Include information like:

• Job titles or functions, industry or SIC codes, geographic location, company size and other demographic, ethnic or behavioural descriptions
• Size of your current customer audience.

4. Describe Customers You’d Like to Target

Include the same type of information used in 3 but also include:

• If your target customers are outside of your usual industry, geography or size of current customers
• Any internal or external factors that have changed in your business or industry causing you to target a particular group
• A behaviour that needs to be present for re-targeting to occur
• The size of your target customer audience

Free Marketing Planner Template Here 

5. Describe Your Product or Service

Describe these in terms of their purpose, features, benefits, pricing, sizing and distribution methods. Also include:

• Strength or weakness as compared to the competition 
• Any economic, legal, social, technical, seasonal or governmental factors that affect the product/service 
• What the current awareness level is as well as the perception of your product/service 
• Sales or market share history and any changes over time

6. Describe Your Past Business or Marketing Encounters

Describe what has:

• Helped grow your business as well as what has not helped grow business 
• Not been tried but might have helped 
• Your competition has been doing to grow their business.

7. Identify Three to Six Competitors

Include the company name and location.  Describe their products/services in terms of their:  

• Features
• Benefits
• Pricing
• Sizing
• Distribution methods
• Sales or market share history
• Your competition’s strategy for the near future

8. Begin to Outline a Communication Plan

Begin to list current and future media sources, if costs are fixed annual costs and what funds are available for new efforts for:

• Advertising routes such as broadcast, print, out-of-home and online advertising
• Promotional vehicles like website, collateral, direct marketing, interactive and online marketing
• Media relation routes such as media contacts, public relations and articles
• Event vehicles like trade shows, special events, seminars and webinars
• Analytic vehicles like databases, market research and tracking systems
• List any promotional medium considered to be the most effective to date.

Once this information is written down on paper, you can refer back to it as your roadmap to achieving your marketing goals and objects for the coming year. And as new ideas pop up, this document can help remind you of the big picture. Minor adjustments can be made along the way as changes are bound to occur in sales, customer retention and product development throughout the year.

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