Marketing strategy template

What is a marketing strategy template?

A marketing strategy template is a structured digital workspace designed to help teams brainstorm, plan, and design their marketing efforts efficiently. 

Whether you're a small team or a large enterprise, this template provides a clear framework to organize your marketing goals, channels, and calendar, ensuring that all team members are aligned and working towards the same objectives. 

By using a marketing strategy template, you can ensure that your marketing efforts are well-planned, executed, and aligned with your business goals.

The marketing strategy template helps you:

• Organize your marketing goals: One of the primary features of the marketing strategy template is its ability to help you define and organize your marketing goals. By breaking down your objectives into clear, measurable targets, you can ensure that your team is focused on what truly matters. Whether it’s increasing brand awareness, driving more leads, or boosting customer retention, the template provides a structured way to prioritize these goals.

• Plan marketing channels: The template includes sections to plan and evaluate different marketing channels. From social media and email marketing to content marketing and paid advertising, you can assess which channels are most effective for reaching your target audience. This helps you allocate your resources more efficiently and maximize your marketing ROI.

• Create a marketing calendar: A marketing calendar is crucial for coordinating your marketing activities and ensuring that all tasks are completed on time. This template offers a visual timeline where you can map out key campaigns, content releases, and other marketing activities. This helps you avoid overlaps and ensures that your marketing efforts are consistent and well-timed.

• Facilitate collaboration: Mural’s marketing strategy template is designed to be collaborative. With features like real-time editing, sticky notes, and comments, you can engage your entire team in the planning process. This fosters a sense of ownership and ensures that everyone’s input is considered, leading to more effective and innovative marketing strategies.

How to use the marketing strategy template

Step 1: Fill out target and team details

Before the meeting begins, input your team and target details in the appropriate boxes on the template. This will help make sure everyone is on the same page when you start getting into the details of your marketing strategy.

Step 2: Define your goals 

Define your most important marketing goals for the time period, how you’ll measure success, and important milestones along the way. Add more stickies for additional goals. Making your goals clear, easy-to-measure, and achievable will help keep the team on track; if your goals are too far out of reach, your team may not be motivated to aim for them. 

Step 3: Define your target audience

List your target personas and the key demographics of that target personas. What are their biggest pain points that your product or service can help solve? 

Step 4: Describe your campaign channels

Determine which channels you plan to use in this campaign or initiative, what tactics you’ll be using, and what outcomes you’d like to see. A clear understanding of which content is most appropriate for which channels can help you create content that stands out above the competition.

Step 5: Allocate resources and assign responsibilities

Assign roles to your team members, determine key responsibilities, and the resources they’ll need to complete their part of the initiative, from funds to external assistance to assets.

Step 6: Plan the beats of your strategy

List the major components of your strategy, from campaigns to deliverables to initiatives. Determine what timeframe your team will need to complete each component and assign an owner who can oversee that aspect of the strategy.

Step 7: Measure performance

Determine how you’re going to measure performance. List the metrics you’ll need to keep track of, their current status, and insights/action steps about how you might improve these metrics moving forward.

When to use the marketing strategy template (with examples)

At the start of a new marketing campaign

When you’re kicking off a new marketing campaign, the marketing strategy template is your best friend. Use it to define the campaign’s objectives, target audience, and marketing channels. This ensures that everyone on the team is aligned from the beginning, setting the stage for a successful launch.

During quarterly planning sessions

Quarterly planning sessions are essential for setting and reviewing marketing goals. Use the template to organize your team’s thoughts and plans for the upcoming quarter. This helps you stay focused on your long-term strategy while making necessary adjustments based on recent performance data.

For annual marketing planning

Annual marketing planning requires a comprehensive and structured approach. The marketing strategy template can help you map out your entire year’s marketing efforts. From major campaigns to smaller, ongoing activities, the template ensures that all aspects of your marketing plan are covered and aligned with your business goals.

When revising your marketing strategy

If you need to revise your marketing strategy due to changes in the market or business objectives, the template can guide you through the process. Use it to reassess your goals, channels, and calendar, and make data-driven decisions to improve your strategy.

Tips for running a marketing strategy template exercise

• Start with a clear objective: Before you begin, define the purpose of the session. Are you planning a new campaign, revising an existing strategy, or setting annual goals? A clear objective will help you stay focused and make the most of your time.

• Involve all key team members: To ensure a well-rounded and effective strategy, involve all key team members in the session. This includes marketing, sales, product, and customer success teams. Their insights and perspectives will help you create a more comprehensive plan.

• Use real-time collaboration features: Leverage Mural’s real-time collaboration features to engage your team during the session. Use sticky notes, comments, and editing tools to capture ideas, feedback, and action items. This keeps the session dynamic and ensures that everyone’s voice is heard.

• Break down complex tasks: Marketing strategies can be complex, so break down tasks into manageable steps. Use the template to outline each phase of the campaign, from ideation to execution, and ensure that each step is clearly defined and assigned to a team member.

• Prioritize based on impact: Not all marketing activities have the same impact. Prioritize tasks based on their potential to drive results. Use the template’s sections to categorize activities by priority, such as high-impact, medium-impact, and low-impact. This helps your team focus on the most critical tasks first.

• Regularly review and update: A marketing strategy is a living document. Regularly review and update the template to ensure it remains relevant and aligned with your business goals. This can be done during weekly check-ins, quarterly reviews, or annual planning sessions.