A Guide on How to Write an Integrated Marketing Plan
WayPoint Marketing Communications
Experts in brand strategy, content creation & digital marketing for B2B manufacturers, driving growth & engagement.
DISCOVER EXACTLY WHAT TO INCLUDE IN A #MARKETINGPLAN IF YOU WANT TO GROW YOUR #BUSINESS.
Are you looking to create a strategic marketing plan for your business, but don’t know where to start? This comprehensive guide will walk you through the marketing planning process and we will share a free marketing plan template that will help you get started.
Why You Need a Marketing Plan
Today’s marketers and business owners typically know that a marketing plan is needed and should include certain tenets of a strong, integrated marketing strategy—social media, content marketing, email marketing, website optimization, networking, personal outreach and more. The right marketing plan will include a mix of these but also dives deeper to outline who your target audiences are, how you will reach them through the mix of channels and how you will retain customers.
When completed correctly, your marketing plan will chart your course for a successful year. To help you succeed in this planning process, take notes in this marketing plan worksheet as we outline 17 steps to follow as you create a marketing plan:
STEP 1: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In terms of order listed in your plan, the execute summary should come first. However, it should be written last. This section is meant to be an overview of all that is to come. It’s a great summary section for your employees, advisors, or other business influencers.
This section should also outline your location, mission statement, marketing team leaders and a brief introduction to your business—your elevator pitch.
STEP 2: COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
This section is devoted to analyzing your competition—both current competitors and some you suspect might enter your market. Whether you admit to it or not, every business has competition. It’s important to know what you’re up against. Know all their strengths and weaknesses.
If this is a process you haven’t done before, don’t feel overwhelmed. It doesn’t have to be difficult. Here is a simple, how-to guide to conducting this analysis.
STEP 3: SWOT ANALYSIS
Now that you’ve conducted an analysis on your competition, turn the focus on your own business—and be honest. Analyze your strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats (SWOT). This can sometimes pose a challenge. We recommend looping in a third-party to help uncover these elements.
STEP 4: UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION
Once you’ve mapped out your industry, you may have noticed what differentiates your company from your competitors—your unique selling proposition (USP). Outline this gap between you and the competition, and detail why it sets you apart. Be sure to write in a way that dictates why it’s of value to your customers.
STEP 5: BUYING FUNNEL
Outlining your buying funnel and being very detailed will help you later as you begin to understand when and how to engage your audience and how they move through the buying funnel. So, don’t miss any steps—no matter how small. Start from the moment a customer realizes a need and follow the process beyond closing a deal if you can. Occasionally, there may be re-engagement opportunities that puts the buyer back into your sales funnel somewhere.
STEP 6: TARGET MARKET AND TARGET AUDIENCES
Our team outlined this in our article, “How to Define Your Target Audience,” but we can’t say it enough, if you don’t genuinely know everything about your audience, you will be left guessing on the messaging and marketing channels you should use. And this will eventually negatively impact your business. If ever in doubt, define both your target market and audiences so that your entire business operates with them in mind.
STEP 7: LOCATION ANALYSIS
Where is your business located? What part will your location(s) play in attracting customers? Does this impact your go-to market plan? Does it impact your pricing and sales volume potential? Your business’ location can have a massive impact on its success. When done right, this process takes the guesswork out of the equation and allows you to make informed marketing and messaging decisions.
STEP 8: DISTRIBUTION PLAN
In this section, detail the various ways your customers will buy from you. Will they purchase directly from you, through a distributor, or even through sales representatives? Doing so, will alert you to ways you will need to reach your customers and communicate key messages.
STEP 9: PRICING AND POSITIONING
The foundation of all your marketing decisions is set. Now you can begin to build on those elements. The pricing and positioning of your business must be aligned with the needs of your target audiences and your USP. For example, if you’re meant to be a premier brand in your industry, your pricing should not be inexpensive. Here you should detail your position in your industry and how your pricing will support it.
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STEP 10: BRAND
A brand plays an important role in any business, and it’s the next major step to creating a marketing plan. You may already have a brand in place. But given the work you completed so far, it may need some tweaking if you want to give yourself a major edge in your competitive market. Outline your brand details in this section before moving on.
STEP 11: JOINT VENTURES AND PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
Identity partners who can help maximize your reach to new customers. Beyond the already outlined distribution options, could your marketing benefit from a spokesperson or influencer supporting your messaging and goals? Remember, the partners you choose should support your overall brand and business goals. Influencers, for example, may not have access the best target audience for your product.
STEP 12: MARKETING CHANNELS AND MATERIALS
This is the section that most business professionals assume encompasses an entire marketing plan, but it’s really a small portion. Present a clear and concise picture of your plan to sell your products and services, how it will impact your profits and explain what marketing channels you need to use to reach your target audience in ways that support all other details. Make the list as long and thorough as possible—consider every potential opportunity and narrow from there. Some examples of #b2b marketing channels include:
Content marketing through blog or association articles
Once you have outlined your list of marketing channels, circle back and fill in the necessary materials you need to successfully operate within each of them. Do you need a branded trade show booth? Do you need a new website or update your current one? Do you need to create a social media page and content to post? Do you need a keyword strategy as a part of your site optimization?
STEP 13: PROMOTIONS STRATEGY
Not every business needs a promotion strategy within their marketing plan. But your USP and target audience may call for it. And, if they do, explain your promotional tactics here—special discounts based on certain criteria.
STEP 14: CONVERSIONS STRATEGY
In one of the last sections of your marketing plan, detail how your team will convert prospective customers into buyers—bonus points if you can do this for each of your marketing channels. Consider lead generation forms on your website. Or think about how your sales representatives play a role. This will likely follow the end of your buying funnel that you outlined earlier. Testimonials from past clients also help to close the sales process.
STEP 15: RETENTION STRATEGY
In addition to attracting new customers, it’s important to retain your current customers. Afterall, Marketing 101 tells professionals that it’s less expensive to retain a customer than it is to find new ones. Will you regularly engage customers through a loyalty program, service plan, newsletter or consulting opportunities? Identify and document these strategies in this section.
STEP 16: FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS
This second-to-last section in your marketing plan is focused on developing financial projections. You should include any promotional and marketing expenses you expect to incur, and what you expect to gain from selling to new and existing customers. In addition, you should work across departments to make sure financial projections align with the goals of everyone.
While these projections aren’t expected to be perfect, they are intended to be used as an accountability tool for the year and call out which marketing channels will give your business the highest return on investment (ROI).
STEP 17: GOALS
The final step in any strategic marketing plan is establishing goals. Using the financial projections previously established, you can “back door” your way into creating measurable goals that align with your business needs. Just like any other goal, they need to be measurable, specific and realistic. For example, if you know your teams needs to make a profit of $3 million, you need to reach a goal of selling a certain number of mixed units with a profit margin of X%. Therefore, you will need to promote those units through a set of marketing channels and spend no more than $X on those marketing activities.
Understandably, not all the marketing channels can be assigned goals. The idea is to create as many measurable goals as possible for marketing channels. Doing so gives you accountability standards to analyze marketing performance throughout the year.
You Completed Your Marketing Plan, Now What?
Once the hard work is done, it’s best to communicate your marketing plan with your entire team. Let them be inspired to build “out-of-this-world” content and campaigns that will grow your business. Delegate and trust that you hired a rockstar team that will make your plan come to life.
In Conclusion
At the end of the day, no business or #marketingprogram can efficiently operate without a plan in place. We understand there is a lot that goes into creating a marketing plan. When it’s done right, it’s one of the most valuable assets you can give your business and #marketing department. If you’re stuck on your own strategic marketing planning, and you need more than this free marketing template, connect with a B2B marketing agency that can show you the way through the process.
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