A marketing plan for a small business answers seven questions: the goal, the audience, the offer, the channels, the budget split, the calendar and what you will measure. The example below is for an invented tailoring shop in Rundu with N$3,000 for one month. It is an example, not a client.
The shop, the name, the offer and every number about its customers in this guide are invented to show how a plan is laid out. No real business or client is described. The budget split uses the same rules as our planner.
The example business
“The Example Tailor” is an invented tailoring shop in Rundu. It makes and alters clothes, and has N$3,000 to spend on marketing in one month. It has a Google profile, a Facebook page and WhatsApp Business already set up, and takes orders by WhatsApp.
1. Goal
40 new WhatsApp enquiries in the month, from people in and around Rundu. We assume about one in four becomes an order, so about ten orders. Both numbers are assumptions to test, not promises.
2. Audience
Adults in Rundu and nearby who need an outfit for a wedding, graduation or work, or need clothes altered. They search on a phone and ask on WhatsApp.
3. Offer
One offer: a free fitting and a written quote by WhatsApp, with the outfit ready in seven days. (Invented.) It goes on every advert, post and sign.
4. Channels
- Free: Google Business Profile, a complete Facebook page, WhatsApp Status three times a week, and a request to past customers for a review.
- Paid: Facebook and Instagram adverts shown around Rundu that open a WhatsApp chat. One paid channel only, because advertising here is under N$3,000 a month and the planner adds a second channel only above that.
5. Budget split
The planner puts a budget of this size at the Test level, 60% advertising and 40% for the plan, the adverts and reporting. These are the figures if the shop used ADA Marketing. A shop doing the work itself would put more into adverts, but not less than about N$50 a day, which is the smallest daily amount we plan on.
| Item | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Facebook and Instagram adverts | N$1,800 (about N$60 a day) | 60% |
| Plan, three adverts, running them and reporting | N$1,200 | 40% |
| Free channels | N$0 | Your time |
| Total | N$3,000 | 100% |
Published figures suggest the advertising should bring roughly 120 to 620 clicks over the month. That is an estimate, not a promise. How it is worked out.
6. Calendar for four weeks
| Week | Do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Take photos of six finished outfits. Add them to the WhatsApp catalogue with prices. Write the quick replies. Make three adverts. Launch at the end of the week. |
| 2 | The three adverts run side by side. Post on Status three times. Switch off the weakest advert. |
| 3 | Put the money behind the best advert. Ask ten past customers for a review. Reply to every message within the hour. |
| 4 | Keep the best advert going. Remind people about the offer's deadline on Status. Count the enquiries. |
7. What to measure
- Enquiries by source, from the tally sheet: advert, Status, Google, a friend.
- Cost per enquiry: N$1,800 divided by the enquiries from adverts.
- Orders from those enquiries, and what each order was worth.
- Reply time to the first message.
At the end of the month, decide: continue, change one thing, or stop. How to read the report.
A template you can copy
- Goal: how many enquiries, by when.
- Audience: who, where, and how they ask.
- Offer: one, with a starting price.
- Channels: the free ones first, then one paid.
- Budget: advertising, work, and the daily amount.
- Calendar: four weeks, one job each.
- Measure: enquiries, cost per enquiry, orders, reply time.
To make your own, put your budget into the planner and replace the example numbers. How to choose a budget.