Marketing Plan Definition

A marketing plan is the primary document used by a business to outline their advertising strategies. Usually, it covers plans for outreach, advertising channels, and how they plan to generate leads within a target market.

There are no hard-and-fast rules for a marketing plan; the structure and purpose can vary from one business to another or even from one campaign to another. While the term marketing plan generally refers to the overarching marketing strategy for the entire business, this isn’t always the case.

For example, a business may have one marketing plan designed for millennials and a completely different one for married couples over 40. As long as the primary purpose of the document is to develop a framework for how the business plans to proceed with marketing, it can be considered a marketing plan.

Marketing Plan Example

A business decides to create a marketing plan for their online activities. It outlines the company’s online assets—website, social media channels, email marketing capabilities, and so on. The document also describes how to best use them to reach a specific goal—e.g., 100 new qualified leads per month.

The document then might cover additional topics, such as information about the company’s ideal customers and how to best reach them. In this case, that might include Google ads, attending trade shows, and an email marketing campaign.

Why is a Marketing Plan Important in Strategic Marketing?

Lead Generation

In almost all cases, the primary purpose of a marketing plan is to outline the ways new qualified leads can be generated for a business. A marketing plan can be thought of as a roadmap for lead generation.

Closing Sales

Oftentimes, a marketing plan will account for the entire buying cycle, from lead generation to closing a sale and beyond (secondary purchases and more).