9 Advertising and marketing Plan Templates You Can (Legally) Steal for Free | TechRepublic

A advertising and marketing plan defines key targets and ensures your campaigns tie in to big-picture targets. Placing this plan in writing will get your whole group on the identical web page, working towards frequent objectives.

However that’s simpler stated than accomplished. Advertising and marketing plan templates exist to make the method simpler.

They arrive in all flavors, starting from a single web page to twenty+ pages with built-in mission monitoring capabilities. Listed below are the very best locations to begin.

Easy advertising and marketing plan templates

Easy advertising and marketing plan templates are nice for novices. These are hyper-focused on objectives and make it simple for small groups to outline key targets.

You may get began shortly with out having to do in-depth analysis in your opponents or something like that. Simplest advertising and marketing plan templates might be accomplished in lower than an hour.

ClickUp: A advertising and marketing tracker that’s simple and streamlined for small groups

ClickUp’s advertising and marketing plan template has every thing you want to get began. You received’t must spend a lot time transferring issues round to suit your wants (though the template is totally customizable if you wish to make modifications).

Extra on ClickUp: ClickUp overview | ClickUp vs Notion | ClickUp vs Jira | ClickUp alternate options.

This beginner-friendly advertising and marketing plan template from ClickUp comes with built-in mission monitoring options. Picture: Clickup.com

This template’s main focus is defining key advertising and marketing targets.

From there, you possibly can create duties that can aid you attain these objectives. You’ll additionally be capable of set precedence ranges and section your process record into completely different classes.

Since ClickUp is a mission administration platform, this template goes past the strategy planning stage and can be utilized to trace work by way of completion.

The one disadvantage is that it’s not downloadable and should be used inside ClickUp. That stated, ClickUp has a free without end plan, and you’ll entry this template when you enroll.

Notion: A one-page model technique template

Whereas almost each advertising and marketing plan template tries so as to add further elements to be distinctive, Notion goes in the wrong way by eliminating all the nonsense. This one-page template is the right strategy to articulate your model picture to make sure everybody concerned in executing your advertising and marketing technique on the identical web page.

Extra on Notion: Notion overview | Obsidian vs Notion | Notion vs OneNote | Coda vs Notion

Notion’s one-page marketing template showing the fist three sections: Who We Are, Brand Promise, and Elevator Pitch.
Notion has a no-frills advertising and marketing template that’s consolidated right into a single web page.  Picture: Notion.com

Whether or not you’re simply getting began or need to refocus, this template forces you to maintain it easy.

First, you’ll outline your model. You then’ll define the place you need to be within the subsequent one to a few years earlier than planning the strategic initiatives that can aid you attain these objectives.

It’s price noting that this template doesn’t include as many project-tracking options as different instruments. Nevertheless, you possibly can join a free Notion account and begin utilizing this template within the subsequent 5 minutes.

Airtable: Excessive-level goal planning for entrepreneurs

Whereas I usually wouldn’t say Airtable’s a easy software, its free advertising and marketing plan template affords a streamlined strategy to plan targets and key outcomes.

Extra on Airtable: Airtable overview | Smartsheet vs Airtable | Airtable vs Notion

An Airtable base with two tables (key results and objectives) showing the key results table organized by quarter. 
Airtable’s advertising and marketing plan template is straightforward, streamlined, and highly effective sufficient to develop alongside you. Picture: Airtable.com

Out of the field, the template features a desk for itemizing key outcomes and one other for tying these to targets. Key outcomes might be organized by quarter, effort-level, standing, begin and finish date, or high-level goal.

With Airtable’s unimaginable stage of customization, you possibly can shortly construct extra performance as you want it.

Airtable additionally affords a spread of different free advertising and marketing templates, together with an AI powered advertising and marketing marketing campaign generator and a template for advertising and marketing useful resource allocation.

Its free plan is adequate to get began with loads of room to develop.

Advertising and marketing plan templates for startups

Startups sometimes want a extra complete advertising and marketing plan as a result of they’re ranging from scratch. You’ll probably want extra granular consideration to element than different templates present, plus you could have to current your advertising and marketing plan to traders or your board.

All of those particulars change into much more necessary if you happen to’ve by no means run a marketing campaign earlier than.

The templates on this part cowl advertising and marketing budgets, aggressive evaluation, and learn how to outline key indicators for measuring success.

Phrase, Google Docs, and Smartsheet: An in depth template for startups

Smartsheet’s advertising and marketing plan template is by far probably the most in depth choice on my record. It’s a whopping 21 pages lengthy, masking each potential side of your advertising and marketing strategy.

Extra on Smartsheet: Smartsheet overview | Smartsheet vs Jira | Smartsheet vs monday.com.

A preview of Smartsheet’s marketing plan template, showing the first three pages, including the cover page, table of contents, and a blank executive summary.
You may obtain this free advertising and marketing plan template as a PDF, Phrase doc, Google Doc, or use it instantly in Smartsheet. Picture: Smartsheet.com

The template begins with high-level fundamentals, like your organization’s mission and imaginative and prescient statements. From there, it expands into situational evaluation earlier than masking your opponents, audience, objectives, and extra. You can even use it to stipulate issues like your worth proposition, pricing technique, benchmarks, and KPIs.

That is ultimate for any startup that’s nonetheless within the early planning phases and must current info to stakeholders or potential traders. It’s extra of an govt blueprint versus one thing you’d share or distribute amongst your advertising and marketing group.

Whereas it’s not set as much as monitor particular campaigns, it’s an awesome start line.

Excel, Google Sheets, and GanttPro: A easy spreadsheet for monitoring advertising and marketing duties

GanttPRO’s easy advertising and marketing plan template is greatest described as an in depth guidelines of 140 duties you must full when constructing a advertising and marketing plan from scratch. Along with defining the duties and the standing of every, the template permits you to outline priorities, set deadlines, and monitor prices related to the work you do.

GanttPRO’s marketing plan template shown in Excel with a green header.
You may edit this template free of charge in GanttPRO or obtain it free of charge in Excel or Google Sheets. Picture: Microsoft Excel

You’ll undergo the fundamentals, like performing a SWOT evaluation and detailing your audience.

However the template goes even deeper, masking the assets you’ll want to achieve your targets and defining your funds for various advertising and marketing classes.

One disadvantage is that this template doesn’t really embrace the instruments you want to full all of those duties. For instance, there’s not a SWOT evaluation template. You’d want to try this elsewhere, and use this template to trace the progress of your work.

This template works greatest if you’re enhancing it instantly in GanttPRO. The software program isn’t free, however you possibly can obtain the Excel model of this template and open it with Excel or Google Sheets for free of charge.

Advertising and marketing motion plan templates

Motion plan advertising and marketing templates transcend big-picture with instruments to interrupt down long-term strategic initiatives into obtainable targets that may then be divided into advertising and marketing campaigns.

The main focus is popping your high-level objectives into an actionable and measurable plan of assault.

ClickUp: A advertising and marketing plan template for attaining SMART objectives

The advertising and marketing motion plan template from ClickUp forces you to remain on monitor by serving to you develop SMART objectives designed to get you the place you need to go.

Much more on ClickUp: Asana vs ClickUp | ClickUp vs Trello | Smartsheet vs ClickUp

A ClickUp landing page to access its marketing action plan template, showing a preview with the SMART acronym in different colors for each letter.
This easy template from ClickUp helps you outline SMART targets and roadmaps to realize your long-term objectives. Picture: Clickup.com

Regardless of the template’s simplicity, it’s versatile sufficient to plan broad areas, like your promoting funds, and get deep within the weeds on the place you’ll spend it. You should use it for planning completely different advertising and marketing initiatives, like content material or social media too.

It’s flexibility makes it appropriate for all various kinds of groups needing assist turning concepts into one thing actionable — step-by-step.

With that stated, you’ll probably must customise it and add new fields to make it be just right for you and your group.

ClickUp’s free plan is greater than sufficient to get you began.

Google Sheets, Google Docs, Excel, and Phrase: Monitor motion objects

HubSpot’s motion plan template permits you to outline and prioritize key duties with due dates and assignments. Total, it’s very easy and designed for individuals who love spreadsheets however need to keep away from pointless complexity.

Extra on HubSpot: HubSpot CRM overview | HubSpot vs Salesforce | HubSpot vs Mailchimp

HubSpot’s action plan template opened in Google Sheets, with an orange header and columns for task ID, description, priority, due date, status, and risks. 
HubSpot’s motion plan template is free to obtain and use on Google Sheets, Google Docs, Excel, and Phrase. Picture: Google Sheets

One in all its coolest options is a area for monitoring various kinds of danger. Doing so makes it simple to suppose by way of and doc potential roadblocks earlier than they occur.

The template additionally features a process abstract part, the place customers can see accomplished duties and overdue duties at a look. As you mark duties as accomplished, the numbers replace routinely with real-time progress perception.

One potential downside with this template is its scalability. It really works wonderful for small tasks, however it may well get overwhelming and arduous to make use of as you surpass a couple of hundred duties.

I like to recommend beginning managing completely different targets in numerous sheets so it’s simpler to remain organized.

Templates for advertising and marketing companies

As a advertising and marketing company, you’ll have a distinct strategy to marketing campaign administration. Since all your purchasers have completely different objectives, group turns into much more necessary — particularly if in case you have group members engaged on tasks for a number of purchasers.

On high of that, you could need to invite purchasers to contribute with out them having the ability to see duties for everybody else.

Templates on this part make it simple to collaborate, see every thing in a single place, and drill into the main points of every shopper with out pointless complexity.

monday.com: Plan and handle shopper campaigns in a single place

monday.com’s advertising and marketing plan template is particularly for freelancers, contractors, and companies managing campaigns on behalf of their purchasers.

It comes with a single dashboard displaying a high-level overview of each marketing campaign, however you even have the power to create particular person dashboards for particular tasks. This makes it simple for managers and their staff to see every thing they should do their jobs.

Extra on monday.com: monday.com overviewNotion vs monday.com | ClickUp vs monday.com.

A marketing campaign dashboard from monday.com that shows new requests, approved requests, and tasks in review in a color-coded table.
Shoppers can submit requests through monday.com and you’ll routinely add requests as new duties if you happen to’d like. Picture: monday.com

Monday.com makes it simple to collaborate together with your purchasers as properly. You may invite them to their board to allow them to see what you’re engaged on with out peeking at different purchasers.

You may even arrange customized types the place purchasers can submit requests which are routinely added to your process record.

There are many methods you possibly can manage and look at duties within the system. From color-coded Gantt charts to calendar view, everybody can use the layouts that work greatest for them.

Though monday.com has plenty of highly effective capabilities on paid plans, the free tier is greater than sufficient to get began.

SEE: Take a look at our in-depth monday.com overview

Stackby: Align your work with every shopper’s high-level objectives

Not like the monday.com template, this one from Stackby isn’t particularly for companies. Nevertheless, it’s versatile sufficient to work simply as properly whether or not you may have a handful of purchasers or a couple of hundred.

A template inside Stackby showing marketing initiatives with statuses, due dates, and task owners.
Stackby’s template permits you to plan high-level initiatives on the shopper stage and break them up into actionable duties. Picture: Stackby.com

At a excessive stage, you can begin by defining initiatives and targets. From there, you possibly can assign them to a shopper and assign the work required.

The fantastic thing about this template is that customers get big-picture context whereas taking a look at duties.

They not must click on backwards and forwards between views or fly blind hoping they perceive what they should accomplish.

As a relational database software, Stackby is extra superior than the opposite options on my record — it’s probably overkill except you actually need to use this template or construct advanced programs and workflows.

With that stated, it does have a free plan you should use to attempt it out.

Key elements of a advertising and marketing plan template

There are tons of of components you possibly can embrace if you’re making a advertising and marketing plan. Whereas the weather you embrace depend upon what you’re doing, it’s greatest to begin easy and develop from there.

Just a few key elements embrace:

  • Advertising and marketing objectives.
  • Key targets that align together with your objectives.
  • KPIs and definitions of success.
  • Timeline and assets.

You may additionally need to embrace a aggressive evaluation, funds tracker, process administration capabilities, and extra.

When to make use of a advertising and marketing plan template

Advertising and marketing plan templates are extraordinarily versatile and can be utilized in varied situations. Widespread examples embrace:

  • Through the preliminary planning phases for a startup.
  • Annual or quarterly planning classes.
  • Creating a brand new high-level advertising and marketing technique.
  • Focusing on a brand new viewers or increasing your market.
  • During times of progress or change (like new management).
  • Launching a brand new marketing campaign or exploring a brand new channel.

That is why you’ll discover so many various kinds of advertising and marketing plan templates — as there’s actually no “one-size-fits-all” choice.

I like to recommend in search of the best choice that meets your wants and increasing the template by yourself. Normally, it’s a lot simpler so as to add than it’s to remove.

How typically do you have to replace your advertising and marketing plan?

It’s best to replace your advertising and marketing plan at the very least as soon as per 12 months.

Some companies prefer to assess their advertising and marketing plan each quarter, which may work properly in case your campaigns are likely to run lower than a month. It’s greatest to attend a couple of months, dwell together with your plan, and perceive the problems earlier than you begin making modifications.

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