I get it - putting together a marketing plan of any kind, in any industry can seem overwhelming.  And, to be honest, a fully baked marketing plan (a smaller piece of a larger Go-To-Market Strategy), takes a lot of research, time, and understanding of the landscape. 

 

But, you know what else it takes? A little faith. A little guesstimation. A lot of flexibility. Because, let's be truthful, we really don't KNOW for sure what will work. Even the best marketers, when building marketing plans, take some stabs in the dark as far what messages ther audience will respond to and what mediums will be best to reach them.

 

That's the nature of marketing. It always changing. And, if you're only building your marketing plan based on "best-practice" lists you find on the internet (like this one!), you're totally missing out on what makes your brand unique in the marketplace and the creative ways to cut through the noise and get your audience's attention.

 

But, I've digressed, haven't I? I'm here to help you get started, get over the hump of creating a B-to-B Digital Marketing Plan. So, instead of staring at a blank Google Doc, wondering how you got saddled with the marketing plan, you can make impressive progress.  I think you'll be shocked at how quickly ideas and plans will start flowing once you've laid the first 25% of tracks.

 

My Top 5 Ways to Start a B-to-B Digital Marketing Plan

1. Map the Journey

Grab a marker and a whiteboard, and sketch out the path to purchase, from the guy who's never heard of your company and knows very little about your space, all the way to satisfied customer telling his buddy about your product. How does he get there? What is each step on the timeline?

 

Maybe it's webinar invite -> nurture emails -> case study -> sales outreach. Or maybe social media -> retargeting ad -> educational whitepaper. You get the idea.  Once you've sketched it out, look for the gaps.  Are you making super easy for the target to "fall into" you product, or are you requiring effort from them at any point?  Find the points in the customer journey where you can make it easier.

 

2. Start with Budget

It's not worth building a super complex marketing plan if the budget's not there.  If you're light on funds, take your total budget and subtract all your must-haves - website expenses, marketing automation expenses, design resources, video production, etc. These expenses are your "non-working" budget.

 

Your "working" budget is what's left, and that's media dollars. Research your suspected primary channels to determine how much you can get in for, then prioritize.  That may mean you're limited, but it's better to know this now, so you can optimize the heck out of the channels you have, instead of wasting your time building expansive programs and assets.

 

3. Goal Setting

Is your objective from the top down simply to build awareness? Or, it is to get leads to sales? Or, are you being judged by sales numbers? The answer to this question plays heavily into your measurable goals.

 

Keep your program goals to a max of 3, and make them measurable. Take into consideration the length of time to move through the customer journey, and plan accordingly.

 

Now, prioritize programs that get you closer to your goals. Ditch anything that won't help you, even if your competitors are doing it.

 

4. Think About Your Customer

Spend time researching and documenting details about your target audience and it will really help you fill out a plan for reaching them. Demographics, locations, behavioral characteristics, and psychographics should all be researched.  

 

What are they struggling with in relation to your product? What takes them the most time to manage? What wounds does your product heal? Document all of this.

 

5. Okay, Fine, Look at Your Competitors

I don't typically spend too much time following competitors when building a marketing plan.  Just becasue they're selling product doesn't mean their marketing is good.

 

Putting all your faith into a group of strangers that may or may not know what they're doing is a risky game I don't like to play. And when your boss asks you why you invested your marketing dollars in that losing channel, you never want to answer "well, our competitor was doing it". Awkward.

 

A SWOT analysis is typically already completed by the time Marketing gets involved, and that will give you a lot of insight into how to message your product to stand out. 

 

But, if you're really having a hard time getting going on a marketing plan, and you're desperate for some ideas, follow your competitors on social media to get a feel for content. Use a tool like Moz to determine how much your competitors are spending on Search keywords. Take a peak at their source code to see what ad channels they are using (look for 3rd party javascripts) and what they are targeting for SEO.