BEST PRACTICE MINI GUIDE

PLANNING & MANAGEMENT SERIES

Marketing Planning

CREA TED BY S IMPLY D IG ITA L MA RKETING

BEST PRACTICE MINI GUIDE: MARKETING PLANNING

PAGE 2 SIMPLYDIGITALMARKETING.COM

Copyright © by Simply Digital Marketing 2013.

TO DO L IST

1. Download our free audit

template

2. Download our free SOSTAC

marketing plan template

3. Download our free marketing

plan presentation template

INTRODUCTION

Marketing planning is the foundation

to achieving all three of our

principles, so it’s important to make

time for it. In reality, not many

organizations have the resources to

create a full marketing audit and

plan, but it’s essential to have some

idea of where you’re going and how

you’re going to get there…

BEST PRACTICE

As a minimum you should consider the following high-level steps:

1. Conduct a marketing audit – you can download a full audit template from

our website. Even if you don’t follow it to the letter and do a ‘deep dive’

into your business, analyze the areas which will give you the most valuable

intelligence and help you understand where you are today.

2. Create a marketing plan - use the SOSTAC planning model, which stands for

Situation, Objectives, Strategy, Tactics, Actions and Control. This plan should

be based on the results from your audit and clearly outline your journey to

achieving your objectives. Download a free plan from here.

3. Write clear marketing objectives – always outline your goals against the

SMART acronym, which means Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic

and Time-bound.

4. Communicate your plan – marketing starts at ‘home’, so brief your teams

well. Some plans can be large and complex, so only communicate what’s

relevant and leave the full detail until it’s needed – too much information

will overload people and they’ll lose focus. Download our free PowerPoint

template to help you get started.

5. Evolve - a marketing plan is NOT a one off, annual task. To help you and

your team stay on track, hold a short monthly meeting to re-visit your plan

at a high level and ensure that your objectives are still relevant and that

you’re heading in the right direction. If you’re not, adapt!

BEST PRACTICE MINI GUIDE: MARKETING PLANNING

PAGE 3 SIMPLYDIGITALMARKETING.COM

Copyright © by Simply Digital Marketing 2013.

K E E P U P T O D A T E

We hope you found this best practice mini guide useful. Please visit us again for

more insights, guides and templates and if you have any requests, please get in

touch.

Find us at:

SimplyDigitalMarketing .com

@SimplyDigiM and @FollowSDM

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