what you are doing this month and how you will know whether it worked.
An example: a florist with an e-shop in Athens
The example is hypothetical and simplified. It shows how the sections are filled in, not what every business should do. Suppose a florist in an Athens neighbourhood also has an e-shop that delivers to parts of the city.
- Goals: more online orders for delivery and more corporate customers with regular orders.
- Audience: people sending flowers for an occasion, often at the last minute, and office managers who organise gifts and events.
- Message: fresh arrangements with same-day delivery and a photo of the actual bouquet before it goes out.
- Channels: Google Business Profile and the e-shop for people who are searching, Google advertising in the weeks before each occasion, Instagram to show the arrangements, and an email to corporate customers before the holidays.
- Calendar: Valentine's Day in February, Easter, Mother's Day in May, weddings and christenings in summer, corporate gifts in December. The photos for each occasion are taken several weeks in advance.
- Budget: most of the advertising spend is concentrated before the key occasions. In the quiet months it drops, and the weight shifts to organic content. One product photo shoot per season provides material for the e-shop and social media.
- Measurement: online orders per occasion compared with the previous year, advertising cost per order, and corporate customers who order again.
After each occasion, the florist keeps notes: which arrangements sold, when most orders came in, where stock ran out early. These notes make the following year's plan much more accurate.
If you would like help, THPAUL writes the annual and monthly plan with you, with market and competitor analysis, audience and messaging, budget allocation per channel and a monthly report. It can carry out the whole plan or only the parts you need.
Frequently asked questions
What does a marketing plan include?+
A marketing plan includes measurable goals, a description of the audience, the core message, the channels and the role of each, a calendar of activities for the year, a budget and a way of measuring results. For a small or medium-sized business it fits on a few pages. What matters is that it is updated every month.
How often should a marketing plan change?+
The year's goals stay fixed, but the activities adapt. Look at the metrics every month and do a bigger review every quarter. If a channel shows no progress after a reasonable time, move the budget to where things are working.
How many channels does a small or medium-sized business need?+
Usually fewer than you think. Two or three channels with a clear role, worked properly for several months, give clearer conclusions than five channels with a little time each. Add a new channel when the previous one performs consistently.
Do I need to know the budget before I write the plan?+
It helps to have a rough range, but the budget is best worked out from the goals. Calculate what one result, such as an enquiry or an order, is worth to you, and how many of them you want. From there you can see whether the goal and the money match.