Step 1: Know Your Client Inside and Out
The first step in building a marketing strategy is to understand the client deeply - their business mission, vision, goals, and, most importantly, their target audience. Understanding the core purpose behind any business is foundational for any effective strategy. Just as in financial planning, where clear goals shape every decision, the “why” behind a business’s marketing is key to creating something that works and resonates.
This is the thought process we use when creating a strategy for our own clients, but it translates to your business’s strategy too! If you know your ideal client (or target audience) inside and out, you understand their mission, vision, and goals, it will be much easier to create a marketing plan that caters to them and draws them toward your business. To learn more about how to identify your ideal client, check out our blog!
Step 2: Setting Clear, Measurable Goals
Once you have a clear understanding of your client’s purpose, the next step is to define specific marketing goals. Whether it’s a long-term growth plan or a short-term campaign, these goals will act as a roadmap. In our interview, Daveed shared how he uses a similar approach in financial consulting to set realistic goals, giving his clients a clear path forward. This alignment of purpose and goals is crucial in both marketing and financial planning for achieving meaningful, sustainable results. And no, goal-setting does not end at “growing my business.” Turn that fake goal into a real one like, “increasing my sales by 25%.” Learn how to make your business 10 times more likely to succeed with our blog.
Step 3: Budgeting Wisely - Make an Impact Without Overstretching
Daveed and I both believe that budget planning should be realistic but impactful. I typically suggest allocating around 10% of revenue to marketing, depending on the client’s needs and goals. Budgeting helps ensure that resources are well spent, creating a strong foundation for growth.
Step 4: Choosing Marketing Activities - Digital Meets Personal
When it comes to choosing the right activities, I always recommend using a balanced mix of digital and in-person marketing. Social media, Google Ads, and email marketing can be incredibly useful, but networking and face-to-face interactions build personal connections that are crucial for small businesses. Daveed and I talked about how similar this is to building client relationships in finance, where trust is often established in person. For any business, this balance helps create a strong presence online and offline.
Step 5: Prioritizing High-Impact Channels
Prioritizing the right marketing channels is key, and it’s one of the areas where businesses can sometimes go astray. Together, Daveed and I discussed how it’s important to focus on high-impact platforms. Not every business benefits from being on every social platform, after all! Instead, we recommend choosing channels that make sense for your target audience, which may or may not include any social media platform. In Daveed’s world, this would be like selecting the right tax deductions - targeting efforts where they’ll yield the best return.
Step 6: Scheduling for Consistency
Consistency is vital in marketing, and scheduling each task on a calendar helps keep the plan on track. Without a clear schedule, even the best strategy can fall apart. Consistency is also important as it builds authenticity, which is a crucial part of every marketing plan. Daveed and I agreed that having a solid timeline in place is as important in marketing as it is in financial planning. Organizing a schedule for marketing tasks, just as one would for tax deadlines, can make all the difference in building long-term success.
Step 7: Delegation - Knowing When to Seek Support
Finally, we discussed the importance of delegating tasks, whether to internal team members or to external experts. Sometimes, business owners try to handle it all, but having specialized support can elevate your strategy. Daveed and I both emphasized that outsourcing specific tasks can be a game-changer. Just as business owners turn to tax professionals for complex financial issues, enlisting marketing experts can take your marketing plan from good to exceptional. Check out our blog to learn more about why it’s important to trust professionals with any of your small business tasks, even outside of taxes or marketing.
Blending High-Tech with High-Touch Marketing
One of the most valuable insights from our conversation was the importance of combining high-tech digital marketing with high-touch personal interactions. This balance allows businesses to reach a broad audience while building authenticity. In today’s world, this combination is especially important with younger audiences, who value authenticity and personal engagement above all else.
Daveed and I both believe that a thoughtful, balanced approach - grounded in clear purpose, goals, and budgeting - leads to a marketing strategy that drives real, long-term results. Our conversation was filled with practical takeaways, and I hope it provides guidance for anyone looking to craft an effective marketing plan. If you’d like to hear more from Daveed, including tips and insights that may help you with the financial side of your small business, check out his blog at www.anviltax.com! And for more information about how to build your own small business marketing plan, take a look at the rest of our blogs here.
