Best Free Marketing Strategy Template

Free Marketing Strategy Template

4 Sep 2021

Free Marketing Strategy Template to Download

 

Creating a Marketing Strategy is both time-consuming and essential.

Our free Marketing Strategy Template (see the download link at the bottom of this article) will save you time and ensure you have a great starting point for building a successful strategy for your organisation.

If you want help to fill it in we offer a 5 Star Rated Marketing Communications Strategy course

Whilst a free marketing strategy template is just the start of creating your strategy, it can be very useful to ensure you have covered all the bases and it gives you a framework to get your creative juices flowing.

 

How to use your Free Marketing Strategy Template 

Because every business is different, no Marketing Strategy Template is going to give you exactly what you need. 

So we have given you the chance to download this free Marketing Strategy template as a Word document so you can edit it as you see fit.

You can remove sections that are not applicable and don't worry about ignoring sections that you don't have the answers to.

The most important thing is to use the Marketing Strategy Template as a framework to note down all your ideas and thoughts.

Once you have edited the Strategy template and spent some time filling in the relevant sections leave it for a few days and come back to it. 

You should think of your marketing strategy as something that can be adapted at any time. It shouldn't be carved in stone!

Why do you need a Marketing Strategy?

I could write an essay on why it is so important to have a marketing strategy, but here are the top four reasons I would give:

 

Marketing Focus

If you don't have a clear marketing strategy your organisation may just be reactive and spend time and resources on tasks that you have always done, or, spend time just doing the marketing activities you like doing.

For example, a company that has a Social Media enthusiast at the helm of its marketing tends to spend too much time and resources on social media marketing.  Their efforts may not be entirely wasted, but in terms of a return on investment, they would have been better off spending their time learning new skills and using other channels to grow the business.

Using this Marketing Strategy Template will help you plan and evaluate your existing activities and look at other opportunities.

 

Scientific Approach

There has always been an element of mystery around marketing, and some of the best marketing campaigns are highly creative, and sometimes a bit 'off the wall'.  However, there is no reason in today's digital world not to have a scientific approach to marketing.

This means:

- Creating hypothesis 

- Testing and measuring them

- Analysing and feeding back the results into future strategy decisions

 

With the rise in our abilities to test and measure campaigns, we can now provide a much more scientific approach to assessing the effectiveness of our marketing activities.

This Marketing Strategy template is a framework in which your ideas, creativity, and previous experience can be combined with real-life data to drive future plans.

 

Consistency of Brand Signals

Successful brands are very good at getting all their ducks in a row.

Their messages, activities, staff, and environment all sing the same song. 

You can only achieve this with a clear marketing strategy, with a clear Vision, Mission, Values, and messages.

Repetition and consistency are key in marketing. So when your customers see your advertising and then talk to your staff or drive past your premises the message is the same.

 

Staff Satisfaction

It may surprise you to see staff satisfaction as a key reason for having a marketing strategy. 

However, for many businesses, their number one asset is their staff. 

How staff feel about who they work for, and how they feel about the work they are doing, has a massive effect on the long-term growth potential of a company.

Having a well-thought-out Marketing Strategy will help to embed a positive mental attitude in staff.

A 'How can we do it better' attitude, rather than a 'this is how we do it' attitude.

 

What does a good Marketing Strategy look like?

A great marketing strategy will contain:

 

1  Strategic Summary 

Not just an Executive Summary but a summary that can be shared within the organisation so everyone can understand the direction and goals of the organisation.

 

2. Our Vision

Where are we going?  Do you know? If you work for a company without a Vision it can feel like being a headless chicken, running around frantically but lacking vision and direction.

 

3. Our Mission

Okay, now you know where you are going but how are we going to get there? That is your mission.

 

4. Market Analysis

You are not alone! What is the marketplace like; what are the trends, who are your competitors, and what are they doing?

 

5. Overall Marketing Objectives and Budget

Are you looking for sales, awareness, customer loyalty, building share value, growth, and customer satisfaction? Clarify your objectives and provide measurable targets.

Set some budgets against these targets and be SMART.

 

6. Target Audiences

Know your audiences, and segment them into clear groups that you can target with strong and powerful messages that resonate with them.

 

7. Objectives and Budgets for Each Audience

Whilst you have your overall marketing objectives, you should set objectives for each audience, including staff, press/influencers, etc.

 

8. Product Strategy

What are your key products?  Where do you make the greatest margins? (If you are a social enterprise - this means where do you make the most difference)

What are the strengths and weaknesses of your products and services?

What new products and services do you have in development?  How will this affect your marketing going forward?

 

9. Pricing Strategy

Make sure you have a clear pricing strategy. Your pricing is a clear signal to potential customers about where you are in the market. 

Consider your discount and sales strategies.  How do they currently work? Is this in line with the brand and other messages?

 

10. Distribution Strategy

What is the best way to get your products and services to the market?

Do you sell direct? Or via distributors/wholesales/ influencers. Can you deliver your products/services online or will you need physical space?

Which regions and countries are you going to make the products/services available?

 

11. Communications Strategy + Plan

What is the best way to communicate with your customers?

Which channels are you going to use to promote your messages to each customer segment?

Create an outline communications plan and calendar for the next 12 months but put in the detail for the next 3 months. 

 

12. Measurement Plan

Website Analytics, Social Analytics, Sales Reports, BI Reports, Accountancy Reports, etc. How are you going to measure the effectiveness of your marketing activities?

Work out what has worked and what hasn't. Try to work out why. 

Feed this information into your strategy document. 

 

 13 Review and Adapt

Review your plan and business intelligence data on a three or six-monthly basis to make sure you learn and adapt as you go forward.

Download Your Marketing Strategy Template

So now you know what goes into a marketing plan, click the link below to get your free marketing template. 

Click here to download your Free Marketing Strategy Template

 If you are looking for example business plans click here

Send us your feedback 

We like to think our Marketing Strategy template is the best one available for free. But please let us know what you think of it and if you think it can be improved.

If we agree we will update it and give you credit for your input.

Together we can make the best free marketing templates even better :-)