Marketing Plan Template
A 7-section marketing plan built for startups: focused enough to execute with a team of one, structured enough to defend to your board.
No email required · Free forever · Fill-in prompts in every section
What's in the Marketing Plan Template?
Most marketing plan templates are bloated corporate documents — 20 sections nobody updates after week two. This one is deliberately minimal: seven sections that answer the only questions that matter at startup stage. Who are we trying to reach, what do we say, where do we say it, what does it cost, and how do we know it's working?
A marketing plan is the ongoing engine — distinct from a go-to-market plan, which covers the one-time motion of launching a new product into a market. Launch with a GTM plan; run the quarter with this.
Objectives & North Star
1-3 measurable objectives tied to business goals — "120 qualified leads per quarter," not "increase awareness."
Target Market & Personas
Your ideal customer profile and the 1-2 personas whose attention you're competing for, including the trigger that starts their buying journey.
Positioning & Core Message
The one sentence every campaign must reinforce: for whom, what category, what key benefit, unlike what alternative.
Channels & Tactics
2-3 channels you can execute well, each with an owner, an expected contribution, and a 30-day signal that tells you if it's working.
Budget
Spend by channel including tools and content production — and how much is experimental vs. proven.
Calendar & Milestones
Month-by-month campaigns, launches, content themes, and review checkpoints.
KPIs & Review Cadence
The 3-5 numbers reviewed weekly or monthly, and the threshold that triggers a change of plan.
Marketing Plan Example: Seed-Stage B2B Startup
Here's how a fictional seed-stage logistics-software startup fills in the key sections. Notice the specificity: numbers, named channels, and a kill-switch rule. A plan without thresholds is a wish list.
Objective
Generate 120 sales-qualified leads in Q3 at under $250 blended CAC
Persona
Operations manager at a 20-100 person logistics company; searches when a client complains about delivery visibility
Positioning
For mid-size logistics teams, TrackFleet is the delivery-visibility tool that answers "where's my order?" without spreadsheets — unlike enterprise TMS suites that take 6 months to deploy
Channels
SEO comparison pages (40 leads), LinkedIn founder content (30), industry newsletter sponsorships (50)
Budget
$9,000/quarter: $3k content production, $4.5k sponsorships, $1.5k tools; 20% experimental
KPIs
SQLs/week, CAC by channel, demo-booked rate; review every Monday; kill any channel below 50% of target at day 45
How to Use This Template
Start from the Objective
Write section 1 first and make everything else earn its place against it
Cut to 2-3 Channels
Depth beats breadth — a channel done well compounds; five done poorly teach you nothing
Review on a Cadence
The plan is alive: weekly KPI review, monthly channel review, quarterly rewrite
Get Your Free Marketing Plan Template
Seven sections, fill-in prompts, and room for exactly as much plan as a startup actually needs.
No email required · Free forever