How to Create a Marketing Plan that Works for Your Business Goals in 7 Steps

How to create a marketing plan that works for your business goals is a question that many business owners ask themselves. A marketing plan is a document that outlines your marketing strategy, tactics, budget, and metrics for a specific period of time. It helps you to:

• Streamline and organize your marketing efforts
• Guide your marketing team through a series of activities
• Determine how to measure your campaign’s success
• Effectively allocate your marketing budget

But how do you create a marketing plan that works for your business goals? In this blog post, we’ll show you how to create a marketing plan in 7 simple steps, using the example of Jordan Digitals, a digital marketing growth partner that offers various services such as website and mobile app design, PPC ad management, SEO, lead generation, and email marketing.

Step 1: State your business’s mission and determine the KPIs for this mission

The first step in creating a marketing plan is to state your business’s mission and determine the key performance indicators (KPIs) for this mission. Your mission is the overarching purpose of your business, and your KPIs are the measurable outcomes that indicate whether you’re achieving your mission or not.

For example, Jordan Digitals’ mission is to help small and medium-sized businesses grow their online presence and generate more leads and sales. Some of the KPIs for this mission are:

• Number of website visitors
• Number of leads generated
• Number of conversions
• Customer retention rate
• Customer satisfaction score

Step 2: Identify your target audience and your competitors

The next step in creating a marketing plan is to identify your target audience and your competitors. Your target audience is the group of people who are most likely to benefit from your products or services, and your competitors are the other businesses that offer similar or alternative solutions to your target audience.

To identify your target audience, you need to create buyer personas, which are fictional representations of your ideal customers based on their demographics, psychographics, behaviors, needs, and goals. Buyer personas help you to understand your audience better and tailor your marketing messages accordingly.

For example, one of Jordan Digitals’ buyer personas is:

Name: Sarah Smith Age: 35 Gender: Female Location: Seattle, WA Job title: Owner of a local bakery Income: $50K/year Goals: To increase her online orders and attract more customers to her physical store Challenges: To stand out from her competitors, to optimize her website for SEO and mobile devices, to manage her online ads effectively Preferred channels: Facebook, Instagram, email

To identify your competitors, you need to conduct a competitive analysis, which is a process of evaluating their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) in relation to your own. Competitive analysis helps you to identify your unique selling proposition (USP), which is what makes you different from or better than your competitors.

For example, some of Jordan Digitals’ competitors are:

• WebFX: A full-service digital marketing agency that offers web design, SEO, PPC, social media, content marketing, and more.
• Thrive Internet Marketing Agency: A digital marketing agency that specializes in web design, SEO, PPC, social media, email marketing, video production, and more.
• Disruptive Advertising: A digital marketing agency that focuses on PPC management, site testing, analytics, and strategy.

Step 3: Set your marketing budget and deadline(s)

The third step in creating a marketing plan is to set your marketing budget and deadline(s). Your marketing budget is the amount of money you’re willing to spend on your marketing activities over a certain period of time. Your deadline(s) are the specific dates or milestones by which you want to achieve your marketing goals.

To set your marketing budget, you need to consider factors such as:

• Your business goals and KPIs
• Your current revenue and expenses
• Your expected return on investment (ROI)
• Your industry benchmarks and best practices

To set your deadline(s), you need to consider factors such as:

• Your business goals and KPIs
• Your available resources and capacity
• Your market conditions and trends
• Your potential risks and challenges

For example, Jordan Digitals’ marketing budget for the next quarter is $10K/month ($30K total), and their deadline(s) are:

• To increase website visitors by 20% by the end of the quarter
• To generate 100 leads per month by the end of the quarter
• To convert 10% of leads into customers by the end of the quarter

Step 4: Pick your marketing channels and tactics that align with your goal and audience

The fourth step in creating a marketing plan is to pick your marketing channels and tactics that align with your goal and audience. Your marketing channels are the platforms or mediums you use to reach your target audience, such as:

• Website
• Blog
• Social media
• Email
• Search engines
• Online ads
• Offline events

Your marketing tactics are the specific actions or strategies you use to execute your marketing plan, such as:

• Content creation
• Content distribution
• SEO optimization
• PPC management
• Social media engagement
• Email marketing campaigns
• Lead generation offers
• Conversion optimization

To pick your marketing channels and tactics, you need to consider factors such as:

• Your business goals and KPIs
• Your target audience and buyer personas
• Your competitors and USP
• Your marketing budget and deadline(s)

For example, some of Jordan Digitals’ marketing channels and tactics are:

• Website: To showcase their services, portfolio, testimonials, and contact information. To optimize their website for SEO and mobile devices. To create landing pages for their lead generation offers.
• Blog: To create and publish valuable and relevant content for their target audience. To optimize their blog posts for SEO and keywords. To include clear and compelling calls-to-action (CTAs) in their blog posts.
• Social media: To increase their brand awareness and reach. To share their blog posts and other content. To engage with their followers and potential customers. To run targeted ads on Facebook and Instagram.
• Email: To nurture their leads and customers. To send personalized and segmented email campaigns. To provide useful tips, updates, and promotions.

Step 5: Outline the to-do list and make assignments for each task

The fifth step in creating a marketing plan is to outline the to-do list and make assignments for each task. Your to-do list is the breakdown of all the tasks that need to be done to execute your marketing plan. Your assignments are the allocation of responsibilities and roles for each task.

To outline your to-do list and make assignments, you need to consider factors such as:

• Your marketing channels and tactics
• Your available resources and capacity
• Your deadline(s) and priorities

For example, some of Jordan Digitals’ to-do list items and assignments are:

Step 6: Track performance and review analytics to measure the effectiveness of your plan

The sixth step in creating a marketing plan is to track performance and review analytics to measure the effectiveness of your plan. Tracking performance means monitoring your marketing activities and results on a regular basis. Reviewing analytics means analyzing your data and insights to evaluate your progress and performance.

To track performance and review analytics, you need to consider factors such as:

• Your business goals and KPIs
• Your marketing channels and tactics
• Your marketing tools and software

For example, some of the tools that Jordan Digitals uses to track performance and review analytics are:

• Google Analytics: To measure their website traffic, conversions, bounce rate, sources, etc.
• Google Search Console: To measure their SEO performance, keywords, rankings, etc.
• Facebook Business Manager: To measure their social media performance, reach, engagement, etc.
• Mailchimp: To measure their email marketing performance, open rate, click-through rate, etc.

Step 7: Adjust your marketing plan based on your results

The seventh step in creating a marketing plan is to adjust your marketing plan based on your results. Adjusting your marketing plan means making changes or improvements to your plan based on your findings from step 6. It also means testing new ideas or experiments to optimize your plan.

To adjust your marketing plan based on your results, you need to consider factors such as:

• Your business goals and KPIs
• Your target audience and buyer personas
• Your competitors and USP
• Your market conditions and trends

For example, some of the adjustments that Jordan Digitals might make based on their results are:

• Increase their budget for Facebook ads if they see a high ROI from them
• Update their blog posts with new keywords or information if they see a drop in rankings or traffic
• Segment their email list based on different criteria if they see a low open rate or click-through rate
• Test different CTAs or landing pages if they see a low conversion rate

Conclusion

Creating a marketing plan that works for your business goals is not a one-time task, but an ongoing process that requires planning, execution, measurement, and optimization. By following the 7 steps we’ve outlined in this blog post, you can create a marketing plan that helps you to:

• Align your marketing efforts with your business mission and goals
• Understand your target audience and your competitors
• Allocate your marketing budget and resources effectively
• Choose the right marketing channels and tactics for your audience and goals
• Organize your marketing tasks and responsibilities
• Monitor your marketing performance and results
• Improve your marketing plan based on your findings and feedback

If you need help with creating a marketing plan that works for your business goals, Jordan Digitals is here to help. We are a digital marketing growth partner that offers various services such as website and mobile app design, PPC ad management, SEO, lead generation, and email marketing. We can help you to create and execute a customized marketing plan that suits your needs and budget.

Contact us today for a free consultation and a free website audit. We’d love to hear from you and help you grow your online presence and generate more leads and sales.

FAQs

Q: What is a marketing plan? A: A marketing plan is a document that outlines your marketing strategy, tactics, budget, and metrics for a specific period of time.

Q: Why do I need a marketing plan? A: A marketing plan helps you to streamline and organize your marketing efforts, guide your marketing team through a series of activities, determine how to measure your campaign’s success, and effectively allocate your marketing budget.

Q: How do I create a marketing plan? A: You can create a marketing plan by following these 7 steps:

1. State your business’s mission and determine the KPIs for this mission
2. Identify your target audience and your competitors
3. Set your marketing budget and deadline(s)
4. Pick your marketing channels and tactics that align with your goal and audience
5. Outline the to-do list and make assignments for each task
6. Track performance and review analytics to measure the effectiveness of your plan
7. Adjust your marketing plan based on your results

Q: What are some examples of marketing channels and tactics? A: Some examples of marketing channels are website, blog, social media, email, search engines, online ads, and offline events. Some examples of marketing tactics are content creation, content distribution, SEO optimization, PPC management, social media engagement, email marketing campaigns, lead generation offers, and conversion optimization.

Q: How do I measure the effectiveness of my marketing plan? A: You can measure the effectiveness of your marketing plan by tracking performance and reviewing analytics. You can use tools such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Facebook Business Manager, Mailchimp, etc. to monitor your marketing activities and results on a regular basis. You can also analyze your data and insights to evaluate your progress and performance.