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Creating a marketing plan for an entire year can feel overwhelming. There’s a lot to consider, and sometimes it’s tough to plan for periods that seem so far away when things can change in a matter of days or weeks. Sound familiar?
But I have some good news. There’s a way around all this, and it starts by looking at two types of marketing plans.
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Strategic vs. Tactical marketing plans and what to do
First, let’s discuss two very different types of marketing plans.
A strategic marketing plan sets the long-term vision and goals, focusing on the "why" behind your marketing efforts. It aligns initiatives with business objectives and market needs, providing a roadmap for growth.
A tactical marketing plan executes that strategy, focusing on the "how" and "what." It outlines specific actions, tools, and timelines to turn the vision into measurable results.
You set a strategic vision and goals aligned with your overall business objectives and then plan the tactics to get you there.
The tactical marketing plan is where you’ll dive into your campaigns and day-to-day activities. This is where most small business or jack-of-all-trade marketing professionals will focus most of their time.
Tackle your tactics one quarter at a time
As I said at the beginning of this email, sometimes it’s tough to plan your marketing for periods that are far away, even when they’re just 6 to 12 months from now.
I like setting my strategic plan for the year and then planning my tactics for each quarter. Before starting a new quarter, I can look back at the previous quarter to see what worked and what didn’t, and then I can plan my next quarter, taking into account anything that makes that quarter unique.
For example, if you’re launching a new product in Quarter 2, that’s going to look much different from your other quarters, just as Quarter 4 might have some different tactics if you’re running a Black Friday campaign.
Start with a few simple steps
If you’ve read all that and are wondering, “Where do I start?" let’s break it down.
Look at your big strategic goals for the year, such as where you want to be with your revenue, leads, web traffic growth, etc.
Now, consider your calendar in terms of product launches, big events, etc.
Walk through each quarter one at a time, taking into consideration what you came up with in steps one and two above. Figure out what you need to accomplish each quarter.
Come up with tactics for each quarter down to the campaign level. Focus on Q1 more than anything else when it comes to the details because you’ll learn some things you can repeat in Q2 and so on.
Get to work on building what you need for your Q1 plan. This could include emails, marketing messaging, social media posts, videos, etc.
Finally, if you have some time before the end of the current year, look at anything for Q1 that you can start testing. This will help you to hit the ground running right after the first of the year.
I hope this helps you get started and makes creating a full year’s marketing plan less overwhelming. Get started now with some outlines as you go through the steps above.
Thanks for reading. I’ll talk with you again next Sunday.
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