A One Page Marketing Plan Anyone Can Use
Planning sucks. None of us like to do it and if you’ve had any corporate experience in the process, it’s no wonder. But planning is an absolute necessity if you want to be successful.
So how do we reconcile our need to succeed with our propensity for procrastination?
Simple: Re-frame how you look at planning.
We hate planning because we remember the endless meetings, hours of research that doesn’t seem to get you closer to an answer and documents the size of War and Peace. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Developing a Marketing Plan is nothing more than setting goals and making a to-do list that will get you there. It’s really not much different than planning a party.
You’re basically creating a plan for inviting more people you love to give you money and then tell other people why they should give you their money too. Sounds like a party to me. How about you?
That’s why I’ve been working to develop really simple, one-page templates that can be used to develop marketing plans. I’d like to share two different ones with you. They’re designed to get you thinking and planning and making money, not writing lengthy documents.
(1) One-page marketing plan # 1 – The first marketing plan template is one that I’ve loosely adapted from learnings from the original marketing guru, Philip Kotler. (Even he doesn’t believe in hundred-page plans). It’s a simple single sheet of paper that outlines the basic marketing components or categories like your Mission/Objectives, Target Market, Offering, Pricing, Distribution, Communication — you know, those 4 Ps we love so much in marketing. But the good news is that that’s really all there is to it.
You can find something roughly along these lines in an old “Marketing Management” book that Kotler wrote over 20 years ago, but I think the principles are still valid.
You can use this format as a place to put your big thoughts so that you can focus on what the strategies are.
I am making the template available as a Word document — both a blank template and a mocked-up sample plan, which you can use as a guide for how to fill out the template.
Download blank template #1 (.doc format)
Download mocked-up sample plan #1 (.doc format)
(2) One-page marketing plan #2 — The second one-page plan format I use is a combination of the Kotler plan and the Guerrilla Marketing process as advocated by Michael McLaughlin. This one’s not much different from the Kotler plan, but it’s less academic and more focused on emotional triggers that will get your ideal customer to choose you.
I am also making this template available as Microsoft Word documents for you to download use to guide your marketing planning.
Download the blank template #2 (.doc format)
Download a mocked-up sample plan #2 (.doc format)
So, there you have the plans I’ve been using — and my hat tip goes to both of the masters for giving me a starting point to create these one-page marketing plan templates.
Now, I’d love to hear from you. What do you think of these one-page marketing plans? What do you use as a marketing plan, and why? In what ways would you change or improve the templates I’ve offered? Come on, share your ideas.
June 18th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Ivana,
I agree with you about planning. I don’t know if you meant for someone just to use the templates on their own, but if you don’t do some homework first to really understand what is happening in your market, your competitors and customers then the one page would be gueswork.
Also I found tthat the doc mixes marketing objectives, strategy and tactics under the heading of strategy and they should be separate. You might want to add budget and timing.
I couldn’t open the second doc, however congrats for sharing this information.
Susan
June 18th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Susan,
Maybe you could add a SWOT analysis to the template?
June 18th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Hi Martin,
A SWOT should be done however I would do it as part of the thinking regarding competitors etc and then the SWOT helps you to develop your objectives, strategies and tactics.
June 18th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Susan,
Should you start to analyze your internal strengths and weaknesses? And then proceed to look at the external opportunities and threats? I am planning to create my own outlook (overall business intelligence) & “inlook” (introspection of your organizational leadership skills, personal development and core values) guide with a specialized focus on the whole supply chain, starting with you supplier of raw materials and finishing with the end customer. The mindset is inspired by the Theory of Constraints (Eliyahu Goldratt) and the Trader Principle (Ayn Rand). My goal is to create an e-pamphlet.
June 18th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
Martin,
Your project sounds very interesting. I always do the strengths and weaknesses first and then opportunitiies and threats. It is just they way I was tought in companies and I find it easier. That said the SWOT I believe should be done after a market review including competitors and business review, including customers is completed. That way you have the information and focus to develop a simple SWOT and it is not done in isolation.
Good luck and if I can be of any help, just let me know.
June 19th, 2008 at 6:07 am
For creating your Plans you can use this web-based application:
http://www.gtdagenda.com
June 19th, 2008 at 6:26 am
Hi Everyone! -
I’m really glad you mentioned the SWOT Process - and I agree with you. Perhaps we’ll do another one for that. But what what I’ve posted is actually the summary of all that work. I have a SWOT process as well but that’s part of the analysis work that goes into developing the plan.
And Susan, thanks for suggesting the budget and timing additions. I’ve actually got another challenge that I’d love to get input on. I’ve got templates coming out the wazoo. I’ve got a SWOT template, I’ve got one with goals, budgets and timing - and I’ve got this one. What I want is a Killer one-page template.
The closest I’ve come to is to use the templates in different ways. I use my SDWOT template for the research and analysis work. Then I use my goal-setting template to iron out the details of the strategies and to manage the project and the templates you see here are my top line FOCUS reminders - just to make sure I don’t stray.
What are YOU guys using?
June 19th, 2008 at 7:38 am
Hi Susan, the documents should all be available. I just tried them again. Let me send them to you via email. Anita
June 19th, 2008 at 10:39 am
I’ve been using one page marketing plans as my proposals for years. It helps the client focus on what’s important. Out of the 2 you presented, I like the second one better. It’s easier for the average non-marketing professional to finish the statements, since they might not really know what marketing strategy is.
June 19th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Martin-I think a SWOT analysis is a useful tool, but the one page business plan is a summary. It should be based on the results of your market research, SWOT analysis, etc. Go ahead and place the SWOT and other supporting documents behind the plan, but incorporating it would defeat the purpose of a short/concise document. You want to create a tool that will actually be used!
Another thing to remember is to focus on the customer. I like the second plan better because it at least asks the question “what’s important to my customer?” It is far more effective to identify the market and their need then create your product and service. Trying to fit your idea, product, or service to a market is difficult at best. It is one of the reasons we see so many flops.
This may just be the sales and marketing bias that I have, but I’ve seen it work time and time again. The business that starts and ends with the customer thrives. This is especially true in economic slowdowns.
June 19th, 2008 at 11:36 am
In my opinion the second marketing plan is far superior, since it has more details on the “how to get it done.” Still I think both plans could greatly benefit from more strategy and still be one page.
June 19th, 2008 at 11:57 am
I have tried a lot of marketing plans. Everything from one page of scribbles on the back of a notepad while I’m watching television, to a pretty decent plan I wrote using Marketing Plan Pro: http://marketingplanpro.com/ .
I love the concept of the one page plan to use as a guideline, but I would need a little more detail behind it. For instance, your sample plan for Paws, the pet business, talks about using printed collateral. But it seems to me that I’d need a little plan for creating and printing the direct mail piece and drop-offs.
Ivana, how do you recommend that we break down various parts of the one-plan and have more detail behind them?
June 19th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
PRACTICAL IS PERFECT! I love the different approaches on the 1-page marketing plan. It’s ideal for the typical, ever-busy, ever-hectic Entrepreneur whose A.D.D. is actually a gift.
Great article!
–Roy
June 19th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Hi Ivana,
I really liked both templates. I’m always too academic when I try to develop marketing strategies, so the second template is a nice way of forcing my brain to think of emotional triggers rather than dry facts. I’m an SEO at heart, so my research usually consists of several spreadsheets of data that’s crunched into giant lists. I think the templates are nice overviews, but it’d be difficult for me to run a campaign off them as is. It’s always nice to be reminded of the top level view though, I get so bogged down in the minutiae. Thanks for sharing the templates, I think I’ll modify them for my own purposes!
June 19th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Ivana, to me it’s almost as if I need to look at both #1 and #2 to understand how to put together my marketing plan.
#1 is like the broad strategy and helps you put it in perspective, so that you don’t spend too much time on one part of your strategy at the expense of another.
However, #2 is much better for the action items.
That said, I wonder if this isn’t a 2-part process: fill out #1 as more of a broad strategy, and then complete #2 for your action plan?
Or am I am trying to split the baby?
June 19th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
I gave this much thought today. “Planning sucks” but as Eisenhower said, “good planning is indispensable”. Your two versions are excellent and punctuate the first half of Eisenhower’s quote, “plans are useless”.
Every situation is different, which is why entrepreneurship requires flexibility. These are great starting points and can be modified as needed. It wouldn’t take long to build a small library to pick and choose from.
Thanks!
June 19th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Ivana,
This is a very useful post - I’ve bookmarked the post for future reference - Thanks for providing the useful templates and sample plans.
Cheers!
June 20th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Ivan Widjaya: I agree with you. This is a very useful post. I will come back to it later on.
Dan Baluta: Thanks for the tip. I have signed up for the “Getting Things Done” Agenda.
B. Smith: Thanks for your wise comment. I looked at your site and found it interesting. I will explore the “Life Balance” section and the rest of your site. I worked for a company in Ohio that had implemented the 80/20 rule (Pareto’s law) through the whole organization.
Susan Oakes: I want to talk more with you regarding my project.
Ivana Taylor: What’s the “D” standing for in SDWOT?
June 20th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Hey Martin - I’m not sure what “D” you’re referring to. Perhaps it was a typo?
Amanda - Here is how I break down my plan. First I do a SWOT (I have my own templates and process that I will be happy to share.) The SWOT process forces a lot of research and analysis. After the SWOT Process, I’, fairly ready to do a one-page-plan. I’ve actually been using another template that I didn’t share here. But it’s an easy one. I simply use an “organizational chart” program and put my primary goal on the top block. Then I list the 3 key strategies under that. Under each strategy I break out more activities and measurables, and so on. For some reason, I really like this simple format as well. The last thing I do is convert some of these activities into task items that end up in my Outlook tasks and Calemdar.
June 20th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Ivana, You wrote on June 19: “I use my SDWOT template for the research and analysis work.”
I am interested in receiving your SWOT template.
June 20th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Marcus,
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June 20th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Very nice list to start. I’ve used the One Page Business Plan(r) software for years. Originally just to do it, but later I got licensed to teach it. I’ve watched turnarounds in business, boosts in production and profitablity, etc. Amazing what happens when you take what’s in your head and write it down.
But it’s not till you create a performance management system and monitor what you do daily that it all works (or you can catch things that aren’t working)
June 20th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
To get away from the linear planning process (it doesn’t work in the real world) I have created a matrix:
Customers/ Customer Groups across the top
Products/ Offer down the side
In the matrix - jot down the actions/ strategies to make these 2 things align.
Add the metric of your choice as the ‘tally’. E.g Put down sales targets/ revenue to total the lines vertically and/ or horizontally.
On one page you have product: customer alignment and a measure of performance.
The vision/objectives etc should be burnt in your brain, and the actual analysis is continuous & dynamic
June 25th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
I actually enjoy the planning part of marketing and look forward to checking out your downloads. And I know it sounds weird, but after 20 plus years in the marketing profession, I’ve never worked for a company that has marketing handle the pricing function of those 4 Ps. Odd or not?
June 25th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Man, what value there is in simplicity!
I LIKE the simple plans you offer in your templates.
KISS is the motto we live by.
A refreshing change from all the pseudo techno babble masquerading as “marketing plans”
June 27th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Loved the post. Thanks. I had seen somehting similar awhile ago, and had lost track of it. Nice to have it again.
I have linked to this post from my blog, because I think this is something my readers will find valuable as well.
http://www.roundpeg.biz/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=261
June 28th, 2008 at 6:12 am
Very good site.
June 29th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Ah, it is up to the business owner to know what the critical marketing issues are for his or her business. The marketing function builds on the owners’ insights; I don’t think it can substitute for it.
SWOT analysis is one of those corporate tools that isn’t relevant to every company. The owner should be staying up on the issues in their industry and where their company fits in. Some of us are in small niches in which we’d better be “SWOTTING” in our minds every day, not just at marketing plan time.
I think marketing frustrates small business owners with assumptions that “one size tool fits all” or that there is a single set of marketing questions that need answers.
I like to start with conversations with the owner, not an analysis. Sometimes the owner is so busy that he or she doesn’t even know how much they know. Then the marketer can then choose the tools that will clarify, expand, invalidate, focus the owner’s vision and the company’s activities. Like Maria Marsala said, it’s taking what’s in our heads and writing it down that is the place to start.
We don’t want pretty plans that sit on a shelf, we want to breathe life and dollars into a company’s performance, and the foundation has to be focused on the right questions, the ones the CEO ought to know by heart.
Susan M. Kuhn
Small Business Advocate
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Thanks, Just in time marketing help. I am meeting with a new marketing candidate next week as will use this a sumation tool to open discussions with this peron as to the thinking, process and value brought to our organization.
I will let you know how it works.
Duane Kunz
Heartland Medical Distribution, LLC
July 14th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Hi, the download links are down, hoping you can make the files available for downloading again. thanks!
July 18th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Website not designed yet, as still doing due diligence on product to offer. WILL be wellness; complex/medicinal functional beverage. Please let me know when your site is ready for downloading links again.
Vickie Nicely, V.P/admin. assistant
August 5th, 2008 at 8:45 am
Great tools for the reference library!
I think the problem with marketing is it can appear to be complicated when in reality it isn’t.
I wrote a blog post myself on this not so long ago which might help:
http://blog.mediaminister.co.uk/2008/04/22/the-3-minute-marketing-plan
September 12th, 2008 at 9:02 am
Thanks Dennis at RetailSmart for the matrix idea. I am always preaching that the products and customer problems/need to align, but a picture is worth lots more than my word.
Thanks for the posts. I like to do what is typically described as an executive summary with SWOT anaylsis. The SWOT helps to identify gaps in the marketplace which can be business opportunities or gaps in your business. It is also a great way to get senior management/owners to participate in the plan, so you can get alignment with them and it sets the stage for buy-in to the plan. It is also imperative to do to create and align products for customers. SWOT is your reality check and then you plan based upon the results of it. And the most important part of the plan in my opinion is the positioning statement because it is the marketing plan boiled down to its essence. Here is my favorite template for a positioning statement (modified from Harry Beckwith with some Scott Bedbury thrown in):
CREATE A POSITIONING STATEMENT
[Who you are: ]
[What you do:]
[For Whom/What need:]
[Against Whom/Who are your competitors:]
[What is unique about your offering:]
[CONSUMER BENEFIT/VALUE PROPOSITION/or Why a consumer should choose you:]
EXAMPLE:
[Who you are: ] Kiawah Island
[What you do:] is a luxury resort and residential community
[For Whom/What need:] for people seeking a luxury primary or second home.
[Against whom/Who are your competitors:] Unlike Sea Island,Amelia Island, Lake Nona, Palmetto Dunes, etc.,
[What is unique about your offering:] Kiawah Island has 10 miles of pristine beach, rivers and marsh, abundant wildlife, 6 acclaimed golf courses, near historic Charleston.
[CONSUMER BENEFIT/VALUE PROPOSITION/or Why a consumer should choose you:]
Kiawah’s unique combination of southern charms makes it the best place to spend the best days of your life.
If you do a good job on this part you can derive a brand mantra from your consumer promise:
BRAND MANTRA:The best place to spend the best days of your life
Then you measure all of your tactics to see if they contribute/tie back to the goal of your brand promise.
__________
Here are two matrices that I use for at-a-glance communication for running a campaign. The first has a summary of your strategy at top (your one page marketing plan would precede this)
Date
Goal (one sentence)
Contacts
Budget
Notes
Positioning
(one sentence)
Related Research or Statisctics
(one sentence)
Target Audience
(one sentence)
Currrent (one sentence)
and then the matrix below shows all of your tactics with details on assignment and timing, etc. It helps align tactics to strategy.
Across the top you have :
Media/Tactic/Rationale/Contact Person/Timeframe/Cost /Status/Notes
Projects are numbered down the side.
_________
The second one helps with being efficient and seeing how each communication tactic can be used to cover which segment or if it can help internal and external communications. At the top it has:
Tactic/Rational/(list down left columns), then lists communication targets, i.e.:
Tactic|Rationale - Property Owner|PO Referral|Founder Prospect|Prospect Database|New Inquiries|Sales Executives
The grid cells under the communication targets just have bullets showing who gets what kind of communication.This matrix help sales communications, determine quantities, timing, and internal training required.
I love to use these one page “dashboards” in meetings.
Email me if you want sample docs at: kbacot@bellsouth.net
September 12th, 2008 at 9:41 am
I read recently that “the most exciting business ideas can fit on the back of an airplane napkin.” Not only it is far less overwhelming to create a one-page marketing plan than it is to write a full-blown, 30-page plan, but it’s easier to follow, too. Keep it simple, silly!
September 12th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Charts and checklists can cover up a weak core idea…and the lack of charts and checklists can prevent a strong core idea from being implemented.
It is the ability to conduct dialogue between the two modes of thought — creative and technical — that makes you an entrepreneur…or a CEO.
September 16th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Thanks for this great article about an easy marketing plan to use. I especially think the templates will be helpful to those just starting out. I have shared this article with my readers on my website: The Northstar Thinktank
http://www.northstarthinktank.com/business/business_cycle/marketing_plan_for_busy_people.html
Thanks again and keep up the good work!
-Jeff