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Marketing plan vs business plan: What’s the difference?

  • Marketing Plan

Marketing plan vs business plan: What’s the difference?

For business owners, nonprofit directors, and community group leaders, the process of writing a business plan or creating a marketing plan can seem intimidating. They may know the ins and outs of what they do every day and have fantastic ideas on how to grow and market their organizations, but the act of putting it on paper often feels like stepping into a world with opaque rules and confusing jargon.

Fortunately, the reality of both business and marketing plans is that they aren’t nearly as complicated as many people think. In fact, most business owners have written both without realizing it, even if only in an informal manner.

Creating a formal business or marketing plan uses a lot of the same steps business owners already take when sketching out new marketing ideas on a napkin or doing some quick back-of-the-envelope math to figure out how to expand into a new city.

But before moving forward with the process, it’s important to know which one you need. In other words, what’s the difference between a marketing plan and a business plan?

Create a marketing plan that works for your business with Jotform’s easy-to-use marketing form templates .

The biggest difference between a business plan and a marketing plan is the scope of what they cover. While both documents can be quite lengthy and thorough, they don’t address the exact same information.

A business plan is typically a much broader document that covers every aspect of your business: operations, supply chains, human resources, materials costs, and — yes — marketing. In fact, a marketing plan will usually be a section of a business plan.

Marketing plans tend to focus much more narrowly on the specifics of making customers aware of and likely to buy a product or service. A marketing plan may touch on some of the same things a business plan does, like the cost of goods sold, but only as they relate to being able to sell those goods to consumers.

Another key difference between the two is how far into the future they look. Business plans, for example, tend to cover a much longer period than marketing plans. A typical window for a business plan, for example, is about five years. A typical window for a marketing plan, on the other hand, will be a year to three years.

The two are updated differently as well. Business plans rarely need to be replaced or updated unless there’s a significant change in the business — a completely new product category, a new business model, or some global event that changes the way a company performs its core function.

Marketing plans are often updated every year. They tend to be part of the yearly budgeting activities that help business owners plan how they will allocate resources to various departments.

This makes sense when you think about it. Companies change their marketing much more often than they change their business model.

The reasons for creating a marketing plan and a business plan are often similar but not identical. Most often, business owners create both to secure financing. Banks and investors frequently ask for business and marketing plans before agreeing to loan money or invest in the company.

But external demands aren’t the only or even the most important reasons to write both kinds of plans. A business plan is a great way to formalize the ideas behind how and why a company works the way it does. It’s a fantastic way for business owners to put down on paper many of the things they’ve been intuitively doing, and cement processes and procedures for running a company.

Business plans are also great at helping you to prepare for future needs. By going through the exercise of writing a full business plan, business owners get an idea of where they are and what kinds of initiatives and resources they need to meet their goals.

Marketing plans are also incredibly useful internally. As we mentioned above, they are an important part of the annual budgeting process. Sitting down and thinking through all of the marketing needs can help both validate a company’s marketing initiatives as well as determine the ideal amount of money to allocate toward marketing.

The bottom line

A marketing plan is a part of a business plan. That’s the easiest way to remember the difference between the two. The business plan shapes everything about the way a company works, and lays out big-picture goals and ideas.

The marketing plan paints a more detailed picture of how the company will use marketing to achieve the goals laid out in the business plan. The marketing plan is department level and has to coexist with plans for other departments — HR, operations, legal and regulatory, and others.

Both plans are important in successfully running a company, but the business plan is more important because it will at least outline some marketing initiatives. For business owners who only have time to create one, the business plan is the logical choice.

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67 days ago

dear as far as i read your passage about marketing and business plan i would like to request that you send me some samples of business and marketing plan in FMCG scope thank you

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Business Plan vs. Marketing Plan

Back to Business Plans

Written by: Carolyn Young

Carolyn Young is a business writer who focuses on entrepreneurial concepts and the business formation. She has over 25 years of experience in business roles, and has authored several entrepreneurship textbooks.

Edited by: David Lepeska

David has been writing and learning about business, finance and globalization for a quarter-century, starting with a small New York consulting firm in the 1990s.

Published on March 3, 2023 Updated on December 11, 2023

Business Plan vs. Marketing Plan

Starting a business usually requires both a business plan and a marketing plan. The first has many components, including a marketing section, and covers all facets of the business. The second is essentially an expanded and more detailed version of the marketing section of your business plan.

Both are dynamic documents that will change over time as you learn more about your business. This guide lays out all the details of what goes into a business plan and what is in a marketing plan.

  • Business Plan Components

A business plan has eight essential components .

1. Executive Summary 

The executive summary opens your business plan, but it’s the section you’ll write last . It summarizes the key points and highlights the most important aspects of your plan. Often investors and lenders will only read the executive summary; if it doesn’t capture their interest they’ll stop reading, so it’s important to make it as compelling as possible.

The components should include:

  • The business opportunity – what problem are you solving in the market?
  • Your idea, meaning the product or service you’re planning to offer, and why it solves the problem in the market better than other solutions.
  • The history of the business so far – what have you done to this point? When you’re just getting started, this may be nothing more than coming up with the idea, choosing a business name , and forming a business entity.
  • A summary of the industry, market size, your target customers, and the competition.
  • A strong statement about how your company is going to stand out in the market – what will be your competitive advantage?
  • A list of specific goals that you plan to achieve in the short term, such as developing your product, launching a marketing campaign, or hiring a key person. 
  • A summary of your financial plan including cost and sales projections and a break-even analysis.
  • A summary of your management team, their roles, and the relevant experience that they have to serve in those roles.
  • Your “ask”, if applicable, meaning what you’re requesting from the investor or lender. You’ll include the amount you’d like and how it will be spent, such as “We are seeking $50,000 in seed funding to develop our beta product”. 

Remember that if you’re seeking capital, the executive summary could make or break your venture. Take your time and make sure it illustrates how your business is unique in the market and why you’ll succeed.

The executive summary should be no more than two pages long, so it’s important to capture the reader’s interest from the start. 

2. Company Description/Overview

In this section, you’ll detail your full company history, such as how you came up with the idea for your business and any milestones or achievements. 

You’ll also include your mission and vision statements. A mission statement explains what you’d like your business to achieve, its driving force, while a vision statement lays out your long-term plan in terms of growth. 

A mission statement might be “Our company aims to make life easier for business owners with intuitive payroll software”, while a vision statement could be “Our objective is to become the go-to comprehensive HR software provider for companies around the globe.”

In this section, you’ll want to list your objectives – specific short-term goals. Examples might include “complete initial product development by ‘date’” or “hire two qualified sales people” or “launch the first version of the product”. 

It’s best to divide this section into subsections – company history, mission and vision, and objectives.

3. Products or Services Offered 

Here you’ll go into detail about what you’re offering, how it solves a problem in the market, and how it’s unique. Don’t be afraid to share information that is proprietary – investors and lenders are not out to steal your ideas. 

Also specify how your product is developed or sourced. Are you manufacturing it or does it require technical development? Are you purchasing a product from a manufacturer or wholesaler? 

You’ll also want to specify how you’ll sell your product or service. Will it be a subscription service or a one-time purchase?  What is your target pricing? On what channels do you plan to sell your product or service, such as online or by direct sales in a store? 

Basically, you’re describing what you’re going to sell and how you’ll make money.

4. Market Analysis 

The market analysis is where you’re going to spend most of your time because it involves a lot of research. You should divide it into four sections.

Industry analysis 

Research and describe exactly what’s happening in your industry, such as growth rate, market size, and current trends. Where is the industry predicted to be in 10 years? Provide links to your sources. 

Detail your company’s place in the market. Will your product fit a certain niche? Is there a sub-industry your company will fit into? How will you keep up with industry changes? 

Competitor analysis 

Now you’ll dig into your competition. Detail your main competitors and how they differentiate themselves in the market. For example, one competitor may advertise convenience while another touts superior quality. Also highlight your competitors’ weaknesses.

Next, explain how you’ll stand out. Detail your competitive advantages and how you’ll sustain them. This section is extremely important and will be a focus for investors and lenders. 

Target market analysis 

Here you’ll describe your target market and whether it’s different from your competitors’.  For example, maybe you have a younger demographic in mind? 

You’ll need to know more about your target market than demographics, though. You’ll want to explain the needs and wants of your ideal customers, how your offering solves their problem, and why they will choose your company. 

You should also lay out where you’ll find them, where to place your marketing and where to sell your products. Learning this kind of detail requires going to the source – your potential customers. You can do online surveys or even in-person focus groups. 

Your goal will be to uncover as much about these people as possible. When you start selling, you’ll want to keep learning about your customers. You may end up selling to a different target market than you originally thought, which could lead to a marketing shift. 

SWOT analysis 

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and it’s one of the more common and helpful business planning tools.   

First describe all the specific strengths of your company, such as the quality of your product or some unique feature, such as the experience of your management team. Talk about the elements that will make your company successful.

Next, acknowledge and explore possible weaknesses. You can’t say “none”, because no company is perfect, especially at the start. Maybe you lack funds or face a massive competitor. Whatever it is, detail how you will surmount this hurdle. 

Next, talk about the opportunities your company has in the market. Perhaps you’re going to target an underserved segment, or have a technology plan that will help you surge past the competition. 

Finally, examine potential threats. It could be a competitor that might try to replicate your product or rapidly advancing technology in your industry. Again, discuss your plans to handle such threats if they come to pass. 

5. Marketing and Sales Strategies

Now it’s time to explain how you’re going to find potential customers and convert them into paying customers.  

Marketing and advertising plan

When you did your target market analysis, you should have learned a lot about your potential customers, including where to find them. This should help you determine where to advertise. 

Maybe you found that your target customers favor TikTok over Instagram and decided to spend more marketing dollars on TikTok. Detail all the marketing channels you plan to use and why.

Your target market analysis should also have given you information about what kind of message will resonate with your target customers. You should understand their needs and wants and how your product solves their problem, then convey that in your marketing. 

Start by creating a value proposition, which should be no more than two sentences long and answer the following questions:

  • What are you offering
  • Whose problem does it solve
  • What problem does it solve
  • What benefits does it provide
  • How is it better than competitor products

An example might be “Payroll software that will handle all the payroll needs of small business owners, making life easier for less.”

Whatever your value proposition, it should be at the heart of all of your marketing.

Sales strategy and tactics 

Your sales strategy is a vision to persuade customers to buy, including where you’ll sell and how. For example, you may plan to sell only on your own website, or you may sell from both a physical location and online. 

On the other hand, you may have a sales team that will make direct sales calls to potential customers, which is more common in business-to-business sales. Sales tactics are more about how you’re going to get them to buy after they reach your sales channel. 

Even when selling online, you need something on your site that’s going to get them to go from a site visitor to a paying customer. By the same token, if you’re going to have a sales team making direct sales, what message are they going to deliver that will entice a sale? 

It’s best for sales tactics to focus on the customer’s pain point and what value you’re bringing to the table, rather than being aggressively promotional about the greatness of your product.

Pricing strategy

Pricing is not an exact science and should depend on several factors. First, consider how you want your product or service to be perceived in the market. If your differentiator is to be the lowest price, position your company as the “discount” option. 

Think Walmart, and price your products lower than the competition. If, on the other hand, you want to be the Mercedes of the market, then you’ll position your product as the luxury option. 

Of course you’ll have to back this up with superior quality, but being the luxury option allows you to command higher prices. You can, of course, fall somewhere in the middle, but the point is that pricing is a matter of perception. 

How you position your product in the market compared to the competition is a big factor in determining your price. Of course, you’ll have to consider your costs, as well as competitor prices. Obviously, your prices must cover your costs and allow you to make a good profit. 

Whatever pricing strategy you choose, you’ll justify it in this section of your plan.

6. Operations and Management 

This section is the real nuts and bolts of your business – how it operates on a day-to-day basis and who is operating it. Again, this section should be divided into subsections.

Operational plan

Your plan of operations should be specific , detailed and mainly logistical. Who will be doing what on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis? How will the business be managed and how will quality be assured? Be sure to detail your suppliers and how and when you’ll order raw materials. 

This should also include the roles that will be filled and the various processes that will be part of everyday business operations. Just consider all the critical functions that must be handled for your business to be able to operate on an ongoing basis. 

Technology plan

If your product involves technical development, you’ll describe your tech development plan with specific goals and milestones. The plan will also include how many people will be working on this development, and what needs to be done for goals to be met.

If your company is not a technology company, you’ll describe what technologies you plan to use to run your business or make your business more efficient. It could be process automation software, payroll software, or just laptops and tablets for your staff. 

Management and organizational structure 

Now you’ll describe who’s running the show. It may be just you when you’re starting out, so you’ll detail what your role will be and summarize your background. You’ll also go into detail about any managers that you plan to hire and when that will occur.

Essentially, you’re explaining your management structure and detailing why your strategy will enable smooth and efficient operations. 

Ideally, at some point, you’ll have an organizational structure that is a hierarchy of your staff. Describe what you envision your organizational structure to be. 

Personnel plan 

Detail who you’ve hired or plan to hire and for which roles. For example, you might have a developer, two sales people, and one customer service representative.

Describe each role and what qualifications are needed to perform those roles. 

7. Financial Plan 

Now, you’ll enter the dreaded world of finance. Many entrepreneurs struggle with this part, so you might want to engage a financial professional to help. A financial plan has five key elements.

Startup Costs

Detail in a spreadsheet every cost you’ll incur before you open your doors. This should determine how much capital you’ll need to launch your business. 

Financial projections 

Creating financial projections, like many facets of business, is not an exact science. If your company has no history, financial projections can only be an educated guess. 

First, come up with realistic sales projections. How much do you expect to sell each month? Lay out at least three years of sales projections, detailing monthly sales growth for the first year, then annually thereafter. 

Calculate your monthly costs, keeping in mind that some costs will grow along with sales. Once you have your numbers projected and calculated, use them to create these three key financial statements: 

  • Profit and Loss Statement , also known as an income statement. This shows projected revenue and lists all costs, which are then deducted to show net profit or loss. 
  • Cash Flow Statement. This shows how much cash you have on hand at any given time. It will have a starting balance, projections of cash coming in, and cash going out, which will be used to calculate cash on hand at the end of the reporting period.
  • Balance Sheet. This shows the net worth of the business, which is the assets of the business minus debts. Assets include equipment, cash, accounts receivables, inventory, and more. Debts include outstanding loan balances and accounts payable.

You’ll need monthly projected versions of each statement for the first year, then annual projections for the following two years.

Break-even analysis

The break-even point for your business is when costs and revenue are equal. Most startups operate at a loss for a period of time before they break even and start to make a profit. Your break-even analysis will project when your break-even point will occur, and will be informed by your profit and loss statement. 

Funding requirements and sources 

Lay out the funding you’ll need, when, and where you’ll get it. You’ll also explain what those funds will be used for at various points. If you’re in a high-growth industry that can attract investors, you’ll likely need various rounds of funding to launch and grow. 

Key performance indicators (KPIs)

KPIs measure your company’s performance and can determine success. Many entrepreneurs only focus on the bottom line, but measuring specific KPIs helps find areas of improvement. Every business has certain crucial metrics. 

If you sell only online, one of your key metrics might be your visitor conversion rate. You might do an analysis to learn why just one out of ten site visitors makes a purchase. Perhaps the purchase process is too complicated or your product descriptions are vague. 

Learning why your conversion rate is low gives you a chance to improve it and boost sales. 

8. Appendices

In the appendices you can attach documents such as manager resumes or other documents that support your business plan.

  • Marketing Plan Components

A marketing plan, as mentioned above, is a more detailed version of the marketing strategy section of your business plan. It includes six components.

1. Marketing Objectives

Start by detailing your short-term marketing goals. This could be “Reach 10,000 monthly site visitors by next year’” or “Acquire 500 new customers by May”. Be sure to set clear and attainable goals so your marketing team understands its targets. 

2. Target Market

You’ll want to document exactly who you’re trying to reach with your marketing. You should’ve already done a target market analysis for your business plan, and you’ll use it here. 

What Problem Are You Solving?

Whatever your product or service, it needs to solve a problem in the market. So, ask yourself, what problem does my business solve? Next, consider who faces that problem. 

A plumbing company, for instance, solves the problem of broken pipes. Who deals with that problem?  Homeowners and property owners and managers. 

Depending on your business, it may not be obvious who has the problem you’re solving. If it’s not clear, do more research. Either way, knowing who faces the problem you’re solving is just the beginning. You need to know much more about your target customers.

Research Your Market and Competition

Now, dig into your market with some online research. Do some Google and Bing searches about your target demographic, where they shop and live, what appeals to them and so on. 

Next, check out your competition to see who they’re marketing to. It may help to study their marketing through the eyes of a consumer. 

What need do they fill? Who would find their marketing appealing? Where do they advertise? If their ads appear on TikTok, they’re looking to attract a younger market. 

This market research should give you a general profile of your target market – but that’s not enough.

Talk to Potential Customers

To learn more about your target market, go straight to the source. The best way to learn their needs and wants, why they’d buy your product and how they’ll use it, is to ask them via a phone or email survey. 

If you’ve yet to make any sales, it’s probably best to post your survey online then promote it on social media by offering a small reward, such as a gift certificate. Just make sure you ask the right questions to get the information you’re looking for. 

You can also hold in-person focus groups and offer your goods at a discount for participants. 

Create Customer Profiles

Now it’s time to build detailed profiles of your target customers. You may have found that your product will appeal to more than one group of people. These are called customer segments, and all your segments together make up your target market. 

Create descriptions of each group with all the information you’re learned. These profiles should include:

  • Pain points: the problems they have that you’re solving
  • Benefits your product provides
  • Their interests: what do they care about?
  • Buying patterns: where do they shop?
  • Age, location, income level, other factual information 

3. Value Proposition

Now you can use these profiles to craft a value proposition that will serve as the foundation of all your marketing. You may need to devise more than one value proposition to target different segments.

Your value propositions should be no more than two sentences long and answer the following questions:

  • How is it better than competitors’ products

An example might be “Payroll software that handles all the payroll needs of small business owners, making life easier for less.” 

Remember that you need to align your value proposition with the wishes of your target market.

4. Marketing Activities

Now you’ll layout the specific marketing activities that you plan to conduct. Your target market analysis should have told you where you’re most likely to find potential customers, so if you found out that your potential customers use TikTok, you can post and run ads there. 

You’ll want to only perform the marketing activities that are most likely to reach your potential customers so that you’re not wasting marketing dollars. If getting found online is important to you, focus on search engine optimization (SEO) and social media ads.

Make the activities as specific as possible, such as “Run a TikTok ad promoting ____ for three months.”

5. Marketing Budget

Now, determine what these activities will cost and set a budget. When you go through this process, you may find that you need to adjust your marketing to stick to the budget you can afford.

Your marketing budget needs to align with your goals. If one of your goals is to obtain 500 new customers, which will generate $10,000 in revenue, you can’t spend more than that on marketing. You have to make sure you’re getting a good return on your investment, or at least breaking even. 

Now you’ll determine your key performance indicators (KPIs) to gauge the success of your marketing.

If you sell only online, one of your key marketing metrics might be your visitor conversion rate. You might do an analysis to learn why just one out of ten site visitors makes a purchase. 

Perhaps the purchase process is too complicated or your product descriptions are vague. The point is, learning why your conversion rate is low gives you a chance to improve it and boost sales. 

Similarly, if you’re not getting enough site visitors, you may need to revisit your SEO strategies. 

A business plan outlines the overall mission, objectives, and strategies of a business, encompassing aspects like operations, finances, and organizational structure.

In contrast, a marketing plan focuses specifically on strategies and tactics to promote products or services, detailing target audiences, promotional methods, and market positioning.

While the business plan provides a comprehensive view of the entire business, the marketing plan hones in on attracting and retaining customers.

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Understanding the Difference Between a Marketing Plan And a Business Plan

If you have started a business (or intend to do so in the future), you have likely determined it will be important to have a business plan moving forward. It is equally  important to have a sound marketing plan. Creating plans that work with one another is crucial to your success. Doing so will enable your company to stay organized and will help you take measurable steps to achieve whatever level of accomplishment you are aiming for. So, what makes the difference between a marketing plan and a business plan, and how do they both benefit you?

Business Plans

Startup companies will use business plans to get off the ground and persuade outside investors to work with them. The elements of a solid business plan are straightforward and easy to learn, but very important to maintain. A business plan’s length can vary depending on the type of business you run. All key information you include in a business plan should fit into a document that is anywhere from 15 to 20 pages long. All business plans have these same following elements:

Executive Summary

In this section the company is outlined and the mission statement is introduced. This section also includes information regarding leadership, workers, daily operations, and the company’s location.

Products and Services

The products and services your company will offer can be outlined in this section. Pricing, product lifespan, and consumer benefits can also be included. If other important factors need to be mentioned, such as the processes of production and manufacturing, any patents your company have claimed, and proprietary technology, then those factors should be recorded in this section.

Market Analysis

Along with understanding your target market, your company should understand the industry you reside in. By undergoing a thorough market analysis, you can outline exactly who your competitors are in your industry and how much influence they currently have. The strengths and weaknesses of a competitor will be highlighted in this section. A consumer’s demand for products and services is always changing, and the expected demand for what a company is selling will be plainly described in this section. Will it be easy or hard for your company to grab the market share from the existing competitors? That is the main question this section will answer.

Marketing Strategy

Having a marketing strategy section will seamlessly dovetail into your marketing plan document. It will spell out what needs to be done when you begin a marketing campaign. Attracting and maintaining a customer base is at the heart of this section, and how your company intends to reach out to the consumer must be fleshed out. Clear distribution channels should be shared in this section, to give your team an idea of how your marketing campaign is getting funneled out to customers and investors.

Financial Planning

Having the support of investors is critical for many businesses, and the strength of your business plan will reside in the financial planning section. This is where you utilize accountants and the most economically savvy members of your team to provide numbers and statistics. Businesses that are already established will need to provide financial information such as the income statement, balance sheet, statement of cash flows, statement of comprehensive income, and statement of stockholders’ equity. If you are a new business, prepare documents that will discuss targets and estimates for the first few years of operation and any potential investors you desire to work with.

What kind of budget does your company have? A business plan isn’t complete without an established budget. Costs that relate to staffing, development, manufacturing, marketing, or anything miscellaneous   will make up your budget. Whether your budget is loose or tight, this figure will be a helpful stepping stone in guiding your company to its desired goals.

Marketing Plans

Within the framework of the business plan, you will find a section dedicated to the marketing plan. A marketing plan can also be split out into its own document or plan, rather than just being one section of the business plan. We highly recommend doing this (for reasons we will dive into later). Marketing plans focus solely on determining how to get your service(s) and/or product(s) into the hands of the consumers that will benefit the most from them. Within this portion of your business plan is where you will work on determining who those consumers are as well as deciding on your marketing goals and strategies, researching your competition in the market and determining what types of marketing channels you will use to educate your audience about the thing(s) you are offering. In other words, how will your company stand out from your competitors and grab your audiences attention?

How it Compares to a Business Plan

Compared to a business plan, a marketing plan is a more comprehensive document that heavily outlines the marketing and advertising efforts of a company. Marketing plans are best used as internal documents, and not to be shared with the general public. The marketing plan document should change as your business experiences growth, and as new marketing trends emerge. You will have an easier time finding customers and clients if you know who they are and where they are located.

Marketing is about having the knowledge of what your product or service is and how it can help a target market. Whatever your marketing messages are, they need to speak clearly and effectively to your target market. A marketing plan has the following elements:

Marketing Objectives of the Business

Your company should be specific about its goals. This can include increasing the email list by a certain number of subscribers over the course of a year, or acquiring a specific number of new clients. One way to measure the effectiveness of your marketing plan is to have a quantifiable goal. The objectives you make for your company should be relate to “ SMART ,” which is short for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

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Current Business Marketing Positioning

When it comes to the marketing positioning of your business, there should be an analysis of the current state of your company prepared. What is currently working with your marketing strategy? What do you find challenging about generating new customers and clients? What are the potential issues you might encounter throughout the year, such as moving your company’s headquarters or new laws that could negatively effect how you do business? Doing a SWOT analysis will help with this step of the marketing plan.

Market Research

This is a section dedicated to research on current market trends, customer needs and demands, sales volumes of the industry, and the expected direction the industry will take.

Business Target Market Outline

This section is where you define the target market demographics of your business. Whatever your target market is, let that guide you in determining what marketing strategies you will implement. Where does your market socialize? How can you convince that market to check out your business? Does the majority of your target market use a specific social media platform? For example, if most of your market uses Facebook, then consider launching a Facebook fan page or group for your business. This part of the marketing plan will be easier to execute if members of your team have experience in social media marketing.

Learning how to create a marketing persona will help significantly with this aspect of creating your marketing plan. Here’s a related blog post we’d suggest reading: How Do You Create a Perfect Buyer Persona?

Marketing Activities

Any actions that relate to marketing goals, that were scheduled for a specific period of time, should be listed in this section. Have there been any sudden changes to the industry since identifying a desired goal? Will new actions need to be taken as a result of these changes?

Key Performance Indicators (KPI)

This is an integral part of the data that your company will need to explain how you are progressing (and sometimes not progressing) towards your established marketing goals. A key performance indicator is basically a measuring stick that can illustrate the efficiency of a company when it achieves their objectives. KPIs are often used by companies in their marketing campaigns to determine whether or not they are effectively investing their budget.

Marketing Mix

Customers are not always influenced by only one factor when they purchase products. It takes a combination of factors to entice them to buy. Product, price, promotion, and place make up the 4 P’s of marketing. In this section, outline what your product is and what it does. Provide detail on how much the product will cost, along with where and how you will promote it.

Competition

What does the competition look like? Which organizations will be directly competing against you in the marketing industry? The strategies of your competitors should be identified in this section. You should also attach proposed ways to counter your competitors and gain market share.

Marketing Strategies

Forming a strategy is simple. Executing that strategy can be very challenging. How will the various strategies work with your marketing plan to accomplish the desired goals? Promotional strategies, advertising, and other marketing tools your company can use should be highlighted in this section. There is often confusion regarding the difference between goals, strategies and tactics. Consider reading this blog post to come up with appropriate strategies: The Difference Between Marketing Goals, Strategies and Tactics

Marketing Budget

Your company’s allocation of financial resources to marketing activities should be outlined in detail. Along with the general budget you have for your business plan, you should also have a specific marketing budget kept in mind. Without identifying your marketing budget, it will be impossible to properly carry out marketing activities. Here’s another blog post to check out: How to Set a Marketing Budget for Your Business

Mechanism for Monitoring and Performance

The marketing tools you put in place need to be fruitful. If they aren’t, then these tools should be revised based on the state of your company, whether it is past, current or the expected future state. A plan should be implemented for monitoring the basic daily functions of your company and how well all members of the team are performing. This plan should also reflect how the industry and the overall business environment are trending. You can’t just monitor your own company and not get a feel for what the industry you work in is currently doing.

Different Purposes for the Same Objectives

Now that you know what goes into a business plan and a marketing plan, it is important to know the specific purposes of both plans and how they serve the same objectives your company is attempting to achieve. These plans cover different periods of time and they don’t have identical reasons for being created. Oftentimes business owners see the need to create both plans to secure their financing. Banks and investors will ask for both plans before they agree to invest in your company or send any loan money.

The Purpose of a Business Plan

Your decision-making tool is your business plan. The goals that you have for your business and the target market you intend to reach dictate the content and formats used in this plan. For example, if you run a non-profit organization, your business plan could discuss how your organization’s mission works with its stated objectives. You craft this plan to ask for loans to start a new company or expand one that already exists. A business plan basically prepares you for the future and gives you a better idea of where your company currently stands and what types of resources and initiatives you need to meet your goals.

The Purpose of a Marketing Plan

Your marketing plan is the blueprint that will give you proper instructions on how to achieve your business objectives. This is a key reference piece that will need to be frequently assessed. Should this plan ever become irrelevant in any way, then it needs to be updated immediately. This plan usually assists the growth of your business by defining the appropriate marketing strategies. It also integrates business functions to consistently operate. These functions include marketing, sales, production, finance, and human resources.

How A Marketing Plan and a Business Plan Work Together

While you are unlikely to create a business plan without including a marketing plan, some business owners do choose to decide on their marketing without diving into an entire business plan. While there are times when this might be the best idea for your business (and only you will be able to determine whether or not that is true for you), having both can be extremely helpful, being that one really compliments the other. Some of the very real benefits you might find of having both plans available to you are:

Increased Sales

Your business plan will help you to identify the goals of your company and offer you a path to follow. The marketing plan will then give you tangible steps to take that will help you to achieve those goals. Having a business plan without a marketing plan is like having a ladder without any rungs. You will have all the ideas you need without any clear ways as to how to implement them. Using both plans together will help to increase your revenue as you consistently track your progress and make any changes you deem necessary. If the overall goals of the business change, the marketing plan can also shift to keep sales high.

Realistic Projections

While your business plan will include your initial projections based on your previous research, your marketing plan will give you the opportunity to more accurately track how well you align with those projections. Changes can then be made to better support or clarify your initial estimates.

Consistency

Again, your business plan will outline both the short and long-term goals you have for your company. Your marketing plan will lay out the small steps needed on a daily basis that will help you to consistently meet those goals at a reasonable pace (rather than trying to do everything at once or dragging your feet and never getting any traction).

Surpassing Your Competition

Your business plan will help you to understand your competition and give you a chance to really educate yourself on what strategies have and have not been working for them. This will enable you to focus on putting your resources into marketing channels that will yield the best benefits.

Focused Strategies

Your business plan will propose what strategies you will implement to achieve your business goals, while your marketing plan will help you to laser focus those strategies. Having the business plan accessible will ensure that your marketing strategies stay aligned with your greater vision.

A Functional Master Plan

Utilizing these two plans in conjunction with one another regularly will help you create a master plan that will continually guide the workings of your company. This last piece is so important because it foreshadows a larger truth. You WILL have to maintain both of these plans if you want them to continue to work together for the greater good of your business.

Next Best Steps

So, what exactly does maintaining these two plans entail? As your business grows and changes, so will its needs, making it extremely important that you review these plans on a regular basis.

A business plan should be reviewed once per year, giving you an opportunity to notice any areas where you are not meeting your goals or where you may be out of alignment with your bigger vision. Are you operating to the standards and guidelines that you initially intended? If not, do you need to make changes in the business plan or in the way your business is operating?

The marketing plan, on the other hand, should be reviewed each quarter. This is largely because the economy is constantly shifting and changing and, therefore, you may need to quickly adapt your marketing techniques to whatever new situation arises. Additionally, checking this plan regularly allows you to track which marketing modalities are working the best and worst for your business at any given time. Through continual monitoring, you can begin to identify patterns and adapt or plan your future marketing around those patterns.

As you review these plans, you can make whatever changes need to be made to one or both, keeping them constantly working for you.

A Perfect Match

Overall, businesses that understand the differences between a marketing plan and a business plan, and how they can work seamlessly together are likely to have greater success as they move toward achieving their goals. If you don’t know how to create a business or marketing plan, there are several reliable resources and templates available online! And if you need assistance with the planning or execution of your marketing plan, let us know. You can connect with us via the contact form below!

Joshua Lyons Marketing, LLC was established in 2015. Since that time we have provided digital marketing services to business and professionals. We help our clients increase their online exposure as a means to increase sales and revenue. Our core services include search engine optimization (SEO), website development and content creation. We also provide other online marketing services, such as email marketing, marketing consultations and various types of advertising. Our team is based in the Milton, Pace and Pensacola, Florida area. However, we work with clients throughout the United States. Read More

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Business Plan vs. Marketing Plan: What’s the Difference?

The main difference between a Business Plan and Marketing Plan is that a Business Plan outlines overall goals and strategies for the entire company, while a Marketing Plan focuses specifically on promoting products or services.

Before we move to more differences, let’s first understand Business Plan and Marketing Plan:

  • Business Plan : A business plan is like a map that shows how a business will work and grow. It includes goals, how to reach them, and how to handle challenges. It helps people understand what the business does and how it will make money.
  • Marketing Plan : A marketing plan is a plan that explains how a business will let people know about its products or services. It includes ways to reach customers, like ads or social media. The goal is to make people interested in what the business offers.

Now, let’s get to Business Plan vs Marketing Plan:

Major differences between Business Plan and Marketing Plan

So, these are the main differences between the entities.

  • Brand Marketing vs. Growth Marketing
  • B2B Content Marketing vs. B2C Content Marketing
  • Affiliate Marketing vs. Pyramid Scheme

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The Difference Between a Marketing Plan & a Business Plan: How to Distinguish Between the Two (& Use Both to Accelerate Your Success)

Table of contents.

Image of a man standing over a few key marketing concepts.

Planning to succeed

They say that ‘if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.’ This is a major factor in why 9 out of 10 businesses never make it past the 5-year mark. So if planning is on your mind, you are already ahead of the game.

But when you start to look at possible plans for your new enterprise, it gets confusing very quickly. You may have heard people talking about both business plans and marketing plans. Are these the same thing, or are there differences? If so, which should you choose—or do you need both?  

In this article, I’ll take a close look at business and marketing plans, discussing how they fit into your overall success strategy. I’ll clarify what each plan is for and explain how to leverage them to your advantage.

Business plan vs. marketing plan

Business plans and marketing plans are distinct and have different purposes. Yet they both play a vital role in ensuring business success. So how are they different?

Business plan

A business plan sets out the overall strategy for your business. It defines the company’s overall aims, and objectives then maps out a course for achieving them.

This plan keeps the executive team focused on the right goals, ensuring that everyone works together to achieve success. It also plays a crucial role in helping the start up and small business raise money. Banks and other investors will expect to see a business plan that clarifies how their money will be used—and how they will achieve a return on investment.

A sound business plan will typically include:

  • Market research data
  • Competitive analysis
  • A mission statement
  • Financial projections
  • A sales and marketing strategy
  • An operating plan

Marketing plan

A marketing plan is much narrower in its focus. As the name suggests, it is only concerned with how you will achieve sales. Of course, every business needs healthy sales to survive, so marketing deserves special attention.

A typical marketing plan might cover:

  • The target market
  • The value proposition of the brand
  • The sales targets for future quarters
  • Campaigns to be executed
  • A timeline for completing campaigns
  • The metrics used to measure success

A marketing plan is essentially a sub-set of a business plan, providing extra detail on one critically-important area of operation.

Creating your business plan

There are many ways to write your business plan, but the two most popular options are:

  • Traditional business plan format
  • Lean startup plan format

Let’s examine how you should structure each of these:

Traditional business plan

Conventional business plans are more comprehensive, including a lot of detail. This format is a good choice if you’re aiming to raise money from banks or financial institutions. Your plan is likely to include these elements:

  • Executive summary: a top-level overview of what the business will do and why it’s likely to be successful
  • Company description: detail about the problems your business solves and why your company is qualified to provide solutions
  • Market analysis: insights into the current state of the market, strengths and weaknesses of competitors, and opportunities to innovate
  • Organizational structure: details concerning the legal structure of the business and the executive team who will lead operations
  • Products and services: explain the offers you will present to the market and how you will gain a competitive advantage
  • Marketing and sales: your strategy for reaching potential customers and achieving sales
  • Operating plan: outline how the business will operate in terms of locations, number of employees, etc.
  • Funding requirements: detail the financial requirements of the business and how you expect these to be fulfilled
  • Financial projections: show your forecasts for revenue and expenses in the quarters ahead
  • Appendix: add any additional supporting documents that strengthen your case

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Lean startup plan

If you’re looking to raise money from venture capital companies or angel investors, the lean startup plan might be the right choice. This format is designed to be a quick read, giving busy investors the critical info they need to make a decision.

  Core components of a lean startup plan typically include:

  • Business overview: provide a clear overview of what your business will do and how it will operate
  • Key partnerships: list the manufacturers, suppliers, subcontractors, and other strategic partners critical to your success
  • Key activities: describe how your business will gain an edge over competitors (from innovative technology to a more efficient sales system)
  • Key resources: explain how intellectual property, staff, capital, or other assets will help you succeed
  • Value proposition: provide a compelling statement that shows how your company is different and what this means to investors and stakeholders
  • Customer relationships: show how your business will interact with prospects and clients (define the entire customer experience)
  • Customer segments: demonstrate a clear understanding of who your most important prospective customers are
  • Channels: define the key channels you will use to reach people in your target market
  • Cost structure: explain whether you will prioritize reducing costs or maximizing value to customers
  • Revenue streams: break down all the income streams your company will use to generate sales and profit

Creating your marketing plan

Once you’ve achieved any funding required and gotten your business off the ground, it’s time to focus on your marketing strategy. You can use the ‘Marketing & Sales’ element in your business plan as your starting point, expanding as necessary to create a comprehensive and detailed marketing plan.

You may include any or all of the following elements:

  • Business objectives: it’s essential that your marketing plan stays aligned with the overall business targets, so this is an excellent place to start
  • Marketing goals: define exactly what you want to achieve in terms of increased sales, higher margins, improved average order value, etc.
  • Market research: provide informed insights into the size and growth of your intended market, together with the opportunities it presents
  • Target audience: identify the demographics of your intended audience, and describe your ‘perfect customer’ avatar
  • Messaging: describe the brand messages, unique selling propositions, and competitive advantages you intend to convey
  • Pricing and positioning: determine whether you will be seeking volume sales with lower prices or higher margins with premium positioning
  • Budget: outline the spending requirements for your proposed campaigns, ensuring that all likely costs are included
  • Timing: set out a timeframe for executing the marketing plan, including timescales for all advertising and promotional campaigns
  • Roles: clarify who will be involved in putting the plan into action, including managers, employees, agencies, and suppliers
  • Key Performance Indicators: define what success will look like in terms of metrics that move the needle in your business

Get the right plan

Whatever the nature of your business, you should have both a business plan and a marketing plan in place. These will be the guides that keep you firmly on track for success.

  But putting these plans together from scratch can be daunting. That’s where I can help. As a marketing broker with over ten years of experience, I’ve helped countless businesses get their startup off the ground.

  If you need help turning your new venture into an unstoppable success, be sure to get in touch. We can talk through your business and marketing needs, keeping you on track to grow sales and profits.

  With the right plan to follow, there’s no limit to how much you can achieve. Let’s make it happen!

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Marketing Plan vs. Business Plan: What’s The Difference?

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by Mike Vestil  

If you’re starting a new business, you may be wondering about the differences between marketing plans and business plans. While both are crucial to running a successful company, they have important key differences to understand. 

Marketing and business plans are two essential tools, but they serve different purposes. A business plan is a more comprehensive, big-picture overview of your company’s mission. In contrast, a marketing plan is a facet of your business plan that will help you advertise and reach your target audience. 

Drafting up these plans may seem daunting at first, but once you understand how they operate, you’ll be prepared to take your business to the next level. This article will break down the difference between a marketing plan and a business plan and how both documents in tangent can help you move forward with your company’s development. Let’s dive in!

Business Plans

Business Plans

Image credit: PatriotSoftware.com

One of the most crucial things you can prepare is a business plan when starting or running a company. A business plan is a comprehensive document that outlines the operational and financial goals of a business and its overall strategy for achieving them. A successful business plan includes:

  • The company’s mission statement.
  • An analysis of its target market.
  • A statement of operations.
  • A detailed explanation of its services or products.

Creating a business plan is crucial because it will help you stay organized and focused on your long-term goals— essentially, it’s a roadmap of how you will achieve success and meet your business’s clearly outlined missions. The plan will aid you in making informed decisions, assessing risks, and measuring progress. 

The length and detail of this plan will vary depending on the size and type of business you are running. However, having a solid business plan is essential for any business, especially start-ups. Start-ups often don’t have the resources that more established businesses do, so owners have to work harder to convince investors to fund or loan money to their projects. A business plan can help smaller or newer companies secure loans and other forms of funding.

In the following sections, I’ll outline the various elements you need to create a successful business plan by walking you through all the steps, from writing a summary to creating a budget. 

Executive Summary

The executive summary is the first section of your business plan, and it should be approximately one to two pages long, depending on the overall size of your report. It should be well written, concise, and capture the essence of your company, as well as your aims and goals. The executive summary is crucial because it will give potential investors and lenders an in-depth look into your business plans. 

This summary will represent the entirety of your plan, so make sure the document includes an overview of the following:

  • Your services and products: What will you be selling? Is it a physical good or a service? Will you sell a variety of items or focus on a specific product?
  • Your optimal target market: Who is your ideal customer base? What about their demographics or interests makes them the right fit for your product? How will you advertise to them?
  • Your competitive advantage: What makes your product stand out from the competition? Is there anything unique or especially compelling about what you have to offer? 
  • Your financial projections: How much do you expect to profit? What financial aspects do you have to consider? How much of your budget are you allocating to various areas (from production to advertising and everything in between)?
  • Your management plan: Will you hire employees, and if so, what is your management strategy? Will you have an on-site location or sell online? 

With these questions in mind, you’ll be able to write a compelling summary that covers your mission and the steps you’ll take towards achieving your goals. 

With the executive summary out of the way, I’ll now walk you through the other essential sections of your business plan.

Products And Services

This part of your report should include detailed descriptions of your business’s products and services. You should have information on pricing, how long your products last, and an overview of the production process, including information about how your goods will be manufactured and delivered. 

If you run a start-up or new business, this part of your plan is especially crucial because it will give potential investors a snapshot of what your business offers. It would be best to showcase what makes your brand unique and how you plan to compete in the market. What are your selling points? Why should customers choose you over your competitors? Highlight any benefits of your company to address how they will meet customer demand. 

If you have any patents or trademarks, you can include that information here so that potential investors know that your intellectual property is legally protected.

Marketing Analysis

This section should outline who your competitors are and their influence in your chosen field. This analysis can include information about the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors and how difficult it may be to take market share from these businesses. 

Doing detailed industry research will also help you identify areas where you could improve on what similar companies are doing. Once you know what is already offered in the market, you can develop competitive strategies to help your product stand out.

The marketing analysis can also detail your projections and expected demand for your products based on competing industries and companies. Knowing how receptive your target audience will be can help you determine your strategy, which I will go over in the next section.

Marketing Strategy

Once you’ve completed your analysis, it’s time to develop a strategy. This section should include your overall plan for how you will attract and maintain a customer base, as well as what advertising methods you will use to appeal to the right target markets.  

It would help to tailor your strategy to your ideal buyers, and it should be realistic and achievable. You should consider your company’s strengths and how you can use them to your advantage in the market. For example, suppose you have a solid online presence. In that case, you may want to focus on digital marketing strategies. Or, if you have a niche product, you can find specific sites to target potential customers. 

Additionally, you should provide information on the distribution channels you will use. This data may include where you are sourcing your products and how you plan to deliver them to your customers. 

You can also specify how your company intends to communicate with customers by having a plan for after-sales service and how you will handle customer complaints or queries.

Financial Planning

Financial planning is essential for any business, although the process will look different depending on whether you’re a startup or run an existing company. Regardless of the current state of your business, you should enlist the help of accountants and economists to create a financial plan. 

This section should include detailed information on your company's financial status, as well as projections for the future. All of this information will help to give investors a clear picture of your business' financial stability and growth potential. 

If you have an existing business, you'll need to include the following documents:

  • Balance sheet: A balance sheet gives an overview of your assets and liabilities. This document includes information on your fixed and current assets, such as property, equipment, and inventory. You should also list your company's liabilities, such as loans and credit lines.
  • Cash flow statement: The cash flow statement will show how much money is coming in and out of your business, including information on your sales revenue, expenses, and investments. 
  • Statement of comprehensive income: The statement of comprehensive income will detail your company's profits and losses over a specific period, allowing for a more holistic view of your company’s income. 
  • Report on share capital: This report showcases how much money has been invested in your company in stocks.

If you’re a start-up, you’ll need to provide estimates for the first few years of operation, including information on expected sales, profits, and expenses. You should also outline how much money you’ll need to get your business off the ground and how you plan to obtain these funds through potential investors.

Determine your long-term goals for your business and how you plan to achieve them through measurable steps. This data should include expected sales revenue and profit margins. You should also have a plan for reinvesting profits back into the company and address how you will cover any future costs or losses. 

Financial planning is an ongoing process, so you should update your business plan annually, especially if your company’s financial status changes. Keeping these documents in order will help you stay on track and ensure that your company meets its projected financial goals.

Your budget is a critical element of your financial plan and should prove to investors that you have a sense of how much money to allocate to various parts of your business. You can break down your budget into different sections, including personnel, development, production, and advertising costs. 

Additionally, you can include a sales forecast that outlines your expected revenue and profit margins. These projections will help you to determine how much money you need to cover your costs and make a profit within your allotted budget.

Marketing Plans

Marketing Plans

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A marketing plan is a document that outlines an organization's advertising goals and strategies. It should cover product promotion, pricing, target markets, and advertising. The focus of marketing plans should be to advertise your product to consumers who are likely to purchase from you. 

When creating a marketing strategy, you should consider your target audience, research competition in the market, and develop clear goals and strategies. It would help if you also considered what marketing channels you’ll use, including social media advertising, email marketing, influencer marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, or other methods.

How Marketing Plans Compare To Business Plans

A marketing plan focuses solely on the marketing aspect of your business, so it is more detailed about this specific part of your plan. On the other hand, a business plan is an overarching document that outlines the company’s missions regarding product development and financial objectives and a brief overview of marketing goals and competitive challenges. 

A marketing plan, while important, is less comprehensive and doesn’t provide as much general information about the company. Therefore, it’s important to remember that a marketing plan and a business plan should work together—the marketing plan provides the overall marketing strategy while the business plan offers a detailed roadmap for succeeding on multiple levels. 

You can think of a marketing plan as a more detailed part of the overall business plan. The business plan is more important to present to potential investors because it provides a general overview of a company’s mission, but including a detailed marketing plan is an asset that will aid your business plan. 

While business plans typically don’t have to be updated frequently, you should review marketing plans periodically to adjust to the outcomes of advertising efforts and marketing trends. Therefore, it is a more pliable document and is easier to adapt as your business changes and grows.

I’ll outline what elements you need to build a successful marketing plan in the following section. 

Marketing Objectives

Your marketing objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Here are some solid examples of marketing objectives:

  • Increase conversion rates by 5% in six months by investing in Facebook advertising.
  • Build brand awareness by partnering with five new influencers this year.
  • Conduct A/B testing over one month with two different advertisements to determine which version yields more web traffic.

Keep in mind that you should align your objectives with the overall goals of your business. Whether you hope to increase profits or reach more customers, your efforts should reflect those aspirations. For example, suppose you desire to establish a better digital presence. In that case, you can advertise on social media. Or, if you want to improve customer communication, you can launch a live chat on your website.

Market research is the process of analyzing current market trends and adjusting your business strategy to meet the projected direction of the industry. You’ll need to know your current business positioning in the field, which involves taking a close look at target markets. 

Your target market should be based on the products or services you offer. If you provide a product that appeals to a wide audience, your target market will be much broader than if you offer a product that only appeals to a niche group.

It’s also essential to understand potential buyers’ interests and where you can advertise to them. Does the majority of your target audience use social media? If so, which platforms? What publications do they read? What TV programs do they watch? You can conduct market research in several ways, including surveys, focus groups, interviews, and observational studies.

Once you have this information, you can begin developing buyer personas. A buyer persona is a fictional representation of your target customer. It includes demographic information like age, gender, income level, and job title, as well as your buyer persona’s interests, values, and needs. This information will help you determine where to focus your marketing efforts.

Competition

It's essential to understand your competition and stand out in the field if you want to succeed in the market. One of the most important things to do is research similar businesses. To learn about them, you can visit their stores or websites. What are they offering? What prices are they charging? How are they promoting their products? What do their customers say about them in reviews?

Once you find out what they offer, how much they charge, and how they’re promoting themselves, you’ll be able to address any flaws your competitors may have and develop schemes that are unique to your business. 

You can also use tools like the SWOT analysis to analyze your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. This information can help you decide which strategies to use by addressing both internal and external factors. 

Now that you understand how to conduct market research and evaluate competing businesses, let’s look at the various strategies you can implement to ensure that your advertising efforts elevate your business.

Marketing Mix

A marketing mix combines marketing activities that you use to reach your target audience—product, price, place, and promotion. 

The product description should include information on what you are selling, how you source it, and the benefits that it will provide to potential buyers. You can include high-quality images or models to showcase these goods. 

You’ll also need to include price information, including how much it costs to produce your product and what price you are selling it for, based on your market research on similar items.

The place category will determine where customers can purchase your product. You can outline where your goods will be available, whether on online marketplaces, your website, or in-store.

The promotion section will include information on your advertising campaigns, including email campaigns, social media campaigns, SEO optimization, and more.

Marketing Strategies

Now that you have your objectives and marketing mix in place, it’s time to implement them. Each activity should have a goal associated with it. For example, if one of your goals is to increase website traffic, your next move could be to promote a contest on social media. Or, if you want to raise brand awareness, you can reach out to influencers for a paid partnership. 

The more specific information you have about this audience, the better chance of reaching potential customers through advertising campaigns or social media posts that speak directly to their interests and concerns. If done correctly, this could lead to higher conversion rates from potential customers, as well as increased brand awareness among those who may not have been aware of your product before seeing these advertisements.

You should also allocate a budget for each objective and a timeframe for completing your goals. Be realistic about what you can achieve in the given timeframe, and make sure you allow enough time to see the results of your efforts.

Key Performance Indicators (KPI)

Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are metrics that measure how well you’re achieving your objectives. There are many different KPIs you can use, depending on your goals. Common KPIs include website traffic, conversion rate, leads generated, and customer satisfaction. You can also check out my article about how to use KPIs for email marketing for more ideas about KPIs that you can set in your business.

You should track your KPIs regularly and adjust your marketing activities as needed. If you find that you’re not achieving your goals, it’s time to reevaluate your plan and make changes.

Marketing Budget

Though you will likely already have an overall budget at this point in your business plan, the marketing budget can provide more detail on the distribution of your company’s financial resources towards advertising and promotions.

You should determine what percentage of your funds will go towards advertising efforts— the general advice is between 6-20% of your total budget. 

How A Marketing Plan And A Business Plan Work Together

How A Marketing Plan And A Business Plan Work Together

Image credit: MarketingInsiderGroup.com

Companies should have both a business and marketing plan—the business plan outlines the structure and goals of the company. In contrast, the marketing plan explains how you will achieve those goals through marketing activities. If you seek loans or meet with investors, having both of these documents at the ready will benefit your business. 

I’ve already established their different purposes, but when used together, there are many benefits to having these documents.

These range from increased sales to more realistic projections. The following section will detail the perks of creating and implementing both plans.

Increased Sales

Business plans define the company’s goals, and the marketing plan provides specific steps to achieve these aims. When you have both plans in place, it’s easier to track your progress and make changes as needed, increasing the chances of achieving your objectives and improving sales. 

If the overall goals of the business change, the marketing plan may also need to be altered. For example, if the business decides to focus on international sales, the marketing plan will need to reflect this change. Luckily, marketing plans are easier to update, so you can adjust the details as your business expands and evolves. 

The more detail you put into these plans, the more likely you are to reliably and consistently track your progress based on your preset goals. While drafting them may be a lot of work initially, staying organized and adjusting your plans as needed will help increase sales in the long-run.

Realistic Projections

When creating these plans, it’s important to be realistic about what you can achieve by setting achievable goals and estimating the time it will take to complete each activity.

Once you write these plans, you’ll have a better idea of initial projections based on the in-depth market research required to make a budget and set your prices. You’ll also have more information about how to accurately track your marketing efforts using data collection tools and KPIs.

Consistency

If the business plan and marketing plan are consistent, it will be easier to achieve your objectives. The business plan provides a broad overview of the company, while the marketing plan explains how each marketing activity will help achieve the business’s goals.

Having these plans in place makes it easier to keep your business on track and on-brand. You can adjust your marketing plan as you go to keep up with new objectives or projects, keeping your business organized and streamlined.

Surpassing Your Competition

Creating these plans will help you surpass your competitors—when you clearly understand what you’re up against, it’s easier to create a strategy that will help you stand out.

Business plans help you understand your competition, like what strategies work and what aspects you can improve on. This knowledge will allow you to use your funds and resources on marketing channels to bring optimal value and income.

Once you have implemented these plans, it’s essential to monitor their effectiveness. By keeping track of how well your company matches your projections, you can identify patterns and adapt these plans according to your future goals.

Your business plan can be reviewed annually, which will give you an overview of where you are meeting your goals and what areas you may be falling short in. Does your work meet the standards and guidelines you initially planned? 

In comparison, you should review marketing methods quarterly to track which ones are working best and which you can adjust to run your operation more successfully.

FAQ—Marketing Plan vs. Business Plan

Are marketing plans the same as business plans.

A marketing plan is a component of a business plan, but it is not the same thing. A business plan provides a structure and goals for the company, while the marketing plan explains how each marketing activity will help achieve those goals.

What Comes First, Business Plans Or Marketing Plans?

Creating a business plan before making a marketing plan is generally recommended. Keep in mind that the two projects should be consistent with each other and work together to present the most comprehensive, detailed overview of your business goals as possible.

What Is The Difference Between Marketing Plans And Business Plans?

Business plans are longer, more comprehensive documents that cover all aspects of your company’s operations and include the following:

  • An explanation of your company’s mission and an executive summary of your goals.
  • In-depth details about your products and services, including how they are produced and shipped.
  • A marketing analysis that provides detailed industry research and a comparison to similar brands.
  • Financial aspects of your business, including a budget.

Alternatively, marketing plans cover only the marketing aspect of your company and address the following areas:

  • Marketing objectives.
  • Marketing strategies.
  • Key performance indicators (KPIs).
  • Marketing budget.

While these plans serve different purposes, they can be used together to present an in-depth overview of your company to potential investors and are both valuable assets to track your business goals, successes, and areas to improve on.

Conclusion

Image credit: SimplyBusiness.co.uk

Although a business plan and marketing plan are two different documents, they work together to create a well-rounded view of the company. A good business plan will have realistic goals based on sound market analysis, while a good marketing plan will outline specific objectives to help achieve those projections. 

When these two plans are put together, they can increase sales, create realistic projections, and help your business overcome competitive challenges. Therefore, drafting both is essential for having an organized, consistent, and lucrative business. 

So, what are you waiting for? Using this guide for reference, start creating your marketing and business plans today!

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Tim Berry

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Tim berry on business planning, starting and growing your business, and having a life in the meantime., marketing plans vs. business plans: what’s the difference, and why do you care.

What’s the difference between a marketing plan and a business plan? Doesn’t a business plan include a marketing plan? Why would anybody do one without the other?

Good questions, and since I get them a lot, I decided to answer them here:

  • A business plan covers the entire business, including overall strategy, financial plans, target markets, sales, products and services, operations, and how they all relate to each other. A marketing plan, in contrast, focuses on the marketing: marketing strategy, target markets, marketing mix, messaging, programs, etc. Cash flow is vital for a business plan, but not usually included in a marketing plan
  • Yes, a business plan almost always includes the marketing portion. Emphasis varies, and I’ve seen some plans that focus much more on product or service than on marketing. But those are unusual.
  • Lots of people do marketing plans rather than business plans because their job or their attention or their focus is on the marketing, not the whole business.

I wrote  5 steps to creating a marketing plan  in one of my columns for entrepreneur.com. I’m including a summary here:

Step One: Your identity as a business.

Create separate lists that identify your business’ strengths, weaknesses and goals. Put everything down and create big lists. Don’t edit or reject anything.

what is the difference between a marketing plan and a business plan

Then, find priorities among the bullet points. If you’ve done this right, you’ll have more than you can use, and some more important than others. Kick some of the less important bullets off the list and move the ones that are important to the top.

This sometimes requires input from your managers as well. For example, your management team thinks being conservative on spending is a weakness but you don’t. That might be something to drop off the list.

Step Two: Focus on markets.

The next list you’ll need to make outlines your business’ opportunities and threats. Think of both as external to your business — factors that you can’t control but can try to predict. Opportunities can include new markets, new products and trends that favor your business. Threats include competition and advances in technology that put you at a disadvantage.

Also make a list of invented people or organizations who serve as ideal buyers or your ideal target market. You can consider each one a persona, such as a grandmother discovering email or a college student getting his or her first credit card. These people are iconic and ideal, and stand for the best possible buyer.

Put yourself in the place of each of these ideal buyers and then think about what media he or she uses and what message would communicate your offering most effectively. Keep your identity in the back of your mind as you flesh out your target markets.

Step Three: Focus on strategy.

Now it’s time to pull your lists together. Look for the intersection of your unique identity and your target market. In terms of your business offerings, what could you drop off the list because it’s not strategic? Then think about dropping those who aren’t in your target market.

For example, a restaurant business focused on healthy, organic and fine dining would probably cater to people more in tune with green trends and with higher-than-average disposable income. So, it might rule out people who prefer eating fast-food like hamburgers and pizza, and who look for bargains.

The result of step three is strategy: Narrow your focus to what’s most in alignment with your identity and most attractive to your target market. In other words, focus on the area that is shared by all three lines in the diagram here.

Step Four: Set measurable steps.

Get down to the details that are concrete and measurable. Your marketing strategy should become a plan that includes monthly review, tracking and measurement, sales forecasts, expense budgets and non-monetary metrics for tracking progress. These can include leads, presentations, phone calls, links, blog posts, page views, conversion rates, proposals and trips, among others.

Match important tasks to people on your team and hold them accountable for their successes and failures.

Step Five: Review often and revise.

Just as with your business plan, your marketing plan should continue to evolve along with your business. Your assumptions will change, so adapt to the changing business landscape. Some parts of the plan also will work better than others, so review and revise to accommodate what you learn as you go.

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Thanks for sharing your valuable experience Tim. Creating, implementing and reviewing business plans should definitely be an essential part of every company. However, marketing is a core element of a business and should be treated as such. While focusing on the market & customer behavior, a marketing plan misses ‘cash flow’ as a key ingredient. This is why a marketing plan should go hand in hand with the business plan. Personally, I’m a huge fan of doing both 🙂

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what is the difference between a marketing plan and a business plan

Business Plan vs Marketing Plan: What’s the Difference?

what is the difference between a marketing plan and a business plan

You can’t expect the win the confidence of investors unless you prepare the right documents. Investors are highly selective when choosing businesses in which to invest. If they believe your business is poised to grow and succeed, they may offer to purchase an ownership stake in it. You’ll have an easier time winning investors’ confidence by providing them with a business plan and marketing plan. What’s the difference between these two documents exactly?

What Is a Business Plan?

what is the difference between a marketing plan and a business plan

Many investors will require you to provide a business plan when seeking financing for them. Some banks require a business plan for financing as well. Whether you’re trying to obtain equity financing from an investor or debt financing from a bank, you’ll probably need to prepare a business plan.

What Is a Marketing Plan?

A marketing plan, on the other hand, is a smaller and more specific document that focuses strictly on your business’s marketing activities. Marketing, of course, is the promotion of your business and its goods or services. While different businesses sell different types of goods and services, they all engage in marketing activities to attract customers. In a marketing plan, you can explain how your business intends to attract new customers through marketing activities.

You can include your marketing plan in your business plan. Alternatively, you create a separate marketing plan that’s distinguished from your business plan. Most business plans have a section for marketing. After creating a marketing plan, you can either place it in this section or use it as a separate and independent document.

Differences Between Business Plans and Marketing Plans

Business plans and marketing plans aren’t the same. Business plans consist of multiple parts, each of which covers a specific aspect of your business. Most of them contain an executive summary, business description, goods and services and marketing section. In comparison, marketing plans only cover your business’s marketing activities.

what is the difference between a marketing plan and a business plan

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Difference Between a Business Plan and a Marketing Plan

by Cheryl Munson

Published on 29 Jul 2019

To understand the relationship between business plan and marketing plan, think of them in terms of a pizza. A business plan is the whole pie. A marketing plan is a slice of the pie, but a very important slice. The difference between business plan and marketing plan is that a company's business plan provides an overview of every aspect of a company while its marketing plan focuses on strategies and efforts to generate sales and revenue.

A marketing plan is part of a business plan; a business plan is an organization-wide plan that covers every aspect of a company's operation.

Business Plan Examples

A business plan typically includes the following:

  • An overview of the business
  • A description of products or services and how they are produced
  • A description of the business model for the company
  • Identification of the executive leadership and management team
  • Cash flow statements
  • Charts and graphs on financial projections related to sales, costs, expenditures and more.

In short, a business plan sets out the company's future objectives and strategies for achieving them in the the medium- and long-term. One aspect of the business plan may be a summary of how the company is going to market its products and services, and who it is going to market them to. This is the marketing summary; a high-level view of the marketing plan.

As a basic example, a business plan for a pizza shop would state the location of the business along with all related expenses like monthly rent and utilities, a description of the types of pizza and other foods to be produced and the costs associated with these like ingredient and labor costs, projected monthly gross and net profits based on financial data from other pizza shops in the area and a basic run-down of the company's day-to-day operation.

Parts of a Marketing Summary

An organization's marketing plan is included in the overall business plan; however, it is written in summary format. Included in a marketing summary are the marketing objectives, and the strategies and tactics the company will utilize to generate sales and revenue. The marketing summary section of the business plan also gives a general overview of advertising plans that will be implemented to achieve marketing objectives and goals.

Detailed Marketing Plan Example

The complete marketing plan is a separate, comprehensive document that goes into more detail about objectives, goals and tactics. This document guides the implementation of efforts by the company's marketing, sales and advertising departments.

One marketing plan example for a pizza shop could be an effort to attract tourists during the summer vacation season. After identifying the marketing goal, the plan details the ideal consumer persona, the shop's competitors, the marketing campaign's cost and the type of marketing the pizza shop will employ to attract its ideal consumers, such as offering an order of wings with every large pie sold.

The marketing department uses the plan to align how products and services are to be positioned in the marketplace in terms of distribution channels and pricing. The plan describes in detail monthly, quarterly and annual sales volume goals that need to be reached by the sales team.

The plan also includes a section that sets forth the communications platform for the advertising team and/or outside advertising agency to use to develop advertising, promotions and events that align with the communications messaging strategy to reach customers and clients in the marketplace.

Business Plan Audience

Generally speaking, the business plan is shared only with key executives within the company and external members of the financial community. It is typically written to target potential investors, stockholders and accountants. It is most often used to generate funds to provide working capital to execute the plans and programs the company has identified as necessary to maintain a competitive position and sustainable success in the marketplace.

When a business plan is shared with these individuals and groups, it may be presented with one or more marketing plan examples and the presentation may even illustrate the relationship between business plan and marketing plan in an effort to sell the idea more effectively.

Marketing Plan Audience

The marketing plan is not shared with consumers and clients, but the contents are aimed at them. The complete plan is an internal document that is usually shared only with those responsible for marketing, sales and advertising efforts. The marketing plan includes results from research that help identify tactics to communicate with customers to get them to purchase products.

The plan includes strategies on pricing and incentives to gain new clients for a service-oriented business and increase sales volume with retail distributors. The marketing plan is an internal strategic document developed to win customers, clients, achieve sales and distribution goals, compete with other businesses and increase the company’s market share.

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What’s the Difference between a Business Plan and a Marketing Plan?

Leah Hoppes | Posted on June 8, 2017 |

Whats the difference between a business plan and a marketing plan

They both sound profoundly important and you know you need a plan, but planning takes time. So, what is the difference between a business plan and a marketing plan and which one do you really need to run your business?

A business plan is primarily an overview of your business concept and how you aspire to create a viable and sustainable business. It is written with the intent of winning other’s approval of your ideas and methods in order to receive funding. This type of business plan is a way to prove out your business theory, so to speak. It’s the real-world equivalent of showing your work in math class. You may very well have your vision mapped out in your head but if you’re expecting someone else to fund you, you better prove to them you really do understand the market you plan to enter. You’ll need to convince the banker you have a solid business model because a lender’s primary concern is that you can repay the loan.

The business plan is the proving out, on paper at least, the viable path in which to bring a particular product or service to the marketplace in a profitable manner. There are two types of business plans.

The first type of business plan is used solely for funding, ends up in a file cabinet or in the virtual folder never to be referred to again. As crucial as it was to get the business started, it serves no purpose once the doors are open. The second version of a business plan, written for internal decision makers, is too cumbersome for the majority of small business owners and that’s why a marketing plan is the perfect solution.

Whereas a business plan is written for an audience to get them to buy-in to a concept, a marketing plan  is written for the staff or team members in order to execute the day-to-day action items which must be met in order to achieve the larger business goals or corporate vision.

Whether you call it a marketing plan, sales, and marketing plan or strategic marketing plan really doesn’t matter, they’re all essentially the same thing – action planning. Making a list of actions and putting them in motion.   A marketing plan should include some of the points of a business plan because there are certain key elements which determine the direction of the plan. For example, identifying the vision for the company is essential in a marketing plan because everything in the plan should be driving the company closer to that particular vision, or overall objective.  However, the difference between a marketing plan and a business plan is the marketing plan is detailed out in terms of not just conceptual ideas, but a list of actions which will drive results.

In other words, a strategic marketing plan is not only the foundation for your sales and marketing efforts – it is a 12-month plan of action items so that you know what you need to accomplish every single month to move you towards your goal.

If you’re looking for help with your marketing plan, Marketing Chomp is a self-guided step-by-step workbook which will ensure you develop a fully developed marketing plan. If you need outside help to do all the heavy lifting contact us .

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Marketing Strategy vs. Marketing Plan: What’s the Difference?

Is there really a difference between a marketing strategy and a marketing plan? Are they two sides of the same marketing program coin?

While the terms are commonly used interchangeably, they’re two very different concepts in the real world. It may seem like splitting semantic hairs, but understanding the difference between marketing strategy vs. marketing plan is crucial to the success of your campaigns and your progress toward overarching business goals.

Let’s compare and contrast the concepts in greater depth so you’re prepared when it comes time to take your marketing to the next level .

What Is a Marketing Strategy?

A digital marketing strategy is the “why” behind your marketing. Every piece of marketing collateral you create will be informed by this documentation, which means it works hand-in-hand with your content strategy .

Basically, a marketing strategy is a reflection of your short-term and long-term business approach. This strategy should also be a distillation of your brand values, voice, mission and messaging. For example, if your business aims to scale up quickly, the strategic marketing vision you develop needs to support that objective, perhaps by focusing on consumer acquisition or ramping up your online presence.

A good marketing strategy will encompass your unique selling proposition, all that your business hopes to achieve and its brand identity.

What Is a Marketing Plan?

Your marketing plan is the “how” to your strategy’s “why.” Ideally, a marketing plan should be just that — a plan of action for how you will execute your strategy to accomplish each marketing goal.

The process of creating a tactical marketing plan is about addressing the real-world steps you will take to create, promote, track and measure your campaign, programs and assets. The workflows and procedures you develop will provide a roadmap for making your strategy actionable.

How a Marketing Strategy and Plan Work Together

To use a not-at-all-complicated metaphor, let’s say your business needs a ship to sail through your marketing campaign. That ship needs a direction in which to travel (i.e., a strategy) and the sails to power it (i.e., a plan).

Marketing strategy and plan work hand in hand, with the latter taking cues from the former. Everything laid out by your strategy should be addressed with a plan — one that defines the processes for tactical marketing.

However, the lines can be a bit blurred. Strategic planning is one oft-used phrase that can create confusion. In reality, strategic planning is just high-quality planning informed by a thorough marketing strategy.

Needless to say, a strategy without planning is like a winning idea without a way to realize it; and planning without a strategy will lead to a rudderless ship.

the ship (your business) needs not only a direction (i.e., a strategy) but also the sails to power it (i.e., a plan).

How to Create a Marketing Strategy

Strategy is not an amorphous concept. It takes real work and thinking to establish a good marketing strategy that ultimately facilitates business success.

Here are some basic steps to crafting a comprehensive strategy:

  • Identify each marketing objective: Strategy begins with your goals, both now and in the future. For example, if your business plan is to expand into new markets, the strategic marketing approach may be to make inroads with new customer segments. Brainstorm how your marketing can reflect other short-term goals and long-term ambitions, like becoming an authority in your industry.
  • Refine your audience: Defining your audience enables you to resonate with buyers and push customers through the marketing funnel. A strategic marketing priority is to develop buyer personas. These personas will be central to deciding on the angle and value prop of the marketing you create.
  • Establish your brand guidelines: Your brand needs to be codified in a way that ensures every piece of marketing content will be identifiable and conforms to your standards. This means outlining editorial voice, graphic design preferences and all other critical brand elements. Having a unified presence leads to a better customer experience. Without a single source of truth for how the brand should be represented, your actual marketing may devolve into disparate shots in the dark.
  • Assess opportunities and threats: Your level of strategy will influence how prepared you are to capitalize on a market research opportunity or manage risks. Research competitors to understand what they’re doing — and, more importantly, what they’re not doing. Know how you’ll leverage your competitive advantage to meet a new market need or shifting consumer preferences.

Importantly, strategy is not static. It needs to be constantly updated and fine-tuned to keep your business on track and achieve changing marketing objectives.

How to Create a Marketing Plan

Returning to the question of “how” shows us the best way to create a marketing plan that works. Ask yourself these questions as you set out to develop your plan of action:

  • How will we reach consumers? The answer to this question will help define your marketing mix. What types of marketing will you utilize to reach leads, prospects and existing customers? Content marketing, digital marketing, search marketing, social media marketing , event marketing and all other types of marketing are in play here.
  • How will we create marketing materials? Clearly defined workflows and processes will support the creation of high-quality marketing materials. You need to suss out who owns which project phases, how cross-functional teams will collaborate and what quality controls are in place (like checking for adherence to brand guidelines).
  • How will we share content and collateral? Not only must you choose your marketing mix, but also your selection of marketing channels. Once again, there are many types to consider: direct mail, social media, email, your website, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, organic search, etc. Each distribution channel will have its place in planning.
  • How will we track campaigns and measure results? Data is the lifeblood of strategic marketing. You’ll need to create a list of key performance indicators (KPIs) with which to track campaigns. These may include anything from conversion rates to cost per lead.

Marketing Strategy and Marketing Plan Examples in Action

Let’s look at some examples of how the waterfall of business objectives to marketing strategy to marketing plan works in real life:

  • Business goal: To pivot or reinvent the business, whether due to a merger, new market need or modernization effort.
  • Marketing strategy: Launch a rebranding campaign; craft new messaging to align marketing with the business’s new direction; create new brand guidelines.
  • Marketing plan: Pursue a website redevelopment; create a marketing plan template to ensure all new efforts adhere to guidelines; reoptimize website content and copy; coordinate a rollout of new colors, logos and fonts to all social media platforms; hire a marketing agency to consult on best practices.

It’s much easier to see the differences between marketing strategy vs. marketing plan in such a scenario, but also easier to grasp how they work in conjunction. Let’s consider another:

  • Business goal: To launch a new service or product line.
  • Marketing strategy: Research competitors and the existing market; develop a new set of buyer personas; outline the marketing funnel and customer journey; generate leads for the proposed expansion.
  • Marketing plan: Create content around the new product for outreach (e.g., blogs, emails, white paper, one-pagers, etc.); decide which assets to gate in exchange for a name and email address; balance customer acquisition with retention by creating a loyalty program.

Getting the picture?

  • Business goal: To increase revenue or raise sales by a certain percentage.
  • Marketing strategy: Support sales enablement with high-quality marketing content and collateral; revitalize or refine the value proposition; reach out to new customer segments.
  • Marketing plan: Track KPIs related to conversions; focus on high-performing channels; leverage customer data to make upsell or cross-sell recommendations; start a retargeting campaign.

One more for good measure:

  • Business goal: To become an industry leader.
  • Marketing strategy: Highlight brand strengths and competitive advantages; present the brand as friendly, knowledgeable and authoritative; raise brand awareness and cultivate brand evangelists.
  • Marketing plan: Build influencer marketing relationships; publish thought leadership content and/or guest blogs; use social media for customer service and conversations; conduct webinars.

Level Up Your Marketing Campaign

When a marketing strategy and marketing plan are in harmony, what they create is music to your business’ ears. Alignment between the two gives your brand its best chance to impact consumers, raise its profile and succeed in its key business objectives.

Editor’s Note: Updated December 2022.

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Marketing Strategy vs. Plan: The Differences and Tips for Both

Mollie Kuramoto Headshot

Mollie Kuramoto

Marketing Creating Marketing Plan and Strategy

Marketing plan. Marketing strategy. Marketing vision .

These words tend to be tossed around casually by marketers and executives alike. The only problem is, it’s not always clear what a marketing strategy or plan should look like—and what purpose each serves.

As someone who loves addressing the question everyone is thinking but no one is asking, I thought it would be good to clarify the differences between a marketing strategy and a marketing plan, what each one contains, and some advice for bringing both to life.

Quick note: if you’re looking for a holistic marketing toolkit to organize your thoughts—we have you covered. It’s free, it helps you document your thoughts, and it’s filled with some great resources to make you a better marketer.

Now let’s get into it.

Marketing Toolkit CTA

What Is a Marketing Strategy?

A marketing strategy is a document that answers the big questions— what you offer, who your audience is, what your company stands for, brand guidelines , what niche or industry you play in, and who your main competitors are . It can include less or more information than that, but its purpose is to be a sort of lighthouse, helping you keep your marketing focused on the bigger picture.

Marketing strategies are always rooted in what your overarching business goals are. If your business needs to increase revenue by 25%, then your marketing strategy would explain how marketing will help achieve those goals from a high-level point of view.

When writing a marketing strategy, do not—I repeat—DO NOT go into uber-specific marketing tactics. That’s for later. On the flip side, you should be asking the right kinds of questions .

What Is a Marketing Plan?

Your marketing plan, based on your marketing strategy, dives into the specifics—what channels and tactics you’re using , which segment of the audience you’re targeting, when initiatives are occurring, and how you’ll measure success.

Compared to your marketing strategy, your marketing plan is more about which tactics, campaigns, initiatives, and promotions you’ll run in a certain amount of time. Marketing plans can range from three months to a year, and should remain semi-flexible in case marketing needs to shift priorities.

Marketing Strategy vs. Marketing Plan

To help visualize all of this, we’ve created a graphic that explains the core differences between a marketing strategy and a marketing plan.

Marketing Strategy vs. Marketing Plan

In our experience, the marketing strategy shouldn’t change as much as your marketing plan. If it does, it’s almost impossible to gain any real traction or measure the impact of your marketing on the business. That said, you’ll probably need to revisit your marketing strategy each year, whereas you’ll be executing against your marketing plan regularly.

At this point, you might be thinking, “this seems like A LOT.” It is, which is why strategies and plans are often broken down into smaller disciplines within marketing (think: content, customer acquisition, customer retention, and more). Let’s look at an example.

An Example in Action: Content Marketing

Most marketers are familiar with content marketing, so let’s use it as an example. Like I mentioned earlier, strategies address high-level issues whereas plans show how you’re going to execute.

Content Marketing Strategy

In this case, your content marketing strategy would answer those big questions discussed above. Questions like:

  • Who should we be writing to?
  • How will content marketing support our business goals?
  • How much money can we spend on creating content?
  • Who are our content competitors?
  • What tone do we want to come across in our content?

The role of the content marketing strategy isn’t to point out every single topic you’re going to write about or even what your specific KPIs for the upcoming year are going to be. Instead, it’s supposed to give context to why you’re investing in content marketing, who you’re targeting, what content mediums you’re going to use (generally), and more.

Content Marketing Plan

Once you have your strategy set, your content marketing plan should explain how you’re going to attack the problem. This is where you’ll document content marketing goals and KPIs, what resources you plan on creating, when you plan on creating them, who will be involved in the process, how you’ll be promoting each piece of content, and more.

There’s more to content marketing plans than an editorial calendar, but your editorial calendar is a huge part of your plan. It tells everyone what topics your content is addressing, where it’s being published, when it’s being published, which channels you’ll promote it through, and the goals it should be aiming to hit.

Tips for Creating a Stellar Marketing Strategy or Plan

Whether you’re focusing on the overarching strategy or getting into the fine details, there are a few things you need to keep in mind throughout the journey that will help produce something of real value for your organization or team.

Tip #1: Document Your Plan/Strategy

This sounds obvious, but it is oh-so important. Enter impactful stat—marketers who document strategy are 538% more likely to report success than those who don’t. That’s a real number. Write your plan down. Even if you don’t think it’s 100% correct.

As marketers, we want so desperately to get everything right that it often has the opposite effect—we’re paralyzed. You can go back and adjust your plan or strategy as necessary, but it starts with actually having a plan or strategy. Plus, without a documented vision for the future, it’s much harder to gain buy-in from your co-workers and miscommunication ensues.

Tip #2: Collaborate with Others

You don’t have to do this alone. Nor should you. Even if you’re legitimately the only person in your marketing department, you can ask your marketing friends at different companies for some insight. If all your friends sadly work in sales (jk, jk) you can even gain some perspective from co-workers in different departments. They might not give you the best “marketing” ideas, but they might ask good questions and prove to be good sounding boards.

There are tons of positives when it comes to collaborating with others. A few I like are gaining new perspectives, considering other ways to solve the problem at hand, gaining feedback, and the efficiencies that come with asking people that may have done something similar in the past.

Tip #3: Make It Clear. Make It Realistic.

There’s no problem shooting for the moon. But if you create a marketing plan or strategy that requires 10 people to execute and you only have two sad interns, then it’s not all that helpful. You’ll just end up with a ton of ideas but no idea which ones to work through.

A wise person once said, “The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.” Try your best to paint a clear picture that’s based in reality.

Don’t Let the Scary Marketing “Strategies” Overwhelm You

To play on even more cliches, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Try your best to avoid paralysis by analysis, and instead tackle your strategy or plan one step at a time.

And if you don’t think documenting your marketing plan or strategy is important, think again. Remember: marketers who document strategy are 538%(!) more likely to report success than those who don’t.

Finally, one last reminder that for those who can’t wait to dig in and start planning, we created a marketing toolkit that allows you to work through building your very own marketing strategy. Happy planning!

Related resources.

Planning the Right Marketing Activity When Entering New Markets

Planning the Right Marketing Activity When Entering New Markets

Lead, MQL, Opportunity: Why You Need Shared Internal Pipeline Definitions

Lead, MQL, Opportunity: Why You Need Shared Internal Pipeline Definitions

Why Brand Strategy is a CEO Responsibility

Why Brand Strategy is a CEO Responsibility

Feed your marketing mind and keep your skills sharp by opting into our newsletter, packed with lessons we’ve learned firsthand. You won’t regret it.

what is the difference between a marketing plan and a business plan

Business Tips , Marketing

Understanding the difference between a business plan and a marketing plan.

  • December 29, 2023

what is the difference between a marketing plan and a business plan

As a business owner, you are responsible for creating plans to guide your business activities and make informed decisions. Two of the most important plans are the business plan and the marketing plan. While some may think that these two plans are the same, they actually have different purposes and functions. Understanding the difference between a business plan and a marketing plan can help you make better use of each one to grow your business.

What is a Business Plan and What is its Purpose?

A business plan is more than just a document to secure financing or to present to investors. It is a comprehensive guide that outlines the strategy, goals, and potential obstacles of a business. Think of it as a roadmap to success. A well-written business plan should include an executive summary, market analysis, company description, product or service offering, marketing and sales strategy, organizational structure, and financial projections. The process of creating a business plan also forces entrepreneurs to critically evaluate their ideas and identify areas that may need improvement. Whether you’re a seasoned business owner or just starting out, a thorough and thoughtful business plan is essential to ensuring the growth and sustainability of your venture.

Your business plan enables you to identify potential problems and develop solutions before they escalate. By clarifying your mission and vision, you can easily communicate the purpose of your business to stakeholders, investors, and potential partners. It provides a framework for decision-making, setting budgets, and operational planning. In short, a business plan ties together all the elements needed to execute a successful business strategy. It is a fundamental tool that every entrepreneur should have on their journey towards building a successful enterprise.

what is the difference between a marketing plan and a business plan

What is a Marketing Plan and What is its Purpose?

A marketing plan is a crucial component to any successful business strategy. Essentially, it outlines the tactics and techniques that a company will use to promote and sell their products or services. This plan should be well-structured and include detailed information about the target audience, market analysis, budget, and specific goals. Crafting a marketing plan requires a thorough understanding of your customers, competition, and industry trends. Without a marketing plan, businesses risk wasting time and resources on ineffective campaigns that don’t resonate with their audience. By creating a solid marketing plan, businesses can identify their strengths and weaknesses, capitalize on opportunities, and ultimately, drive growth.

Marketing plans hold a crucial role in the success of any business or organization. Simply put, the purpose of a marketing plan is to identify your target audience, understand their needs, and develop a roadmap to communicate your products or services to them in a way that resonates. A well-designed marketing plan allows you to clearly define your business goals, outline strategies to achieve them, and ultimately measure success. In today’s fast-paced business environment, where consumer trends change quickly and competition is tough, a strong marketing plan is essential to stay ahead of the game and stay relevant to your customers. By investing the time and resources to develop a comprehensive marketing plan, you can take your business to the next level and ultimately achieve greater success.

what is the difference between a marketing plan and a business plan

Key Differences Between a Business Plan and a Marketing Plan

Having a solid plan for your business is crucial for its success, but it’s important to understand the differences between various types of plans. A business plan outlines the overall strategy for your company, including your financial goals and operations. On the other hand, a marketing plan focuses specifically on your promotional efforts and how to connect with your target audience. While both plans are important, they serve different purposes and require unique approaches. Without a clear understanding of how to differentiate between the two, your business may struggle to effectively execute on either plan. So, make sure you have a solid understanding of the key differences between a business plan and a marketing plan to ensure you have a comprehensive strategy that will help your business thrive.

The main difference between a business plan and a marketing plan is their purpose and scope. A business plan covers the entirety of your business and its long-term goals, while a marketing plan specifically focuses on promoting your products or services to your target audience. A business plan is more general and provides a framework for your business operations, while a marketing plan is more specific and focuses on how to reach your target market and increase sales.

How Business Plan and Marketing Plan Work Together

Although business plans and marketing plans are distinct from one another, they both play an important role in the success of your business. A well-designed business plan should include a comprehensive marketing plan that outlines how to reach your target market. The marketing plan, in turn, should be aligned with your business goals and objectives to ensure that you are achieving your overall business objectives. Regularly reviewing and updating your business plan and marketing plan can help you stay on track and achieve your business goals.

In the world of business, developing a comprehensive marketing plan is a critical component for success. However, without a solid business plan, the marketing efforts may not be effective in achieving overall goals. The business plan sets the foundation for the company’s actions and identifies the target audience, finances, and resources. Meanwhile, the marketing plan outlines specific strategies to reach the audience, increase visibility, and successfully promote the company’s products or services. The business and marketing plans work hand in hand to ensure that all aspects of the company are aligned and moving in the same direction. By combining the two plans, companies can create a solid roadmap for success and achieve their desired outcomes.

what is the difference between a marketing plan and a business plan

The Importance of Having Both Plans

Having both a business plan and a marketing plan can help your business grow, attract investors, and secure funding. A business plan provides a high-level view of your business, whereas a marketing plan is more goal-oriented and focuses on specific marketing tactics to help achieve those goals. As a business owner, it is important to have both plans in place to ensure the success and growth of your business.

The bottom line is that a business plan and marketing plan are two vital documents that every business owner should have in place. A business plan provides an overview of your business, while a marketing plan focuses on specific marketing goals and strategies to increase sales. Understanding the differences between business plans and marketing plans, and how they work together, can help you grow your business and achieve greater success. Remember to update your plans regularly to keep up with changes in the market, technology, and customer needs. By combining both plans, you can have a solid roadmap for your business to achieve its goals.

Are you looking to take your business to the next level and make profit a central focus? Look no further than the 5-Step Roadmap to a Profitable Biz . This comprehensive guide offers valuable insights and proven strategies to help you build a profitable business from the ground up. Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, this roadmap will give you the tools and resources to create a sustainable and prosperous business.

Download your free copy today and get on the road to success!

what is the difference between a marketing plan and a business plan

Melissa Houston

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Home » Marketing Strategy vs. Marketing Plan? (The Difference)

Marketing Strategy vs. Marketing Plan? (The Difference)

what is the difference between a marketing plan and a business plan

A company’s success relies heavily on the right marketing strategy supported by a robust marketing plan.

That said, beginning marketers often confuse these two concepts and consider them to mean the same thing.

But they are very different. Here’s how:

  • A marketing strategy answers the “why”.
  • A marketing plan answers the “how”. 

What Is the Difference Between a Marketing Strategy and a Marketing Plan?

A good exercise to think clearly about the differences between a marketing strategy and a marketing plan is to compare a SWOT analysis against the Marketing Mix .  A SWOT analysis is a structured review of the organization while the marketing mix plans the activities to bring your product or service to market.

A marketing strategy and a marketing plan are different in three distinctive ways:

  • by definition,
  • purpose, and

A business strategy informs what goes into a marketing strategy.

A marketing strategy explains why you intend to perform specific marketing actions. 

For example, if your startup wishes to scale up, the marketing strategy you develop will help you reach this goal, perhaps by building a customer base or through social media marketing.

On the other hand, a marketing plan describes how you intend to implement the actions laid out in the marketing strategy. 

It provides the specifics regarding branding, scheduling the communication channels you intend to use.

A marketing plan comes after a marketing strategy.

Moreover, one of the main focal points of any good marketing plan is monitoring the success of your marketing actions using key performance indicators (KPIs) .

These KPIs are crucial not only for measuring progress but also in ensuring the marketing plan lines up with the marketing strategy. A regular SWOT analysis is also a helpful activity to help you with your marketing strategy.

How Do You Develop a Marketing Strategy?

A marketing strategy consists of the following practical steps.

1. Develop a marketing plan

Building a robust marketing plan will include the following components:

  • Branding . How you sell the company matters. You need to determine the brand voice and incorporate this element in marketing campaigns.
  • Timeline and budget . These two components are essential, particularly for small businesses that have limited funds.
  • Roles . The success of a marketing plan requires that those involved in the execution understand and perform their functions.
  • Content strategy . This strategy describes the schedule for dispensing the content, the communication channels, and the type of incentives you intend to use.

2. Identify buyer personas

A buyer persona is a company’s depiction of an ideal customer. When developing this persona, an organization  must consider several aspects, including:

  • Demographics like age, income, and gender
  • Psychographic factors such as interests and lifestyle

For instance, Netflix and other streaming services use behavioral segmentation. Here, the company knows which content to recommend based on watch history. Another example would be to look at fashion brands’ buyer persona. Zara’s buyer persona is a fashion-forward customer with mid-range income who lives in an urban area.

3. Determine marketing goals

As mentioned earlier, you should typically model your marketing strategy after your overall business goals. Plus, such a strategy will remain consistent. And will only change if your team meets its marketing goals.

Moreover, you may also need to revise these goals if there are any significant market changes, for instance, new technological trends or if you launch new products/services. Standard marketing goals include:

  • Market development
  • Increased brand awareness
  • Wider customer base
  • Increased sales

4. Understand the market

Market research is one of the essential elements of a marketing strategy. It helps you build the right buyer persona, stay updated on market changes and boost your business performance. Like other steps mentioned earlier, it would be wise to set clear goals for market research. Doing so reduces the scope making it easier to get accurate and relevant results.

Market research involves gathering information such as the market size, demographics, trends, and growth. Pay attention to specific matters like data availability and credibility when undertaking this process.

5. Competitive analysis

The competitive analysis provides valuable information about your competitors, including their pricing, advertisement strategies, plus strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, this process lets you in on your unique value proposition.

To understand your competitor’s strategies, ask yourself the following questions. Are your competitors:

  • Attempting to create new markets?
  • Trying to expand their market share?
  • Bringing in technologically advanced products?

Once you’ve made a competitor profile, here’s how to go about the analysis.

  • Examine the competition’s offerings. Start by examining your competitors’ products and their unique properties.
  • Establish your competitor’s market share. A comprehensive market share can influence consumer perception and benchmarks for the product/service.
  • Identify your company’s competitive position and develop appropriate strategies. Some potential ones include lowering prices, ramping up advertisements, or buying out the competition.

Examples of Successful Marketing Strategies

Here are two notable successful marketing strategies.

Spotify, a music streaming service, found a way to provide its listeners with a unique user experience, setting it apart from other providers. Besides the standard genre filters, Spotify offers users a chance to select music based on their current mood.

spotify mood booster

Sephora introduced a “Beauty Insider” loyalty program that rewards shoppers based on their spending levels.

  • Beauty Insider (no minimum costs)
  • VIB (at least $350 spent)
  • VIB Rouge ($1000 minimum purchases)

sephora beauty insider loyalty example

Effective Marketing Strategies and Plans Equal Successful Business Strategy Goals

The success of an organization’s marketing actions requires a great marketing strategy and a good marketing plan. While different, a marketing strategy and plan mesh together to improve brand awareness, facilitate customer acquisition, provide a competitive edge, boost sales performance and ultimately gain a customer and keep a customer.

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Marketing Strategy vs Marketing Plan: What's the Difference?

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You’re posting on social media and you have blog posts on your website, but you’re not seeing any results. What’s the deal? The problem likely isn’t where you’re sharing content — it’s why you’re sharing content.

If your marketing efforts aren’t backed up by a strategy, then you probably won’t see results. Although marketers often use “plan” and “strategy” interchangeably, they are actually two different things. Learn more about the components of both so you can start creating your own foolproof marketing machine.

Marketing Plan vs Marketing Strategy- Whats the Difference-02

What Is a Marketing Strategy?

Shaped by your business goals, your marketing strategy is your purpose. It’s what solution you offer, how it aligns with your company’s mission, and why it’s the key to solving your prospect’s challenges.

While many people think about jumping into action when it comes to marketing, having a clearly defined marketing strategy is incredibly important for your business's growth. Once you have your strategy, only then will you be able to develop an effective marketing plan.

What Is a Marketing Plan?

Driven by your strategy, your marketing plan is the execution — the roadmap of tactical marketing efforts that will help you achieve your marketing goals. Your plan is your detailed campaign of what you will do, where you will do it, when you will implement it, and how you will track success.

What’s the Difference Between a Marketing Strategy and a Marketing Plan?

Laura Laire, co-founder of our agency, breaks down the topic in this quick video:

The main difference is that your strategy is the “why” behind your efforts, while your plan is how you’re going to execute the strategy. The chart below details the specific differences.

Marketing Plan vs Marketing Strategy- Whats the Difference

How to Create a Marketing Strategy

While a marketing strategy is a high-level overview, there are still a few key considerations you must understand and document.

Executive Summary

Consider the executive summary an outline or table of contents before you jump into the comprehensive strategy.

The background describes your business goals, marketing goals, and challenges. It can also include your previous marketing activities and initiatives.

Market Analysis

This asset describes the market opportunities, sizing, segments, and potential impacts, such as trends, the economy, and seasonality. A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis will help you capture this piece of your marketing strategy.

Target Audience

This section of your marketing strategy is the detailed version of your buyer personas and their characteristics, including demographics, goals, pains, and buying patterns. In this section, you’ll also want to include examples of negative buyer personas.

Competitive Analysis

Next, include the different categories of competitors and their characteristics including threats, market share comparison, differentiation, and barriers to entry. This will provide an overall look at what your competitors are doing digitally and how their activities seem to be performing from a keyword, paid advertising, and social perspective.

This includes what product or service you deliver to the market, the features and benefits for each segment, and how you intend on delivering those features and benefits. You’ll also want to document how your product or service is better than competitors’ offerings.

Establish Yourself as a thought leader

Your message is your opportunity to show prospects that you understand their challenges and that your offering is the key to solving those challenges. It should have variations that speak directly to each of your personas rather than trying to reach everyone with a single message.

Write down the channels you sell through and who is involved in selling through each step of the sales process. This is also a good place to document whether this is an impulse or planned purchase for your audience.

Additionally, describe the steps customers take through each stage of the buyer journey and understand their buying criteria. This will inform the content you can create and use in your marketing materials.

Every customer has unique needs. In some cases, the price may not be an important criterion in the buying process. Is this true for your segment?

What is your pricing model? Is it tiered? Are there discounts? Make sure to include competitive pricing, the perceived value of your product or service compared to the price, services that you include in the price, and how consumer trends could drive the price up or down.

How to Create a Marketing Plan

From your website to social media to all the other channels through which you will engage with potential clients, your marketing plan is a critical component to achieving your business objectives and producing results for your company.

Unlike your marketing strategy, you'll revisit your marketing plan frequently, referring back to it as you implement your tactics and monitor your findings . Here are the various elements you’ll need to create an effective marketing plan.

This is a high-level overview of your marketing goals and how you intend on achieving them.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Your KPIs measure the success of your marketing campaign. Here are some examples:

  • Sales revenue
  • Cost per lead
  • Client value
  • Inbound marketing ROI
  • Website traffic-to-lead ratio
  • Lead-to-client ratio
  • Landing page conversion rates
  • Organic traffic

Situation Analysis

Describe your goals, strengths, weaknesses, environmental factors, and market analysis to clearly articulate your challenges and impacts on your business moving forward.

The 4 P's of Marketing

  • Product: What are you offering in the marketplace and how it is different from competitors?
  • Price: How is your pricing model different? What is the dollar amount and structure? Why will customers choose your product or service over others?
  • Place: Today's digital environment demands a shift toward online sales. Is online the first place that your buyers will see your product? What other avenues will you sell your product?
  • Promotion: Where will you be promoting your product? Through online advertising? Email marketing? Blogging? Ensure that each avenue selected will positively impact your revenue.

What channels will you use to reach your audience? Where are they most active? Where do they seek advice? Ask your personas which channels they are on.

Website and Branding

Does your website messaging resonate with your personas? Is it optimized for lead generation?

Even if a potential buyer isn't ready to purchase your service or product today, it doesn't mean they won't later. Establish yourself as a thought leader, providing helpful content on your website to bring in leads until they are ready to buy from you.

Content Plan

Look at what content already exists on your website and determine whether it makes sense for your marketing campaign. Do you need to update the messaging so it better captivates and engages your audience? Are there additional questions or common objections you can address?

Social Media Plan

How is your business using social media ? Make sure you have a plan for engaging with thought leaders, replying back to happy clients, and how frequently you will post. Also, make sure you’re clear on what KPIs you’re tracking to measure success.

Communication and Promotion

Where and how often will you communicate with customers? What marketing materials can you create to facilitate this communication? Think about how customers might like to hear about you and your products or services, as well as the most relevant and effective channels for communication.

Ensure that you have a timeline for your campaign. Over time, this will help you measure the overall success and effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

What is the amount you will allocate to advertising, digital, website, event marketing, etc.?

Responsibilities

Identify who is responsible for each part of the implementation. Is one person creating all the designs? Do you have a content writer responsible for blogging and posting on social media?

Marketing Strategy vs. Marketing Plan: You Need Both

Your marketing plan acts as your roadmap, clearly identifying the plan of action for your marketing efforts. Your marketing strategy, on the other hand, describes the overarching reason for how your marketing efforts will help you achieve your goals.

And remember, to be successful and generate results, you must ensure that your team is executing a plan that backs up your strategy.

Understanding the current state of your digital presence can identify what you really need from a marketing strategy. Our free 20-minute assessment will show you how you're ranking against your competitors, opportunities for improvement, and more.

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B2B Sales and Marketing Leader | CEO at LAIRE, a Digital Growth Agency - Co-Founder, Entrepreneur, Public Speaker, Marketer, Sales Team Builder, and Change Advocate.

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what is the difference between a marketing plan and a business plan

What's the Difference Between a Comms Plan and Marketing Plan

The difference between a comms plan and a marketing plan

We marketers sure love our verbiage and jargon. Branding , marketing, communications planning, where is the line drawn? What’s the difference?

One thing we’ve noticed that gets people occasionally hung up is the difference between a marketing plan and communications plan. They’re both vital to the success of a brand but serve very different purposes. Generally, every brand has a marketing plan. However, not everyone has a comms plan. Let’s take a look at the difference between the two and how when to use them.

Marketing Plan

A marketing plan is the high-level guiding document that guides the overall direction of achieving the marketing goals a business has.

Whereas a marketing campaign and its accompanying comms plan address one specific marketing goal, the marketing plan serves as the general road map that weaves everything together. The comms plan ladders up into the marketing plan and then up into the overall business plan. 

Marketing plans last for a longer period of time (typically a year) and usually contain the following:  

  • Market research and analysis
  • Marketing and financial goals and objectives
  • Target audience breakdowns 
  • Marketing strategies covering the 4 P’s of marketing (product, price, place, and promotion)
  • Budget: This component of a marketing plan consists of developing a marketing budget, which will allow you to plan for marketing expenditures.
  • Monitoring and evaluating (KPI's and how you'll respond)
  • An execution plan (or a marketing plan checklist) which breaks down tasks and tactics as well as timing and responsibilities.

Though marketing plans can differ by industry, they generally follow a similar structure.

Now, a communications plan is a very specific tool which we’re huge fans of. Its primary use case is to help layout an integrated execution plan of a marketing campaign. With so many channels available to marketers these days, the comms plan was born out of a necessity to think strategically about how to integrate all these executions under one overarching concept, while still being bespoke to each channel. 

Here is a sample comms plan we use inspired by Julian Cole, a well-revered expert on comms planning.

Campaign Architecture

Let’s take a look at each section and break it down.

Business Problem

This is the connection point to the business/marketing plan. While it is crucial to frame most of the campaign architecture through a consumer mindset as opposed to the business’, the business problem is the exception. It is generally driven through analysis of the marketing plan and could be something such as:

“We’re seeing a decrease in subscriptions to Spotify by Generation Z because that generation sees the platform as the place for annoying Millennials”

Positioning

Positioning refers to the intersection of where the brand sits in the context of the product category, culture, and consumer sentiment. It is driven by uncovering insights quantitatively and qualitatively. It is by comparing the positioning to the business problem that we can begin align the marketing campaign and its initial goals. For example, the positioning of Spotify could be:

“Spotify is the streaming service for Neverlanders who will never grow old”

Campaign Idea

This represents the core concept of your marketing campaign. It will serve as the umbrella idea that connects to each comms task which we will describe below. 

Barriers are the specific pain points being addressed within that specific channel/execution of the campaign. These barriers are uncovered through a mapping of the consumer journey starting from the high-funnel down into the final purchasing and advocacy touchpoints. Once complete, we can discern what are the specific barriers to accomplishing the goal of the campaign within said touchpoint. 

An example of a barrier could be:

“Gen Z’s on TikTok feel like any platform outside of it is just for old people”

With the barrier established, it is time to develop how we will solve that barrier. To do this, we work through the specific communications task. In relation to the previous example, the task could be to convince Gen Z’ers on TikTok that Spotify is just as youthful as TikTok itself .

Last but not least, is the tactics themselves. This is where we prescribe the specific channel and tactic that the creative will live to solve the aforementioned barrier. In this case, one tactic could be for Spotify to hire TikTok influencers to develop branded playlists of their favourite songs on Spotify to be shared on Tik Tok to their followers.

This process of outlining the barrier and task repeats itself until all touchpoints of a consumer journey map have been addressed and solved. As this occurs, an integrated and strategic execution plan of your marketing campaign emerges.

The benefits of following an integrated comms plan such as this are proven and substantial. It leads to increased emotional responses and overall branding perception as seen in the studies below.  

Comms chart

In summary, the marketing plan is the high-level plan of a brand that focuses on more than just an advertising campaign. It includes pricing strategies, distribution strategies, and is much more focused on driving sales from a high-level perspective. A comms plan is a specific tool used to think of the rollout of an advertising campaign from a more integrated and strategic point of view. It is driven through analysis of the consumer mindset and is used to tap the consumer at specific points within the purchasing process. 

Both plans serve very different purposes but often get mixed up. However, both are fundamental to the success of a clear and discerning brand that knows exactly where it stands and where it is headed. You might also like our post titled The Difference Between Branding and Marketing .

Contact MMGY Origin

Specializing in the outdoor industry and tourism, MMGY Origin has a team of experts who robust, digitally driven, creative and marketing services to clients across North America.

If you need help developing a communications plan or marketing plan, we can help. Feel free to contact us .

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Marketing Plan : Meaning, Types, Steps and Examples

What is a marketing plan.

A marketing plan serves as a strategic blueprint, talking about a business’s advertising approach to drive sales of its products or services. This comprehensive document encompasses vital elements such as identifying the target market, devising optimal communication channels, establishing price points, and evaluating the efficacy of marketing endeavors. Delving into operational specifics, it describes outreach initiatives, customized messaging strategies, platform choices for promotion, and metrics for gauging outcomes. Continuous adjustment based on performance metrics is imperative for ensuring its success, and it should be seamlessly integrated into a broader business plan that encompasses all facets of the company’s operations.

What-is-a-Marketing-Plan-copy

Geeky Takeaways:

  • Marketing plans serve as strategic blueprints for businesses’ advertising approaches.
  • Essential elements include target market identification, optimal communication channels, price points, and evaluating marketing effectiveness.
  • Types of marketing plans include annual, content, product launches, and social media marketing plans.
  • The steps of the marketing planning process encompass a marketing audit, market research, target audienc e understanding, and setting clear objectives.
  • Benefits of marketing planning include identifying the target market and competitors and defining a unique selling proposition.

Table of Content

Purpose of a Marketing Plan

Types of marketing plans, steps in the marketing planning process, benefits of marketing planning.

  • Difference Between a Marketing Plan and a Business Plan

How to Write a Marketing Plan?

Example of a marketing plan, what is a marketing plan template, what does an executive summary in a marketing plan mean, what is a top-down marketing strategy, what is a bottom-up marketing strategy, how much does a marketing plan cost, performance analysis, frequently asked questions (faqs).

1. Defining Strategic Marketing Objectives: One primary purpose of a marketing plan is to clearly describe and define marketing objectives that align seamlessly with the overarching corporate mission and vision of the organization. These objectives serve as a roadmap, indicating the desired position of the organization at specific points in the future. It establishes a unified direction for all marketing efforts, fostering a cohesive and purpose-driven approach.

2. Driving Business Growth through Strategic Marketing Strategies: The marketing plan plays a pivotal role in facilitating business growth by outlining effective marketing strategies. It specifically addresses plans for expanding the customer base, ensuring that the business’s market presence evolves and prospers. This section emphasizes the dynamic nature of these strategies, emphasizing adaptability to market shifts and emerging trends.

3. Comprehensive Marketing Mix Analysis: An integral component of the marketing plan involves a thorough examination of the marketing mix , considering the 7Ps of marketing: process, promotion , people, product , price , place , physical evidence, and performance. This detailed analysis ensures a holistic approach to marketing strategy development. It underscores the need for a well-balanced and integrated marketing mix to meet customer needs effectively.

4. Market Expansion and Brand Awareness: Within the marketing plan, strategies to increase market share, tap into new niche markets, and elevate brand awareness are strategically incorporated. These elements aim to position the business favorably in the competitive landscape. This section emphasizes the importance of creating a distinctive brand identity and fostering customer loyalty.

5. Detailed Budgeting for Marketing Activities: The marketing plan encompasses a meticulously crafted budget, delineating the funds and resources necessary for executing the activities outlined in the marketing strategy. This financial roadmap ensures the effective implementation of the marketing plan. Additionally, it stresses the need for periodic reviews and adjustments to the budget to optimize resource allocation.

6. Task Assignment and Responsibility Clarification: A well-structured marketing plan clearly defines the assignment of tasks and responsibilities related to marketing activities. It ensures accountability and a coordinated effort toward attaining the outlined marketing objectives. Furthermore, it highlights the significance of effective communication and collaboration among team members for successful implementation.

7. Identifying and Exploiting Business Opportunities: The marketing plan places a significant emphasis on the identification of business opportunities and outlines strategies to exploit them. This proactive approach is crucial for staying ahead in a dynamic business environment. Additionally, it encourages continuous monitoring of market trends and consumer behaviors to detect emerging opportunities promptly.

8. Holistic Review of the Marketing Environment: A key function of the marketing plan is to foster a comprehensive review and analysis of the marketing environment. This involves market research, customer needs assessment, competitor analysis, PEST analysis, monitoring new business trends, and continuous environmental scanning. This section underscores the importance of staying informed and adaptable to changes in the external business landscape.

1. Annual Marketing Plans: Annual marketing plans organize campaigns based on their anticipated launch dates, prioritizing the timing of initiatives rather than the content itself. This approach provides a comprehensive overview of the marketing strategy for the upcoming year and facilitates ongoing success measurement as time unfolds. It serves as a strategic roadmap, outlining the temporal distribution of marketing efforts and ensuring a structured and well-paced approach to achieve overarching goals.

2. Content Marketing Plans: Content marketing plans adopt a more content-centric approach to marketing strategy, emphasizing specific channels and target audiences. While resembling annual marketing plans in structure, content marketing plans focus less on the when and more on the what and how of content creation and distribution. These plans are tailored to effectively engage audiences through relevant and valuable content, aligning with the broader marketing strategy and ensuring a cohesive narrative across various channels.

3. Product Launch Plans: Product launch plans are specialized marketing strategies designed for the introduction of new products or services to the market. Beyond the primary goal of successfully launching the new offering, these plans encompass detailed strategies, tactics, and content required in the lead-up to the launch itself. It involves meticulous planning, market positioning, and promotional activities to generate anticipation and ensure a compelling market entry.

4. Social Media Marketing Plans: Recognizing the pivotal role of social media channels in achieving marketing goals, companies often create dedicated social media marketing plans. These plans focus specifically on developing advertising and promotional content for platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. By having a separate strategy for social media, businesses can optimize their presence on these platforms, effectively engage with their audience, and align social media efforts with broader marketing objectives.

5. Paid Marketing Plans: Incorporating various paid strategies such as paid social media advertising, native advertising, pay-per-click, and display advertising, the paid marketing plan forms a comprehensive approach to your marketing strategy. Conducting thorough audience research before the plan’s launch is crucial to optimizing the return on investment. Collaboration with content strategists becomes essential to guarantee that your advertisements resonate with your specific buyer personas, ensuring that your messages are targeted accurately to the right audience.

1. Conducting a Comprehensive Marketing Audit: Initiate a thorough examination of the current marketing strategies, performance metrics, and available resources within the company. This pivotal step aims to gain insights into the effectiveness of existing marketing initiatives, providing a foundation for strategic decision-making and future planning.

2. Market Research and Data Gathering: Systematically gather data on market trends, customer needs, industry sales volumes, and competitive landscapes. This information forms the basis for well-informed decision-making, ensuring that marketing strategies are aligned with current market dynamics and tailored to meet evolving customer expectations.

3. Understanding Your Target Audience: Define the demographics, behaviors, and preferences of the target audience to tailor marketing strategies effectively. This step involves a deep dive into understanding the characteristics and expectations of the audience, enabling the creation of targeted and resonant marketing messages.

4. Setting Clear and Measurable Marketing Objectives: Establish marketing objectives that are clear, measurable, and aligned with overall business goals. These objectives serve as guiding principles for marketing efforts, providing a framework for focused and purposeful activities aimed at achieving specific outcomes.

5. Developing Detailed Marketing Strategies: Create comprehensive plans outlining specific tactics and activities to achieve the established marketing objectives. This involves a detailed roadmap of actions, ensuring a systematic and coordinated approach towards meeting the outlined goals.

6. Resource Allocation Planning: Determine the budget, personnel requirements, and tools necessary to effectively execute the formulated marketing strategies. This phase involves a strategic allocation of resources to optimize efficiency and ensure that the planned activities can be carried out successfully.

7. Implementation of the Marketing Plan: Execute the formulated strategies by launching campaigns , promotions, and other marketing activities as outlined in the plan. This phase involves translating planning into action, with a focus on ensuring the seamless execution of the marketing initiatives.

8. Monitoring and Measuring Results: Continuously track the performance of marketing initiatives using key performance indicators. This ongoing assessment provides valuable insights into the effectiveness of the implemented strategies, allowing for timely adjustments and improvements.

9. Adjusting and Improving Marketing Efforts: Analyze the results obtained from the monitoring phase, identify areas for improvement, and make necessary adjustments to optimize future marketing efforts. This iterative process ensures adaptability and responsiveness to evolving market conditions, fostering a culture of continuous improvement within the marketing strategy.

1. Identifying the Target Market: A fundamental aspect of a marketing plan involves elucidating the target market, deciphering their needs, and discerning their preferences. This strategic approach equips businesses to tailor their marketing strategies effectively, ensuring a resonant connection with the intended audience. By delving into the intricacies of the target market, businesses can craft strategies that align seamlessly with the evolving dynamics of their consumer base.

2. Identifying Competitors: Through meticulous market research, businesses can identify and analyze their competitors, unraveling the intricacies of their strategies. This knowledge not only facilitates differentiation but also empowers businesses to gain a competitive edge. Armed with insights into competitor tactics, businesses can strategically position themselves in the market, fostering uniqueness and resilience against industry rivals.

3. Defining Unique Selling Proposition: A well-crafted marketing plan serves as the canvas for businesses to define their USP. This distinctive element sets businesses apart from competitors, acting as a magnet to attract customers. By pinpointing what makes their offering unique, businesses can strategically position themselves in the market, creating a compelling narrative that resonates with their target audience.

4. Setting Marketing Objectives: Integral to a marketing plan is the establishment of clear and measurable marketing objectives that harmonize with overarching business goals. These objectives act as guiding beacons, directing marketing efforts purposefully toward specific outcomes. By setting benchmarks, businesses can measure progress and ensure that their marketing initiatives are aligned with broader organizational objectives.

5. Developing Marketing Strategies: A well-structured marketing plan transcends objectives by creating detailed roadmaps encompassing specific tactics and activities. This systematic approach ensures that businesses have a strategic framework for achieving their set goals. The plan becomes a dynamic playbook, guiding marketing teams to execute a cohesive and well-coordinated strategy.

Difference between a Marketing Plan and a Business Plan

1. Define Business Mission: Clearly articulate the mission of your business, ensuring that it aligns with your overarching business goals. This foundational step provides a guiding statement that reflects the purpose and values of your business. Consider involving key stakeholders in the mission development process to foster a sense of ownership and alignment.

2. Determine Key Performance Indicators: Identify and establish KPIs that will serve as benchmarks to measure the success of your marketing efforts. These measurable metrics provide insights into the effectiveness of your strategies and tactics. Regularly reassess and refine your chosen KPIs to stay attuned to evolving business priorities.

3. Identify Buyer Personas: Describe in detail your target audience, including their demographics, behaviors, and preferences. Developing comprehensive buyer personas ensures a deep understanding of your audience, allowing for tailored and effective marketing strategies. Regularly update these personas based on evolving market trends and consumer insights.

4. Describe Content Initiatives and Strategies: Outline your content marketing initiatives and strategies, detailing the types of content you will create and how you plan to distribute it. This section provides a roadmap for engaging your audience through diverse and targeted content. Consider conducting periodic content audits to assess your existing content’s effectiveness and identify improvement areas.

5. Define Marketing Budget: Allocate resources, encompassing personnel, tools, and budget, to support your marketing initiatives. This strategic allocation ensures that your marketing efforts are adequately resourced, promoting effective execution of planned activities. Periodically reassess your budget allocation in response to evolving business needs and market dynamics.

6. Identify Competition: Analyze your competition, gaining insights into their strengths and weaknesses. This competitive analysis informs your strategic positioning, allowing you to differentiate your business and capitalize on market opportunities. Regularly revisit your competitive analysis to stay abreast of industry changes and emerging competitors.

7. Outline Contributors and Responsibilities: List individuals responsible for executing different stages of your plan, defining their roles and responsibilities. This ensures accountability and a coordinated effort throughout the implementation of your marketing strategies. Conduct regular team check-ins to ensure ongoing alignment and collaboration.

8. Create a Timeline: Develop a timeline that outlines when each marketing initiative will be launched and the duration of its execution. This structured approach ensures a well-paced and coordinated implementation of your marketing plan. Include contingency plans in your timeline to address unforeseen challenges that may arise during execution.

9. Review and Update: Regularly review and update your marketing plan to reflect changing business needs and customer dynamics. This iterative process will ensure the continued adaptability and relevance of your marketing strategies. Solicit feedback from various departments and stakeholders to incorporate diverse perspectives and enhance the plan’s effectiveness.

10. Get Input from Others: Gather input from various departments within your company, including customer service, sales, and marketing. This collaborative approach ensures a comprehensive and effective marketing plan, drawing on diverse perspectives and insights from across the organization.

1. Coca-Cola’s Seasonal Sip of Joy: Coca-Cola’s iconic commercial featuring polar bears pushing a tree during the holidays has seamlessly woven the brand into the festive fabric. By cleverly associating itself with joy, family, and tradition, Coca-Cola creates an enduring connection beyond a mere beverage choice. The use of cute, animated polar bears without dialogue adds a memorable touch, capturing attention and enhancing the emotional impact.

2. Slack’s Precision in Product-Led Growth: Slack’s targeted commercial aimed at software users strategically focuses on product-led growth, precisely targeting the audience that directly benefits from its features. The bright and quick style of the advertisement reinforces the positive narrative, highlighting how Slack enhances efficiency and communication. Adopting an outcome-based selling approach, the commercial resonates with users by addressing their daily needs, emphasizing speed, efficiency, and an informal communication style.

3. Twix’s Ingenious Rivalry Within the Wrapper: Twix’s commercial introducing the Left Twix vs. Right Twix creates a unique and playful rivalry, sparking conversations and turning the chocolate bar into a cultural talking point. Instead of inventing a fictitious competitor, Mars Inc. crafts a split society of Right vs. Left Twix fans, effectively engaging their audience. The lesson here lies in finding distinctive ways to connect with consumers and turning marketing strategies into lasting and relatable talking points.

A marketing plan template is a structured document designed to delineate a company’s marketing strategy, objectives, and tactics, functioning as a navigational tool for businesses to adeptly plan and implement their marketing endeavors. These templates typically encompass sections dedicated to defining target customers, analyzing competition, establishing marketing goals, outlining strategies, and detailing budget and timeline considerations. Serving as valuable guides, marketing plan templates assist businesses in creating comprehensive and strategic plans, facilitating the organization of thoughts, the establishment of clear objectives, and the thorough consideration of all aspects crucial for successful execution.

The executive summary within a marketing plan functions as a concise snapshot, offering a brief yet comprehensive overview of the key elements and objectives delineated in the complete marketing plan document. Positioned at the outset of the plan, this summary serves as a condensed version, encapsulating crucial aspects such as market analysis, target audience, marketing objectives, strategies, budget allocation, timeline, and anticipated outcomes. Designed to capture the reader’s attention swiftly, the executive summary acts as a gateway, allowing stakeholders, investors, or decision-makers to swiftly grasp the essential components of the marketing plan without delving into intricate details.

A top-down marketing strategy operates on the premise that high-level strategic decisions steer the tactics and campaigns, placing a strong emphasis on brand messaging and executive directives. In this approach, the target audience assumes a passive role, with the primary focus directed towards prompting them to take action. Key components of a top-down marketing strategy involve formulating a high-level strategy aligned with the company’s overarching goals, prioritizing consistent and impactful brand messaging, and entrusting executive-level management with decisions regarding marketing initiatives. This method anticipates a responsive reaction from the target audience, expecting them to act upon the conveyed marketing messages and campaigns. While implementing a top-down strategy is time-consuming, the approach is appealing for its capacity to deliver a focused and targeted marketing effort, ensuring the company’s message resonates consistently and effectively with the intended audience.

A bottom-up marketing strategy initiates at the base level of an organization or team, concentrating on comprehending the needs and preferences of customers as the driving force behind marketing initiatives. This approach involves an in-depth immersion into the marketplace and customer base, tailoring marketing efforts based on their feedback and demands. Key elements of this strategy encompass a customer-centric focus, prioritizing understanding customer needs, market immersion for valuable insights, adaptability for adjusting strategies based on feedback and market trends, and a strong emphasis on relationship-building for referrals and word-of-mouth marketing. Particularly beneficial for companies with limited resources, a bottom-up marketing strategy enables businesses to gain profound insights into their customers, swiftly adapt to market changes, and foster robust relationships, ultimately driving effective and targeted marketing campaigns.

The expense associated with a marketing plan in India exhibits significant variation contingent on factors such as project complexity, business size, and the specific services sought. On average, the annual cost of digital marketing services spans from 3 lakhs to 70 lakhs, translating to a monthly expenditure of 5,000 to 15,000 for businesses. Content marketing expenses fluctuate from a few thousand rupees to several lakhs per month, while SEO services commence at around 8,750 per month for basic services and escalate to 25,000 or more for more comprehensive offerings. Social media marketing campaigns, depending on the agency, can entail costs ranging between $15,000 and $60,000. The diverse pricing structure reflects the varied requirements and scopes of marketing initiatives in India.

Performance analysis involves evaluating a scenario’s performance against set objectives, encompassing data collection, transformation, and visualization in business. In sports, it provides objective insights for athletes and coaches through video and data analysis, contributing to evidence-based decision-making. Employing advanced technologies, sports performance analysis enhances training and interventions. In business, growth must optimize employee morale and productivity through effective data analysis. Establishing quantifiable goals fosters goal-oriented efforts, time management skills, and clear expectations, leading to improved results.

What are the pivotal purposes of marketing plans?

The three main goals of marketing plans are acquiring customers, retaining customers, and transforming customers into brand ambassadors.

What are the four primary keys of a marketing plan?

The four pivotal keys of a marketing plan are the marketing mix elements, often referred to as the four Ps: place, product, price, and promotion.

What do the 5 marketing concepts mean?

The five main marketing concepts are selling, marketing, production, product, and societal. Companies apply these concepts to address the distribution, product, price, and promotion aspects of their business.

Who is the king of modern marketing?

In modern marketing, the consumer is represented as ‘king.’ The primary motive of a seller is to understand and fulfill the needs of the consumer, making the customer the central focus of marketing endeavors.

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Understanding the role of email, technology, and in-person events in nurturing B2B relationships

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Defining the unique buyer journey, leveraging technology, and staying abreast of emerging trends are critical tactics to create successful marketing campaigns, but even more so in the competitive business landscape. B2B generally demands an intricate sales cycle that relies on deeper relationship-building rather than impulse purchases. In fact, 90% of B2B buyers worldwide say their trust with their supplier is a factor that influences buyer satisfaction, according to a June 2023 TreviPay survey conducted by Murphy Research.  

In the guide, we delve deeper into the nuances of B2B marketing, highlighting crucial metrics and examining emerging trends shaping the industry in 2024.

  • Want to learn more about B2B marketing and other marketing trends? Sign up for the EMARKETER Daily newsletter.

What is B2B marketing?

B2B marketing involves the promotion of goods, services, or information between businesses. A B2B marketing team creates tailored strategies aimed at meeting the distinctive needs of other businesses, often encompassing longer sales pipelines and multiple decision-makers.

What is the difference between B2B and B2C marketing? 

B2C marketing—designed to reach, engage with, and sell to individual consumers—is largely associated with retail products that include everyday goods and services. Although the lines between B2B and B2C are increasingly blurring, with many strategies and channels overlapping, there are key differences in the business objectives, target audiences, and processes. 

While B2B companies generally market solely within their industries, to managers responsible for business investments, B2C companies often rely on broad consumer reach. Because B2B purchases are usually higher in value, requiring consensus from a range of stakeholders, they focus more on the quality of deals rather than the quantity. B2B marketing messaging focuses on data-supported ROI and business impact, whether it’s to cut costs or boost efficiencies. B2C marketing, on the other hand, can lean more into the creative, emotionally driven messaging that appeals to a mass market. 

Stages of the B2B buyer’s journey

  • Awareness: Initiating the journey involves businesses identifying needs or challenges. Marketers leverage industry insights, thought leadership, and targeted content to captivate potential clients.
  • Consideration: This phase sees businesses researching solutions extensively. It becomes pivotal to offer clients in-depth case studies, product/service information, and expert consultations.
  • Decision: Transparency in pricing, robust customer support, and tailored solutions hold the key to sealing deals.
  • Retention: Post-purchase, maintaining client satisfaction and engagement is crucial. Follow-ups, personalized support, and value-added services contribute to sustained partnerships.
  • Advocacy/Loyalty: Delighted clients transform into brand advocates, contributing referrals and positive word-of-mouth, bolstering brand reputation.

B2B marketing channels and tactics 

B2B marketing leverages a range of marketing channels and strategies, each with unique strengths and challenges. By a significant lead, email (73%) remains the biggest channel that B2B marketers use to effectively connect with prospective buyers, followed by phone (39%) and events (31%), according to April 2023 data from Ascend2 and Zoominfo. We delve into these three tools, as well as their best practices.

marketing channels that enable b2b marketers to connect with buyers

Email marketing 

As a way to nurture relationships and establish brand credibility, email marketing in the B2B space is an opportunity to connect at different points in the buying journey. Beyond communication, email fosters value, differentiation, and trust. 

Because of its accessibility to customers and B2B marketers, however, it’s often used without strategy, measurement tactics, or clean data. B2B customers are more digitally savvy and discerning than ever, demanding personalized and informative email interactions. To take full advantage of the channel: 

  • Refocus metrics on engagement: Rethink traditional metrics and concentrate on ones that truly reflect recipient engagement and interaction levels. Prioritize metrics like conversion rates, interactivity, and unsubscribe rates to gauge success.
  • Invest in data management: Integrate data across buyer stages, channels, and systems for a comprehensive view of email’s impact on the overall marketing strategy. To accomplish this, capitalize on first-party data, customer data platforms (CDPs), and data expertise.
  • Explore AI and automation: Embrace AI tools for precise audience segmentation, reengagement strategies, and email list health improvements. Lean on generative AI to craft emails that provide value and relevance, ensuring they meet recipients’ specific needs and interests.

Phone calls

Phone calls also remain a direct and personal tool to engage with prospects and clients. Unlike other communication channels, phone calls offer real-time, interactive conversations that foster immediate connections and enable nuanced discussions.

However, the phone often faces challenges due to evolving customer preferences. To harness the full potential of this channel:

  • Prioritize quality conversations: Instead of focusing solely on call volume, prioritize the quality of interactions, taking the time to understand customers’ needs. Ensure that each conversation adds value, whether it’s through providing information, addressing concerns, or building rapport.
  • Integrate call data: Combine data from phone interactions with other touchpoints across the buyer’s journey. Integrating this data provides a comprehensive understanding of each customer, facilitating tailored and effective communication strategies.
  • Leverage technology: Use advanced tools and systems to streamline phone interactions. Technologies like customer relationship management (CRM) software and call analytics not only improve efficiency, but also provide valuable insights for refining phone-based marketing strategies.

In-person experiences offer a balance to the often-overwhelming digital noise that B2B customers are bombarded with. Physical events, along with webinars and livestreams, are key to solidifying connections and maintaining authority in thought leadership. 

A quarter (25%) of US B2B marketers report in-person tradeshows and events as a leading area of marketing spend, per an August 2023 Sagefrog Marketing Group survey. Of the same group, 38% plan to exhibit or sponsor in-person conferences and 36% plan to organize or host their own webinars. To maximize the impact of these events:

  • Build immersive experiences: Go beyond traditional presentations and integrate interactive sessions, workshops, and live demos to encourage active participation.
  • Foster networking opportunities: Enable professionals to share insights and ideas while forging meaningful connections.
  • Embrace hybrid events: Combine physical events with virtual elements to extend reach while retaining the benefits of face-to-face interaction, catering to a broader audience.

Content marketing

Content plays a crucial role in shaping brand narratives, educating prospects, and influencing purchasing decisions. Beyond delivering information, content marketing is a catalyst for establishing thought leadership, giving brands authority in their industry. Successful content marketing prioritizes engagement metrics; integrates actionable insights; and tells authentic, trust-building stories. To boost your content marketing strategy, consider the following types of content: 

  • Case studies: As proof of a company’s capabilities, case studies help prospective clients envision their use of the product through real-world challenges and solutions. 
  • Educational content: White papers, webinars, and blog posts provide valuable information and showcase your company’s breadth of knowledge.
  • SEO content: Make sure your content is discoverable, ranking highly on search results, by implementing a strategy behind keywords, meta tags, and mobile accessibility.

​​The B2C evolution of B2B marketing

Today’s B2B buyers are made up of digitally fluent millennials and Gen Zers who expect the same level of attentiveness, personalization, and ease as their B2C experiences. This diversification of the B2B audience—as well as their shifting purchasing behavior—means traditional marketing tactics aren’t enough to capture their attention. Here’s a look at this evolving B2B marketing trend and how it affects B2B buyers’ purchasing decisions. 

Larger, diversified buying collectives 

B2B buying committees are not only getting more diverse, they’re getting larger, spanning a greater range of generations, perspectives, and buyer personas. In 2023, 59% of B2B buyers were estimated to be between ages 26 to 40, while 30% were 41 to 55 and 6% were 18 to 25, according to 2022 data from the American Marketing Association, Demand Gen Report, and Forrester. 

As a result, marketers now face the challenge of engaging stakeholders of various preferences and habits, with an even greater need to keep up with modern consumer-centric demands in the buying process, such as self-managed buying journeys.

The rise of online purchasing 

Consumers accustomed to the frictionless online checkout process of B2C retailers such as Amazon and Target assume the same of their B2B experiences. B2B ecommerce, consequently, has much room to grow, with merchants seeing plenty of opportunity to improve online experiences. 

Three-quarters (75%) of US B2B purchases use online platforms to buy products, according to BigCommerce. Meanwhile, a third (33%) of Western Europe- and US-based small and medium-sized businesses with $10 million or more in revenues say digital self-serve is a defining need in the purchase process, per an August 2023 Boston Consulting Group survey. 

Social media as an essential channel 

The increasing share of younger B2B buyers is fueling social media marketing, notably LinkedIn, as a hotspot for engagement. These young professionals turn to social media platforms not only to be informed and connect with others, but also to influence their purchasing decisions. Half (50%) of US B2B marketers report social media as a tactic that contributes most to achieving their top-of-funnel goals, per April 2023 Wpromote and Ascend2 data.  

The LinkedIn user base is also reflecting younger audiences. In 2024, 63.7% of US LinkedIn users will be a millennial or Gen Zer, accounting for 50 million users, per a May 2023 EMARKETER forecast. Recognizing B2C’s influence on B2B buying, LinkedIn launched Accelerate in 2023. This generative AI-powered tool—which can refine targeting and automate ad campaigns—addresses the need for more efficient self-service in the B2B space, especially at a time when the industry faces economic pressure and tighter budgets. Half (50%) of B2B technology buyers worldwide say that due to the economic climate, they would prioritize purchases that increase automation or save time, according to March 2023 TrustRadius data.  

marketing tactics that contribute most to achieving top of the funnel goals according to marketers

Technology’s role in B2B marketing trends

Technology is the driving force behind B2B marketing disruption . From lead generation to personalized interactions and data-driven decision-making, marketing technology (martech) is transforming every facet of the sales cycle.

In 2024, US B2B marketers will spend $8.71 billion on martech, according to August 2023 EMARKETER estimates, marking a 13.4% increase YoY. In addition, B2B martech spending will account for nearly a third (32.2%) of overall martech spending in 2024.

Harnessing innovative tools, analytics, AI-driven insights, and robust CRM systems can amplify marketing effectiveness. 

us b2b marketing technology spend

Generative AI’s impact on content creation 

Not only is generative AI making simple, tedious content creation tasks more efficient, but it’s also acting as a starting point for creativity and personalization. For marketers, that means generating targeted, relevant content at scale, assisting with everything from email and social media copy to white papers.

OpenAI’s GPT-4 Vision exemplifies the versatility of generative AI, capable of analyzing images and generating corresponding product descriptions. B2B marketers can use this technology to scale content creation across various platforms and tailor messages to resonate with specific audiences.

Generative AI’s impact on brand equity 

Generative AI-powered campaigns can help B2B brands reinforce their values and identity, stand out from the competition, and secure long-term customer equity. For instance, generative AI content can quickly assist in outlining unique selling points for a large number of product descriptions, allowing brands to expand their online presence and hone in on the language that attracts potential buyers.

B2B marketers, however, still need to be proactive and involved with AI-generated content, as it can bring risks such as inaccuracies or inconsistencies that may compromise a brand’s integrity. AI-generated content must still be checked to ensure that it’s not misleading, biased, inaccurate, or inappropriate, and that it aligns with the brand’s values.

Companies such as Jasper and Junia AI have integrated systems that can learn a brand’s style and tone, then generate similar copy for a cohesive voice. The goal is content that still maintains authenticity and personality.

Generative AI’s impact on data management 

With the increasing reliance on generative AI and heightened privacy concerns, robust data management is becoming crucial. Effective data management forms the backbone for informed decision-making, personalized interactions, and accurate measurement of ROI across marketing channels.

Seamless integration of diverse data sources and platforms is imperative for delivering personalized customer experiences. Establishing centralized data management systems, defining standards, and conducting regular audits can ensure data consistency, enhancing brand integrity.

EMARKETER predicts CDPs will proliferate as the need for ethical standards and precaution around the protection of sensitive information rises. In 2022, brands, publishers, and agencies spent between $377,000 and $437,000 on CDPs, data management platforms, and consent management platforms, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s State of Data 2023 report. 

Success in B2B marketing 

Measuring B2B marketing success involves assessing a range of metrics that may change based on your business objectives. By delving into the following KPIs, companies can gauge the impact of their B2B marketing efforts and identify areas for refinement:

  • Marketing qualified leads (MQLs): Indicates the number of leads identified by marketing as potential prospects. Analyzing the quality and quantity of MQLs offers insights into the success of lead-generation strategies and the alignment between marketing and sales teams.
  • Cost per acquisition (CPA): Quantifies the total cost invested in acquiring new customers. Understanding the CPA helps in optimizing marketing spend and evaluating the efficiency of acquisition channels, ensuring cost-effective customer acquisition.
  • Customer retention rate: Reflects the percentage of returning customers. A high retention rate signifies the success of marketing strategies in fostering customer loyalty and satisfaction.
  • Website traffic and engagement: Tracks the volume of visitors to a website and their interactions. Analyzing metrics like page views, time spent on-site, and bounce rates helps in assessing the appeal and relevance of content, SEO efforts, and user experience. 
  • Customer feedback and surveys: Collecting feedback through surveys or direct customer interactions provides qualitative insights into customer satisfaction, preferences, and areas for improvement in B2B marketing strategies.

metrics b2b marketers worldwide that rely most to evaluate content performance

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