Writing the annual marketing plan

An annual marketing plan turns a revenue goal into the inquiries, channels, budget and calendar needed to reach it, on a few pages you will actually use. Learn the eight sections of a practical plan, how to work backwards from revenue to activity, and how to review it each quarter.

Read the transcript

Writing the annual marketing plan.

Most small businesses do not have a marketing plan.

They have a list of things they mean to do, a vague sense that they should post more, and a busy season that swallows both.

The eight sections.

Every useful marketing plan answers the same eight questions.

Each section draws on a module of this course.

Who, why and what: a paragraph each.

Sections 3 and 4 are short, because the earlier modules did the hard work.

Write each as one paragraph that a new employee could read and act on.

Work backwards from revenue.

The heart of the plan is a chain of arithmetic from the revenue goal to the activity needed.

Here is Lantern and Lane's, as a worked example.

Channels and budget.

Turn the chain into a channel table with a role, a target and a cost.

Count hours as well as dollars, because in a small business time is the scarcer resource.

The calendar.

Lay the work out by quarter, with the big moments first and the routines underneath.

Keep it to a page.

That is the lesson. The worksheet and the quiz are just below this video.

What you will be able to do

• Work backwards from a revenue goal to bookings, inquiries and a channel mix
• Write an eight-section annual marketing plan with a budget and a quarterly calendar
• Build a compliance and review calendar into the plan so it stays current through the year

Most small businesses do not have a marketing plan. They have a list of things they mean to do, a vague sense that they should post more, and a busy season that swallows both. A plan does not need to be long. It needs to connect the money you want to earn with the work you will do each month to earn it, and it needs to fit on a few pages you will open again in April.

The eight sections

Every useful marketing plan answers the same eight questions. Each section draws on a module of this course.

Write each section in plain sentences and short tables. If a section takes more than a page, it is probably a list of tasks pretending to be strategy.

Who, why and what: a paragraph each

Sections 3 and 4 are short, because the earlier modules did the hard work. Write each as one paragraph that a new employee could read and act on. Lantern & Lane’s: “We want more Toronto couples bringing two families and two traditions together, plus hosts planning milestone parties for 40 to 150 guests. They choose us because we run both ceremonies on one weekend without either family feeling like the guest, and two senior planners handle every event themselves. We lead with the Two-Tradition Weekend, offer full planning for single-ceremony weddings, and launch a holiday party package for small offices in August.” If you cannot write that paragraph, go back to positioning before you spend on channels.

Work backwards from revenue

The heart of the plan is a chain of arithmetic from the revenue goal to the activity needed. Here is Lantern & Lane’s, as a worked example.

1. Revenue goal: $286,000 in booked revenue before HST, up from about $232,000.
2. Average booking value: across the Two-Tradition Weekend, single-ceremony weddings and parties, the studio plans on a blended $6,500. Bookings needed: $286,000 divided by $6,500 equals 44.
3. Bookings by channel: based on last year’s sources and this year’s priorities, Priya and Marco plan for 26 from referrals and partners, 10 from search, both organic and paid, 4 from social and Meta ads, and 4 from shows and media.
4. Inquiries needed: divide each channel’s bookings by its close rate. Referrals at 50 percent need 52 inquiries. Search at 17 percent needs about 59. Social at 10 percent needs 40. Shows and media at about 8 percent need 50.
5. Total: about 201 inquiries in the year, or about 17 a month on average, more in winter and fall, fewer in summer.

That chain does two things. It shows whether the goal is realistic: last year brought about 190 inquiries, so 201 is within reach, but only if close rates hold and referred inquiries grow from 40 to 52. And it tells each channel exactly what it is responsible for.

Channels and budget

Turn the chain into a channel table with a role, a target and a cost. Count hours as well as dollars, because in a small business time is the scarcer resource.

Total cash: $11,050, about 3.9 percent of the revenue goal. Blended cost per booking: $11,050 divided by 44, about $251. Total time: about 33 hours a month between two people, which is roughly a day each per week. If that is more than they can give, the plan must shrink or the studio must hire help, and the plan should say which.

The calendar

Lay the work out by quarter, with the big moments first and the routines underneath. Keep it to a page.

• Quarter 1: January wedding show, January data pitch to media, Google Ads at full wedding budget, partner coffees, price update live on the website.
• Quarter 2: spring styled shoot with two partners, review routine running after every event, Meta retargeting only.
• Quarter 3: content from summer weddings, holiday party package launched in late August, Google and Meta ads for corporate and milestone parties from September.
• Quarter 4: holiday party tip sheet pitched to media in October, past-client note before the December engagement season, annual review and next year’s plan in December.

Under the big moments, list the routines that run all year: the newsletter, the posting rhythm, the weekly ad check, the monthly dashboard and the quarterly partner check-ins.

Measures and risks

Name the five dashboard measures that tell you the plan is on track, with a quarterly target for each. Then list the three things most likely to knock it off course, and what you would do. For Lantern & Lane: a key venue partner changing hands (response: broaden partners in Quarter 1), Google Ads costs rising (response: cap cost per booking at $975 and shift budget to referrals), and Priya’s capacity in the summer (response: hire a freelance day-of coordinator for peak weekends).

Review it every quarter

A plan is a set of bets, not a promise. On the first working week of each quarter, compare the dashboard with the plan, keep what is working, cut what is not, and write the changes into the plan itself so the document stays true. The next lesson turns the first quarter of this plan into a detailed 90-day action plan.

In Canada and the GTA

Build the plan around the Ontario event year. The GTA’s calendar shapes every section of the plan. Engagements cluster around the December holidays and Valentine’s Day, so wedding inquiries rise from late December through March, when the main wedding show season runs. A second, smaller show season runs in the fall. Corporate buyers plan holiday parties from late summer, and many organizations with a fiscal year ending in March try to book or spend remaining budgets in late winter. Spring brings graduations, proms, communions and garden parties. The cultural calendar adds its own peaks, with Lunar New Year, Ramadan and Eid, Vaisakhi, Pride in June, summer festivals, Diwali and the December holidays, and several of those move each year. Mark them all on the plan’s calendar before you assign channels and budget.

Cost of living and pricing. GTA costs rise faster than many small businesses raise their prices. If your plan relies on a higher average booking value, write the price change into Quarter 1 and update your website, proposals and ads at the same time. Remember the drip pricing rule: any advertised price must include every mandatory fixed fee, with only taxes such as the 13 percent HST added on top.

A compliance calendar

Add a short compliance section to the plan, with an owner and a month for each item. A plan that grows the business can change which rules apply to it.

• GST/HST registration. If you are not registered, track your taxable revenue each quarter. Once supplies exceed $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over the last four consecutive quarters, you are no longer a small supplier and must register within 29 days. Set the trigger in the plan.
• CASL list hygiene. Once a year, check the consent basis of your mailing list. Implied consent from an inquiry lasts 6 months and from a purchase 2 years; remove or re-ask contacts whose implied consent has run out. Confirm unsubscribes are processed within 10 business days.
• Privacy policy. Review it whenever you add a tool, such as a new CRM, ad pixel or call tracking service, and at least once a year. PIPEDA’s openness principle requires your practices to be clear and readily available.
• Accessibility. Ontario’s accessible customer service rules apply to organizations with one or more employees, including training staff and volunteers. If your growth plan takes you to 20 or more employees, you must file an accessibility compliance report every three years, and the current deadline is December 31, 2026. At 50 or more employees, your public website must meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA. Ontario’s page on accessibility rules for businesses sets out the thresholds.
• Consumer contracts. Ontario’s Consumer Protection Act, 2002 remains in effect until the Consumer Protection Act, 2023 is proclaimed. If your plan includes new packages, deposits or online booking, check the current position on Ontario’s business guide to consumer protection before you launch.
• Trademark. If you register your brand name as a trademark, registration lasts 10 years from the registration date and can be renewed. CIPO forecast an examination wait of about 8.2 months for applications filed in October 2026, so a trademark application belongs in the plan well before a rebrand or expansion.

Who reads the plan. If you are seeking a bank loan or working with an accountant, the channels, budget and revenue chain in your marketing plan are exactly what they will want to see alongside your financial statements. Keeping the plan to a few clear pages makes it useful outside the business as well as inside it.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Check the source, your accountant or a lawyer for your situation.

Worksheet

Download the worksheet and complete it for your own business, using Lantern & Lane as the model where it helps. Keep it with your marketing plan. It takes about 10 minutes.

Download the worksheet (PDF)