Humans tend to be entrapped by complexity bias. I have seen this be true in marketing most of the time. Creating a one page marketing plan can be an effective and concise way for small business owners to define their marketing and identify tactics. This simple yet powerful approach is especially useful for small businesses with limited resources and time.
In today’s fast-paced business environment, small business owners need to be agile and focused in their marketing efforts. A one page marketing plan offers a straightforward way to align your marketing strategies with your business goals.
One Page Marketing Plan Elements
1. Define Your Target Audience
- Who are they? Identify demographics (age, location, gender, income level, etc.) and psychographic characteristics (needs, aspirations, etc.).
- What are their problems? Understand their challenges and how your product or service meets these needs.
2. Set Clear Objectives
- What do you want to achieve by the end of the year?: It could be increasing brand awareness, boosting sales, or entering a new market.
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): These are measurable goals, like a certain number of new customers or a specific sales target.
3. Outline Your Value Proposition
- Unique Selling Points (USPs): What sets your product or service apart?
- Brand Message: This should align with your core values and resonate with your target audience.
4. Marketing Strategy
- Digital vs. Traditional: Depending on your audience, decide on the right mix of digital (social media, email, SEO) and traditional (print, TV, radio, tradeshows) marketing.
- Budget Considerations: Allocate resources where they will be most effective. Be sure you know or have accurate targets based on industry data for Customer Lifetime Value and Customer Acquisition Cost to help you create your budget accurately.
5. Tactics
- Content Plan: Outline the types of content (blogs, videos, social media posts, ebooks, etc.) that will engage your audience.
- Editorial Calendar: Schedule and plan your marketing campaigns and content. Here is a sample Content Plan you can use to help you get started. For most of our clients, we leverage the calendar functionality in ClickUp.
6. Performance Indicators
- Analytics: Be sure to have accurate data tools to help you assess the effectiveness of your marketing tactics. Google Analytics, Google Search Console, SEMrush, and WhatConverts are tools we use and recommend.
- Tracking Progress: Regularly check your KPIs and adjust your strategy as needed.
- Feedback Loop: Be open to customer feedback and incorporate it into your plan.
7. Take Action
- Review Weekly: One of the benefits of creating a one-page marketing plan is that it is easy to review regularly. The plan will do you no good if it is not reviewed regularly to ensure your team is on track to achieve your goals.
- 13 Weeks at a Time: We have found the best way to stay on track is to focus your strategic objectives into smaller quarterly objectives. Use the information in the annual one-page marketing plan to create a more detailed 12-week marketing plan. This plan should also fit on one sheet of paper. I am a big fan of The 12 Week Year by Brian Moran.
- Focus on success drivers: Leads generated are the result of actions taken by your marketing team. Define the actions you want your team to take on a weekly basis that will result in leads generated.
Can all of this information fit on a one page marketing plan, with a readable font? It most certainly can. Here is an example of a one page marketing plan.
A well-structured one page marketing plan is a powerful tool for small business owners. It helps to focus your efforts, use your resources efficiently, and track your progress towards your business goals.