[Company Name][Business Unit]

Marketing Plan[Year/Date]

Note: This template is usually highly customized depending on the business and industry. Feel

free to edit, add or delete where needed.

If done right, it should not be overly lengthy. Content can be

short and to the point as long as you have enough detail and

clarity to provide direction for the business.

This is a template for a tight presentation of the plan. You may need other formats or

templates to capture the fully detailed analysis and marketing strategy (the homework you do

before you use this final presentation).

AgendaBusiness Vision/Strategy SummaryKey Issues/Opportunities This Year[Year] Marketing Objective and GoalsMarketing Plan SummaryStrategies and Tactical DetailMarketing CalendarResearch Plan (optional)BudgetAppendix• Situation Analysis (Category, Competitive, SWOT, etc.)• Targeting Strategy• Positioning Strategy

Condensed 5-slide version would be:

1.Business Vision/Strategy Summary

2.Key Issues/Opportunities This Year

3.[Year] Marketing Plan Summary4.Marketing Calendar

5.Budget

Business Vision/Strategy SummaryInsert a one page overview.

Insert a one-page overview of the high-level business

strategy/direction that this marketing plan supports. It should

include where the business is headed long-term (i.e., 5 years out

or more).This should already exist.

Otherwise, you may want to tackle the business strategy separately

first.

Key Issues/Opportunities This YearKey issue/opportunity 1• Supporting point/data/fact

Key issue/opportunity 2• Supporting point/data/fact

Key issue/opportunity 3• Supporting point/data/fact

A key issue is something that stands in our way right now—between us and our long-term

goal. Serve up the key issues you want to address in your marketing

plan.You may also identify key

opportunities. Perhaps they are not problems the business faces,

but they are opportunities that we can choose to pursue that also

advance us toward the long-term vision.

Important: You should only serve up issues here that you have

specific goals/strategies against (on upcoming slides). No more and

no less.

[Year] Marketing Objective and Goals[Year] Marketing Objective: Spell out your objective here.

Goals:•Goal 1•Goal 2•Goal 3

It is best to boil down your objectives to just one or two for the year. If you are a brand with a very big budget and lots of resources, you might get away with 3, tops. But… Stay focused. Examples: successful product launch, surpass a

competitor, etc.You will typically have more goals than objectives. Goals are binary and help you make progress towards the larger

objective (e.g., grow volume, take share, increase penetration, rank #1, leads,

conversion, loyalty, etc.)Important: Your goals on this page

should correspond to the key issues/opportunities you just set up on the previous slide. For example, if a key

issue is that no one knows you exist, then a goal on this page should be to

build awareness.

Marketing Plan Summary

Goals Strategies KPIs

Goal 1 • Strategy 1• Strategy 2

KPI 1, KPI 2, KPI 3

Goal 2 • Strategy 3• Strategy 4

KPI 4, KPI 5, KPI 6

Goal 3 • Strategy 5• Strategy 6

KPI 7, KPI 8, KPI 9

Goals slot in from the previous page. You should then have specific marketing strategies against each goal (at least one per goal).

Examples: If “build awareness” is a goal, your strategies might include “launch new media campaign,” or “create a website.” If “generate leads” is a goal, then a strategy might be to “create premium gated content.” If “increase in-store presence” is a goal, then you might

“design and launch 3 new in-store displays at our top 3 accounts.”KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are how you will know that your efforts were successful.

Ask yourself: How will you specifically measure success? Examples include impressions, CPM, visits, search rankings, sales lift, leads generated, downloads, new accounts, market share,

etc.

Strategy 1 (rename as needed)Tactical Content and Detail

Now you will create a page for each strategy that lays out the details. What it is, what it looks like

(include pictures), etc.It is advantageous to group all of your tactics by strategy because it helps you tell a linear story.

From goals to strategy to tactics, it’s easy to follow and understand the strategic logic behind

the plan. However, there may be some instances where

tactics support multiple strategies or goals. If so, you could instead choose to organize this section by tactic (TV, digital, in-store, print, partnerships,

promos, etc.). Some marketers may choose to organize by the 4Ps (price, product, place,

promotion). None of these approaches is right or wrong. Choose what fits your specific situation.

Strategy 2 (rename as needed)Tactical Content and Detail

Strategy 3 (rename as needed)Tactical Content and Detail

Strategy 4 (rename as needed)Tactical Content and Detail

Marketing CalendarTactics Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Media Campaign 1

Campaign 2

In-Store Promo 1

Promo 2

New Offering

Launch 1

Launch 2

Support Material Refresh 1Support Initiative 1

Events Event 1

Strategy/Key Initiative 1

Strategy/Key Initiative 2

Strategy/Key Initiative 3

Obviously this is just an example format. Customization is required.

You can choose to organize this calendar by tactic type, by strategy, by channel, etc. All that matters is

that it’s clear and easy to understand what’s happening when, and how everything fits together.Color-coding can also be helpful. You can color the bars on the calendar by strategy or tactic type to

bring additional clarity and understanding.

Research Plan (optional)What do you want to learn? Test? Questions you want answers to?

BudgetFinancial Breakdown: How much are you spending? On what? What’s the difference in spend versus last year? What’s your mix?

Spend on media, product, promotion, research, etc. is often presented in a spreadsheet list with the

previous year as a comparison.One approach is to list your budget on left, and then show your spending mix on the right (i.e., show a pie

chart that highlights the % of budget you are spending on the various tactics or strategies).In the end, this page should show what your

organization specifically needs and expects to see.

Appendix• Situation Analysis (Category, Competitive, SWOT,

etc.)• Targeting Strategy• Positioning Strategy

For the purposes of this tighter presentation format, your strategic homework is placed in the appendix.

This template was created by Kevin Namaky, Founder at Gurulocity. For

more articles, tips, tools and templates to up your marketing

game, visit Gurulocity.com.