Originally published in 2010, the template was created with my friends at Bluewire Media, an Australia marketing strategy and training firm. They had been working on a similar strategy template and shared their draft with me. Our ideas were so similar that we collaborated to create this. We have continually updated the template and it is now in the 12th edition.
Since then, in various iterations, it has been downloaded or printed more than a million times. It’s totally free with no registration required.
Most of the implementation challenges that people describe to me involve the shift from focusing on products and services to the more effective approach of focusing on buyer personas and information that helps solve buyers’ problems.
A secondary challenge people share is the shift in emphasis from offline marketing techniques and programs (such as direct mail, trade shows, and advertising) to reaching buyers on the web, via social media, and through chatbots.
For example, if you were to say to me, “I want to start a YouTube channel,” I would point you to the template and have you start asking the following questions:
The marketing strategy planning template is built on the basic principle of understanding buyers and publishing information on the web especially for them drives action.
This approach becomes clear as you look at the diagram page on the strategy template. It points out that when you publish valuable information (videos, blogs, X feeds, e-books, and so on), you are creating the sorts of links that search engine algorithms love. Thus, your content surfaces when buyers are looking for help solving their problems!
It also reminds you that the information people find will drive them to action and help you achieve your goals. Moreover, you can monitor your own effectiveness: You can measure how many people follow you on X, sign up for your email newsletter, or download a white paper. You can also measure how your marketing strategies are helping your organization reach its most important goals, such as new sales and revenue growth.