How to Create a Written Marketing Plan to Grow Your Business

Picture this: you’re at the airport, walking along the jetway as you board your plane. When you board the plane, the pilot greets you: “Hey, welcome aboard! I’m really glad you’re here. I don’t really have a flight plan and I don’t really know where we’re going. But sit down, make yourself comfortable and enjoy the flight!”

How would you react? I’ll get off the plane as fast as I can, and I bet you will too. That’s why it’s surprising how many entrepreneurs run their businesses without a plan. They don’t have a business plan and they don’t have a marketing plan, so they’re flying blind. They drift in the wind instead of deliberately moving towards their chosen destination.

This is the reality for too many business owners today. And here’s what it looks like, in terms of day-to-day reality:

• Unpredictable cash flow.

• “Boom and bust” production cycles: One month, they have no more customers so they panic and start marketing. Then, the next month, they’re so busy doing the work they’ve accumulated that there’s no time for marketing. So, the following month, there are no more customers and the cycle begins again.

• Little control over the types of customers and customers the business serves because it has to accept anyone who walks through the door that day.

• No ability to forecast growth, making it difficult to know when to hire staff, invest in new equipment, or move into new office space.

• General uncertainty and stress about where the next client or customer is coming from.

These are some of the most common side effects of operating without a marketing plan. The remedy: Create a written marketing plan.

The really good news is that creating your marketing plan doesn’t have to be a scary, time-consuming process. The goal is to create a short, practical, action-oriented roadmap for your business and marketing — not a 50-page “plan” that ends up gathering dust in a drawer somewhere.

To get started, think about the following questions, then write down your answers:

1. How much personal income do you need from your business to lead the life you want to lead? $10,000 a month? $50,000 a month?

2. How much income do you need to bring into the business each month to create the desired personal income? To answer this question, you need to know your profit margin. Let’s say your goal is $10,000 per month in personal income and you have a profit margin of 10%. This means you need to create $100,000 in income per month to meet your personal income goals.

3. How many customers do you need per month to reach your revenue goal, as defined in step 2? If your average customer is worth $2,500 in revenue, you’ll need 40 customers per month to generate $100,000 in revenue.

4. How many leads do you need to generate to gain 40 customers per month? To answer this question, you need to know your sales conversion rate. Let’s say you convert prospects into customers at a rate of 50%. If so, you would need 80 new leads per month to produce 40 customers.

So here is the breakdown:

• 80 new prospects per month

• 40 new customers per month

• $100,000 in revenue per month

• $10,000 personal income per month

This is a definite goal! To achieve your personal goals for the business, you need to generate 80 new leads per month. Where will these leads come from? It’s about testing hypotheses. And that obviously depends on the nature of your business and your target market. But here is a possible breakdown:

• 20 leads through Google Ads

• 10 prospects thanks to organic referencing

• 25 leads via Facebook ads

• 15 prospects thanks to references from former clients

• 10 leads through word of mouth

Here’s your roadmap: 80 leads through five different channels, with the goal of generating 40 new customers, who will eventually provide the financial resources you expect from your business.

Of course, we know it won’t work exactly as expected. Your Google Ad campaign may fail, so your other channels will have to take over. Or you’ll have to venture into something new, like direct mail or radio. But you have a starting point and you have a defined goal that you are working towards.

Now, a marketing plan is not limited to these numbers. Your plan should identify and flesh out your strategy for achieving the goals you just created, including answering questions such as:

• Who is your ideal client?

• What are the main benefits of your products/services and how can you communicate their value convincingly?

• What is your brand strategy?

• What channels will you use to communicate with your audience?

• How can you stand out from the competition in your market?

I have the privilege of working one-on-one with entrepreneurs to help them create a written marketing plan for their business. And I can tell you that after going through this journey many times, it can be a fun, energizing, and challenging process.

No, the action never goes exactly as planned. But that’s what makes business fun! It’s about setting a goal, making a plan, putting the plan into action, and then adjusting the plan based on actual results.

If you don’t have a written marketing plan in your business, please follow my advice. Set aside time as soon as possible to reflect on the questions we’ve covered today and begin the process of creating your plan. It will be one of the most profitable decisions you have ever made.