Marketing strategy template with a worked example

Marketing strategy template

A marketing strategy names the customers a business most wants to win, how it wants to be understood by them, and where the budget goes to turn that attention into revenue. It is owned by the chief marketing officer and agreed with the chief executive, sales, product and finance.

Horizon: 1 year4 priorities · 10 outcomes

Use this template

What this marketing strategy template includes

ContextThe situation, the challenges to solve, and what is deliberately left out.
Target audienceThe segments marketing will focus on and what each one needs.
Positioning and messagingHow the brand should be understood and the proof behind it.
Channel mixThe role of each channel and the share of budget it receives.
BudgetHow the annual marketing budget is divided.
Priorities and measuresThree to five priorities, each with an owner, outcomes with a baseline and target, and the initiatives behind them.

Marketing strategy example

A complete marketing strategy for a fictional organization: accounting and job costing software company serving small construction firms.

Worked exampleMarketing strategy

Organization	Accounting and job costing software company serving small construction firms (220 staff)
Ambition	Become the accounting system that trade contractors with 10 to 50 employees choose when they outgrow general small business software, with accountants as our main source of new customers.
Horizon	1 year

Context

Where we are and what we are choosing

Annual recurring revenue is $32 million from 6,400 contractors, up 14% in a year. We added 1,150 customers, but 62% of them have fewer than 10 employees, and those firms cancel at 24% a year against 7% for firms with 10 to 50 employees. Paid search takes 52% of the $2.4 million program budget. Its cost per qualified demo has risen from $310 to $540 in two years as general accounting vendors bid on construction terms. Accountants and bookkeepers already refer 22% of new customers with almost no support from marketing.

Challenges

Most new customers are owner-operators who buy on price, use invoicing only and cancel within two years, so acquisition spend is refilling a leaking segment.
The website sells "accounting for contractors", which is what every general vendor now says. Job costing, progress billing and retainage, the reasons larger firms switch, are three clicks deep.
One channel carries the plan. When paid search costs rise, the only response available today is to spend more.

We will focus on

Trade contractors with 10 to 50 employees: electrical, plumbing, mechanical and concrete firms that run several jobs at once and bill in stages.
Construction-focused accountants and bookkeepers, who are asked for a software recommendation at the moment a client outgrows its current system.
One message: know which jobs make money before they close.

We will not

Campaigns aimed at owner-operators with fewer than 5 employees, even though they supply most of today's trial volume and keep the top-line lead count high.
A booth at the national construction expo. The $180,000 it costs funds a presence at 12 state trade association chapters where our segment turns up.
Moving up to general contractors above $50 million in revenue, who need estimating and project management we do not sell.

Target audience

Segment	Who they are	What they need	Priority
Specialty trade contractors	Electrical, plumbing, mechanical and concrete firms with 10 to 50 employees and 8 to 40 open jobs	Margin by job each week, progress billing with retainage, certified payroll	Primary
Small general contractors	Residential and light commercial builders with $3 million to $20 million in revenue	Subcontractor payments, change order tracking, a work-in-progress report for the bonding agent	Secondary
Construction accountants and bookkeepers	Firms with 5 or more contractor clients; 410 are in the partner program	One system across clients, clean month-end close, a reason to recommend us	Primary, as referrers
Owner-operators	Sole traders and crews of fewer than 5	Simple invoicing and expense capture at the lowest price	Not targeted; self-serve only

Positioning and messaging

Positioning statement	For trade contractors with 10 to 50 employees who have outgrown general small business accounting, we are the accounting system built around the job instead of the ledger. Job costing, progress billing and retainage sit in one place, so the owner knows which jobs are making money while there is still time to act.
Key messages	Know your margin on every job each week, not at year end. Bill in stages and track retainage without a spreadsheet. Hand your bonding agent a work-in-progress report in minutes. Run certified payroll from the same timesheets that feed job costs.
Proof points	Customers with 10 to 50 employees produce a work-in-progress schedule in under 10 minutes. The median customer cut time from work completed to invoice sent from 9 days to 3. Among firms of that size, 93% renew each year. 410 accounting firms recommend the product to their contractor clients.

Channel mix

Channel	Role	Budget share	Main metric
Paid search	Capture contractors searching for job costing, progress billing and retainage software	30%	Cost per qualified demo
Accountant partner program	Earn referrals when a client outgrows its current system	22%	Referred new customers per quarter
Content and organic search	Rank for job costing and billing questions; supply partners with material	14%	Organic and direct demo requests
Trade associations and regional events	Meet owners and controllers face to face in 12 state chapters	14%	Qualified demos booked per event
Customer marketing and referrals	Drive job costing adoption, reviews and contractor-to-contractor referrals	8%	First-year cancellations
Paid social and retargeting	Stay in front of demo no-shows and partner firm staff	6%	Demo show rate
Lifecycle email	Nurture leads through a buying cycle that follows the fiscal year end	6%	Lead-to-demo rate

Budget

Category	Amount	Share
Paid media (search, social, retargeting)	$864,000	36%
Accountant partner program	$528,000	22%
Content and organic search	$336,000	14%
Trade associations and events	$336,000	14%
Customer marketing and referral rewards	$192,000	8%
Lifecycle email and marketing tools	$144,000	6%

Priorities and measures

Priority 1Owner: Chief Marketing Officer

Win the contractor with 10 to 50 employees

These firms pay more, use job costing and renew at 93%, yet they are only 38% of new customers. Everything from the home page to demo qualification needs to be rebuilt around them.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
New customers with 10 to 50 employees	38%	60%	Q4 2027
Qualified demos per month from firms with 10 to 50 employees	140 demos	240 demos	Q4 2027
Average first-year contract value of new customers	$4,600	$5,600	Q4 2027

Initiatives

Rewrite the home page, pricing page and demo script around job costing, progress billing and retainage
Add employee count and open jobs to the demo form and route firms under 5 employees to self-serve signup
Publish 10 customer stories from trade contractors, each with margin and days-to-invoice figures
Sponsor and speak at 12 state trade association chapters instead of the national expo

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Priority 2Owner: Partner Marketing Manager

Make accountants our best referral source

Accountants refer 250 customers a year while only 95 of 410 partner firms are active. Referred customers are larger and are set up correctly from the first month.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
New customers referred by accounting partners per quarter	62 customers	130 customers	Q4 2027
Partner firms with a referral in the last 12 months	95 firms	220 firms	Q4 2027

Initiatives

Launch a certification in construction job costing that earns continuing education credit
Give each partner firm a client review dashboard and a named partner manager above 10 clients
Run a quarterly webinar for partners on work-in-progress reporting and year-end close
Pay referral rewards as a discount on the client's first year instead of a fee to the accountant

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Priority 3Owner: Demand Generation Lead

Reduce what we pay for a paid search demo

Cost per qualified demo is up 74% in two years and more than half the budget depends on it. Narrowing paid search to high-intent terms frees the money for partners, content and events.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
Cost per qualified demo from paid search	$540	$400	Q3 2027
Program budget spent on paid search	52%	30%	Q2 2027
Organic and direct demo requests per month	85 requests	150 requests	Q4 2027

Initiatives

Pause broad "contractor accounting" terms and add negative keywords for invoicing apps, free tools and sole traders
Build landing pages for job costing, progress billing, retainage and certified payroll searches
Publish a job costing guide and a work-in-progress schedule template for each of the four main trades

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Priority 4Owner: Customer Marketing Manager

Keep new customers through their first year end

Customers who set up job costing in the first 60 days rarely leave. Today only 54% set it up in that time, and 18% of new customers cancel within 12 months.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
New customers who cancel within 12 months	18%	13%	Q4 2027
New customers with job costing set up within 60 days	54%	75%	Q3 2027

Initiatives

Replace the generic welcome emails with a 60-day sequence built around the first job, the first progress bill and the first payroll run
Offer a guided setup session with a construction bookkeeper to every new customer above 10 employees
Ask for a review and a referral after the customer's first completed work-in-progress report

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Blank marketing strategy template

The same structure with a prompt in every field. Copy it, or download it as a Word or Excel file.

Your planMarketing strategy

Organization	[Describe your organization in a few words, with its size]
Ambition	[One sentence on where you want to be at the end of the plan]
Horizon	[How long the plan runs, for example 12 months]

Context

Where we are and what we are choosing

[Where things stand today: the facts that make this strategy necessary]

Challenges

[A problem the strategy has to solve]
[A problem the strategy has to solve]

We will focus on

[Something you are choosing to concentrate on]
[Something you are choosing to concentrate on]

We will not

[Something you are deliberately leaving out]
[Something you are deliberately leaving out]

Target audience

Segment	Who they are	What they need	Priority
[Segment]	[Who they are]	[What they need]	[Priority]
[Segment]	[Who they are]	[What they need]	[Priority]
[Segment]	[Who they are]	[What they need]	[Priority]

Positioning and messaging

Positioning statement	[Your positioning statement]
Key messages	[Your key messages]
Proof points	[Your proof points]

Channel mix

Channel	Role	Budget share	Main metric
[Channel]	[Role]	[Budget share]	[Main metric]
[Channel]	[Role]	[Budget share]	[Main metric]
[Channel]	[Role]	[Budget share]	[Main metric]

Budget

Category	Amount	Share
[Category]	[Amount]	[Share]
[Category]	[Amount]	[Share]
[Category]	[Amount]	[Share]

Priorities and measures

Priority 1Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

Priority 2Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

Priority 3Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

Priority 4Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

How to adapt it

01
Split last year's new customers by size or type and compare what each group pays and how long it stays. The segment to target is the one with the best retention, not the one that produces the most leads.
02
Write the positioning statement for that one segment and test it on five customers. If they would not repeat it to a peer, rewrite it.
03
Give every channel a single job and a single metric. If two channels have the same job, fund the cheaper one.
04
Make the budget shares add up to 100% and state what is excluded, such as salaries. A budget that hides the trade-off is not a strategy.
05
Name the segment and the channel you are walking away from, and tell sales before the lead count drops.
06
Record baselines from your own CRM and billing system before setting targets.

How to run it

A plan only works if it is reviewed on a rhythm. This is the cadence the example assumes.

Check-in	Outcome owners update progress and confidence weekly.
Review	Priority owners review outcomes and unblock initiatives monthly.
Reset	Leadership revisits priorities and targets quarterly.

Tability keeps this cadence for you. Each priority becomes an objective, each outcome a key result with its baseline and target, and each initiative a tracked task. Owners get a check-in reminder and the plan shows what is on track.

Track this plan in Tability

Still comparing tools? See the 10 best strategy software tools.

Common mistakes

Targeting every segment that has ever bought. The segments that are cheap to acquire are often the ones that leave first.
Reporting lead volume to the board while the mix of leads gets worse.
Treating the channel mix as fixed. If one channel's cost has risen by half, the mix needs to change, not the bid.
Writing positioning that a competitor could put on its own home page without changing a word.

Questions, answered.

What should a marketing strategy template include?

It should include the target segments in priority order, a positioning statement with key messages and proof points, the channel mix with the role and budget share of each channel, and the annual budget split. Add three to five priorities with measurable outcomes so the strategy can be reviewed against results each month.

What is the difference between a marketing strategy and a marketing plan?

A marketing strategy decides who to target, how to position the business and where to concentrate budget. A marketing plan is the schedule of campaigns, launches and deadlines that carries those decisions out. The strategy should hold for a year. The plan is usually rebuilt every quarter as results come in.

How much should a B2B software company spend on marketing?

There is no single right figure: it depends on the growth target, deal size and how much of the selling marketing is expected to do. In this example the company spends $2.4 million on programs, about 7.5% of its $32 million in recurring revenue, with the team's salaries on top. Work back from the pipeline the plan requires and what it costs to produce, then check the total against what finance can fund.

How many target segments should a marketing strategy have?

One primary segment and one or two secondary ones is enough for most businesses. Each additional segment needs its own messages, proof and channels, which divides the budget. It also helps to name a segment you will not target, so sales and marketing agree on which leads to stop chasing.

How do you decide the channel mix?

Start from where the target segment looks for advice and who it trusts, then give each channel one job and a share of budget. Compare cost per qualified opportunity across channels, not cost per lead. Cap any single channel at a share you could afford to lose, and move money each quarter based on the results.

Marketing strategy template

Get the Word file

What this marketing strategy template includes

Marketing strategy example

Context

Target audience

Positioning and messaging

Channel mix

Budget

Win the contractor with 10 to 50 employees

Make accountants our best referral source

Reduce what we pay for a paid search demo

Keep new customers through their first year end

Blank marketing strategy template

Context

Target audience

Positioning and messaging

Channel mix

Budget

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

Get the Word file

How to adapt it

How to run it

Common mistakes

Questions, answered.

What this marketing strategy template includes

Marketing strategy example

Win the contractor with 10 to 50 employees

Make accountants our best referral source

Reduce what we pay for a paid search demo

Keep new customers through their first year end

Blank marketing strategy template

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

How to adapt it

How to run it

Common mistakes

Questions, answered.

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