How to Craft a Marketing Plan For Your Small Business in Six Steps

The reality is that, despite all of the available information and tools, most small businesses struggle with marketing.

What nobody tells you is that marketing can be confusing. Especially when you keep in mind all of the “experts” online who often give conflicting advice.

That makes it hard to figure out who the real experts are, and whose advice you should follow.

On top of that, most small business lack the time and/or money to text everything the “experts” suggest.

What the “experts” conveniently don’t tell you…

1. A marketing plan doesn’t have to be complicated to work.

2. It doesn’t need tricks or hacks – it just needs clarity, and to be executed consistently.

3. In most cases, expensive tools are nice to have, but not required.

4. Your business is probably unique. It might be the same as other, similar businesses, but each business has things that make your situation unique.

Some owners struggle with time, others struggle with cash flow, others struggle with staff management, and some serve areas where customers and clients have very specific expectations.

There are many factors that cause your business to be unique. And the more unique your situation is, the less likely it is that generic advice from some guru will yield the results you want and deserve.

What a marketing plan really is:

It is a straightforward written overview of who you want to attract, how you plan to do it, and why you choose that specific course of action.

What it is NOT:

It is not a 40-page document. You are not a billion dollar corporation with multiple products and target audiences.

It is not about how you plan to be visible on every conceivable platform.

Also, it is not something you rewrite every month. While you may make some minor adjustments along the way, the whole point of having a marketing plan is to have stability going forward.

After all, you don’t build a house, and keep modifying the plans as you build, right? It makes no sense to demolish rooms you have already built to change the structure while you are building.

In fact, the reason for your marketing plan’s existence is the exact opposite:

You want to have a solid plan in place so that you can say no to distractions.

Step 1: Be very clear about what you actually sell or offer:

Keep it real and realistic.

Ask yourself the following questions:

a. What is the big issue do you solve for your clients or customers?

b. Who benefits most from what you offer?

c. Why do people choose to work with you, and not a competitor?

d. What do clients or customers thank you for most often?

e. If you had to explain your business, as clearly as possible, in one sentence, what would you say?

Don’t try to be clever about it. Avoid buzzwords. Keep your answers simple and honest.

Step 2: How to understand your ideal customer or client:

Many small business owners struggle with this one. But you don’t have to overthink it. Break it down into a series of simple questions, and you will have your answer:

a. What common characteristics do they share? Are they in a specific age group, profession, income bracket or a specific location?

b. What are their main frustrations which led them to your product/s or service/s?

c. How do they usually find businesses like yours? If you are a plumber, your ideal customer isn’t doom-scrolling on Instagram hoping to find you. However, if you are an interior decorator, that is exactly where they are likely to be.

Things to avoid:

Avoid creating complex personas. Yes, it is good to look at how your ideal customer will appear as a person, but don’t get distracted and go into it too deeply. Look at what you already know.

Avoid clever language and marketing buzzwords. Keep the facts simple, and you will find it easier to obtain clarity.

Step 3: Choosing the right marketing channels:

Sometimes, the only way to find the best way is to test several different things. That being said, do your best to not only avoid wasting money, but also to avoid wasting effort.

If you waste your efforts on one platform, you are still at square one – regardless of how uch time you spent on it.

FACT: Being everywhere at once doesn’t work. Aside from spreading yourself too thin, different platforms attract people with different demographics and mindsets. Pick the platforms that will serve you best.

In fact, depending on your business, you can get away with only using one channel, and ideally no more than 3.

Not only will it be more manageable, but it will allow you to learn as much about each channel as possible, and get the most out of it.

Aside from your own website, which is non-negotiable in today’s world (it doesn’t have to be big, complex or flashy), consider the following channels:

a. Google search – SEO (search engine optimization). In some industries – like real estate and weight loss – the competition is fierce, and this might not be your best option. In most cases, however, doing SEO specifically for your area will bring your some traffic.

b. Local search – showing up on Google maps is critical for most local businesses, unless you have so much passing trade that you don’t need amrketing anyway. Google’s local search results come up before the normal seach results, and it is easier to rank in the local results than the normal results.

c. Email marketing – Depending on what is available, you can advertise in other people’s newsletters. You can also build your own email list to market to, but that will take time to grow.

d. Social media – but only the ones where your target market already hangs out.

For each channel you consider, ask yourself:

Who will it work best for?

What is the estimated effort required to make it work for you?

Step 4: Setting realistic marketing goals:

On social media, don’t just look at what we call “vanity metrics”. You can have a boatload of followers, likes and comments, and still not make any sales.

Look at the results that matter. For instance, how many visitors are you getting to your website from all of that social activity?

Fair enough, at the start, with no following, you will be looking to generate exposure and activity until you get enough exposure to drive traffic.

At the end of the day, however, you goals should be around generating leads, better quality leads, more inquiries, more sales and – ideally – more repeat customers.

Things to avoid:

Building a following of thousands, unless they are people who are actually interested in what you have to offer. Having a large following with low engagement will kill your reach.

(It’s an algorithm thing…)

b. Going “viral”. Going viral usually means creating something with a wide appeal. That in turn means that many of the people who see it will not be your target customers. And here’s the problem: The next time you post, the platform will show your content to people who liked it in the past…

And if they don’t like your new content, the algorithm will bury it, and stop showing it to anyone. Depending on the market you serve, it could take plenty of work to regain your exposure to your target market.

Set goals for 3 months and for 12 months. At the three-month point you can assess if everything is working as it should, and make any adjustments as needed.

Step 5: Create your marketing action plan:

It’s time to turn your marketing strategy into an action plan.

Think about the practicalities:

a. Who will be doing the work? Will it be you, a staff member, or will you outsource it?

b. If you or a staff member will do it, how much time is – realistically – going to be available to do it? It is easy for marketing tasks to slip down the priority list in favor of actual operations.

c. What needs to be done on a daily, weekly and monthly basis?

For instance, you could decide to:

Write one blog post per month.

Send one newsletter email each month.

Add one update per week to your Google business profile.

Post three graphics per week to Instagram.

All algorithms favor consistency, even if it is slow. That goes for search engines and social mmedia platforms alike.

Not to mention that consistency builds trust, which attracts clients and customers.

Step 6: Review and adjust, but keep it practical:

None of us are infallible. In addition to that, sometimes things change. Algorithms change, advertising costs change, newsletters shut down, etc.

As such, be practical about it. Review your plan every three months or so, and see if you can make any small improvements to improve the outcomes.

If circumstances change for any of your channels, adapt as needed. In some cases you may find you need to switch to a different channel, or simply pay more attention to another one, or adapt to a new algorithm.

Pay attention to what actually brings you customers or clients.

Don’t be distracted by things that don’t suit your business. Be open minded, but critical. “Shiny object syndrome” can keep you chasing your tail forever.

Common mistakes small business owners make in their marketing plans:

Where possible, avoid the following:

a. Copying your competitors blindly. Your business is unique.

b. Chasing every new platform or trend. Focus on what works, and grow it.

c. Giving up too soon – SEO and social media marketing takes time. Reeber that you are jumping ito a “sea” of people, and it takes time to get the platform to notice you. Also, Google takes a while before it starts sending you traffic.

d. Measuring the wrong things – measure the results that add to your bottom line, not the vanity metrics.

In conclusion:

In short – keep it simple, and keep it working. Consistency is the key.

Your marketing plan doesn’t need to be perfect – it just has to be clear, and it has to be doable.

A marketing plan doesn’t need to be perfect

Write it down and start small. It can evolve over time as your business grows, and you can devote more resources to it.