How to Create a Marketing Plan

Bad marketing is one of the key reasons why 20% of startups fail in the first year.

Most startup founders are great at their service or their product, but fail at marketing and getting customers to their products. 
But what if you had a guide to navigate the complicated world of marketing?

A marketing plan is your roadmap to getting sales, a bigger audience, and more reach. With a good marketing plan, you can transform your marketing from a guessing game into calculated steps.

By the end of this guide, you’ll learn how to avoid costly marketing mistakes and wasted efforts as a startup. 

Here’s what we’re covering:

• What is a Marketing Plan?
• Why Do You Need a Marketing Plan?
• Types of Marketing Plans with Examples
• How to Create a Marketing Plan for Your Business?

What Is a Marketing Plan?

A marketing plan is a document that covers all your marketing plans from end to end. It has your goals and how you plan to use your team. Your marketing plan has your budget, timeline, target audience, marketing channel, and the key metrics to track. 

Marketing Plan Example: We want 1,000 new leads from TikTok within the next quarter.

Marketing Plan Versus Marketing Strategy

Marketing strategies are more about the “how.” Your approach and your methods to reach the goals in your marketing plan. E.g. make high-quality videos on TikTok (method), because videos will bring traffic and leads to our business (goal).

Marketing Strategy Example: We’ll use invideo AI to quickly create high-quality videos and increase brand visibility to our TikTok profile.

Marketing Plan Versus Marketing Campaign

Marketing campaigns are the specific tasks to complete your marketing strategy. These are step-by-step instructions that the whole marketing team executes.

Marketing Campaign Example: We’ll create 5, 30-second videos per week with three brand hashtags to promote our videos. We’ll track participation, engagement, and follower growth as key metrics.

Why Do You Need a Marketing Plan?

Imagine trying to call potential customers without a clear script or sales pitch. You’ll end up rambling, confusing your customers, and ultimately failing to close the sale. The same goes for your marketing efforts. Without a plan, you risk:

• Wasted Resources: Throwing money at random ads or social media posts without a clear strategy, wastes money. Money that could have been used for research & development.
• Brand Damaging: Inconsistent branding leaves your audience unsure of what your brand stands for.
• Build a Strong Foundation: For new companies, a marketing plan helps you establish a brand identity, build a customer base and reputation.

In short, a marketing plan is crucial for increasing the odds of your company’s success in the long term.

5 Types of Marketing Plans with Examples

There are hundreds of types of marketing plans out there, but for new marketers and startups, we’re focusing on just four key marketing plan examples.

 1. Minimum Viable Marketing Plan (MVMP)

An MVMP is all about getting customers for your MVP—all while keeping costs low. It’s like A/B testing with ads, where you figure out which content style suits your customers and your product. 

Goal: To find the social media channel and marketing style with the most leads, impressions, and traffic. 

Target Audience: 18 to 65 year-olds in the US (general audience because we want to see what market wants our service or product)

Timeline: 3 months

Marketing Channel: Instagram, TikTok, Google and Facebook Ads.

Marketing Strategies:

Social Media Growth: Create content for platforms where your target audience is most active. Focus your efforts on the platforms with the highest engagement and results. By the end of your MVMP, you’ll know which channel to target for engagement, traffic, and growth when pushing out content. 

Test Video Content Formats: Experiment with video editing styles and aesthetics to discover what your audience likes. 

Paid Ads: Run targeted campaigns on platforms like Google and Facebook to determine if paid advertising is a viable strategy for your product launch.

Key Metrics: Traffic, conversion rate, leads, engagement. 

Zappos, the online shoe retailer began by posting photos of shoes from local stores online and fulfilling orders manually. This was their MVP marketing tactic to test the market’s appetite for online shoe shopping. This low-cost experiment proved the concept and led to their massive success.

2. Product Launch

A product launch marketing plan is for introducing a new product or service to the world. The plan focuses on creating excitement, building anticipation, and getting sales before and during the launch. 

Goal: X amount of initial sales, positive media coverage, strong brand awareness.

Target Audience: Known market audience (should know this through the MVMP or A/B testing)

Timeline: 6 months (product launch at 5th month)

Marketing Channel: TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, FB and Google Ads.

Marketing Strategies:

• Pre-Launch Buzz: Tease your audience with sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes glimpses, and countdown timers on social media. Create a sense of anticipation and exclusivity for your audience and a fear of missing out (FOMO) for other social media users.
• Multi-Channel Promotion: Share engaging product demos, customer testimonials, and explainer videos on social media, your website, email newsletters, and even paid advertising platforms.
• Influencer Marketing: Partner with influencers and thought leaders in your industry to reach new audiences and generate authentic buzz around your product. Encourage them to create reviews, tutorials, or unboxing videos and have them release their content on the same day.
• Launch Event: Host a virtual or in-person launch event to unveil your product and engage with potential customers. Use invideo AI to produce an event intro video, product highlight reels, and post-event recap videos to extend the reach of your event.

Key Metrics: Sales, mentions or impressions, traffic or website views.

Coca-Cola in 2015 by Matt Curd is an example of a product launch marketing plan. The marketing plan focuses on a new product, a refillable Diet Coke bottle, and the document goes over product launch details, like pricing strategy, advertising plan, and so on. Although this marketing plan is hypothetical, it’s still a great example.

3. Brand Awareness

Building a recognizable and memorable brand is key for long-term success. Whether it’s your brand’s first social media post or you’re rebranding your company, a brand awareness marketing plan is all about establishing a strong reputation in the minds of your target audience.

Goal: Brand should be mentioned with the motto or slogan consistently in comments, content, and mentions. Increased mentions and engagement. 

Target Audience: Known market audience 

Timeline: 6 months (public perception takes a while to fully cement, so the timeline is longer)

Marketing Channels: TikTok, Instagram, Email, YouTube, FB and Google Ads, Packaging, Website.

Marketing Strategies:

• Create a Brandbook: Develop a complete brandbook that includes your logo, visual style, tone of voice, and more. Ensure consistent branding across all your marketing channels, from your website to your product packaging and customer communications.
• Uniform Brand Assets: Use logos, color palettes, and other elements from the brandbook and apply them to all upcoming content. 
• Uniform Social Media: Respond to comments and questions, and participate in industry conversations where your brand shines. Use the brandbook to guide your conversation style. 
• Public Relations: Attend speaking opportunities and awards to build credibility for your brand as an industry authority. Use press releases, media outreach, and industry events to access a wider audience.
• Partnerships and Collaborations: Partner with relevant and complementary brands, influencers, or organizations to cross-promote your products or services. 

Here’s an example of a hypothetical UberEats marketing plan for brand awareness. They clearly define their target demographic and their strategy for turning them into customers. You’ll also find a 5-month implementation plan between May 2020 and September 2020 that outlines their marketing strategy. 

4. Lead Generation 

A lead generation marketing plan is about attracting and capturing potential customers' information. These aren’t sales yet, but leads that can be converted into paying customers later on. The idea is to fill your sales funnel with qualified prospects.

Goal: X amount of high-quality leads

Target Audience: Qualified leads and ideal demographic

Timeline: 3 months

Marketing Channel: TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, FB and Google Ads.

Marketing Strategies:

• Gated Content: Create content that addresses your target audience's pain points and provides your brand as a solution. This could be in the form of ebooks, whitepapers, templates, checklists, or webinars. Gate this content behind a lead capture form, requiring visitors to provide their contact information in exchange for access.
• Partnerships: Partner with influencers in the space to resell your product or get affiliate commissions. 
• Promotional Email Campaigns: Create valuable content, publish headline-worthy information on social media, and save the rest of the useful information for the newsletter.
• Paid Advertising: Run targeted ad campaigns on platforms like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, or LinkedIn Ads to reach your target audience and direct leads to your landing pages.

Dropbox made a partner-reseller marketing plan for resellers to sell Dropbox and HelloSign products. Also providing a Partner Portal with resources, training, and deal registration tools to help partners succeed. 

5. Video Marketing Plan

Video is the number one way for capturing interest and attention on all social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, etc. As of 2023, online videos made up more than 82.5% of all consumer internet traffic.

A video marketing plan lets you use videos to get leads, brand authority, traffic, and more. 

Goal: Generate X views on YouTube within 3 months, increase website traffic from video by Y%, or improve lead generation through video content by Z%.

Target Audience: Known YouTube audience.

Timeline: 3 months

Marketing Channels: YouTube

Marketing Strategies:

• Create Educational Content: Develop engaging how-to videos, tutorials, expert interviews, or explainer videos to show your product's value.
• Produce Product Demos: Show your product's features and benefits in action to show potential customers its value and create desire.
• Personalize Videos: Tailor video content to specific segments or individual customers, addressing their unique pain points and interests for a more relevant experience.
• Utilize Short-Form Video Content: Use platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, or YouTube Shorts with short, attention-grabbing videos and aim to get viral.

Creating high-quality videos doesn't have to be time-consuming or expensive either. Tools like invideo AI empower marketers to produce professional-level videos quickly and efficiently. 

In fact, you can generate a high-quality video in just 5 steps.

Step 1: Access Invideo AI. To begin, you'll need to log in to your Invideo AI account. You can do this using your email, a Google account, or your Apple ID.

Step 2: Select Your Video Format. Choose the format that aligns with your target platform (e.g., Instagram, YouTube, TikTok) to ensure your video dimensions and settings are optimized. 

Here are those video formats with concise descriptions for marketers:

• YouTube Shorts: Best for quick tips, behind-the-scenes content, and jumping on trends.
• YouTube Explainer: Ideal for how-to guides, product demos, and educational content.
• Script to Video: Turn written content like blog posts and scripts into engaging videos.
• News Video: Share company updates, industry news, and announcements in an engaging format.
• TikTok Video: Create short, trend-driven videos using popular sounds and fast-paced editing.
• Instagram Reel: Perfect for eye-catching product showcases, tutorials, and visual storytelling.

For this example, we’ll go with “Youtube Shorts.”

Step 3: Provide Your Script or Generate one. In the "Script to Video" workflow, paste your script directly into the provided box. 

Before generating your video, you have the option to customize various elements, including the voiceover style, subtitle preferences, language of the video, and how you'd like Invideo AI to utilize stock footage and audio. There’s even the option to clone your voice and use that for the voiceover.

Don't worry if you're unsure about these settings – you can always make edits to your video after it's generated.

Step 4: Generate Your Video. Once your script and preferences are set, simply click "Continue," and Invideo AI will work its magic, generating your video within minutes.

Step 5: Review and Fine-Tune. After your video is generated, you can make any necessary adjustments. Provide specific instructions through the "magic box" for quick edits, or click "Edit" to manually change the script, music, or video files. You can even upload your own video clips, which is particularly helpful if you're showcasing a specific product.

Need More Guidance? For a deeper dive, check out our comprehensive guide on creating AI videos or visit our YouTube channel for helpful tutorials.

We’ve already written the easiest video marketing guide to grow your brand, so you should check that out for examples.

How to Create a Marketing Plan for Your Business?

First off, the most overlooked factor in creating a marketing plan is figuring out WHOM the marketing plan is made for.

Are you making a marketing plan for potential investors? For shareholders? For your employees? For administrative members? 

The target audience of your marketing plan will determine the language, structure, and more. For example, if you’re making a marketing plan for:

A. Investors: Focus on financial projections, return on investment (ROI), market analysis, and growth potential. Use a formal tone and provide detailed data to support your claims.

B. Administrative Members: Provide a high-level overview of the marketing business plan, focusing on key objectives, timelines, and resource allocation.

C. Colleagues/Employees: Emphasize the team's role in executing the plan, outline clear responsibilities, and highlight the impact of their contributions on the overall success. Use a collaborative tone and incorporate visuals to make the plan engaging and easy to understand.

The target readers of your marketing plan determine a lot of the structure, tone, and content. 

But, there are key components that appear in every marketing plan, so that’s what I’ll teach you to create.

1. Executive Summary of Marketing Plan

This section is a snapshot of your entire marketing plan. It's an overview that highlights your key objectives, target audience, strategies, and budget. An executive summary is designed to be a quick, but thorough statement of your marketing approach and expected outcomes. 

Source: Airbnb Strategic Audit Overview

Executive summaries are typically around 100 to 250 words. 

While it's the first section in your plan, it's often written last, after you've finalized all the details.

2. Create a Buyer Persona — or Target Audience

Who are you trying to reach with your marketing efforts?

Creating a buyer persona is more than just age and gender. Dive deeper into their interests, pain points, motivations, and online behavior. What platforms do they use? What kind of content resonates with them? Understanding your audience inside and out will help you tailor your messaging and choose the most effective marketing channels.

Source: Example Buyer Persona Sally Johns by Zeemo

A common practice in creating a buyer persona is to literally create a fictional avatar that represents your ideal audience. Give them a name, age, gender, pain points, hobbies, interests, behavior, and more. The closer they represent your average, real-life customer, the better. 

3. Declare the Goals of This Marketing Plan

Setting clear, actionable goals is essential for any marketing plan. The SMART framework is a great way to set goals:

• S-pecific: Clearly define what you want to achieve (e.g., increase website traffic by 20%).
• M-easurable: Use specific metrics to track your progress (e.g., number of website visits, social media engagement).
• A-chievable: Set realistic goals that are within reach, given your resources and timeline.
• R-elevant: Ensure your goals align with your overall business objectives.
• T-ime-Bound: Set a deadline for achieving your goals to create a sense of urgency and focus.

For example, instead of a vague goal like "increase brand awareness," a SMART goal would say "Increase website traffic from social media by 20% within the next three months." This goal is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. 

Generally speaking, a marketing plan should only have 1 goal. But, if your marketing plan is general and comprehensive, there’s nothing wrong with having 2 to 5 goals. Just keep in mind that marketing plans are all about focusing effort, so your goals should be closely related. Otherwise it’s better to just create a separate marketing plan for another goal.

4. Create a Business Summary

A brief business summary gives context for your marketing goals and strategies. What is your company about and where is it in the market?

Think of it as a snapshot of your business:

• Company Overview: Briefly describe what your company does, the products or services you offer, and your overall mission.
• Unique Selling Proposition (USP): Clearly articulate what sets you apart from competitors. What makes your brand special?

Source: 2013 Netflix Strategic Analysis

This summary should be concise and focused, ideally no more than one or two paragraphs. Kind of like a mission or vision statement.

5. State Your Marketing Budget

The marketing budget is the total amount of money that the marketing plan is going to cost. To be transparent and accurate, marketing budgets are broken down into specific categories like advertising, content creation, social media, and so on. 

This is where beginner marketers get stuck. 

You probably don’t have the experience to know all the upcoming expenses. The good news is that your marketing budget isn’t set in stone. It can be adjusted throughout the marketing plan, especially if one strategy is doing exceptionally well for lead generation and needs to be funded more. 

Just be realistic and cautious. Don’t go over budget if the results aren’t worth it and always review your marketing plan before investing in expenses that you didn’t plan for.

If you’re still unsure about your total marketing budget, just skip this section and revisit it once you’ve finished the rest of the marketing plan. The section for the marketing strategies will help you figure out the total budget.

6. List the Marketing Channels You’ll Use

This section is for the specific platforms you'll use to reach your audience. Your choice of marketing channels depends on your audience's preferences, your budget, and the nature of your product or service.

Here are some common marketing channels to consider:

Digital Channels:

• Social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc.)
• Email marketing
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Paid advertising (Google Ads, Facebook Ads, etc.)
• Content marketing (blog posts, articles, videos, infographics)
• Influencer marketing
• Affiliate marketing

• Traditional Channels:

• Print advertising (newspapers, magazines)
• Radio and television advertising
• Direct mail
• Event marketing
• Public relations

Briefly explain why you've chosen each channel and how it aligns with your target audience and marketing goals. If your marketing budget is low, it’s better to prioritize marketing channels that can share content between each other, like TikTok and Instagram sharing video. 

7. Declare Your Marketing Strategies and Goals

This section is where you outline the strategies you'll use to achieve your marketing goals. Each strategy should have a clear goal that contributes to the overall objectives of your marketing plan.

Here's how to structure this section:

• Strategy Name: Give each strategy a descriptive name (e.g., Content Marketing Strategy, Social Media Strategy, Influencer Marketing Strategy).
• Goal: Clearly state the specific goal you aim to achieve with this strategy. Use the SMART framework to ensure your goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
• Tactics: Outline the specific actions you'll take to implement this strategy. For example, if your strategy is content marketing, your tactics might include creating blog posts, publishing articles, or producing videos. Be as detailed as possible with WHAT is going to happen, not HOW. The steps for how to execute this falls under marketing campaigns. 
• Metrics: Identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) you'll track to measure the success of this strategy. For example, for a content marketing strategy, you might track website traffic, social media engagement, or lead generation.
• Budget: Allocate a specific budget for each strategy and break it down. Cost of manpower, cost of tools, etc.

Your marketing strategies are the backbone of your plan, so take your time here and be thorough.

8. Identify the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of the Plan

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are the metrics you'll use to track your progress and measure the success of your marketing plan. They should be directly tied to your marketing goals. 

Here are some common marketing KPIs:

• Website Traffic: Number of visits, unique visitors, page views, bounce rate, time on site.
• Social Media Engagement: Likes, shares, comments, retweets, followers, impressions, reach.
• Email Marketing Metrics: Open rate, click-through rate, conversion rate, unsubscribe rate.
• Lead Generation Metrics: Number of leads, lead conversion rate, cost per lead.
• Sales Metrics: Revenue generated, number of sales, average order value, customer lifetime value.

KPIs must be relevant to your goals and strategies. Track your KPIs regularly and use the data to refine your strategies and tactics. 

9. Create a Timeline With Your Marketing Strategies

Marketing plans usually last 3 months, but some can take 6 months or more. A timeline outlines the start and end dates for each marketing strategy. It helps you stay organized, on schedule, and ensures that your tasks are in line with your marketing roadmap.

Source: officetimeline.com
The simplest way to create a timeline is to add a start and end date to each marketing strategy. But you can also break down your marketing strategies into smaller tasks like marketing campaigns.

Here’s an example:

1. Break down your marketing strategies into smaller, actionable tasks. For example, for a social media strategy, your tasks might include creating a content calendar, scheduling posts, engaging with followers, and running ads.
2. Assign start and end dates for each task, considering dependencies and deadlines.
3. Use a calendar, Gantt chart, or project management tool to visualize your timeline. This will help you see the big picture and identify any potential bottlenecks or conflicts.

A timeline makes sure that there is always something to do and submit every day of the marketing plan. Timelines let you stay on top of your marketing activities, ensure that everything gets done on time, and maximizes the impact of your efforts.

Wrapping Up 

A marketing plan is a crucial step for any startup looking to break into the market. By following the steps outlined in this guide and adapting them to your specific needs, you'll be well-equipped to create a marketing roadmap for your business. 

Remember, video marketing is where the attention is and with invideo AI you can create professional-quality videos quickly. Just jump into invideo AI and send it a script or tell the AI what kind of video you want. Invideo AI will pull HD stock footage, background music, and even use AI voiceovers to make your video happen.

If you found this content useful, you can check out our YouTube channel for some great video creation tips. 

We also have other articles on marketing!

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• Top Marketing Channels to Grow Your Brand
• 17 Expert Marketing Tips