A Simple Marketing Plan for a Local Business

A marketing plan can fit on one page. Its job is to turn “we need more customers” into a specific action you can afford, carry out and review. Start with one offer and a manageable test; add complexity when you have a reason.

Choose a customer and a reason to act

“Everyone in town” leaves too many decisions open. A more useful starting point is a customer with a particular need: nearby office workers buying lunch, homeowners arranging an annual service, or parents looking for weekend activities. Write down what they need, where you can serve them and why they might choose you.

Start with recent enquiries. Ask customers what prompted them to get in touch, where they looked first and what they needed to know before buying. Keep a list of recurring questions and use it to decide what your message needs to explain.

Then choose an offer you can explain in a sentence. It may be a service with clear availability, an event or a useful appointment; it need not be a discount. State the price or how to obtain a quote, relevant dates, limitations and the next step. Check that staff can honour what you promise.

Match the channel to the situation

Think about where a customer is when the need arises. Someone actively looking for a repair service may need accurate business profile information and a useful service page. A local event may call for an approved poster location, a chamber calendar listing and a page with booking details.

For physical formats and distribution choices, use our print marketing guide. For websites, email and social channels, see digital marketing beyond local search. Choose a channel because it can reach the intended customer, not because another business uses it.

Set a limit on money and work

Include design, print, delivery or postage, advertising, software and staff time. A cheap print run can still be expensive if most copies remain in a cupboard. A free social account still needs someone to prepare posts and answer questions.

Set the most you can afford to spend and choose a review date that gives customers time to respond. Name the person responsible for replies. Decide in advance what would justify continuing, what would prompt a change and what would make you stop. Keep the first run small enough that you can learn from it without committing the next month's budget.

A one-page worksheet

Copy these six headings into a document or notebook and write a short answer beneath each. Fill them out for one campaign, with enough detail that someone else could carry out the plan. For a broader business plan, the SBA explains how to build out your marketing and sales plan.

Count useful responses, then look at the economics

Pick a main result close to the business need: qualified enquiries, completed bookings or purchases. Keep views and clicks as supporting information. Define a qualified enquiry before counting, for example a request for a service you provide within your service area.

Keep a simple tally with columns for date, how the customer heard about you, enquiry, completed sale and sale value. Count each enquiry once, even if someone calls and then emails. Record completed bookings or transactions separately; if you count unique customers instead, label that clearly. Cost per enquiry is campaign cost divided by the number of qualifying enquiries. With no enquiries, record the spend and zero responses; there is no cost per enquiry to calculate.

Sales revenue still has to cover the cost of supplying the product or doing the work. Allow for discounts, cancellations and the campaign itself before deciding whether extra sales were worthwhile. Separate existing customers from new ones where you can, and do not assume every sale during the promotion was caused by it. Our guide to connecting print and digital campaigns shows the calculation with a café example.

Review before repeating

Keep the offer, artwork, dates, actual distribution and costs alongside the results. Note unanswered calls, sold-out stock, bad weather or other factors that affected the test. Change one major element at a time where practical, so the next comparison has some meaning.

If you want a second pair of eyes on the plan, find an SBA resource partner near you. Its network includes Small Business Development Centers and SCORE mentors offering free or low-cost counselling and training. Take your completed worksheet and the questions you need help answering.