Most small businesses don’t fail at marketing because they lack a plan. They fail because the plan is too big to use. A 40-page document gets written once and never opened again. A single page you can tape to the wall gets used every week.
Here are the six questions that belong on that page.
- Who exactly are we trying to reach? Describe one ideal customer in two sentences: who they are, what they’re struggling with, and what they’d search for.
- What do we want them to do? Pick one primary action, such as booking a call, requesting a quote, visiting the store, or donating. Everything else supports it.
- What’s our one message? The single sentence you want them to remember. If you can’t say it in one sentence, customers won’t repeat it.
- Where do they already pay attention? Choose two channels at most. For many local businesses that’s Google search plus one social platform or an email newsletter.
- What will we publish, and how often? A realistic rhythm beats an ambitious one. One post a week you actually publish is better than daily posts you abandon in March.
- How will we know it’s working? One or two numbers you check monthly: inquiries, bookings, email signups, or donations. Not likes.
Turn the page into a calendar
Once the six answers are written, block a recurring hour each week to create and schedule content, and fifteen minutes each month to look at your one or two numbers. If a channel isn’t moving the number after three months, swap it for another.
Keep it honest
The plan should be short enough that your whole team knows it and specific enough that you can tell when it isn’t working. Revisit it every quarter. Cross things out. That’s the point of having it on one page.
Want help filling in your one page? Book a free 20-minute call and we’ll tell you honestly what we’d change first.