Are you a small business owner feeling overwhelmed by the idea of creating a marketing plan? Like “bury your head in the sand, rather talk about accounting” kind of overwhelmed? Maybe even secretly wondering things like, “What is a marketing plan?”. If so, you're not alone. In fact, almost every single one of the small businesses we talk to feels the exact same way.

And in this business? That’s a lot of small business owners.

The thing is, not having a marketing plan is straight-up bad for your small business. And we’re here to tell you that regardless of how much you don’t want to sit down and create one, we will go so far as to promise you’ll love the results when you do. That’s because creating a marketing plan is one of the most effective ways to streamline your marketing efforts and *actually* start seeing consistent results in your biz. 

A well-crafted marketing plan takes the guesswork out of figuring out what needs to be done, makes it easier to make smarter decisions, and gives you some reassurance that every action you do find the time to take strategically brings you closer to your business goals.

Here’s what this article will cover:

• What is a marketing plan?
• Why a marketing plan is important for small businesses
• How a marketing plan fits with a marketing strategy
• What should be in your small business marketing plan
• Mistakes small businesses make with their marketing plans
• How to create a marketing plan for your business
• FAQs about marketing plans

What is a Marketing Plan?

Without giving you the corporate jargon, a marketing plan is basically just a document that outlines the things you’ll do to market your business for a specific period. We’ll go into what to include next, but the boilerplate answer is that it holds your goals, the regular marketing things you do to reach those goals and where, your customer personas, what marketing campaigns you might run, and your KPIs (key performance indicators). 

Sounds like a lot, we know. But guess what? It doesn’t need to be 20 pages—in fact, it definitely shouldn’t be. So you can brief a sigh of relief now because we are going to walk you through how to create a marketing plan today.

Why is a Marketing Plan Important?

In case there’s a tiny voice in the back of your mind running through your to-do list and wondering if you should come back to this later, tell it to kindly shut up. Because here are three reasons why having a marketing plan is really important for small businesses.:

No More Guessing What to Do Next

Creating a marketing plan provides a clear path to follow (goodbye indecision)—no more waking up and wondering what to post today. You can focus on the things in your plan without feeling like you need to be everywhere or do everything. This clarity helps you get more done, more efficiently, and focus only on what will bring results.

Easier Decision-Making

There’s no way around it, a solid marketing plan is built on data and goals. Most small business owners don’t track KPIs, but once you do, it becomes much easier to base decisions on real numbers rather than gut feelings. Less spiraling when the reel you spent an hour on doesn’t immediately go viral. This makes decision-making faster and more confident, knowing you’re backed by solid information.

Encourages Action and Consistency

A good marketing plan doesn’t just sit there—it pushes you to take action. Having a plan in place helps you stay focused, motivated, and consistent with your marketing—even though (let’s be honest) both of those things are running kind of thin these days. 

How a Marketing Plan Fits with a Marketing Strategy

Your marketing strategy is the “why” behind your marketing efforts, while your marketing plan is the “how” that brings it to life. The strategy defines your goals, audience, and messaging, and the plan lays out the specific actions—like campaigns and timelines—that will help you achieve that strategy.

For example, your marketing strategy might include a goal to increase brand awareness. Your marketing plan would then include specific campaigns to meet that goal, such as social media posts, email newsletters, and content marketing—all mapped out in a marketing calendar.

Want to learn more about creating a solid marketing strategy? Watch our video on the Marketing Strategy Generator to get started.

What Should a Marketing Plan Include?

You can get more details about what your marketing plan should include, but here’s the short version—we know you’re skimming. 

Marketing Goals

Kind of an obvious one, but hear us out. By including goals in your marketing plan —whether it's increasing brand awareness, driving sales, or even launching a new business or product—you’ll be setting yourself up to also create measurable milestones that will guide your strategy. This clarity not only helps you prioritize tasks but also helps you to track progress and make informed adjustments along the way. The short of it? You need to know what you’re working towards to come up with your plan to get there! 

Market and Customer Research

There’s no getting around this one. Understanding your market and customers is one of the most important things you can include in your marketing plan. It doesn’t need to be long, but you will want to have a section on who your target audience is. If you’re not quite sure exactly who your ideal customers are yet, we break down exactly how to do some customer research here. No need to wing it – scout’s honor, it’s not hard.

Marketing Tasks

Remember when you asked, “what is a marketing plan” and we said that it would help you take action? This part is the action. Think of these tasks as your game plan, detailing the specific actions you'll take—like filming content, engaging on social media, launching email campaigns, or boosting your SEO. 

By laying out these marketing tasks in your marketing plan, you’ll be able to stay focused and organized, which in turn will help you make the most of your time and resources. Plus, when you create your marketing strategy in Enji, we’ll even give you your to-do list for you!

This way, you can easily track what's working and make tweaks as needed which brings us to…

Marketing Campaigns

Next up, you may want to add in any marketing campaigns you plan on running this year! Unlike your day-to-day marketing tasks, think of marketing campaigns like strategic pushes to add a little something extra to your regular marketing. This might mean planning a Black Friday sale or your plans to focus more on influencer marketing in Q4. Anytime you’re doing something extra (and hey, pat yourself on the back while you’re at it!).

KPIs

We love KPI’s (key performance indicators) around here, and in fact, they’re pretty much the only fancy marketing acronyms we actually use. And whether you call them KPIs, metrics, insights, data or marketing analytics, your marketing plan really isn’t complete until you know what you’re going to track (and how you’ll know if the plan you’re making is actually working). If you’re not sure what to track — here are some common small business KPI’s to get you started

Plus—did we mention Enji’s KPI dashboard actually makes tracking KPI’s kind of fun? No Excel spreadsheets required around here. We’ve been told our KPI dashboard is actually kind of a vibe.

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The Biggest Mistakes People Make When Trying To Figure Out Their Marketing Plan

You came here probably because you were wondering, “what is a marketing plan?”.  And now that you know, let’s save you from the mistakes so many small business owners have made in the past. 

One of the biggest mistakes small business owners make with their marketing plan is overestimating their capabilities. It’s a very human thing to do, but it’s also so important to be realistic about your time, resources, and expertise to avoid overcommitting and burning out. Seriously, we’d rather you commit to an hour a week than eight hours every two months. You’ll get better results that way.

Another common marketing plan mistake is putting all your eggs in one basket by relying too heavily on a single marketing channel (hello everyone who is only marketing their small business on Instagram). Diversifying is not only good for your money, but it’s good for your marketing too. Having more than one marketing channel helps you lessen risk (like algorithm changes) and maximize your reach. And, let’s be real—isn’t that exactly what you need?

How Do You Create a Marketing Plan? 

If you’ve read this far, we know you’re serious about creating a marketing plan. And here’s the good news – Enji can help create one for you. When you start your free trial, the first thing we ask you to do is answer 20 questions about your small business, goals, and resources (time or money). From there, you’ll have a solid plan that outlines your next move (and we’ll even make it look good too).

FAQs About Your New Small Business Marketing Plan

Still have questions beyond what is a marketing plan? Here are some other questions we’ve been asked:

Do you need a marketing plan as a solopreneur?

Are you wondering if you really need a marketing plan even if you’re a one-person-show and aren’t exactly heading on Shark Tank anytime soon? Let us repeat: the main purpose is to provide a clear roadmap for YOU to house your marketing efforts, which ultimately helps you achieve your business goals. And because you’re very likely to be doing your own marketing as a solopreneur, having a marketing plan makes it that much easier! So, yes!

How often should I update my marketing plan?

Every small business is different, but we’d recommend you review and update your marketing plan at least once a year—or whenever there are significant changes in your business or market.

What if I work better when I post “in real time” or “spontaneously”?

A marketing plan is not writing a bunch of social media posts at a time and batch scheduling. How you actually execute your marketing plan is up to you. But when it comes to the actual strategy or plan behind why you’re doing what you’re doing, nobody is better off winging it.

Can a small business afford help to create a marketing plan?

Listen - enlisting the help of a marketing strategist or fractional CMO to come into your business to help is big bucks (and can be super worth it if you have the budget). But that’s why we’re here—because we know a lot of small businesses can’t. We created Enji with small businesses in mind, and our software helps you get a marketing plan in place fast (and done extremely well, if we might add). You don’t need a fancy 20-page document to clutter your inbox, you need something you can refer back to and actually use. We’ve got you.

Now That We’ve Cleared That Up - It’s Time to Create Your Marketing Plan!

Now that we’ve broken down exactly what is a marketing plan, it’s time to put this knowledge into good use. You can certainly do it the hard way (get out the paper, pen, and Excel spreadsheets!), or you can start your free trial and let us give you a huge head start. Ball’s in your court - but you can start your free trial here now!