The essentials
- Seven steps: diagnosis, audiences and journeys, numerical objectives, positioning and offer, channels and budget, calendar, metrics and review.
- 2026 budget: an SME devotes 3 to 8% of its revenue to marketing, of which 55 to 70% goes to digital; a launch or a growth push rises to 10 to 15%.
- Objectives: each objective is a dated figure (leads, sales, share of traffic) tied to a business objective, not an intention.
- Steering: a plan is corrected every month against 5 to 8 metrics; a plan without a review is a document, not a tool.
A marketing plan turns a business objective (revenue, market share, launch) into dated, budgeted and measurable actions. Most SMEs write one once, then file it away; a useful plan runs to ten pages, can be read in a meeting and is corrected every month. This guide describes the seven steps, gives the 2026 budget benchmarks and offers an outline. The metrics to keep are detailed in digital marketing KPIs, and the link between objectives and figures in connecting business objectives and marketing KPIs.
Step 1: the diagnosis
The plan starts with a numerical review of the last twelve months: sources of traffic and revenue, cost per lead or per sale by channel, site conversion rate, SEO positions, awareness (brand searches), customer reviews, strengths and weaknesses against three competitors. A marketing performance audit structures this inventory; the method is in the marketing performance audit. The diagnosis should not run beyond two pages: what works, what costs without returning, what is missing.
Step 2: the audiences and their journeys
Describe two to four priority audiences with their concrete criteria (sector, size, role, buying situation) and the journey that leads them to you: where they search, what they read, what reassures them, who decides. Distinguish the buyer from the prescriber: in construction, the architect specifies and the private customer pays; in B2B software, the user asks and management signs. Each audience has its own channels and messages, and the plan that targets “everyone” converts no one.
Step 3: the numerical objectives
| Business objective | Numerical marketing objective | Tracking metric |
|---|---|---|
| +20% revenue | +30% qualified leads (closing rate steady at 25%) | Qualified leads per month, cost per lead |
| Launch a new offer | 500 qualified visitors per month on the offer page, 40 demonstrations per quarter | Sessions on the page, demo requests |
| Reduce dependence on one channel | Take SEO from 20 to 35% of leads in 12 months | Leads by source |
| Retain | Repeat purchase rate at 90 days from 20 to 28% | Repeat purchases, share of revenue from known customers |
| Local awareness | +50% brand searches, 60 Google reviews at 4.6 | Search Console, Google Business Profile |
An objective is a figure, a date and an owner. “Grow our presence on social media” is not an objective; “1,200 monthly sessions from LinkedIn and 15 leads in quarter 3” is one.
Step 4: the positioning and the offer
Sum up in one sentence what you sell, to whom, and what sets you apart in a verifiable way (lead time, guarantee, specialisation, price, proof). This positioning feeds the messages of each channel and the site home page. Check that it appears in the results of search engines and generative AI when someone searches your category; in 2026, a growing share of buying journeys starts with a question to an AI assistant, and visibility in those answers is worked on like SEO; see GEO marketing.
Step 5: the channels and the budget
| Channel | Role in the plan | Share of the digital budget (SME, 2026) | Time to results |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEO and content (site, blog, GEO) | Lasting traffic, credibility, citations by AI | 20 to 35% | 4 to 12 months |
| Google Ads (search, Shopping) | Capturing intent, quick volume | 25 to 40% | 2 to 6 weeks |
| Social advertising (Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok) | Awareness, B2C and B2B leads, retargeting | 10 to 25% | 4 to 8 weeks |
| Organic social media | Proof, community, recruitment | 5 to 10% (mostly internal time) | 6 to 12 months |
| Email and CRM | Conversion and retention | 5 to 10% | 1 to 3 months |
| Google Business Profile and local | Nearby contacts | 2 to 5% | 1 to 3 months |
| Measurement and tools | Steering, dashboards | 5 to 10% | Immediate |
In 2026 an SME devotes between 3 and 8% of its revenue to marketing, of which 55 to 70% goes to digital; a launch or growth phase rises to 10 or 15%. The budget is allocated by quarter, not by year, so it can be reallocated after the first review. Count the full cost in the return on investment: media, agency, tools, internal time and creative; the method is in how to calculate marketing ROI.
Step 6: the calendar
- Quarter 1: foundations. Measurement (GA4, conversions, dashboard), site corrected on the key pages, capture campaigns launched, priority content produced.
- Quarter 2: scaling up. Budget reallocated to the channels with the best cost per result, first creative tests, active email sequence.
- Quarter 3: optimisation. Retargeting, SEO growing, retention actions, preparation for the peak season.
- Quarter 4: season and review. Budgets reinforced on the peaks, annual review, diagnosis for the next plan.
Each action in the calendar carries an owner, an end date, a cost and the metric that will say whether it worked.
Step 7: the metrics and the review
The plan is steered on 5 to 8 metrics read every month in a single dashboard: leads or sales, cost per acquisition, revenue by channel, site conversion rate, qualified traffic, share of SEO, return on investment. The 30-minute monthly review answers three questions: where the gaps are, why, and what we change this month. A quarterly review reallocates the budget. The plan is a living document: the December version does not look like the January one, and that is the sign it has been used. Tracking tools are compared in the tools for creating a marketing dashboard.
The outline of the document
- Page 1: summary, three numerical objectives, total budget.
- Pages 2 and 3: numerical diagnosis, competition.
- Page 4: audiences and journeys.
- Page 5: positioning, messages, offers.
- Pages 6 and 7: channels, budget by quarter, providers.
- Pages 8 and 9: calendar of actions with owners.
- Page 10: metrics, dashboard, review calendar.
How GreenRed helps
Rather than juggling several tools, the GreenRed action plan brings these metrics together in a single dashboard, compares them over time and tells you which actions come first. You can try it free, with no card, from the Pricing.
Frequently asked questions
What is the structure of a marketing plan?
Seven parts: numerical diagnosis, audiences and buying journeys, dated numerical objectives, positioning and offer, channels and budget by quarter, calendar of actions with owners, metrics and review rhythm. The whole thing runs to about ten pages.
What marketing budget should an SME plan for in 2026?
Between 3 and 8% of revenue in steady state, 10 to 15% during a launch or a growth push. Digital accounts for 55 to 70% of that budget, split between SEO and content (20 to 35%), Google Ads (25 to 40%), social advertising (10 to 25%), email, local and measurement tools.
Over what period should a marketing plan be built?
Twelve months, split into four quarters with a budget that can be reallocated at each quarterly review. A frozen annual plan does not survive the first quarter; a quarterly plan alone lacks the foundations for SEO and awareness, which need 6 to 12 months.
How do you know whether the plan is working?
Through a monthly review of 5 to 8 metrics (leads or sales, cost per acquisition, revenue by channel, conversion rate, qualified traffic, ROI) compared with the plan's objectives. Gaps trigger dated corrections; the plan is partly rewritten every quarter.
Do you need an agency to write the plan?
Not necessarily: management and the marketing manager know the company better than an outsider. A consultant brings the numerical diagnosis, the budget benchmarks and the method, in 2 to 5 days billed at €600 to €1,200 a day. Implementation and follow-up can then be shared.