This document provides an outline for a small business marketing plan, beginning with defining objectives such as increasing traffic, leads, or sales. It then discusses strategies for each objective, including content creation through blogging, social media, content curation and guest blogging. The outline also covers strategies for capturing leads like offering incentives and following up, and tips for optimizing the sales process like product descriptions, site security and checkout process. The document aims to provide small businesses with a guideline to develop and implement their marketing plans in a structured way.

1. Small Business
Marketing Plan
Outline
By Peter Semple
Right Hand Planning

2. Small Business Marketing Plan Outline
righthandplanning.com/marketing-news/small-business-marketing-plan-outline
Follow this small business marketing outline to learn how content marketing and social media can hit your traffic and
sales goals.
Marketing Challenges
Not Enough Time
It’s easy to lose marketing momentum when you're busy running your business day to day.
No Clear Next Steps
It can be hard to step back in and know the best next step marketing-wise after you've been away from it for a while.
Also, there’s something about being so close to your own business that it's hard to see the big picture (not seeing
the forest for the trees).
This article will give you a marketing guideline to follow so when you feel stuck you can refer to it and take the next
logical step.
This Marketing Plan Outline Has...
OBJECTIVES
Traffic – Need more visitors to site Leads
Leads – Have visitors, but they’re not taking action
Sales – Getting visitors or leads, but they’re not becoming sales
Traffic - Content
On-site blog Social media Content curation
Article posting
Guest posts
LEADS - Credibility - Enticements like free tools, white papers, podcast/MP3 files
Contact form
Call to action
Follow up
SALES - Conversions
On-site copy and photos
Check out process
Customer service
Objectives
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3. A good plan starts with the goal in mind. In your marketing plan, there might be two or three objectives – to get
traffic, collect leads and make sales.
Or it might be easier to focus on only one of these, Conversions (leads or sales) for example, if you’re already
getting traffic. Or you’ll goal will be traffic if not enough people are landing on your site.
Inbound Lead Sources
Here are the most cost effective methods of receiving inbound leads according to a survey by marketing software
company HubSpot.
Inbound Marketing sources
In this study, people agree that Blogs, Social Media and SEO are the most cost-effective ways of getting leads from
the internet.
Let’s look at how each method can bring traffic.
Inbound Traffic – Create and Share Content
Whether looking for sales or to get more people to your site. There are two things that will happen:
1. People arrive directly at a page of your site
2. People see something you post elsewhere that links to your site
Here are Five Steps to Generate Traffic
TRAFFIC
On-Site Blog Social Media Content Curation Article Posting Guest Blogging
Blogging - Helps Traffic and SEO
Studies have shown that the more you blog, the more traffic you’re likely to gain from it.
There are probably two reasons for this; first the increased content provides more material to be found by searchers
and search engines (Google).
Second, the more often you add content, the more Google considers your site a good information source and might
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4. be more likely to show material in the search results (is the theory).
Blogging Builds Credibility, Helps with Conversions
Another advantage of blogging is it makes you look like an expert in your field.
If you post new blogs a couple times a month, you’re on top things. If you publish a couple times a week, you’re
practically a news source for your field – talk about being seen as an expert!
Social Media Marketing - For Traffic, Awareness and Credibility
There’s a lot of misunderstanding about how social media works if you’re not used to using it.
It’s not “free” because it takes some time to use it, BUT it’s not hard to get in the habit and it can be fun and a great
way to network.
The social media platforms most people use are Facebook, Instagram (the new hot one), Twitter, Pinterest and
LinkedIn if you’re a B2B service provider.
Simple Social Media Marketing
1. Share your own content like blogs/articles, white papers, new product pages, inforgraphics, videos, etc.
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5. 2. “Curate” content valuable to your readers – this means reposting/retweeting and commenting on content your
audience will find valuable.
Curating is classic networking. Try not to share your direct competitors too much (but sometimes leverage the
audience of the biggest in your field), but instead share with people in related businesses with whom you can build a
mutually beneficial relationship.
RELATED: Get a Custom Marketing Plan for your business! Call us at (424) 237-8155.
How to Do Social Media Marketing
Here’s a brief summary on how to use popular social media sites for to build Traffic and Credibility.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is now much more than a resume and job posting site, there are interactive groups and places to post your
own links and comments.
On LinkedIn you can also have a company page, upload header photos, it’s a lot like Facebook. If you’re in B2B
and haven’t been on LinkedIn a while, check it out.
Twitter
Twitter is fast-paced environment that’s very interactive. People mention each other by using their @username in
retweets or replies or to reference someone.
You’ll get a notification for every mention, which makes it easy to keep up on the conversation without needing to be
on Twitter all day.
You don’t have to engage heavily in Twitter. It’s ok to post a short message a link to your online blog or other page.
But you might find it addictive!
Twitter makes it easy to meet other people because of the notifications feature and because they recommend
people to Follow in the sidebar.
Pinterest
Pinterest is used more by women than men and it’s a good medium for visually aesthetic products like art,
furnishings, homemade goods. However, that’s not to say B2B companies or less tangible services couldn’t find a
way to put it to good use – if you think you’re best prospects are likely to be found there.
Facebook
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6. NOTE: Facebook marketing has changed in 2014 – 2015!
It’s harder to get your posts seen in Facebook unless you pay for their advertising.
It’s still worthwhile to post links to your content on Facebook, because some people will see it. But it might not be
worth investing to build a large group of fans because such a small percentage of them will see your material.
Facebook is a good place to answer questions and conduct customer service. And it’s worth having a presence
because people might still search for you there.
Instagram
Instagram uses photos as the main part of its message – but look how even B2B company FedEx has found ways to
use it creatively and effectively, http://www.fastcolabs.com/3019809/why-startups-should-use-instagram-for-
marketing
Also, it’s easy to connect Instagram to Twitter and Facebook so if you do get good at using it, it’s automatically
shared to your other two accounts, a major time saver.
RELATED Articles on Social Media Marketing:
"6 Must-Have Tools to Boost Your Social-Media Productivity"
"5 Reasons Why A Social Media Content Calendar Is Important For Your Business "
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7. Get a Custom Marketing Plan for your business! Call us at (281) 624-5835.
Content Curation
Why Use Content Curation
Provide information that your audience will find useful
Helps you build relationships or leverage the audiences of others
Shows you’re up on the trends in your field, builds your credibility
How to Curate Content
Share via social media (mentioned above)
Place someone else’s article on your website
Link out to a related article (as we did here by linking to the FedEx – Instagram article in Fast Company)
Guest Blogging
This is when you write an article and another website publishes it to
their readers. Almost always there’s an author bio box with a link back
to your site.
At a minimum your company or product name should be mentioned,
and usually with a link to the relevant page of your site.
Guest blogging is another way to build traffic and build your creditability
as an expert in your field.
A Note About Guest Blogging in 2015...
Google has started to frown on guest blogging just for the sake of
building backlinks to boost your SEO score.
Therefore, use it wisely with actual blogs related to your field or those that share your audience. Try to use it to get in
front of quality readers, not just as a backlink and it should be fine with Google.
Article Posting
When you write original content, such as a blog post or article, there are places so share it online to help you gain
backlinks and exposure.
It’s also a good idea to find sites related to your line of work where you can get exposure to your best audience.
Article Sharing Sites (a partial list):
Scoop.it
Paper.li
Rebelmouse
Storify
Curata
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8. Trap.it
Kurasie
Content Gems
Sniply
BizSugar
SlideShare.net - A great place to share PowerPoint presentations and PDFs
Vimeo and YouTube - Good for sharing video content
Posting articles in sites like these should be done in addition to using your own Social Media site to share your
content, as discussed above.
LEADS
Enticements - like free tools, white papers, podcast/MP3 files Contact method - email form or phone number Call to
action Follow up
Capturing Leads
A “Lead” might mean filling out a form, calling an 800 number, downloading a document or booking an appointment
online.
Website visitors alone are rarely a lead because just having someone visit your site doesn’t move the sale forward
Your Leads Might Be Sales
Some businesses won’t have leads . They might just have sales. Amazon for example doesn’t require a lot of
customer interaction. People either order or they don’t. This is a nice simple model for less expensive items which
tend to have shorter sales cycles.
How to Get Leads
Usually people need to be prompted to complete information by a, “What’s in it for me?” type giveaway. Basically
you need to offer something of value before people will turn over their information like email address or phone
number.
The Four Elements to Lead Capture
1. Giveaway – free informational paper, consultation, comparison tool (think loans or insurance)
2. Call to action – “Sign Up Now”, etc.
3. Contact source – a form, phone number
4. Follow up ability – email responder, customer service process
Facebook Sign-Up Page Example
Here is an example of how Facebook had a simple sign up page to get people to join:
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9. Facebook's website lead capture example
Lead Capture Tools
Call to Action Landing Page (or Squeeze Page) Tools or WP Plugins
The WordPress plugins just below are free, but there are reports of being buggy. Read latest reviews for updated
information:
WP Landing Pages WP Calls to action WP Landing Pages WP Leads
Paid or Free Trial Services:
Inbound Now
InstaPage
LeadPages
Optimize Press 2.0
Thrive Content Building and Landing Pages
Email Auto Responders
For many businesses, capturing a lead means collecting an email address and automatically generating emails or
delivery of electronic material.
Check out these services for capturing email addresses and generating automatic (or manual) emails:
Aweber
MailChimp
Get Response
Constant Contact
InfusionSoft
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10. SALES
On-site copy and photos Site trust Check out process Customer service
The Sales process of your marketing plan might replace or have some overlap with the Leads process.
The most important parts of online sales are:
1. Product or service description
2. Site trust
3. Checkout process
Product Descriptions
It’s always hard to get nudge people to actually take action online. What and how to say the right things to move a
customer to action depends on what’s being sold. But here are some generalities...
Good Copywriting
High quality copywriting often uses these three elements:
1. Excitement – make it a must-have
2. Urgency – limited time type offers or language (“scarcity”)
3. Assurances – Safe to buy seals, or customer testimonials
And Visuals – Again, it depends on what’s being sold, but having a visual image of the product for sale is almost
always a requirement
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11. Product Views
Simple to use sites like SquareSpace or Shopify now make it easy to offer all-angles views for selling things like
clothing.
Electronic Product Photos
Even electronic products can benefit from a visual representation
Product Reviews
Use product reviews and customer testimonials to provide assurance and lower resistance to making the sale: (see
Customer Reviews directly under product purchase page):
Site and Payment Security
Verification seals by familiar names can be the final key to winning a sale. Familiar types of merchant verification
are:
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12. Short Check Out Process
It’s said that a check out process should be no more than two pages
long. One page is even better.
Shopping cart abandonment rates are already as high as 30% for online
retailers
If you’re losing sales after people select an item, but don’t follow through
on the sale it might be worth testing different checkout options, including
collecting only the information you need to fill the order.
A lot of resources are invested to get a customer to select an item; it’s
smart to keep as many of these sales as possible.
How Is Your Customer Service?
Do you offer online or telephone chat before the sale?
Do you send an email confirmation right after a sale? And a
tracking number as soon as an order is sent, or other
confirmation?
Can customers talk to a person on the phone?
These are all things that can be deal maker or deal breakers in
making online sales or getting repeat sales.
Custom Marketing Plan
Want a marketing plan created specifically for your business,
customers and goals?
We can develop a custom marketing plan that includes marketing
calendar detailing the steps we offer to improve your copywriting,
social media marketing and content creation. It's a customized
solution made specifically for you!
Call us at (424) 237-8155 for a free consultation.
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