To succeed, business leaders need to establish clear goals, allocate resources, identify challenges, and set a path for growth. Still, many companies operate without a written plan. So, what plans are vital to organizational success?
A business plan provides the foundation for overall strategy, operations, and long-term sustainability, while a marketing plan lays out the roadmap for customer acquisition, branding, and revenue-driving activities.
While creating business and marketing plans can seem intimidating, the process builds alignment, engagement, and puts everyone on the same page.
What Is a Business Plan?
A business plan outlines how a company operates, generates revenue, and sustains growth. It includes all aspects of your business, even its marketing strategies. Research shows that companies that create a business plan are 30 percent more likely to succeed.
It’s important to understand that a business plan isn’t just for startups. Existing organizations can use business plans to define and redefine their brands, assess priorities, and establish clear guidelines for how they manage their company.
Scope: Covers all business functions, including operations, finance, technology, sales, and marketing.
Key components:
- Executive summary
- Company description
- Market analysis
- Organizational structure
- Product/service line
- Marketing plan
- Sales strategy
- Financial projections
Teams involved:
- Executives and founders
- Finance
- Operations
- Human resources
- Product development
- Information technology
- Sales and marketing
- Customer service
When to use it:
- Starting or expanding a business
- Seeking funding from investors or lenders
- Defining or redefining long-term business goals and strategies
- Restructuring operations, finances, or internal processes
Pro tip: When creating a business plan, start by defining the company’s mission and vision, and expand from there.
What Is a Marketing Plan?
A marketing plan details specific strategies to attract and retain customers. It falls within the overarching umbrella of a business plan.
Scope: Focused solely on marketing and sales efforts.
Purpose: The annual plan defines how to reach the right audience, improve brand awareness, and drive revenue.
Key components:
- Vision and mission statements
- Quantifiable goals
- Strategies (enhance corporate distinction, enhance brand awareness, introduce new products/services, enter new marketplaces, etc.)
- Tactics (bylined articles, blogs, advertising, direct mail, social media, white papers, webinars, etc.)
- Budget allocation
- Schedule
- Assignment of responsibilities
- Success metrics and plan for monitoring and evaluation
Teams involved:
- Marketing
- Sales
- Customer/client services
- Product development
When to use it:
- Setting sales and marketing targets for the next month, quarter, or year
- Streamlining strategy for lead generation, brand awareness, or customer retention
- Launching a new product or service
- Measuring ROI of marketing efforts
Pro tip: Before creating a marketing plan, teams should create or revisit the business plan.
How a Marketing Plan Supports a Business Plan
Jotform made a clear distinction between the two: “While the business plan shapes everything about the way a company works…the marketing plan paints a detailed picture of how marketing can help to achieve the goals laid out by the business plan.”
A marketing plan supports the foundation of a business plan by driving customer acquisition and revenue growth. It provides a tactical roadmap for achieving sales targets, expanding market reach, and strengthening brand positioning. This success is only possible if marketing goals are aligned with business objectives.
When business evolves, should leaders update the marketing plan, business plan, or both? Ignoring one while changing the other can lead to misalignment, wasted resources, and missed opportunities.
Do Businesses Need Both Plans?
B2B companies need a business plan and a marketing plan to thrive. Without a business plan, companies lack a clear long-term direction, making it difficult to secure funding, allocate resources effectively, or scale operations.
On the other hand, without a marketing plan, businesses struggle to execute initiatives that attract and retain customers, leading to missed revenue opportunities. When used together, these plans create a cohesive growth strategy, ensuring that every department aligns with overarching business objectives and that marketing efforts drive measurable success.
Apple’s pivot is an excellent example of how marketing plans help business plans save companies. The tech giant’s business plan was no longer generating significant revenue when Apple launched a new marketing campaign in 1997. The iconic “Think Different” campaign was a part of this effort. Apple’s marketing plan helped drive consumer demand, which in turn supported its broader business plan of growth through innovation. This alignment of marketing and business strategy eventually facilitated Apple’s transition into one of the most profitable companies in the world.
The Dynamic Duo
Every B2B company requires a well-structured business plan and a focused marketing plan. The business plan defines the way the company works and sets the foundation for long-term growth. Meanwhile, the marketing plan is an essential part of the business plan and is designed to ensure that revenue-driving strategies are executed effectively. By understanding when to update each or refine both, leaders can avoid misalignment and optimize resources.
Both documents pave the way for enterprise success, informing decision-making at every step along the way. Whether launching a startup or scaling business, leaders who undertake strategic planning set the foundation for a thriving, profitable operation.
