BACK TO ALL ARTICLES

From Chaos to Clarity: How To Create a Marketing Planner?
Karol Andruszków
Co-founder and CEO of Concept21
The cover is divided in half. On one side there is a bright green background, on the other side there is a picture with a pink alarm clock, a notebook and other office supplies.

Are you tired of feeling like your marketing efforts are scattered and unorganized? Do you wish you had a clear roadmap to guide your marketing strategy and ensure success? In this article, I'll show you how to go from chaos to clarity by creating a marketing planner that will help you streamline your efforts, set clear goals, and measure your progress. Let’s start!

What is a marketing planner? 

A marketing planner is a crucial tool for any business that wants to succeed in today's hyper-competitive marketplace. Simply put, a marketing planner is a comprehensive document that outlines your marketing goals, strategies, and tactics. It's essentially a roadmap for your marketing team to follow, providing a clear direction and focus for all your marketing efforts.

Why marketing planner is something that you need?

With a marketing plan, your marketing efforts can quickly become cohesive, organized, and effective. A good marketing plan helps you avoid this by clearly showing what you want to achieve, who your target audience is, and how you plan to reach them. It can also help you identify potential obstacles and challenges, and opportunities for growth and expansion.

 

So if you haven't already, it's time to start creating your marketing planner today!

Ready to share your
business idea with us?

Let's talk

How to create the best marketing planner? 

1. Define your marketing goals

When creating a marketing planner, the first step is to define your marketing goals. Without clear and specific goals, your marketing efforts will lack direction and purpose, making it difficult to measure your progress and achieve your desired results.

 

To define your marketing goals, ask yourself what you want to achieve through your marketing efforts. Are you looking to increase brand awareness? Generate more leads? Boost sales? Improve customer retention? Whatever your goals, it's essential to make them specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).

 

Once you have a clear idea of your marketing goals, the next step is to prioritize them based on their importance and relevance to your overall business objectives. This will help you focus your efforts and resources on the goals that will impact your business the most.

By setting clear and specific goals that align with your business objectives and target audience, you'll be better equipped to plan and execute successful marketing campaigns that drive results.

2. Understand your target audience

Graphics with a light green background with a shooting target and round photos of people.

Another important step is to understand your target audience. Without a clear understanding of your ideal customer, creating a plan that effectively targets and engages them isn't easy.

 

First, start by researching your target audience's demographics, such as age, gender, income, and education level. This information will help you create a general profile of your target audience, but more is needed.

 

You'll also need to delve deeper into their psychographics, such as their values, interests, and motivations. What are their pain points? What problems do they need solutions for? What are their goals and aspirations? By answering these questions, you'll better understand your target audience, and you can use this information to tailor your marketing messages to resonate with them.

 

Another helpful exercise is creating buyer personas, fictional representations of your ideal customers. These personas should include details about their behaviors, preferences, and communication styles.

A clear understanding of your target audience and their needs will help you create a marketing plan that speaks directly to them and enables you to achieve your business goals.

3. Analyze your competition

Analyzing your competition is a critical component of any effective marketing plan. By understanding what your competitors are doing, you can identify gaps in the market, gain insight into successful marketing strategies, and develop a competitive advantage. 

 

One of the first steps in analyzing your competition is identifying who they are. This can include direct competitors - those who offer the same products or services as you - and indirect competitors, who may offer substitute products or services. 

 

Once you've identified your competitors, thoroughly analyzing their marketing strategies is essential. 

 

  • How do they position themselves in the market? What are their unique selling points? 
  • What value do they offer to their customers? 
  • What tone and voice do they use in their marketing? 
  • How do they communicate their value proposition to their target audience? 
  • What channels do they use to reach their target audience? 
  • What tactics do they employ to drive engagement and conversions?

By understanding your competitors' positioning, messaging, branding, and marketing channels, you can develop a strategy that effectively differentiates your business, resonates with your target audience, and drives growth and success.

4. Choose marketing channels

Your choice of marketing channels can significantly impact your success, as each channel has unique strengths and weaknesses. Consider your target audience and where they spend their time online. 

 

  • Are they active on social media? 
  • Which platforms are their favorites?
  • What kind of content do they like?

 

Once you understand your audience's preferences, you can start narrowing down your options. Remember, focusing on channels that align with your brand and message is essential. Don't try to be everywhere at once - instead, choose a few key channels in which you can excel.

By carefully selecting your marketing channels, you can create a plan that reaches your audience where they are and drives real results for your business.

5. Create a marketing calendar

Graphics with a light green background on which there is a graphic in the form of a checklist and a round photo next to it showing pink calendars.

Start by determining the timeframe for your marketing calendar. Will it cover a year, a quarter, or a shorter period? Consider your business's needs and goals and the industry and market trends that may impact your marketing efforts.

 

Next, identify the key dates and events you want to include in your marketing calendar. These could be holidays, product launches, industry conferences, or any other important dates relevant to your business.

 

Once you've identified the key dates, start filling in the details for each event. What specific marketing activities will you undertake to promote each event? Will you run email campaigns, social media promotions, or advertising campaigns? Be sure to assign specific tasks and deadlines to team members responsible for executing these activities.

 

Another critical aspect of creating a marketing calendar is to track your progress and results. Use tools such as Google Analytics or other marketing analytics software to monitor the success of your campaigns and adjust your strategies as needed.

 

Finally, be prepared to adapt your marketing calendar as circumstances change. Unexpected events or changes in market conditions may require you to modify your planned activities or pivot your marketing strategies altogether. A flexible marketing calendar can help you stay agile and responsive to changes while keeping your marketing efforts on track.

Creating a marketing calendar is crucial in developing a successful marketing planner. A marketing calendar helps you organize and plan your marketing campaigns, promotions, and other initiatives over a specific period.

6. Measure and adjust your plan

Use tools like Google Analytics and social media insights to monitor your website traffic, engagement, and conversions.

 

Next, analyze your results and identify any trends or patterns that emerge. Look for areas where you're excelling and areas where you're falling short. Use this information to refine your strategy and make targeted improvements.

 

Feel free to experiment with different tactics and approaches. Test other ad formats, messaging, and targeting to see what works best for your audience. Use A/B testing to compare different versions of your campaigns and see which performs better.

 

Finally, make sure to regularly review and update your marketing planner. As your business and industry evolve, your strategy may also need to evolve. Keep your plan updated to ensure that you're always working towards your goals and achieving the best possible results.

By measuring and adjusting your marketing plan, you can optimize your efforts and achieve the best possible results. 

Marketing planner - summary

Creating a marketing plan is a critical step in achieving marketing success. By clarifying your marketing goals, strategies, and tactics, you can focus your efforts on the areas that will deliver the biggest impact for your business. 

 

Remember, your marketing plan is a living document that should evolve as your business grows and changes. So, take the time to create a comprehensive plan, revisit and refine it regularly, and you'll be well on your way to achieving marketing greatness!

Karol Andruszków
Co-founder and CEO of Concept21

Karol is a serial entrepreneur, e-commerce speaker, and founder of 3 startups. He advised hundreds of companies and was responsible for projects worth over EUR 50 million for financial institutions in Europe.

 

He earned two master's degrees - Computer Science and Marketing Management - from Poland and Portugal. He has over ten years of experience in Silicon Valley, Poland, Portugal, USA, and UK, helping startups, financial institutions, and SMEs improve their functioning through digitization.