Strategic Marketing Plan: Best Practices

A strategic marketing plan template can be a beneficial resource in developing a marketing plan that works specifically for your clients. Not only can this type of written aid help you in organizing your thoughts, but it improves the level of communication you can provide to your team during your marketing meetings.

These meetings are essential to developing a marketing plan that will work, allowing you to lead your team into an in-depth brainstorming session. The meetings will consist of plenty of trial and error, and it’s crucial to keep an open mind, welcoming all ideas and perspectives.

In most cases, the client is left out of a strategic marketing meeting, with the results presented to them at a different time. However, you will want to welcome eight to ten members of your sales and marketing team, including your sales manager, marketing manager, product manager, and experienced sales representatives, if applicable.

Meeting length & frequency

The length of a strategic marketing plan meeting depends on the company’s size and the project in question. In general, a gathering of this nature can last anywhere from one to two hours, and it should successfully outline all goal-setting and team-aligned strategies in that time.

The frequency at which you hold strategic marketing meetings should be in relation to the project at hand. Very basically, you’ll want to ensure that you maintain your sessions whenever you have new data available that requires discussion and team input.

It’s up to you to decide when you hold strategic marketing meetings. Anywhere from quarterly to every six weeks will likely be sufficient.

“The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.” — Tom Fishburne, Founder & CEO, Marketoonist

How to Run an Effective Strategic Marketing Plan Meeting

Running a Strategic Marketing Plan Meeting effectively doesn’t have to be complicated. You can include plenty of good practices to run the meeting smoothly and to the best of your ability.

First, you’ll want to establish who should be at your meeting. Take a good look at the meeting agenda and notice who should be present and who should not. Once you have a guest list, you can determine the primary purpose of the meeting, clearly stating the goals of the session when you send out the invites.

Next, you’ll want to use a strategic marketing template to write out a meeting template and share that information as early on in the meeting as possible. Regardless of your status within the company, it’s essential always to be respectful of the time of others.

Next, you’ll want to use a strategic marketing template to write out a meeting template and share that information as early on in the meeting as possible. Regardless of your status within the company, it’s essential always to be respectful of the time of others.

Appointing a meeting facilitator is a fantastic way to keep the meeting on schedule and running smoothly. It’s a superb option to keep everyone on track, primarily when the brainstorming sessions come up, as it’s beyond easy to become distracted. Continually rethink long meeting times, as they usually aren’t as necessary as you might think they are.

Finally, include plenty of time for brainstorming at the end of the meeting. Hearing the ideas of those around you is a vital piece of the marketing plan pie. Brainstorming is a driving component of successful strategic marketing, so make it a meeting priority.

What’s inside this Strategic Marketing Plan Template:

Knowing how to put your marketing plan template into action can help you break down and correctly convey ideas to your team. It also offers plenty of space for them to give input.

1Target Audience

Establish your clients’ target audience. Some businesses have more than one demographic, and each requires consideration. It’s okay to include only the audience you want to target for this specific meeting topic.

“Focus on the core problem your business solves and put out lots of content and enthusiasm and ideas about how to solve that problem.” – Laura Fitton, Hubspot

2 Product

Discuss how you want to market the client’s product. This can become tricky when the client offers a variety of very different products, and it’s crucial to ensure that you’re making specific plans for various products or the company. Know your direction.

3Strategy and Objectives

Here, you’ll discuss the best strategies available for your client, as well as the objectives of those strategies. What do you hope to achieve by implementing them?

4Budget

The budget is essential because you cannot spend what you don’t have. There’s nothing wrong with designing an entire strategic marketing plan around the client’s budget, and in many cases, it’s entirely necessary.

5Timeline

Notice your allotted time frame and stick to it. This concept is crucial in strategic marketing, especially when dealing with an impending launch. From awareness to launch day, you’ve got to have every move mapped out on your timeline.

6Action Items

Discuss what can be done as soon as the meeting adjourns with your team. Make sure everyone has an assignment and is completely clear on what that assignment is, from nailing down a target audience to competitor and keyword research. Also, this is an excellent time to gauge your progress and schedule another meeting if necessary.

7Notepad

The notepad section of your marketing template is there to help you recall important meeting notes and brainstorm ideas. Encourage your team to give you ideas to jot down in this section and have it handy to refer to in the next meeting.