EntrepreneurshipManagementMarketingStrategy

A Sample One-Page Marketing Plan

Many people have asked what my one-page marketing plan template looks like with an example of real-world content filled in.  So when my friend Kerry Kobe at Sweet Sanity Designs needed to rethink her marketing strategy, I worked with her to fill out my marketing plan template, and she kindly allowed me to share her real sample marketing plan with you here.

The basic marketing plan template

So first, here is what the basic marketing plan looks like:

QUESTION ANSWER
1) Objectives
What are the specific goals of your business this year?
2) Your Product/Service
What product or service do you offer?
3) Customers
Who buys (or should buy) your product?  What do they need it for?
4) Competitors
Who are your top competitors and what are their strengths?
5) Positioning
Given your competition, what makes your business great and unique to customers?
6) Pricing
How will you price your product?
7) Sales & Support
How and where will you sell and service the product?
8) Promotion
How will people find out about you and your product?
9) Budget
How much money do you have to promote the product?
10) Action Plan
What will you do and when to sell and promote your product?

Download the marketing plan template (.doc)

The sample marketing plan, filled out

Background: Kerry makes fashionable printed material for weddings and other events. While she has her own website, most of her sales come from the craft marketplace Etsy.  It’s never a good idea to be too dependent on a single form of distribution and marketing, and Kerry realized she needed to diversify in order to grow and future-proof her business. Thus she turned to using this simple marketing plan as a means to rethink how she marketed herself.

Here’s what the sample marketing plan looks like when completely filled in:

QUESTION ANSWER
1) Objectives
What are the specific goals of your business this year?
 In order of priority:
1) Increase sales
2) Diversify lead sources from Etsy to own website or similar marketplaces
3) Increase follower community
2) Your Product/Service
What product or service do you offer?
  • Products: Fashionable, design-forward printed stickers, decorations and signage for weddings, parties, and other events
  • Services: Consult with customers to develop innovative design concepts for events
3) Customers
Who buys (or should buy) your product?  What do they need it for?
Mostly women in their 20s and 30s — often getting married or planning events. My typical customer is style-conscious and knows her own taste. She is detail- and do-it-yourself oriented, but also time-constrained and unlikely to be highly experienced with design software. She is also cost-aware and time-sensitive. Most customers are doing events for themselves, but a small number are organizing events for other friends or relatives.
4) Competitors
Who are your top competitors and what are their strengths?
Main competitors are:

  • Big print houses like Zazzle, TinyPrints
  • Other Etsy sellers
  • Independent printing websites
5) Positioning
Given your competition, what makes your business great and unique to customers?
  • Unique look and designs
  • Stylish and highly trend-aware
  • Very fast, reliable turnaround
  • Very willing to customize designs
  • Highly service-oriented and consultative
  • Reasonable pricing
6) Pricing
How will you price your product?
  • Stickers: by printed sheet
  • Signage: by piece
  • Consulting services: hourly (or free with purchase)
7) Sales & Support
How and where will you sell and service the product?
Currently all sales occur on Etsy. To diversify sales outlets, it makes sense to develop a shopping cart on my own website. Also: investigate other design and customer printing marketplaces.
8) Promotion
How will people find out about you and your product?
Right now most people find me through Etsy. I also have a website (in Joomla), a blog (in WordPress) and Facebook fan page. Word of mouth, Pinterest, and Instagram have also been useful. My goal is to make the website and blog attract more traffic through search engine optimization. Place more product-specific pages on website. I will consider search marketing and email marketing to push new products.
9) Budget
How much money do you have to promote the product?
  • 2-5 hours per week for website fixes and SEO
  • Spend 10% of sales on advertising budget
10) Action Plan
What will you do and when to sell and promote your product?
  1. Download SEO modules for Joomla and WordPress.
  2. Create product-specific pages focused on individual products
  3. Recast existing blog pages to attract more traffic. Consider social sharing buttons on blog. Keep posting new content optimized for search & sharing.
  4. Add e-commerce (shopping cart) capabilities to website.
  5. Investigate other online design marketplaces like Minted.com.

Marketing plan results

For a business owner, confusion and procrastination often work hand-in-hand to keep you from making needed changes. That’s the advantage of a simple marketing plan: it forces you to describe your current business problem and to think about concrete solutions.

For Kerry, for example, before working on the marketing plan she was having trouble figuring out next steps for the business.  The mere process of writing the marketing plan helped her put down on paper what she already knew and clarify the steps she needed to take next.  Plus she came away from the process full of ideas, empowered, and energized to get to work.

I hope seeing a concrete sample marketing plan will help it easier for you, too, to overcome procrastination and confusion. Questions? Leave a comment!

16 thoughts on “A Sample One-Page Marketing Plan

  1. Hi thanks for the simple yet informative mktg plan! It will be useful for me as I am assisting someone who just started their health supplement business.

  2. Hi Daniel,

    Thanks and a good job you did! Very useful and the best marketing plan on the internet. Keep it simple and to the point.

    With regards,

    Emile Leus

  3. Your one-page marketing plan is very useful and will help a lot of people will benefit from using it as a working document with their leadership teams. Your trying to get everyone on bought into your future state and approach so it needs to be a document of collaboration.

    My contribution would be to include where you’re at today, what’s changing in the the market and why this “change” is necessary for success to get everyone “on the same page”. Also include revenue goals – by what date? Lastly paint the picture of “what if” we achieve these goals (payoff for the company and people who’ll make it successful i.e. bonus, promotion, hiring employees, stock).

    Great framework and look forward to other’s contribution too!

    1. A market analysis is indeed an important component of a more detailed marketing plan, but most people don’t know where to start with that, so I left it out.

      One thing I’d leave out, even in a detailed marketing plan: the “what if” scenario. You could easily raise a lot of expectations — and I know that, more often than not, most companies don’t meet their expected targets.

  4. Thank you soooo much your template it made it so much easier for me to start my marketing plan for my marketing and advertising project!!

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