How to Write a Simple One-Page Marketing Plan

Filed under Business, How To, Marketing, NonProfits |

If you’re a small business owner, chances are that you’ve been  so focused on managing your business – and responding to the challenges of the current economy – that you haven’t had time to review your marketing strategy…that is, if you’ve even invested time in developing one in the first place. Now may be the best time to revisit and develop your marketing plan, however: in a downturn, you must make sure people don’t forget that you’re in business and can provide products and services that may be of value to them. Neglecting your marketing plan now may be the biggest mistake you make, as it allows your competitors who are more proactive the opportunity to capture more market share.

Still think you don’t have the time to invest in your marketing strategy? It doesn’t have to be a drain on your resources. If you find yourself strapped, here’s a quick and easy guide to writing a simple one-page marketing plan that will help put you on the right track to promoting your business:

To create your One-Page Marketing Plan, answer these three questions:

1. What are your top three customer-related goals?
2. For each goal, what is the single most important thing you must do consistently to achieve it?
3. What resources are required to implement those three important things?

1. What are your top three customer-related goals?

People are the life-blood of any business. Customer-related goals, then, are of the utmost priority: which ones will help you increase transactional flow? Some goals to consider:

• Develop more qualified leads.
• Attract new customers.
• Add value and sell more to existing customers.
• Add products and services.
• Expand capacity (to serve more customers).
• Identify your ideal customer and target that niche.

To increase your chances of success, focus on three measurable benchmarks to achieve in the next six to 12 months.

2. For each goal, what is the single most important thing you must do consistently to achieve it?

For each of your goals, identify the critical activity, information, or skill that is crucial to successfully achieve the goal. These critical success factors may involve a one-time effort or an ongoing process. For example, a company whose goal is to increase referrals might decide that upgrading software to manage its customer relationships is the most important thing to do to achieve that. Another company with the same goal may decide its critical success factor is simply keeping in touch with customers on a regular basis.

To fully answer this question, summarize the reason why you decided a certain factor as the most important. It will be important to communicate the rationale to others, and to refine those assumptions as you gain more information and experience during execution of the marketing plan.

3. What resources are required to implement those three important things?

While funding is often the first thing that comes to mind, it’s best to identify your resource requirements in terms of staffing, skills, technology, equipment, raw materials, and physical space. After you’ve considered what you need, decide how much money is necessary to put each resource in place. For example, people can fill the need for time, capacity, and skills. Determine if your current staff are available and capable, or if you will need outside personnel for more manpower (time and capacity) or new skills.

Establish a budget or best estimate for each resource that has an associated cost. Explore if you can barter services or develop partnerships with suppliers or vendors to cover costs. If those options aren’t available, decide if marketing funds will be reconfigured from your current allocation, drawn from operations, or sourced from outside funding.

In the current economy, every moment you put off on developing and implementing your marketing strategy becomes a lost opportunity to capture market share and visibility from the competition. Let people know you’re still in business. Invite them to become customers or loyal brand advocates. You have the power to influence how your company is perceived…you just need to start sooner than later, before your market has found other options and it’s too late – or too expensive – to lure them back.