5 Things You Need in a One Page Marketing Plan

Creating a marketing plan can feel daunting, especially when you haven’t done it before. But it’s very important. A marketing plan gets the big ideas on paper so you can refer back to it as a guide. Having a plan allows you and your team to align and share a vision for how you’re going to reach your goals and get the results you want. Your work can feel inefficient and chaotic when you don’t have a plan.

In fact, almost half of the marketers in the SalesForce Nonprofit Trends Report said they exceeded their goals when their marketing plans were fully aligned with their strategy and data. This means the other half are falling short or merely meeting goals. Is that you?

But what if you don’t have time to write a full marketing plan? Sometimes you can be in the middle of the “doing” that it’s hard to pull yourself out and steal time to plan. So, that’s what I’m going to talk about today – how can you shorthand a marketing plan? Condensing down what could be 10+ pages into just one sheet? You’re thinking I’m crazy, but stick with me, it’s absolutely possible.

Download your copy of the One Page Marketing Plan here and follow along in the video or text below.

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Here are the five things a one page marketing plan needs so you’re a part of the group that exceeds its goals.

Achievable Goals

Before you launch your campaign you need to consider what you want to get out of it.

This also goes back to your message—what do you want to convey? Then decide what metrics you will use to measure the success of your marketing campaign. It could be engagement rate or unique visitors or funds raised. Think about your organization’s overall goals and then map your marketing goals to that.

Defining the end goal(s) of your campaign allows you to work backward.

Target Market

First, zero in on who you want to talk to. And be specific, because the more you know about your audience, the better you can create a meaningful conversation and marketing strategy. You want your message to be delivered in a way that speaks to who they are and in a way that will resonate, not fall on deaf ears.

A good marketing plan is about understanding your audience, not just asking them to do things (that comes later). People are more likely to read something when they feel it directly relates to them. When a message is tailored to a defined market, they’re more likely to feel a connection.

A Clear Message

Next, you want to craft a clear message to your audience in a way they will understand. Do a deep dive into what your audience cares about, then think about what you want to say and how you want to say it.

Ask questions like: How are they spending their time? How are they spending their money? What do they like to do? What are they talking about? What is the verbiage they use with each other?

By creating a message that keeps the audience in mind, you should be able to connect in a way that truly resonates. And stick to it. Don’t bombard your audience with different messages at the same time. In this marketing plan, define your message and keep using it.

The Right Mix of Channels

Then, you need to choose your media channels. Do you want to primarily use email? Is your audience on social media? Do they prefer paper mailings? To help you decide which channel to use you want to think about things like:

How old is your demographic? How much money do they have? Do they have disposable income? What social media do they use?

Think about how these people are connecting with the larger world. Do they read the newspaper, watch the news on their couch every evening, or tap into the world via apps on their smartphone? Go where your audience is. Get your message on a platform where your audience will engage.

Unique Ideas

Now that you know who you’re talking to, where to reach them, and what you want to achieve, you need to come up with a way to deliver your campaign in an engaging way.

How can your organization stand out? How can you grab your audience’s attention? These could (and should!) be different depending on the platform, but should be loosely tied together. For example, you could send a video to your email subscribers and then share a cutdown of that video on your social media channels. Start to brainstorm ideas for how to deliver your goals and let your imagination run wild. Then start to edit those ideas down to what is possible right now. And remember to include your CTA that directs people to your desired action.

And those are the five things that go into a one page marketing plan! Sounds simple because it is. These can be the guideposts to get you to your goals.

Now that you know the foundation for a great marketing plan, it’s time to put it into action! I have so many more marketing plan resources available to you, including: