DISQUS

Chad Ludeman · 2 years ago

I'd buy that software! Even better if it was a hosted web application that you could pay a monthly fee for based on the size of your company. That way your plan would always be available to link to or show to banks, investors, partners...

Bill Simon · 2 years ago

Based on the people I've worked with before who thrive on building marketing plans, I fear that most of the time and energy spent on building such a marketing plan would be focused on the "scads of sales, revenue and profit projections" aspect of the plan, and little on the actual nuts and bolts of the plan.

THEN, once the "scads" of revenue and profit generation have been tossed about and decided upon, the marketing team will then work backward to justify the expense of all of the other activities in your list.

It kinda reminds me of A href="http://monster-island.org/tinashumor/humor/theplan.html">The Plan, or any of its various incarnations.

Bardur O. Gunnarsson · 2 years ago

Nice article John. I'm constantly doing marketing plans for my CEO. I do one annually, then I do one for every quarter and then I do others constantly for all our products. I've been using a book by Malcolm McDonald called Marketing Plans, How to prepare them, how to use them. You know about any other good books on Marketing Plans?
I totally agree with Chad, a monthly subscription based on size would be really cool.

John Jantsch · 2 years ago

Chad, I would buy that software too - particularly if it were a web app - maybe it will be - I'm going to work on it!

John Jantsch · 2 years ago

Bill - I disagree, I put the scads term in there to downplay it and in my mind this plan, run through CRM would be more about the nuts and bolts - the number would simply verify the nuts and bolts are working - that's usually missing in a simple action plan or idea of the week approach to marketing that too many take

Chad Ludeman · 2 years ago

John - Let me know when you need beta testers!

Jeffrey Tobin · 2 years ago

Love the idea! All of the elements are out there in some form, waiting to be brought together. I feel that the greatest challenge would be in making it simple enough to implement. A danger is in creating a Rube Goldberg-esque monstrosity of parts... so complex and intimidating that most of us, certainly I, would be overcome by the learning curve and maintenance.

Most businesses are small businesses. Make it as easy as Constant Contact and you've really got something!

Meredith McFadden · 2 years ago

John, thanks for the post.

Anytime you find yourself saying that some piece of software "couldn't be that hard to hack together", let that be a warning light. It will be definitely hard to hack together.

Especially for something of the form your describing, where data from multiple different applications, each with differing terms of meaning and differing assumptions, tries to be glued together.

It's too bad, as my marketing team could definitely use something like this.

Andrew · 2 years ago

John,

I have just been promoted to Head of Department and I'm working on a marketing plan. Your advice about incorporating the plan into everyday activities was a useful reminder. I am now looking at my plan from a different perspective.

Thanks

John Jantsch · 2 years ago

Jeffery,

Simple is the key - remember the market I said that needed serving. I neglected to add Salesforce.com to the mix, but there's a perfect example of an app that does too much.

Mike Volpe · 2 years ago

I would add to your article that keeping the plan SHORT with only a COUPLE metrics that you will track is vital.

I have seen many plans that are too long or complicated, so they end up being too hard to use in your everyday job.

We keep our metrics/goals posted on the wall and in a dashboard online.

Mike · 2 years ago

We use MoonRay for a lot of this. It executes and tracks all my marketing campaigns, as well as giving me info about who's visiting my site and when.

It doesn't work with my quickbooks yet, but it's the most comprehensive marketing toolset I've seen yet. I've got half my business on autopilot with it...

Just my 2cents.

Mike · 2 years ago

Don't know if it's kosher to put this on here..

Find em at moonraymarketing.com

Mike

Tamsin · 2 years ago

Another great post John. Good tips on what to include in a working marketing plan as opposed to most plans that sit on a shelf gathering dust! Also good because so many smaller businesses still haven't combined on and off line marketing and testing etc - all of which is needed esp. for on-line businesses. Thanks.
Tamsin

Starr Horne · 2 years ago

This is something I definitely need to do.

One question, John -

Are the key strategic indicators just figures that let you know you're going in the right direction? Like unique visitors for a web site?

John Jantsch · 2 years ago

Starr,

Sure you could look at it that way but the idea is to come up with a list of things that you can measure or at least that you can figure out how to measure and know that if you are improving or increasing them it's a good indication that you are moving in the right direction - so would unique visitors increasing be something that would indicate that your core message was be accepted?

Jeff Mask · 2 years ago

You struck a cord with this post. I'm sure your hits spiked with this one.

"But what about one for the real small business (2-50 employees)?"

In my very unbiased opinion - we're "the one!" Our company's informal M.O. - we serve the "S" in SMB.

John Rosen · 2 years ago

In most big companies, the development of the marketing plan -- the process -- takes on an importance, eveen a reverence, of its own. Content -- the actual strategy -- gets overwhelmed by this focus on process when it is combined with adherence to top-down target & goal setting. I can point to many first drafts of marketing plans that were intellectually and logically sound. By the time we were finished with draft 27, each one wordsmithed unmercifully and cross-reference to the finance department's view of the targets we were expected to hit...the logic had become, ahem, flawed.

Asako · 2 years ago

I have the same experience with John Rosen in the Fortune 500 company. All the efforts to nail down the coherent marketing plan gets lost in translation between different department, particularly with the finance. We used OGSM (Objectives, Goals, Strategies and Metrics) and Metrics went into the tracking system.

In a small company, it is easier to share the marketing plan and plug that into the functional executions and the software platforms each function use. And summarize the KPI performance into one interface to share among everyone. I am not sure if one software would solve this. It seems it is a combination of off line and online processes.

Steven · 2 years ago

Great suggestions, but the key in my opinion of having written marketing plans for my companies, clients and for my small business is keep it to one page.

Sounds simplistic and it is, but it also throws the BS out. Any of the experienced marketing executives here have probably wasted months of their lives creating a new annual marketing plan haggling over budgets and numbers and milestones, only to have it shelved after the first quarter and only reappear come the end of the third quarter when it is performance evaluation time. Waste of time in my opinion.

The other great value a one page marketing plan is that new employees and other departments can quickly grasp the strategy and tactic's with only one page you have the built in flexibility to go forward.

Paul Keetch · 1 year ago

The connection between theory and application has plagued many a marketer.

(And if you're a "business owner" you are, by default, a "marketer".)

That is one of the primary reasons we created Make My Marketing Work, the new home study marketing program that helps business owners not only create a marketing plan, but also develop experience and habits that will help ensure the execution of the plan, beyond simply using the home study program.

Called a "bookinar" because it blends the best elements of a book, seminar training and one-on-one business coaching, the Make My Marketing Work program is helping business owners and entrepreneurs develop a strategic approach to their marketing.