An Effective Marketing Strategy Template for Small Businesses

Growing your business starts with a great marketing strategy.

Most small business owners skip this step. They get busy with the nitty gritty of actually running their business, that a marketing strategy gets pushed to the side.

A Facebook post here. A radio ad there (the sales person said you didn't want to miss out). Throw in a picture on Instagram once a month and they wonder why they aren't seeing an increase in customers.

This haphazard approach is why most small businesses never reach their full potential.

It's Just Too Hard And I Don't Have the Time

I know, running a small business is hard.

You're the CEO, marketing, sales, customer support, check out person, manager, book keeper, and janitor (someone's gotta clean the bathroom!) all in one.

Trying to figure out the complex world of marketing — what works, what doesn't work, and why you need to dance around for a TikTok video — just isn't something you have the time or energy to do.

I get it.

But what if I told you that you don't need an MBA in marketing to do great marketing?

You don't even need hours each day to do it.

A solid marketing plan will help you narrow down what marketing you should do, where you should do it, and how to gauge if it's being effective.

What's the Plan?

Developing a marketing plan sounds more daunting than it really is.

Most experts will tell you that you need an extremely detailed, researched, and printed out plan that takes months to put together.

If you have the time and money to do that, great!

But if you're like the other 95% of small business owners, you don't need something as elaborate as all that.

You still need to put some time and energy into creating a marketing plan, but it's okay if it isn't an executive document that you spend thousands of dollars to create and then shove it in a drawer somewhere never to be seen again.

The Small Business Marketing Plan Template

When putting together a marketing plan for your small business, make sure to include these sections.

Brand Identity

A brand is simply what people think about when they think about your business. It's the experience they have and the feelings they get.

The foundation of any marketing plan needs to start with a solid brand.

When determining your brand, make sure you think through:

• The feeling you want people to have about your business
• Colors and fonts you will consistently use (don't change these up!)
• Your logo
• A 1 sentence description of the benefit your customers get from your product or service
• A 3-6 word slogan that pinpoints the core of who you are as a business

Branding can be tough — but it is doable. While I will always recommend hiring a professional to help (the ROI of a great brand is immense), simply sticking to the same look and feel of all your marketing will make a huge difference.

Buyer Persona

I preach this all the time, but all great marketing starts by knowing your ideal customer.

A buyer persona will help you to determine your ideal customer's:

• Demographic profile (age, gender, location, education)
• Psychographic profile (interests, hobbies, desires)
• Social profile (platforms used, publication/blogs read, associations)
• Challenges profile (pain points, solutions they are looking for, technology used)

Knowing this information about the customers who are most likely to buy your product or service will help you to pinpoint your marketing efforts, grab their attention, and turn them into buying and loyal customers.

Need help building a buyer's persona? Download my free template.

Competitive Advantage (or USP)

Every company has a unique selling proposition, or what I like to call your competitive advantage.

It's what sets you apart from the competition.

A competitive advantage answers the question: why do customers really buy from you?

Take some time on this. Ask your current customers what made them buy from you. Write down their responses and see if any themes arise.

Your competitive advantage will be the main thing you market, so make sure you know what it is!

Added Value

Similar to your competitive advantage, you'll want to think through what extra value you bring to your customer.

Basically, this lists out the little ways you will go above and beyond for your customers — how you will enhance their experience and make them tell all their friends about you.

Some examples:

• Send a personalized card for their birthday
• Offer free (or inexpensive) classes on topics related to your products or services
• Start a weekly or monthly email with tips and advice
• Offer recommendations based on what they bought in the past

Website

Like it or not, your company NEEDS a website.

Some people will tell you that you can get by without one (and for a while, that is true), but for long-term growth, you need an online presence.

Think about it: when you're looking for a product or service, where do you turn?

Statistics tell us the number one place people look is Google. In fact, research has shown that your customers have made 80% of the decision of who they will buy from before they even contact you.

Where is all this coming from? Your website.

While developing your marketing plan, think through what your customers might be searching for before they even contact you.

That's the information you want on your website.

Social Platforms

Believe it or not, your company HAS to be on social media.

Your target customers are on social media — some spending hours each day scrolling through various channels. Whether you are social media savvy or not, you can't avoid it.

But what platforms should you focus on?

Simple — look at your buyer persona and see what platforms your ideal customers are on.

Pick one and go all in — decide what kind of content will attract those customers and post it regularly.

Remember, consistency is key. Develop a schedule you can stick to for 6 months and evaluate when those 6 months are up.

Need help with coming up with content ideas? Download my free content idea generation worksheet.

Advertising

I know, advertising has become a dirty word for most people, especially small business owners.

Depending where you advertise, you're going to drop a lot of money and see little to no results.

So before you listen to that advertising sales person and sign up for a costly package, think through the following:

• Where does your target customer spend most of their time and attention (social media, newspaper, magazines, TV, radio)?
• What is your budget?
• Where do your competitors (especially successful competitors) advertise?
• How will you rate the success or failure of the campaign?

Not every advertising vehicle is right for you.

Look to see what similar companies are doing, do a bit of research, and talk to an expert. You might be surprised to find that you can see a great ROI on advertising.

The Start

As your business grows, you'll want to develop a more formal marketing strategy, but if you're just getting started and don't have the time or resources to hire someone, at least think through the seven areas above.

They will lay a solid foundation for your marketing, give you direction of what to do when you are tired and don't want to think through yet another task for your small business.

Need help? I offer consultations to help you develop a solid marketing strategy that you can implement immediately to help increase sales.

If you're interested, send me a message and we can schedule a time.

About Jason:

Jason Vana is the founder of SHFT, a marketing powerhouse that helps small and growing businesses generate leads and increase sales with custom marketing strategies. He is a marketing executive with over 18 years experience taking brands from nobodies to the preferred vendors in their industry. Jason is an ordained reverend, avid lover of coffee, dog dad to a spoiled pitbull terrier, and Superman in disguise.