We’ll show you how to use free downloadable marketing templates to enhance your marketing strategy. Behind every scalable online business is a solid marketing plan. A good marketing plan helps you make the most of your marketing dollars and track your marketing tactics, goals, and costs. The digital marketing plan templates in this guide will help you take your business to the next level with creative campaigns and experimental ideas.

What is a marketing plan template used for?

A marketing plan template is used to provide structure and guidance when creating a marketing plan. It acts as a roadmap that outlines your marketing strategies, goals, and tactics. A well-developed and effectively executed marketing plan can help you acquire new customers, increase sales, and build brand awareness. Additionally, a marketing plan is essential for identifying customer needs and preferences, tracking and measuring the success of your marketing campaigns, and ultimately helping your business achieve its goals and objectives.

How to Create a Marketing Plan Template

1. Write a summary
2. Setting a budget and making projections
3. Conduct market research
4. Developing a Marketing Strategy
5. Developing a Measurement and Reporting Plan
6. Keep the plan

A marketing plan template alone won’t lead to a successful marketing campaign. What matters is what you write in it. The more time and effort you put into an actionable marketing plan, the more likely you are to have a successful business while operating under a well-designed marketing strategy. Here are some steps to guide you on your path to success:

1. Write a summary

A marketing plan should begin with a summary that includes important elements such as marketing goals, objectives, and the members of the marketing team. The summary should include:

• Company Name : The registered trade name of the company.
• Year of Establishment : The year the company was established.
• Location : The location where your headquarters is located. If you have multiple locations, list all of them here.
• Mission Statement : A mission statement is a one-line phrase that explains why you exist. For example, Starbucks' mission statement uses the phrase, "Our mission is to unlock the infinite possibilities of human connection with every cup of coffee, every conversation, and every community."
• Business Goals : What do you want to accomplish? Most business goals involve financial projections or big-picture plans, such as opening a new store or launching a new product line.
• Marketing Objectives : How do you plan to achieve these company goals with your marketing strategy? This could include anything from “Increase brand awareness with social media strategies” to “Improve customer retention.”
• Marketing Team : List the names, titles, and responsibilities of everyone in the marketing department. This includes key stakeholders, such as the marketing director or marketing strategist. This will help hold the team accountable and ensure the marketing plan is put into action.

2. Setting a budget and creating an estimate

Evaluate how much money you have available to execute your marketing plan. Use a marketing plan template to detail your total annual budget. List the channels you plan to use each quarter, along with your budget, and set SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely) to help you track them. For example, if you use Google Ads to promote a new product, your quarterly budget might be $1,500. A SMART goal might be “Driving new customers to the website at a CPA (cost of acquisition) of $25 or less.”

3. Conduct market research

Market research helps you identify buyer personas, understand your target audience’s interests, find product-market fit, and conduct competitive analysis. The marketing plan template will detail how to conduct market research on your audience through methods such as surveying previous customers, evaluating analytics, and exploring social media.

Identify your target market

To successfully market to new customers, you need to have a solid understanding of your target audience. You need to know who they are, what they like, and where they hang out online. Market research plays a key role in figuring out this information.

“If you understand who this group of people is and what experiences they have, you can connect with them through that shared experience,” says Ezra Firestone , founder of Smart Marketer.

As you develop your buyer personas and go through the process of better understanding who your target market is and what they care about, you’ll be able to market to them in a more relatable way. To develop your buyer personas and prepare your future marketing messages, consider the following:

• Age : Which demographic buys your products the most?
• Education Level : High School Graduate? College Education? The education level of your target audience can help you segment your message.
• Job Title : If you sell to businesses, list the job title of the person who will be buying your product. For example: "Product Manager."
• Annual Income : What is your target customer’s annual income? People with more disposable income are more likely to purchase premium products.
• Hobbies and Interests : What do your target customers do in their free time? Linking your product to these activities can help you gain market share.
• Pain Point : What problem does your product solve? For example, Joe Markham, owner ofKONG , created pet chew toys because he had a hard time finding alternatives to rocks and wood for his dogs to use when they were grinding their teeth.
• Goals and Motivations : What do your target customers want to achieve in life? Ideally, your product will play a role in helping them achieve their goals.
• Sales Objections : What are the pain points that might prevent your customers from making a purchase? Common sales objections include price, lack of trust, and lack of urgency. In this section of your marketing plan template, brainstorm ways to overcome these objections.

Performing a competitive analysis

Enter the following information into your marketing plan template to gain insight into your customers’ buying journey and the triggers that drive them to buy your product. (Repeat this competitor analysis for your business/product and up to three competitors.)

• Unique Selling Proposition (USP) : What is the fundamental part of your product that makes it better than other choices available to your customers? This concept is called the Unique Selling Proposition, or USP.
• Tagline : A short, descriptive phrase that reminds people of your product. Example: Nike's "Just Do It." Use Shopify's free slogan maker to find a slogan you haven't decided on yet.
• Product Price : How much is your product selling for? Benchmark your price against your competitors. Even more expensive products can sell if you can convince customers that they are worth the extra cost. Once you have decided on your price, you should also detail your pricing strategy in your marketing plan.
• Sales Channels : Where do your competitors sell their products? If you sell through stores, trade shows, Facebook Shops, Marketplaces, etc., list your sales channels in this section.
• Marketing Channels : What marketing channels are your competitors using for their marketing efforts? From social media to search engine optimization (SEO), this section shows you the channels you should consider in your marketing plan.
• Audience Size : Record the number of followers on each marketing channel your competitor uses. If your competitor is having success on Instagram, it may mean you can add the same social media platform to your marketing mix.
• Message : How does each competitor position their product? For example, cereal company Magic Spoon uses clever copy to connect with health-conscious adult consumers. Its product is described as “a childhood classic, grown-up ingredients.”

Performing a SWOT Analysis

Run a SWOT analysis to determine:

• Strengths : Where does your business or product excel? This could be anything from a list of suppliers to the intellectual property you own.
• Weaknesses : What areas of your business are vulnerable? For small businesses, this could be a small customer list or a lack of recognition outside of your home country.
• Opportunities : What are some external factors that could have a positive impact on your business? These are usually outside your control, such as increased consumer awareness of a problem your company is solving or a decrease in a competitor’s market share.
• Threats : What are the external factors that could negatively impact your business? These are also usually beyond your control, such as a decrease in market size or changes in regulations.

4. Developing a Marketing Strategy

This section details the marketing strategies you will use to reach your target market, grow your business, and achieve sales. Include each marketing channel you are using, such as SEO, email marketing, and content marketing, as well as each social media channel you plan to be active on, both paid and organically.

Tip : Don’t forget to incorporate your competitive analysis results when developing your strategy for each marketing channel.

• Marketing Funnel Stage : What stage of the marketing funnel is each channel designed to target? Social media posts are typically targeted at prospects at the top of the funnel, while email marketing campaigns may aim to convert customers at the bottom of the funnel.

• Budget : How much budget can you allocate to each marketing channel? Be detailed about each channel so you know exactly how you plan to spend your overall marketing budget.

• Required Software and Equipment : What apps do you need to access each channel? Consider the costs associated with your budget. For example, if you are doing a Facebook live stream, you will need a high-quality webcam and microphone.

• SMART Goals : What do you want to achieve with each marketing channel? Set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals. For example: “Increase reach by 50% in Q1.”

5. Establish a measurement and reporting plan

Set up regular reminders to check in on the progress of your marketing efforts. This is the best way to improve your digital marketing campaigns for the coming year. Set key performance indicators (KPIs) at the beginning of each quarter for each channel and goal. Whether you’re meeting your goals or not will help you see if your strategy is on track. For example, if your goal is “Increase search traffic through SEO,” record the number of organic visitors to your website each day.

After your campaign is over, review the data you collected. If you achieved your marketing goals, explain why. Using the same SEO example, you might say, “We achieved our goal of increasing organic traffic by 10% each quarter. Our investment in internal link building, product page optimization, and blog content creation paid off. We plan to continue doing this in 2024.”

For strategies that didn't go as planned, explain why you failed to achieve your goals and how you will improve next time.

For example, if we failed to reduce our cost per lead (CPL) for Facebook ads, our analysis might say: “We missed our expectation of reducing our cost per lead by 20% through Facebook ads. We believe this was due to consumers being overexposed to ads in the lead up to Black Friday. In 2024, we will improve this by launching our campaigns earlier and developing more visually appealing ads. We will also leverage the expertise of our marketing agency where budget allows.”

6. Keep the plan

Whether you’re just starting an ecommerce business or expanding an existing one, planning is key to healthy, sustainable growth. The initial investment of time can pay big dividends in the long run, especially when you create a solid marketing plan that turns you into a marketing machine that achieves all your goals (and more).

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