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Business Plan Section 5: Market Analysis
Find out the 9 components to include in the market analysis portion of your business plan, plus 6 sources for market analysis information.
This is the part of your business plan where you really get to shine and show off that awesome idea you have. Of course, your product or service is the best! Now, let’s talk about how you know it’s a hit. Be prepared to show you know your market AND that it’s big enough for you to build a sustainable, successful business .
In writing up your market analysis, you’ll get to demonstrate the knowledge you’ve gained about the industry, the target market you’re planning to sell to, your competition, and how you plan to make yourself stand out.
A market analysis is just that: a look at what the relevant business environment is and where you fit in. It should give a potential lender, investor, or employee no doubt that there is a solid niche for what you’re offering, and you are definitely the person to fill it. It’s both quantitative, spelling out sales projections and other pertinent figures, and qualitative, giving a thoughtful overview of how you fit in with the competition. It needs to look into the potential size of the market, the possible customers you’ll target, and what kind of difficulties you might face as you try to become successful. Let’s break down how to do that.
What Goes Into A Business Plan Market Analysis?
Industry description and outlook.
Describe the industry with enough background so that someone who isn’t familiar with it can understand what it’s like, what the challenges are, and what the outlook is. Talk about its size, how it’s growing, and what the outlook is for the future.
Target Market
Who have you identified as your ideal client or customer ? Include demographic information on the group you’re targeting, including age, gender and income level. This is the place to talk about the size of your potential market, how much it might spend, and how you’ll reach potential customers. For example, if women aged 18 to 54 are your target market, you need to know how many of them there are in your market. Are there 500 or 500,000? It’s imperative to know. Similarly, if your product or service is geared toward a high-end clientele, you need to make sure you’re located in an area that can support it.
Market Need
What factors influence the need for your product or service? Did the need exist before or are you trying to create it? Why will customers want to do business with you, possibly choosing you over someone else? This is where you can briefly introduce the competitive edge you have, although you’ll get into that in more depth in following sections. Focus on how the product or service you’re offering satisfies what’s needed in the market.
Market Growth
While no one can predict the future, it’s important to get a possible idea of what business may be like down the road and make sales projections. Have the number of people in your target market been increasing or decreasing over the last several years? By how much per year? To make an intelligent forecast, you have to start with current conditions, then project changes over the next three to five years.
Market Trends
You need to take a look at trends the same way you look at population and demographics. Is there a shift to more natural or organic ingredients that might impact your business? How might energy prices figure in? The easy availability of the internet and smartphone technology? The questions will be different for every type of business, but it’s important to think about the types of changes that could affect your specific market. In this section, you can cite experts from the research you’ve done-a market expert, market research firm, trade association, or credible journalist.
Market Research Testing
Talk about what kind of testing and information gathering you’ve done to figure out where you stand in the market. Who have you spoken to about the viability of your product? Why are you confident of its success? Again, if you can, cite experts to back up your information.
Competitive Analysis
There’s no way to succeed unless you’ve examined your competition. It might be helpful to try analyzing your position in the market by performing a SWOT analysis. You need to figure out their strengths and the weaknesses you can exploit as you work to build your own business. You do need to be brutally honest here, and also look at what the potential roadblocks are-anything that might potentially stand in your way as you try to meet your goals and grow your business.
Barriers to Entry
Lenders and investors need to have a reasonable assurance they’ll be paid back, so they’ll want to know what would stop someone else from swooping in, doing what you do, and grabbing half the available business. Do you have technical knowledge that’s difficult to get? A specialized product no one else can manufacture? A service that takes years to perfect? It’s possible your industry has strict regulations and licensing requirements. All of these help protect you from new competition, and they’re all selling points for you.
Regulations
As we touched on above, you should cover regulations as a barrier to entry. If your field is covered by regulations, you do need to talk about how they apply to your business and how you’ll comply with them.
Six Sources for Market Analysis Information
The Market Analysis section of your business plan is far more than a theoretical exercise. Doing an analysis of the market really gives YOU the information you need to figure out whether your plans are viable, and tweak them in the early stages before you go wrong.
So, where do you start? Research is the key here, and there are several sources available.
1. The Internet
Some of the first information you need is about population and demographics: who your potential customers are, how many there are, and where they live or work. The U.S. Census Bureau has an impressive amount of these statistics available. USA.gov’s small business site is another good source for links to the U.S. Departments of Labor and Commerce, among others.
2. Local Chamber of Commerce
A lot of local information can be gotten from the chamber of commerce in the area where you plan to operate. Often, they can provide details into what the general business climate is like, and get even more specific about how many and what type of businesses are operating in their jurisdiction.
3. Other Resources
When actual statistical information isn’t available, you’ll often be able to put together a good picture of the market from a variety of other sources. Real estate agents can be a source of information on demographics and population trends in an area. Catalogs and marketing materials from your competition are useful. Many industry associations have a great amount of relevant information to use in putting your analysis together. Trade publications and annual reports from public corporations in your industry also contain a wealth of relevant information.
4. Customer Mindset
Take yourself out of the equation as the owner and stand in your customer’s shoes when you look at the business. As a customer, what problems do you have that need to be solved? What would you like to be able to do better, faster, or cheaper that you can’t do now? How does the competition work to solve those issues? How could this business solve them better?
5. the Competition
If you have a clothing store, visit others in your area. If you’d like to open a pizzeria, try pies from surrounding restaurants. If you’re a salon owner, park across the street and see what the store traffic is like and how customers look when they come out. Check out websites for pricing and other marketing information. Follow their Facebook pages. If you can’t be a customer of the competition, ask your customers and suppliers about them. Always be aware of what’s going on in the market.
6. Traditional Market Research
While you can gather a lot of data online, your best information will come from potential customers themselves. Send out surveys, ask for input and feedback, and conduct focus groups. You can do this yourself or hire a market research firm to do it for you.
What to Do With All That Data
Now that you’ve gathered the statistics and information and you’ve done the math to know there’s a need and customer base for your product or service, you have to show it off to your best advantage. You can start the market analysis section with a simple summary that describes your target customers and explains why you have chosen this as your market. You can also summarize how you see the market growing, and highlight one or two projections for the future.
If your information is dense with numbers and statistics, someone who reads your business plan will probably find it easier to understand if you present it as a chart or graph. You can generate them fairly easily with tools built into Google docs and free infographic apps and software .
Don’t assume that your readers have an understanding of your market, but don’t belabor simple points, either. You want to include pertinent, important information, but you don’t want to drown the reader in facts. Be concise and compelling with the market analysis, and remember that a good graphic can cover a lot of text, and help you make your point. It’s great to say you project sales to increase by 250% over the next five years, but it makes an even bigger wow when you show it in a graphic.
Always relate the data back to your business. Statistics about the market don’t mean much unless you describe how and where you fit in. As you talk about the needs of your target market, remember to focus on how you are uniquely positioned to fill them.
Don’t hesitate to break down your target market into smaller segments, especially if each is likely to respond to a different message about your product or service. You may have one market that consists of homes and another of small businesses. Perhaps you sell to both wholesale and retail customers. Talk about this in the market analysis, and describe briefly how you’ll approach each. (You will have more of an opportunity to do this in detail later in the plan.) Segmentation can help you target specific messages to specific areas, focusing in on the existing needs and how you fill them.
Remember to tailor your information to the purpose at hand. If your business plan is for internal use, you may not have to go into as much detail about the market since you and your team may already know it well. Remember, however, that the very act of doing the research may help you learn things you didn’t know, so don’t skimp on doing the work. This is a great opportunity to get information from outside that might affect your business.
It’s not about your ability to do professional-level market research; a plan intended for a bank or other lender needs to show your understanding of where your business fits into the grand scheme of things. Yes, you need to detail the information, but your main goal is to show how you’ve incorporated that knowledge into making solid decisions about the direction of your company. Use this section of your business plan to explain your understanding of your industry, your market and your individual business so that lenders and investors feel comfortable with your possibility for success.
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Marketing Plan
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What is a Marketing Plan?
A marketing plan is a document that lays out the marketing efforts of a business in an upcoming period, which is usually a year. It outlines the marketing strategy, promotional, and advertising activities planned for the period.
Elements of a Marketing Plan
A marketing plan will typically include the following elements:
Marketing objectives of the business : The objectives should be attainable and measurable – two goals associated with SMART, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
Current business marketing positioning : An analysis of the current state of the organization concerning its marketing positioning.
Market research : Detailed research about current market trends, customer needs, industry sales volumes, and expected direction.
Outline of the business target market : Business target market demographics.
Marketing activities : A list of any actions concerning marketing goals that are scheduled for the period and the indicated timelines.
Key performance indicators (KPIs) to be tracked
Marketing mix : A combination of factors that may influence customers to purchase products. It should be appropriate for the organization and will largely be centered on the 4Ps of marketing – i.e., product, price, promotion, and place.
Competition : Identify the organization’s competitors and their strategies, along with ways to counter competition and gain market share .
Marketing strategies : The development of marketing strategies to be employed in the coming period. These strategies will include promotional strategies, advertising, and other marketing tools at the disposal of the organization.
Marketing budget : A detailed outline of the organization’s allocation of financial resources to marketing activities. The activities will need to be carried out within the marketing budget .
Monitoring and performance mechanism : A plan should be in place to identify if the marketing tools in place are bearing fruit or need to be revised based on the past, current, and expected future state of the organization, industry, and the overall business environment.
A marketing plan should observe the 80:20 rule – i.e., for maximum impact, it should focus on the 20% of products and services that account for 80% of volumes and the 20% of customers that bring in 80% of revenue.
Purpose of a Marketing Plan
The purpose of a marketing plan includes the following:
To clearly define the marketing objectives of the business that align with the corporate mission and vision of the organization. The marketing objectives indicate where the organization wishes to be at any specific period in the future.
The marketing plan usually assists in the growth of the business by stating appropriate marketing strategies, such as plans for increasing the customer base.
State and review the marketing mix in terms of the 8Ps of marketing – Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, Physical Evidence, and Performance.
Strategies to increase market share, enter new niche markets, and increase brand awareness are also encompassed within the marketing plan.
The marketing plan will contain a detailed budget for the funds and resources required to carry out activities indicated in the marketing plan.
The assignment of tasks and responsibilities of marketing activities is well enunciated in the marketing plan.
The identification of business opportunities and any strategies crafted to exploit them is important.
A marketing plan fosters the review and analysis of the marketing environment, which entails market research, customer needs assessment, competitor analysis, PEST analysis , studying new business trends, and continuous environmental scanning.
A marketing plan integrates business functions to operate with consistency – notably sales, production, finance, human resources, and marketing.
Structure of a Marketing Plan
The structure of a marketing plan can include the following sections:
Marketing Plan Objectives
This section outlines the expected outcome of the marketing plan with clear, concise, realistic, and attainable objectives. It contains specific targets and time frames.
Metrics, such as target market share, the target number of customers to be attained, penetration rate, usage rate, sales volumes targeted, etc. should be used.
Market Research – Market Analysis/Consumer Analysis
Market analysis includes topics such as market definition, market size, industry structure, market share and trends, and competitor analysis. Consumer analysis includes the target market demographics and what influences their buying decisions – e.g., loyalty, motivation, and expectations.
Target Market
This defines the target customers by their demographic profile, such as gender, race, age, and psychographic profile, such as their interests. This will assist in the correct marketing mix for the target market segments.
SWOT Analysis
A SWOT analysis will look at the organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis includes the following:
Strengths are the organization’s competitive advantages that are not easily duplicated. They represent the skills, expertise, and efficiencies that an organization possesses over its competitors.
Weaknesses are impediments found in the operations of an organization, and they stifle growth. These can include outdated machinery, inadequate working capital, and inefficient production methods.
Opportunities are prospects for growth in the business through the adoption of ways to take advantage of the chances. They could include entry into new markets, adopting digital marketing strategies, or following new trends.
Threats are external factors that can affect the business negatively, such as a new powerful competitor, legislative changes, natural disasters, or political situations.
Marketing Strategy
The marketing strategy section covers actual strategies to be included according to the marketing mix. The strategy centers on the 8Ps of marketing. However, firms are also at liberty to use the traditional 4 P’s of marketing – product, price, place, and promotion. The 8 P’s are illustrated below.
The correct marketing mix is determined by the target market. The most expensive options are advertising, sales promotions, and PR campaigns. Networking and referrals are less costly.
Marketers also need to pay attention to digital marketing strategies that make use of technology to reach a wider market and have also proven to be cost-effective.
Digital marketing channels, which became popular in the early 21 st century, may eventually overtake traditional marketing methods. Digital marketing encompasses trending methods, such as the use of social media for business.
Other strategies within the marketing strategy include pricing and positioning strategy, distribution strategy, conversion strategy, and retention strategy.
Marketing Budget
The marketing budget or projection outlines the budgeted expenditure for the marketing activities documented in the marketing plan. The marketing budget consists of revenues and costs stated in the marketing plan in one document.
It balances expenditures on marketing activities and what the organization can afford. It’s a financial plan of marketing activities to be carried out – e.g., promotional activities, cost of marketing materials and advertising, and so on. Other considerations include expected product volume and price, production and delivery costs, and operating and financing costs.
The effectiveness of the marketing plan depends on the budget allocated for marketing expenditure. The cost of marketing should be able to make the company break even and make profits.
Performance Analysis
Performance analysis aims to look at the variances of metrics or components documented in the marketing plan. These include:
Revenue variance analysis : An analysis of positive or negative variance of revenue. A negative variance is worrisome, and reasons should be available to explain the cause of deviations.
Market share analysis : An analysis of whether the organization attained its target market share. Sales may be increasing whilst the organization’s share of the market is decreasing; hence, it is paramount to track this metric.
Expense analysis : An analysis of marketing expense to sales ratio . This ratio needs to be compared to industry standards to make informed comparisons.
The ratio enables the organization to track actual expenditures versus the budget. It is also compared to other metrics, such as revenue analysis and market share analysis. It can be dissected into individual expenditures to sales to get a clearer picture.
Administration of a Marketing Plan
The marketing plan should be revised and adapted to changes in the environment periodically. The use of metrics, budgets, and schedules to measure progress towards the goals set in the marketing plan is a continuous process by marketing personnel.
There should be a continuous assessment to verify that the goals of the marketing plan are being achieved. The marketing manager should be able to review if the strategies documented are being effective, given the operating environment.
It is irrational for the marketing manager to notice anomalies and wait to review at year-end when the situation might have already deteriorated.
Changes in the environment may necessitate a review of plans, projections, strategies, and targets. Therefore, a formal periodical review – such as monthly or quarterly – may need to be in place. This may mean preparing an annual marketing plan but reviewing the plan quarterly to keep targets and plans aligned closely to environmental changes. It goes without saying that plans are as good as their feasibility to succeed in the given environment.
More Resources
Thank you for reading CFI’s guide to Marketing Plan. To keep learning and advancing your career, the additional CFI resources below will be useful:
4 P’s of Marketing
Market Research
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
Competitive Advantage
See all management & strategy resources
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Market Analysis Business Plan
At first, you may think that a market analysis business plan is complex and formal. However, if you are already aware of the basics of its development and execution, then you can easily understand how easy it is to create this document.
10+ Retail SWOT Analysis Examples
8+ Executive Summary Marketing Plan Examples
Market analysis can be done in an efficient manner as long as you have all the firsthand details that you need, the equipment and tools that can help you within the entire market analysis, and the knowledge about the proper integration of analysis processes and results to your business plan.
Do not feel dissuaded in creating a market analysis business plan just because you think it is a critical document that you cannot create on your own or from scratch. If you are already planning to execute the steps that will help you draft a marketing analysis for your business, there are actually guidelines that will allow you to be more prepared in developing the document.
Do not worry on how to find these guides and other help that you need as we got you covered. Make sure to download the examples of market analysis business plans available in this post for references.
Market Analysis and Business Development Strategy Planning Example
Business Plan Template with Marketing Analysis Example
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What Makes a Market Analysis Business Plan an Important Part of Your General Business Plan?
It is already evident that customers play a vital role when it comes to the successes of the business. Hence, it is of utmost importance for you to continuously provide what they need and meet their expectations as well. However, this will not be possible if you do not know anything about them. This is where the benefits of planning, developing, and implementing a marketing analysis business plan come in. You may also see marketing plan examples .
A comparative market analysis , or any other kinds of market analysis business plan for this matter, is an essential process and document that will help you achieve efficiency and sustainability within the implementation of your marketing efforts, operational action plans, and business development strategies .
Listed below are a few of the reasons why it is recommended for you to include a market analysis business plan in your general business plan are as follows:
1. A market analysis business plan can help provide a thorough explanation of the market segmentation that you have considered as well as the focus that you allotted both for your current market and potential sales leads. With this, you can be more aware of the threats and opportunities that you can face in the future through a valuable market forecast. You may also like marketing strategy plan examples .
2. A market analysis business plan presents the needs, demands, and expectations of your target market. This helps a lot in terms of providing information that will guide you in the development of action plans that can meet the requirements for business sustainability and market relevance.
3. A market analysis business plan can showcase a more in-depth description of your audience. With the help of this document, you can specifically point out your target market, their locations, the things that are relevant and beneficial to their daily activities, and the factors that can affect their purchasing or buying decisions. You might be interested in define marketing plan and its purpose ?
4. A market analysis business plan can show not only the reaction of the market to your offers but also to those coming from the competitors. With this, you can analyze the difference of your products, services, and offers from that of your competition. This can help you a lot when there is a need to plot new market strategies, which can effectively get the attention and trust of your desired audience. You may also see business marketing plan examples .
Business Plan: Market Research and Analysis Example
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Supply Market Analyis and Business Plan Example
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How to Develop an Impressive Market Analysis Business Plan
Are you aware of what a market analysis – demand and supply is? Simply put, it presents the concept that there should be balance with regards the demands of the market and the supply that you provide them with. It is essential for you to know the market that you are catering to so you can successfully use your resources and present your offers. This can result to the improvement of your marketplace standing and operational efficiency.
Developing a market analysis business plan can be very helpful as this document can make it easier and faster for you to organize the call-to-actions that you need to execute and the tactics that you need to incorporate in your efforts and movements to achieve maximum results. You may also see strategic marketing plan examples .
Some of the guidelines that you can follow if you want to develop an impressive market analysis business plan include the following:
1. Know the market segments that you have a hold of and define the kinds or types of customers that are present in each segment. It is essential for you to know the groupings of your target customers so that you can point out the specific key factors that can affect their decisions when buying an item or acquiring services. You always have to be reminded that different market segments have different qualities and characteristics. You may also like apartment marketing plan examples .
Hence, there is a need for your market analysis business plan to provide particular strategies and tactics.
2. Be aware of the factors that can affect the implementation of your market analysis business plan. This includes the nature of the activities of your market segment, the description of the forces that can affect your competitive advantage, the communication and distribution channels that you will use, and the required simple action plans that you need to execute in a timely manner to achieve your goals and objectives.
3. Know the ways on how you can effectively get information of your market. Aside from surveys and questionnaires , there are still different tools and equipment that you can use to have a hand on the details that you need to analyze to come up with the strategies and general action plans that fit your business operations and marketing efforts.
Marketing Business Plan Example
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Market Analysis to Support Business Planning Example
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Business Plan: Market Research Report for Advanced Product Example
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Elements to Consider When Developing a Market Analysis Business Plan
Not all elements of a comparative market analysis are the same with that of a market analysis business plan. There are also differences when you compare the functions of each elements in both documents. Before you create a market analysis business plan, you have to make sure that you will make yourself knowledgeable of the things that you will work on so that you can achieve your desired final document.
Some of the most important elements that you need to consider if you have already decided to start the processes of developing a market analysis business plan are as follows:
1. Geographical and demographic conditions.
How many of your desired audience are within a particular market segment? Is the location of the marketplace convenient to your business and your operations? You have to know the number of people that you can reach through your marketing efforts as well as the areas in which specific activities are needed to be done. You may also see restaurant marketing plan examples .
In this manner, your market analysis business plan can present whether it is really reasonable to tap the particular market specified in the document.
2. Sales leads and potential customers.
Do not just focus on the current customers who provide you with their purchasing power. You always have to be innovative when creating a market analysis business plan as not all customers will forever be there to execute repeat business. Know how to analyze market segments that can be your next target. Doing this can give you a higher possibility of bigger sales and wider market reach. You may also like event marketing plan examples .
3. Market movement, purchasing power and buying habits.
The financial and sales aspect of the business should be prioritized when making a market analysis business plan. Analyzing a market whose activities does not align to the business offers will only waste your time, efforts, and resources. This is the reason why you first need to have an initial findings about your target or desired audience. With this, you can assess how they match your business operations and needs. You may also check out digital marketing plan examples .
4. Direct competition and their activities.
A market analysis business plan does not only rely on the evaluation and assessment of the consumers, customers, and/or clients. You also have to look into the activities of your direct competitors.
Doing this can help you become more aware on how their processes affect or impact their operations and brand. Hence, you can veer away from activities that can produce negative results and you can also give more focus on the strategies that can provide you with the most benefits. You might be interested in personal marketing plan examples .
Market Research and Analysis for a Business Plan Example
Transmedia Marketing Plan and Analysis for a Business Example
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Market Analysis and Business Plan Example
In Need of Tips for Creating a Market Analysis Business Plan?
Having the best products and/or services is not enough. If you cannot carry out the exact marketing message that you would like to disseminate in the marketplace, then you cannot expect the best returns from your audience. You may also see annual marketing plan examples .
More so, not knowing how you can connect to your audience or how you can incorporate the usage and benefits of your offers to their needs and activities will most likely lessen the potential successes of your business.
Developing a market analysis business plan is very important as it helps you focus on the environment rather than just internal functions and abilities. With this, you can thoroughly align and use your resources based on the expected results and reactions of your market. All the useful tips that can help you create an outstanding market analysis business plan are listed below. You may also like marketing strategy business plan examples .
1. You should have enough knowledge on how to do the market analysis for a business plan . Aside from the discussions and examples in this post, it will be best if you will still research and find resources that will help you understand the full concept of market analysis. The more you know about the development of this document, the easier it will be for you to put together necessary and relevant information.
2. Make sure that you will come up with a concise and well-defined industry description. You have to know the size and growth forecast of the marketplace where your business belongs. In this manner, you can point out the life cycle of market processes as well as the changes in trends that can affect the decision-making processes of your target audience. You may also check out importance of business plan .
3. Focus not only on your desired market size and the characteristics of your target market segment. You also have to look into the competition and other external factors that you cannot control. This can help you be prepared when facing threats and risks from elements that you do not have a hold of. You might be interested in simple marketing plan examples .
4. Present the market analysis business plan accordingly. Use clauses that can group all the discussion areas or parts that are intended to be together. Using proper headings and subheadings is also a great way to make the document more organized and presentable. If you need help in formatting the document, do not hesitate to use market analysis business plan template examples .
Do not skip the evaluation, review, and assessment of your market when making a business plan document. Knowing the quality standards that you incorporate in your operations and offers is one thing. Knowing how the market will react to your marketing message is another. For you to ensure that your practices and activities are relevant, you have to perform market analysis. Try developing your own market analysis business plan now.
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Why you need a marketing plan
Download our marketing plan template.
Having a marketing plan can help you to:
identify your target market and how your product or service can benefit it
identify how you might attract new customers
encourage your existing customers to continue purchasing your product or service
set goals and time frames for your marketing activities
map out a strategy to reach your target audience, including the messages, channels and tools you’ll use
evaluate your marketing activities
provide a marketing budget and see your return on investment.
Our marketing plan template helps you identify who your customers are, how you'll meet their needs and what marketing tactics you might undertake.
Marketing plan template
Our template steps you through the process of developing a succession plan with links to extra information if you need it.
You may want to check our tips below before you start.
1. Analyse your market
Market research can help you to understand your strengths, weaknesses and the opportunities that you can take advantage of. Analysing your own business and your competition can help you identify where you're positioned in the market.
It’s important to analyse your competition to identify their strengths and weaknesses. This can help you refine your marketing strategy and what's unique about your business.
A strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis can help you determine where your business fits within the market and your unique selling point. Use it to help identify what your business is doing well and how you can improve.
Identifying and understanding your customers is an essential part of your marketing plan. Not everyone is your potential buyer, so it’s important to have a clear understanding of your target market early on.
Identify your target market, competitors and potential customers .
2. Set your goals and objectives
Once you're clear about your business and its positioning, you can start thinking about what you want to achieve. Think about your main business goals, whether it's the size of your business, expansion plans or desired sales. Set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound (SMART) goals to increase your chances of success in achieving them.
3. Outline your marketing strategies
Once you’ve set some goals, consider what marketing activity, process or price will help you achieve them.
Try and choose marketing activities that suit your business and your customers. For example, if you want to target young adults, newspaper advertising may not be as effective as a social media campaign.
Choosing multiple activities that complement each other is a good way to help you get your message across. For example, if you're trying to establish a new product in the market, you may choose to advertise on the local radio, as well as setting up social media channels and introducing a low-cost pricing strategy for first-time buyers. When used together, these strategies complement each other and help you reach a broader market.
4. Set your marketing budget
Knowing how much you have to spend on marketing and how to spend it is critical to the success of your business. A marketing budget will ensure you accurately calculate your marketing campaign or advertising.
When developing your marketing budget, make sure you're only spending money on the activities that contribute to your current marketing goals. Advertising and promotion can be expensive. Make sure to pick options that will give you the best value while still reaching your target customers.
5. Keep your marketing plan up-to-date
It's important to evaluate your marketing activities. Analysing your results and being aware of new marketing trends is important to keeping your marketing plan up-to-date and reaching your business goals. You should tweak and change your plan as your business and market grow and change.
Find out the different types of advertising.
Read about business marketing to help position your business within your market., read about product labelling and how to label your products., was this page helpful, thanks for sharing your feedback with us..
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Free Business Plan Template for Small Businesses (2024)
Use this free business plan template to write your business plan quickly and efficiently.
A good business plan is essential to successfully starting your business — and the easiest way to simplify the work of writing a business plan is to start with a business plan template.
You’re already investing time and energy in refining your business model and planning your launch—there’s no need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to writing a business plan. Instead, to help build a complete and effective plan, lean on time-tested structures created by other entrepreneurs and startups.
Ahead, learn what it takes to create a solid business plan and download Shopify's free business plan template to get started on your dream today.
What this free business plan template includes
Executive summary
Company overview
Products or services offered
Market analysis
Marketing plan
Logistics and operations plan
Financial plan
This business plan outline is designed to ensure you’re thinking through all of the important facets of starting a new business. It’s intended to help new business owners and entrepreneurs consider the full scope of running a business and identify functional areas they may not have considered or where they may need to level up their skills as they grow.
That said, it may not include the specific details or structure preferred by a potential investor or lender. If your goal with a business plan is to secure funding , check with your target organizations—typically banks or investors—to see if they have business plan templates you can follow to maximize your chances of success.
Our free business plan template includes seven key elements typically found in the traditional business plan format:
1. Executive summary
This is a one-page summary of your whole plan, typically written after the rest of the plan is completed. The description section of your executive summary will also cover your management team, business objectives and strategy, and other background information about the brand.
2. Company overview
This section of your business plan will answer two fundamental questions: “Who are you?” and “What do you plan to do?” Answering these questions clarifies why your company exists, what sets it apart from others, and why it’s a good investment opportunity. This section will detail the reasons for your business’s existence, its goals, and its guiding principles.
3. Products or services offered
What you sell and the most important features of your products or services. It also includes any plans for intellectual property, like patent filings or copyright. If you do market research for new product lines, it will show up in this section of your business plan.
4. Market analysis
This section includes everything from estimated market size to your target markets and competitive advantage. It’ll include a competitive analysis of your industry to address competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. Market research is an important part of ensuring you have a viable idea.
5. Marketing plan
How you intend to get the word out about your business, and what strategic decisions you’ve made about things like your pricing strategy. It also covers potential customers’ demographics, your sales plan, and your metrics and milestones for success.
6. Logistics and operations plan
Everything that needs to happen to turn your raw materials into products and get them into the hands of your customers.
7. Financial plan
It’s important to include a look at your financial projections, including both revenue and expense projections. This section includes templates for three key financial statements: an income statement, a balance sheet, and a cash-flow statement . You can also include whether or not you need a business loan and how much you’ll need.
Business plan examples
What do financial projections look like on paper? How do you write an executive summary? What should your company description include? Business plan examples can help answer some of these questions and transform your business idea into an actionable plan.
Professional business plan example
Inside our template, we’ve filled out a sample business plan featuring a fictional ecommerce business .
The sample is set up to help you get a sense of each section and understand how they apply to the planning and evaluation stages of a business plan. If you’re looking for funding, this example won’t be a complete or formal look at business plans, but it will give you a great place to start and notes about where to expand.
Lean business plan example
A lean business plan format is a shortened version of your more detailed business plan. It’s helpful when modifying your plan for a specific audience, like investors or new hires.
Also known as a one-page business plan, it includes only the most important, need-to-know information, such as:
Company description
Key members of your team
Customer segments
💡 Tip: For a step-by-step guide to creating a lean business plan (including a sample business plan), read our guide on how to create a lean business plan .
Benefits of writing a solid business plan
It’s tempting to dive right into execution when you’re excited about a new business or side project, but taking the time to write a thorough business plan and get your thoughts on paper allows you to do a number of beneficial things:
Test the viability of your business idea. Whether you’ve got one business idea or many, business plans can make an idea more tangible, helping you see if it’s truly viable and ensure you’ve found a target market.
Plan for your next phase. Whether your goal is to start a new business or scale an existing business to the next level, a business plan can help you understand what needs to happen and identify gaps to address.
Clarify marketing strategy, goals, and tactics. Writing a business plan can show you the actionable next steps to take on a big, abstract idea. It can also help you narrow your strategy and identify clear-cut tactics that will support it.
Scope the necessary work. Without a concrete plan, cost overruns and delays are all but certain. A business plan can help you see the full scope of work to be done and adjust your investment of time and money accordingly.
Hire and build partnerships. When you need buy-in from potential employees and business partners, especially in the early stages of your business, a clearly written business plan is one of the best tools at your disposal. A business plan provides a refined look at your goals for the business, letting partners judge for themselves whether or not they agree with your vision.
Secure funds. Seeking financing for your business—whether from venture capital, financial institutions, or Shopify Capital —is one of the most common reasons to create a business plan.
Why you should you use a template for a business plan
A business plan can be as informal or formal as your situation calls for, but even if you’re a fan of the back-of-the-napkin approach to planning, there are some key benefits to starting your plan from an existing outline or simple business plan template.
No blank-page paralysis
A blank page can be intimidating to even the most seasoned writers. Using an established business planning process and template can help you get past the inertia of starting your business plan, and it allows you to skip the work of building an outline from scratch. You can always adjust a template to suit your needs.
Guidance on what to include in each section
If you’ve never sat through a business class, you might never have created a SWOT analysis or financial projections. Templates that offer guidance—in plain language—about how to fill in each section can help you navigate sometimes-daunting business jargon and create a complete and effective plan.
Knowing you’ve considered every section
In some cases, you may not need to complete every section of a startup business plan template, but its initial structure shows you you’re choosing to omit a section as opposed to forgetting to include it in the first place.
Tips for creating a successful business plan
There are some high-level strategic guidelines beyond the advice included in this free business plan template that can help you write an effective, complete plan while minimizing busywork.
Understand the audience for your plan
If you’re writing a business plan for yourself in order to get clarity on your ideas and your industry as a whole, you may not need to include the same level of detail or polish you would with a business plan you want to send to potential investors. Knowing who will read your plan will help you decide how much time to spend on it.
Know your goals
Understanding the goals of your plan can help you set the right scope. If your goal is to use the plan as a roadmap for growth, you may invest more time in it than if your goal is to understand the competitive landscape of a new industry.
Take it step by step
Writing a 10- to 15-page document can feel daunting, so try to tackle one section at a time. Select a couple of sections you feel most confident writing and start there—you can start on the next few sections once those are complete. Jot down bullet-point notes in each section before you start writing to organize your thoughts and streamline the writing process.
Maximize your business planning efforts
Planning is key to the financial success of any type of business , whether you’re a startup, non-profit, or corporation.
To make sure your efforts are focused on the highest-value parts of your own business planning, like clarifying your goals, setting a strategy, and understanding the target market and competitive landscape, lean on a business plan outline to handle the structure and format for you. Even if you eventually omit sections, you’ll save yourself time and energy by starting with a framework already in place.
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Business plan template FAQ
What is the purpose of a business plan.
The purpose of your business plan is to describe a new business opportunity or an existing one. It clarifies the business strategy, marketing plan, financial forecasts, potential providers, and more information about the company.
How do I write a simple business plan?
Choose a business plan format, such as a traditional or a one-page business plan.
Find a business plan template.
Read through a business plan sample.
Fill in the sections of your business plan.
What is the best business plan template?
If you need help writing a business plan, Shopify’s template is one of the most beginner-friendly options you’ll find. It’s comprehensive, well-written, and helps you fill out every section.
What are the 5 essential parts of a business plan?
The five essential parts of a traditional business plan include:
Executive summary: This is a brief overview of the business plan, summarizing the key points and highlighting the main points of the plan.
Business description: This section outlines the business concept and how it will be executed.
Market analysis: This section provides an in-depth look at the target market and how the business will compete in the marketplace.
Financial plan: This section details the financial projections for the business, including sales forecasts, capital requirements, and a break-even analysis.
Management and organization: This section describes the management team and the organizational structure of the business.
Are there any free business plan templates?
There are several free templates for business plans for small business owners available online, including Shopify’s own version. Download a copy for your business.
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How To Start A Business In 11 Steps (2024 Guide)
Updated: Apr 7, 2024, 1:44pm
Table of Contents
Before you begin: get in the right mindset, 1. determine your business concept, 2. research your competitors and market, 3. create your business plan, 4. choose your business structure, 5. register your business and get licenses, 6. get your finances in order, 7. fund your business, 8. apply for business insurance, 9. get the right business tools, 10. market your business, 11. scale your business, what are the best states to start a business, bottom line, frequently asked questions (faqs).
Starting a business is one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences you can have. But where do you begin? There are several ways to approach creating a business, along with many important considerations. To help take the guesswork out of the process and improve your chances of success, follow our comprehensive guide on how to start a business. We’ll walk you through each step of the process, from defining your business idea to registering, launching and growing your business.
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The public often hears about overnight successes because they make for a great headline. However, it’s rarely that simple—they don’t see the years of dreaming, building and positioning before a big public launch. For this reason, remember to focus on your business journey and don’t measure your success against someone else’s.
Consistency Is Key
New business owners tend to feed off their motivation initially but get frustrated when that motivation wanes. This is why it’s essential to create habits and follow routines that power you through when motivation goes away.
Take the Next Step
Some business owners dive in headfirst without looking and make things up as they go along. Then, there are business owners who stay stuck in analysis paralysis and never start. Perhaps you’re a mixture of the two—and that’s right where you need to be. The best way to accomplish any business or personal goal is to write out every possible step it takes to achieve the goal. Then, order those steps by what needs to happen first. Some steps may take minutes while others take a long time. The point is to always take the next step.
Most business advice tells you to monetize what you love, but it misses two other very important elements: it needs to be profitable and something you’re good at. For example, you may love music, but how viable is your business idea if you’re not a great singer or songwriter? Maybe you love making soap and want to open a soap shop in your small town that already has three close by—it won’t be easy to corner the market when you’re creating the same product as other nearby stores.
If you don’t have a firm idea of what your business will entail, ask yourself the following questions:
What do you love to do?
What do you hate to do?
Can you think of something that would make those things easier?
What are you good at?
What do others come to you for advice about?
If you were given ten minutes to give a five-minute speech on any topic, what would it be?
What’s something you’ve always wanted to do, but lacked resources for?
These questions can lead you to an idea for your business. If you already have an idea, they might help you expand it. Once you have your idea, measure it against whether you’re good at it and if it’s profitable.
Your business idea also doesn’t have to be the next Scrub Daddy or Squatty Potty. Instead, you can take an existing product and improve upon it. You can also sell a digital product so there’s little overhead.
What Kind of Business Should You Start?
Before you choose the type of business to start, there are some key things to consider:
What type of funding do you have?
How much time do you have to invest in your business?
Do you prefer to work from home or at an office or workshop?
What interests and passions do you have?
Can you sell information (such as a course), rather than a product?
What skills or expertise do you have?
How fast do you need to scale your business?
What kind of support do you have to start your business?
Are you partnering with someone else?
Does the franchise model make more sense to you?
Consider Popular Business Ideas
Not sure what business to start? Consider one of these popular business ideas:
Start a Franchise
Start a Blog
Start an Online Store
Start a Dropshipping Business
Start a Cleaning Business
Start a Bookkeeping Business
Start a Clothing Business
Start a Landscaping Business
Start a Consulting Business
Start a Photography Business
Start a Vending Machine Business
Most entrepreneurs spend more time on their products than they do getting to know the competition. If you ever apply for outside funding, the potential lender or partner wants to know: what sets you (or your business idea) apart? If market analysis indicates your product or service is saturated in your area, see if you can think of a different approach. Take housekeeping, for example—rather than general cleaning services, you might specialize in homes with pets or focus on garage cleanups.
Primary Research
The first stage of any competition study is primary research, which entails obtaining data directly from potential customers rather than basing your conclusions on past data. You can use questionnaires, surveys and interviews to learn what consumers want. Surveying friends and family isn’t recommended unless they’re your target market. People who say they’d buy something and people who do are very different. The last thing you want is to take so much stock in what they say, create the product and flop when you try to sell it because all of the people who said they’d buy it don’t because the product isn’t something they’d buy.
Secondary Research
Utilize existing sources of information, such as census data, to gather information when you do secondary research. The current data may be studied, compiled and analyzed in various ways that are appropriate for your needs but it may not be as detailed as primary research.
Conduct a SWOT Analysis
SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Conducting a SWOT analysis allows you to look at the facts about how your product or idea might perform if taken to market, and it can also help you make decisions about the direction of your idea. Your business idea might have some weaknesses that you hadn’t considered or there may be some opportunities to improve on a competitor’s product.
Asking pertinent questions during a SWOT analysis can help you identify and address weaknesses before they tank your new business.
A business plan is a dynamic document that serves as a roadmap for establishing a new business. This document makes it simple for potential investors, financial institutions and company management to understand and absorb. Even if you intend to self-finance, a business plan can help you flesh out your idea and spot potential problems. When writing a well-rounded business plan, include the following sections:
Executive summary: The executive summary should be the first item in the business plan, but it should be written last. It describes the proposed new business and highlights the goals of the company and the methods to achieve them.
Company description: The company description covers what problems your product or service solves and why your business or idea is best. For example, maybe your background is in molecular engineering, and you’ve used that background to create a new type of athletic wear—you have the proper credentials to make the best material.
Market analysis: This section of the business plan analyzes how well a company is positioned against its competitors. The market analysis should include target market, segmentation analysis, market size, growth rate, trends and a competitive environment assessment.
Organization and structure: Write about the type of business organization you expect, what risk management strategies you propose and who will staff the management team. What are their qualifications? Will your business be a single-member limited liability company (LLC) or a corporation ?
Mission and goals: This section should contain a brief mission statement and detail what the business wishes to accomplish and the steps to get there. These goals should be SMART (specific, measurable, action-orientated, realistic and time-bound).
Products or services: This section describes how your business will operate. It includes what products you’ll offer to consumers at the beginning of the business, how they compare to existing competitors, how much your products cost, who will be responsible for creating the products, how you’ll source materials and how much they cost to make.
Background summary: This portion of the business plan is the most time-consuming to write. Compile and summarize any data, articles and research studies on trends that could positively and negatively affect your business or industry.
Marketing plan: The marketing plan identifies the characteristics of your product or service, summarizes the SWOT analysis and analyzes competitors. It also discusses how you’ll promote your business, how much money will be spent on marketing and how long the campaign is expected to last.
Financial plan: The financial plan is perhaps the core of the business plan because, without money, the business will not move forward. Include a proposed budget in your financial plan along with projected financial statements, such as an income statement, a balance sheet and a statement of cash flows. Usually, five years of projected financial statements are acceptable. This section is also where you should include your funding request if you’re looking for outside funding.
Learn more: Download our free simple business plan template .
Come Up With an Exit Strategy
An exit strategy is important for any business that is seeking funding because it outlines how you’ll sell the company or transfer ownership if you decide to retire or move on to other projects. An exit strategy also allows you to get the most value out of your business when it’s time to sell. There are a few different options for exiting a business, and the best option for you depends on your goals and circumstances.
The most common exit strategies are:
Selling the business to another party
Passing the business down to family members
Liquidating the business assets
Closing the doors and walking away
Develop a Scalable Business Model
As your small business grows, it’s important to have a scalable business model so that you can accommodate additional customers without incurring additional costs. A scalable business model is one that can be replicated easily to serve more customers without a significant increase in expenses.
Some common scalable business models are:
Subscription-based businesses
Businesses that sell digital products
Franchise businesses
Network marketing businesses
Start Planning for Taxes
One of the most important things to do when starting a small business is to start planning for taxes. Taxes can be complex, and there are several different types of taxes you may be liable for, including income tax, self-employment tax, sales tax and property tax. Depending on the type of business you’re operating, you may also be required to pay other taxes, such as payroll tax or unemployment tax.
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When structuring your business, it’s essential to consider how each structure impacts the amount of taxes you owe, daily operations and whether your personal assets are at risk.
An LLC limits your personal liability for business debts. LLCs can be owned by one or more people or companies and must include a registered agent . These owners are referred to as members.
LLCs offer liability protection for the owners
They’re one of the easiest business entities to set up
You can have a single-member LLC
You may be required to file additional paperwork with your state on a regular basis
LLCs can’t issue stock
You’ll need to pay annual filing fees to your state
Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)
An LLP is similar to an LLC but is typically used for licensed business professionals such as an attorney or accountant. These arrangements require a partnership agreement.
Partners have limited liability for the debts and actions of the LLP
LLPs are easy to form and don’t require much paperwork
There’s no limit to the number of partners in an LLP
Partners are required to actively take part in the business
LLPs can’t issue stock
All partners are personally liable for any malpractice claims against the business
Sole Proprietorship
If you start a solo business, you might consider a sole proprietorship . The company and the owner, for legal and tax purposes, are considered the same. The business owner assumes liability for the business. So, if the business fails, the owner is personally and financially responsible for all business debts.
Sole proprietorships are easy to form
There’s no need to file additional paperwork with your state
You’re in complete control of the business
You’re personally liable for all business debts
It can be difficult to raise money for a sole proprietorship
The business may have a limited lifespan
Corporation
A corporation limits your personal liability for business debts just as an LLC does. A corporation can be taxed as a C corporation (C-corp) or an S corporation (S-corp). S-corp status offers pass-through taxation to small corporations that meet certain IRS requirements. Larger companies and startups hoping to attract venture capital are usually taxed as C-corps.
Corporations offer liability protection for the owners
The life span of a corporation is not limited
A corporation can have an unlimited number of shareholders
Corporations are subject to double taxation
They’re more expensive and complicated to set up than other business structures
The shareholders may have limited liability
Before you decide on a business structure, discuss your situation with a small business accountant and possibly an attorney, as each business type has different tax treatments that could affect your bottom line.
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There are several legal issues to address when starting a business after choosing the business structure. The following is a good checklist of items to consider when establishing your business:
Choose Your Business Name
Make it memorable but not too difficult. Choose the same domain name, if available, to establish your internet presence. A business name cannot be the same as another registered company in your state, nor can it infringe on another trademark or service mark that is already registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Business Name vs. DBA
There are business names, and then there are fictitious business names known as “Doing Business As” or DBA. You may need to file a DBA if you’re operating under a name that’s different from the legal name of your business. For example, “Mike’s Bike Shop” is doing business as “Mike’s Bikes.” The legal name of the business is “Mike’s Bike Shop,” and “Mike’s Bikes” is the DBA.
You may need to file a DBA with your state, county or city government offices. The benefits of a DBA include:
It can help you open a business bank account under your business name
A DBA can be used as a “trade name” to brand your products or services
A DBA can be used to get a business license
Register Your Business and Obtain an EIN
You’ll officially create a corporation, LLC or other business entity by filing forms with your state’s business agency―usually the Secretary of State. As part of this process, you’ll need to choose a registered agent to accept legal documents on behalf of your business. You’ll also pay a filing fee. The state will send you a certificate that you can use to apply for licenses, a tax identification number (TIN) and business bank accounts.
Next, apply for an employer identification number (EIN) . All businesses, other than sole proprietorships with no employees, must have a federal employer identification number. Submit your application to the IRS and you’ll typically receive your number in minutes.
Get Appropriate Licenses and Permits
Legal requirements are determined by your industry and jurisdiction. Most businesses need a mixture of local, state and federal licenses to operate. Check with your local government office (and even an attorney) for licensing information tailored to your area.
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Click on the state below to get started.
Open a Business Bank Account
Keep your business and personal finances separate. Here’s how to choose a business checking account —and why separate business accounts are essential. When you open a business bank account, you’ll need to provide your business name and your business tax identification number (EIN). This business bank account can be used for your business transactions, such as paying suppliers or invoicing customers. Most times, a bank will require a separate business bank account to issue a business loan or line of credit.
Hire a Bookkeeper or Get Accounting Software
If you sell a product, you need an inventory function in your accounting software to manage and track inventory. The software should have ledger and journal entries and the ability to generate financial statements.
Some software programs double as bookkeeping tools. These often include features such as check writing and managing receivables and payables. You can also use this software to track your income and expenses, generate invoices, run reports and calculate taxes.
There are many bookkeeping services available that can do all of this for you, and more. These services can be accessed online from any computer or mobile device and often include features such as bank reconciliation and invoicing. Check out the best accounting software for small business, or see if you want to handle the bookkeeping yourself.
Determine Your Break-Even Point
Before you fund your business, you must get an idea of your startup costs. To determine these, make a list of all the physical supplies you need, estimate the cost of any professional services you will require, determine the price of any licenses or permits required to operate and calculate the cost of office space or other real estate. Add in the costs of payroll and benefits, if applicable.
Businesses can take years to turn a profit, so it’s better to overestimate the startup costs and have too much money than too little. Many experts recommend having enough cash on hand to cover six months of operating expenses.
When you know how much you need to get started with your business, you need to know the point at which your business makes money. This figure is your break-even point.
In contrast, the contribution margin = total sales revenue – cost to make product
For example, let’s say you’re starting a small business that sells miniature birdhouses for fairy gardens. You have determined that it will cost you $500 in startup costs. Your variable costs are $0.40 per birdhouse produced, and you sell them for $1.50 each.
Let’s write these out so it’s easy to follow:
$500 for the first month
40 cents per birdhouse
$1.50
$500/($1.50 - 40 cents)
This means that you need to sell at least 456 units just to cover your costs. If you can sell more than 456 units in your first month, you will make a profit.
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There are many different ways to fund your business—some require considerable effort, while others are easier to obtain. Two categories of funding exist: internal and external.
Internal funding includes:
Personal savings
Credit cards
Funds from friends and family
If you finance the business with your own funds or with credit cards, you have to pay the debt on the credit cards and you’ve lost a chunk of your wealth if the business fails. By allowing your family members or friends to invest in your business, you are risking hard feelings and strained relationships if the company goes under. Business owners who want to minimize these risks may consider external funding.
External funding includes:
Small business loans
Small business grants
Angel investors
Venture capital
Crowdfunding
Small businesses may have to use a combination of several sources of capital. Consider how much money is needed, how long it will take before the company can repay it and how risk-tolerant you are. No matter which source you use, plan for profit. It’s far better to take home six figures than make seven figures and only keep $80,000 of it.
Funding ideas include:
Invoice factoring: With invoice factoring , you can sell your unpaid invoices to a third party at a discount.
Business lines of credit: Apply for a business line of credit , which is similar to a personal line of credit. The credit limit and interest rate will be based on your business’s revenue, credit score and financial history.
Equipment financing: If you need to purchase expensive equipment for your business, you can finance it with a loan or lease.
Small Business Administration (SBA) microloans: Microloans are up to $50,000 loans that can be used for working capital, inventory or supplies and machinery or equipment.
Grants: The federal government offers grants for businesses that promote innovation, export growth or are located in historically disadvantaged areas. You can also find grants through local and regional organizations.
Crowdfunding: With crowdfunding , you can raise money from a large group of people by soliciting donations or selling equity in your company.
Choose the right funding source for your business by considering the amount of money you need, the time frame for repayment and your tolerance for risk.
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You need to have insurance for your business , even if it’s a home-based business or you don’t have any employees. The type of insurance you need depends on your business model and what risks you face. You might need more than one type of policy, and you might need additional coverage as your business grows. In most states, workers’ compensation insurance is required by law if you have employees.
Work With an Agent To Get Insured
An insurance agent can help determine what coverages are appropriate for your business and find policies from insurers that offer the best rates. An independent insurance agent represents several different insurers, so they can shop around for the best rates and coverage options.
Basic Types of Business Insurance Coverage
Liability insurance protects your business against third-party claims of bodily injury, property damage and personal injury such as defamation or false advertising.
Property insurance covers the physical assets of your business, including your office space, equipment and inventory.
Business interruption insurance pays for the loss of income if your business is forced to close temporarily due to a covered event such as a natural disaster.
Product liability insurance protects against claims that your products caused bodily injury or property damage.
Employee practices liability insurance covers claims from employees alleging discrimination, sexual harassment or other wrongful termination.
Workers’ compensation insurance covers medical expenses and income replacement for employees who are injured on the job.
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Business tools can help make your life easier and make your business run more smoothly. The right tools can help you save time, automate tasks and make better decisions.
Consider the following tools in your arsenal:
Accounting software : Track your business income and expenses, prepare financial statements and file taxes. Examples include QuickBooks and FreshBooks.
Customer relationship management (CRM) software : This will help you manage your customer relationships, track sales and marketing data and automate tasks like customer service and follow-ups. Examples include Zoho CRM and monday.com.
Project management software : Plan, execute and track projects. It can also be used to manage employee tasks and allocate resources. Examples include Airtable and ClickUp.
Credit card processor : This will allow you to accept credit card payments from customers. Examples include Stripe and PayPal.
Point of sale (POS) : A system that allows you to process customer payments. Some accounting software and CRM software have POS features built-in. Examples include Clover and Lightspeed.
Virtual private network (VPN) : Provides a secure, private connection between your computer and the internet. This is important for businesses that handle sensitive data. Examples include NordVPN and ExpressVPN.
Merchant services : When customers make a purchase, the money is deposited into your business account. You can also use merchant services to set up recurring billing or subscription payments. Examples include Square and Stripe.
Email hosting : This allows you to create a professional email address with your own domain name. Examples include G Suite and Microsoft Office 365.
Many business owners spend so much money creating their products that there isn’t a marketing budget by the time they’ve launched. Alternatively, they’ve spent so much time developing the product that marketing is an afterthought.
Create a Website
Even if you’re a brick-and-mortar business, a web presence is essential. Creating a website doesn’t take long, either—you can have one done in as little as a weekend. You can make a standard informational website or an e-commerce site where you sell products online. If you sell products or services offline, include a page on your site where customers can find your locations and hours. Other pages to add include an “About Us” page, product or service pages, frequently asked questions (FAQs), a blog and contact information.
Optimize Your Site for SEO
After getting a website or e-commerce store, focus on optimizing it for search engines (SEO). This way, when a potential customer searches for specific keywords for your products, the search engine can point them to your site. SEO is a long-term strategy, so don’t expect a ton of traffic from search engines initially—even if you’re using all the right keywords.
Create Relevant Content
Provide quality digital content on your site that makes it easy for customers to find the correct answers to their questions. Content marketing ideas include videos, customer testimonials, blog posts and demos. Consider content marketing one of the most critical tasks on your daily to-do list. This is used in conjunction with posting on social media.
Get Listed in Online Directories
Customers use online directories like Yelp, Google My Business and Facebook to find local businesses. Some city halls and chambers of commerce have business directories too. Include your business in as many relevant directories as possible. You can also create listings for your business on specific directories that focus on your industry.
Develop a Social Media Strategy
Your potential customers are using social media every day—you need to be there too. Post content that’s interesting and relevant to your audience. Use social media to drive traffic back to your website where customers can learn more about what you do and buy your products or services.
You don’t necessarily need to be on every social media platform available. However, you should have a presence on Facebook and Instagram because they offer e-commerce features that allow you to sell directly from your social media accounts. Both of these platforms have free ad training to help you market your business.
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To scale your business, you need to grow your customer base and revenue. This can be done by expanding your marketing efforts, improving your product or service, collaborating with other creators or adding new products or services that complement what you already offer.
Think about ways you can automate or outsource certain tasks so you can focus on scaling the business. For example, if social media marketing is taking up too much of your time, consider using a platform such as Hootsuite to help you manage your accounts more efficiently. You can also consider outsourcing the time-consumer completely.
You can also use technology to automate certain business processes, including accounting, email marketing and lead generation. Doing this will give you more time to focus on other aspects of your business.
When scaling your business, it’s important to keep an eye on your finances and make sure you’re still profitable. If you’re not making enough money to cover your costs, you need to either reduce your expenses or find ways to increase your revenue.
Build a Team
As your business grows, you’ll need to delegate tasks and put together a team of people who can help you run the day-to-day operations. This might include hiring additional staff, contractors or freelancers.
Resources for building a team include:
Hiring platforms: To find the right candidates, hiring platforms, such as Indeed and Glassdoor, can help you post job descriptions, screen résumés and conduct video interviews.
Job boards: Job boards such as Craigslist and Indeed allow you to post open positions for free.
Social media: You can also use social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook to find potential employees.
Freelance platforms: Using Upwork, Freelancer and Fiverr can help you find talented freelancers for one-time or short-term projects. You can also outsource certain tasks, such as customer service, social media marketing or bookkeeping.
You might also consider partnering with other businesses in your industry. For example, if you’re a wedding planner, you could partner with a florist, photographer, catering company or venue. This way, you can offer your customers a one-stop shop for all their wedding needs. Another example is an e-commerce store that partners with a fulfillment center. This type of partnership can help you save money on shipping and storage costs, and it can also help you get your products to your customers faster.
To find potential partnerships, search for businesses in your industry that complement what you do. For example, if you’re a web designer, you could partner with a digital marketing agency.
You can also search for businesses that serve the same target market as you but offer different products or services. For example, if you sell women’s clothing, you could partner with a jewelry store or a hair salon.
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To rank the best states to start a business in 2024, Forbes Advisor analyzed 18 key metrics across five categories to determine which states are the best and worst to start a business in. Our ranking takes into consideration factors that impact businesses and their ability to succeed, such as business costs, business climate, economy, workforce and financial accessibility in each state. Check out the full report .
Starting a small business takes time, effort and perseverance. But if you’re willing to put in the work, it can be a great way to achieve your dreams and goals. Be sure to do your research, create a solid business plan and pivot along the way. Once you’re operational, don’t forget to stay focused and organized so you can continue to grow your business.
How do I start a small business with no money?
There are several funding sources for brand-new businesses and most require a business plan to secure it. These include the SBA , private grants, angel investors, crowdfunding and venture capital.
What is the best business structure?
The best business structure for your business will depend entirely on what kind of company you form, your industry and what you want to accomplish. But any successful business structure will be one that will help your company set realistic goals and follow through on set tasks.
Do I need a business credit card?
You don’t need one, but a business credit card can be helpful for new small businesses. It allows you to start building business credit, which can help you down the road when you need to take out a loan or line of credit. Additionally, business credit cards often come with rewards and perks that can save you money on business expenses.
Do I need a special license or permit to start a small business?
The answer to this question will depend on the type of business you want to start and where you’re located. Some businesses, such as restaurants, will require a special permit or license to operate. Others, such as home daycare providers, may need to register with the state.
How much does it cost to create a business?
The cost of starting a business will vary depending on the size and type of company you want to create. For example, a home-based business will be less expensive to start than a brick-and-mortar store. Additionally, the cost of starting a business will increase if you need to rent or buy commercial space, hire employees or purchase inventory. You could potentially get started for free by dropshipping or selling digital goods.
How do I get a loan for a new business?
The best way to get a loan for a new business is to approach banks or other financial institutions and provide them with a business plan and your financial history. You can also look into government-backed loans, such as those offered by the SBA. Startups may also be able to get loans from alternative lenders, including online platforms such as Kiva.
Do I need a business degree to start a business?
No, you don’t need a business degree to start a business. However, acquiring a degree in business or a related field can provide you with the understanding and ability to run an effective company. Additionally, you may want to consider taking some business courses if you don’t have a degree to learn more about starting and running a business. You can find these online and at your local Small Business Administration office.
What are some easy businesses to start?
One of the easiest businesses to start also has the lowest overhead: selling digital goods. This can include items such as e-books, online courses, audio files or software. If you have expertise in a particular area or niche, this is a great option for you. Dropshipping is also a great option because you don’t have to keep inventory. You could also buy wholesale products or create your own. Once you create your product, you can sell it through your own website or third-party platforms such as Amazon or Etsy.
What is the most profitable type of business?
There is no one answer to this question because the most profitable type of business will vary depending on a number of factors, such as your industry, location, target market and business model. However, some businesses tend to be more profitable than others, such as luxury goods, high-end services, business-to-business companies and subscription-based businesses. If you’re not sure what type of business to start, consider your strengths and interests, as well as the needs of your target market, to help you choose a profitable business idea.
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Katherine Haan is a small business owner with nearly two decades of experience helping other business owners increase their incomes.
B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends: Outlook for 2024 [Research]
by Stephanie Stahl
| Published: October 18, 2023
| Trends and Research
Creating standards, guidelines, processes, and workflows for content marketing is not the sexiest job.
But setting standards is the only way to know if you can improve anything (with AI or anything else).
Here’s the good news: All that non-sexy work frees time and resources (human and tech) you can apply to bring your brand’s strategies and plans to life.
But in many organizations, content still isn’t treated as a coordinated business function. That’s one of the big takeaways from our latest research, B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends: Outlook for 2024, conducted with MarketingProfs and sponsored by Brightspot .
A few symptoms of that reality showed up in the research:
Marketers cite a lack of resources as a top situational challenge, the same as they did the previous year.
Nearly three-quarters (72%) say they use generative AI, but 61% say their organization lacks guidelines for its use.
The most frequently cited challenges include creating the right content, creating content consistently, and differentiating content.
I’ll walk you through the findings and share some advice from CMI Chief Strategy Advisor Robert Rose and other industry voices to shed light on what it all means for B2B marketers. There’s a lot to work through, so feel free to use the table of contents to navigate to the sections that most interest you.
Note: These numbers come from a July 2023 survey of marketers around the globe. We received 1,080 responses. This article focuses on answers from the 894 B2B respondents.
Table of contents
Team structure
Content marketing challenges
Content types, distribution channels, and paid channels
Social media
Content management and operations
Measurement and goals
Overall success
Budgets and spending
Top content-related priorities for 2024
Content marketing trends for 2024
Action steps
Methodology, ai: 3 out of 4 b2b marketers use generative tools.
Of course, we asked respondents how they use generative AI in content and marketing. As it turns out, most experiment with it: 72% of respondents say they use generative AI tools.
But a lack of standards can get in the way.
“Generative AI is the new, disruptive capability entering the realm of content marketing in 2024,” Robert says. “It’s just another way to make our content process more efficient and effective. But it can’t do either until you establish a standard to define its value. Until then, it’s yet just another technology that may or may not make you better at what you do.”
So, how do content marketers use the tools today? About half (51%) use generative AI to brainstorm new topics. Many use the tools to research headlines and keywords (45%) and write drafts (45%). Fewer say they use AI to outline assignments (23%), proofread (20%), generate graphics (11%), and create audio (5%) and video (5%).
Some marketers say they use AI to do things like generate email headlines and email copy, extract social media posts from long-form content, condense long-form copy into short form, etc.
Only 28% say they don’t use generative AI tools.
Most don’t pay for generative AI tools (yet)
Among those who use generative AI tools, 91% use free tools (e.g., ChatGPT ). Thirty-eight percent use tools embedded in their content creation/management systems, and 27% pay for tools such as Writer and Jasper.
AI in content remains mostly ungoverned
Asked if their organizations have guidelines for using generative AI tools, 31% say yes, 61% say no, and 8% are unsure.
We asked Ann Handley , chief content officer of MarketingProfs, for her perspective. “It feels crazy … 61% have no guidelines? But is it actually shocking and crazy? No. It is not. Most of us are just getting going with generative AI. That means there is a clear and rich opportunity to lead from where you sit,” she says.
“Ignite the conversation internally. Press upon your colleagues and your leadership that this isn’t a technology opportunity. It’s also a people and operational challenge in need of thoughtful and intelligent response. You can be the AI leader your organization needs,” Ann says.
Why some marketers don’t use generative AI tools
While a lack of guidelines may deter some B2B marketers from using generative AI tools, other reasons include accuracy concerns (36%), lack of training (27%), and lack of understanding (27%). Twenty-two percent cite copyright concerns, and 19% have corporate mandates not to use them.
How AI is changing SEO
We also wondered how AI’s integration in search engines shifts content marketers’ SEO strategy. Here’s what we found:
31% are sharpening their focus on user intent/answering questions.
27% are creating more thought leadership content.
22% are creating more conversational content.
Over one-fourth (28%) say they’re not doing any of those things, while 26% say they’re unsure.
AI may heighten the need to rethink your SEO strategy. But it’s not the only reason to do so, as Orbit Media Studios co-founder and chief marketing officer Andy Crestodina points out: “Featured snippets and people-also-ask boxes have chipped away at click-through rates for years,” he says. “AI will make that even worse … but only for information intent queries . Searchers who want quick answers really don’t want to visit websites.
“Focus your SEO efforts on those big questions with big answers – and on the commercial intent queries,” Andy continues. “Those phrases still have ‘visit website intent’ … and will for years to come.”
Will the AI obsession ever end?
Many B2B marketers surveyed predict AI will dominate the discussions of content marketing trends in 2024. As one respondent says: “AI will continue to be the shiny thing through 2024 until marketers realize the dedication required to develop prompts, go through the iterative process, and fact-check output . AI can help you sharpen your skills, but it isn’t a replacement solution for B2B marketing.”
Back to table of contents
Team structure: How does the work get done?
Generative AI isn’t the only issue affecting content marketing these days. We also asked marketers about how they organize their teams .
Among larger companies (100-plus employees), half say content requests go through a centralized content team. Others say each department/brand produces its own content (23%), and the departments/brand/products share responsibility (21%).
Content strategies integrate with marketing, comms, and sales
Seventy percent say their organizations integrate content strategy into the overall marketing sales/communication/strategy, and 2% say it’s integrated into another strategy. Eleven percent say content is a stand-alone strategy for content used for marketing, and 6% say it’s a stand-alone strategy for all content produced by the company. Only 9% say they don’t have a content strategy. The remaining 2% say other or are unsure.
Employee churn means new teammates; content teams experience enlightened leadership
Twenty-eight percent of B2B marketers say team members resigned in the last year, 20% say team members were laid off, and about half (49%) say they had new team members acclimating to their ways of working.
While team members come and go, the understanding of content doesn’t. Over half (54%) strongly agree, and 30% somewhat agree the leader to whom their content team reports understands the work they do. Only 11% disagree. The remaining 5% neither agree nor disagree.
And remote work seems well-tolerated: Only 20% say collaboration was challenging due to remote or hybrid work.
Content marketing challenges: Focus shifts to creating the right content
We asked B2B marketers about both content creation and non-creation challenges.
Content creation
Most marketers (57%) cite creating the right content for their audience as a challenge. This is a change from many years when “creating enough content” was the most frequently cited challenge.
One respondent points out why understanding what audiences want is more important than ever: “As the internet gets noisier and AI makes it incredibly easy to create listicles and content that copy each other, there will be a need for companies to stand out. At the same time, as … millennials and Gen Z [grow in the workforce], we’ll begin to see B2B become more entertaining and less boring. We were never only competing with other B2B content. We’ve always been competing for attention.”
Other content creation challenges include creating it consistently (54%) and differentiating it (54%). Close to half (45%) cite optimizing for search and creating quality content (44%). About a third (34%) cite creating enough content to keep up with internal demand, 30% say creating enough content to keep up with external demand, and 30% say creating content that requires technical skills.
Other hurdles
The most frequently cited non-creation challenge, by far, is a lack of resources (58%), followed by aligning content with the buyer’s journey (48%) and aligning content efforts across sales and marketing (45%). Forty-one percent say they have issues with workflow/content approval, and 39% say they have difficulty accessing subject matter experts. Thirty-four percent say it is difficult to keep up with new technologies/tools (e.g., AI). Only 25% cite a lack of strategy as a challenge, 19% say keeping up with privacy rules, and 15% point to tech integration issues.
We asked content marketers about the types of content they produce, their distribution channels , and paid content promotion. We also asked which formats and channels produce the best results.
Popular content types and formats
As in the previous year, the three most popular content types/formats are short articles/posts (94%, up from 89% last year), videos (84%, up from 75% last year), and case studies/customer stories (78%, up from 67% last year). Almost three-quarters (71%) use long articles, 60% produce visual content, and 59% craft thought leadership e-books or white papers. Less than half of marketers use brochures (49%), product or technical data sheets (45%), research reports (36%), interactive content (33%), audio (29%), and livestreaming (25%).
Effective content types and formats
Which formats are most effective? Fifty-three percent say case studies/customer stories and videos deliver some of their best results. Almost as many (51%) names thought leadership e-books or white papers, 47% short articles, and 43% research reports.
Popular content distribution channels
Regarding the channels used to distribute content, 90% use social media platforms (organic), followed by blogs (79%), email newsletters (73%), email (66%), in-person events (56%), and webinars (56%).
Channels used by the minority of those surveyed include:
Digital events (44%)
Podcasts (30%)
Microsites (29%)
Digital magazines (21%)
Branded online communities (19%)
Hybrid events (18%)
Print magazines (16%)
Online learning platforms (15%)
Mobile apps (8%)
Separate content brands (5%)
Effective content distribution channels
Which channels perform the best? Most marketers in the survey point to in-person events (56%) and webinars (51%) as producing better results. Email (44%), organic social media platforms (44%), blogs (40%) and email newsletters (39%) round out the list.
Popular paid content channels
When marketers pay to promote content , which channels do they invest in? Eighty-six percent use paid content distribution channels.
Of those, 78% use social media advertising/promoted posts, 65% use sponsorships, 64% use search engine marketing (SEM)/pay-per-click, and 59% use digital display advertising. Far fewer invest in native advertising (35%), partner emails (29%), and print display ads (21%).
Effective paid content channels
SEM/pay-per-click produces good results, according to 62% of those surveyed. Half of those who use paid channels say social media advertising/promoted posts produce good results, followed by sponsorships (49%), partner emails (36%), and digital display advertising (34%).
Social media use: One platform rises way above
When asked which organic social media platforms deliver the best value for their organization, B2B marketers picked LinkedIn by far (84%). Only 29% cite Facebook as a top performer, 22% say YouTube, and 21% say Instagram. Twitter and TikTok see 8% and 3%, respectively.
So it makes sense that 72% say they increased their use of LinkedIn over the last 12 months, while only 32% boosted their YouTube presence, 31% increased Instagram use, 22% grew their Facebook presence, and 10% increased X and TikTok use.
Which platforms are marketers giving up? Did you guess X? You’re right – 32% of marketers say they decreased their X use last year. Twenty percent decreased their use of Facebook, with 10% decreasing on Instagram, 9% pulling back on YouTube, and only 2% decreasing their use of LinkedIn.
Interestingly, we saw a significant rise in B2B marketers who use TikTok: 19% say they use the platform – more than double from last year.
To explore how teams manage content, we asked marketers about their technology use and investments and the challenges they face when scaling their content .
Content management technology
When asked which technologies they use to manage content, marketers point to:
But having technology doesn’t mean it’s the right technology (or that its capabilities are used). So, we asked if they felt their organization had the right technology to manage content across the organization.
Only 31% say yes. Thirty percent say they have the technology but aren’t using its potential, and 29% say they haven’t acquired the right technology. Ten percent are unsure.
Content tech spending will likely rise
Even so, investment in content management technology seems likely in 2024: 45% say their organization is likely to invest in new technology, whereas 32% say their organization is unlikely to do so. Twenty-three percent say their organization is neither likely nor unlikely to invest.
Scaling content production
We introduced a new question this year to understand what challenges B2B marketers face while scaling content production .
Almost half (48%) say it’s “not enough content repurposing.” Lack of communication across organizational silos is a problem for 40%. Thirty-one percent say they have no structured content production process, and 29% say they lack an editorial calendar with clear deadlines. Ten percent say scaling is not a current focus.
Among the other hurdles – difficulty locating digital content assets (16%), technology issues (15%), translation/localization issues (12%), and no style guide (11%).
For those struggling with content repurposing, content standardization is critical. “Content reuse is the only way to deliver content at scale. There’s just no other way,” says Regina Lynn Preciado , senior director of content strategy solutions at Content Rules Inc.
“Even if you’re not trying to provide the most personalized experience ever or dominate the metaverse with your omnichannel presence, you absolutely must reuse content if you are going to deliver content effectively,” she says.
“How to achieve content reuse ? You’ve probably heard that you need to move to modular, structured content. However, just chunking your content into smaller components doesn’t go far enough. For content to flow together seamlessly wherever you reuse it, you’ve got to standardize your content. That’s the personalization paradox right there. To personalize, you must standardize.
“Once you have your content standards in place and everyone is creating content in alignment with those standards, there is no limit to what you can do with the content,” Regina explains.
Why do content marketers – who are skilled communicators – struggle with cross-silo communication? Standards and alignment come into play.
“I think in the rush to all the things, we run out of time to address scalable processes that will fix those painful silos, including taking time to align on goals, roles and responsibilities, workflows, and measurement,” says Ali Orlando Wert , senior director of content strategy at Appfire. “It takes time, but the payoffs are worth it. You have to learn how to crawl before you can walk – and walk before you can run.”
Measurement and goals: Generating sales and revenue rises
Almost half (46%) of B2B marketers agree their organization measures content performance effectively. Thirty-six percent disagree, and 15% neither agree nor disagree. Only 3% say they don’t measure content performance.
The five most frequently used metrics to assess content performance are conversions (73%), email engagement (71%), website traffic (71%), website engagement (69%), and social media analytics (65%).
About half (52%) mention the quality of leads, 45% say they rely on search rankings, 41% use quantity of leads, 32% track email subscribers, and 29% track the cost to acquire a lead, subscriber, or customer.
The most common challenge B2B marketers have while measuring content performance is integrating/correlating data across multiple platforms (84%), followed by extracting insights from data (77%), tying performance data to goals (76%), organizational goal setting (70%), and lack of training (66%).
Regarding goals, 84% of B2B marketers say content marketing helped create brand awareness in the last 12 months. Seventy-six percent say it helped generate demand/leads; 63% say it helped nurture subscribers/audiences/leads, and 58% say it helped generate sales/revenue (up from 42% the previous year).
Success factors: Know your audience
To separate top performers from the pack, we asked the B2B marketers to assess the success of their content marketing approach.
Twenty-eight percent rate the success of their organization’s content marketing approach as extremely or very successful. Another 57% report moderate success and 15% feel minimally or not at all successful.
The most popular factor for successful marketers is knowing their audience (79%).
This makes sense, considering that “creating the right content for our audience” is the top challenge. The logic? Top-performing content marketers prioritize knowing their audiences to create the right content for those audiences.
Top performers also set goals that align with their organization’s objectives (68%), effectively measure and demonstrate content performance (61%), and show thought leadership (60%). Collaboration with other teams (55%) and a documented strategy (53%) also help top performers reach high levels of content marketing success.
We looked at several other dimensions to identify how top performers differ from their peers. Of note, top performers:
Are backed by leaders who understand the work they do.
Are more likely to have the right content management technologies.
Have better communication across organizational silos.
Do a better job of measuring content effectiveness.
Are more likely to use content marketing successfully to generate demand/leads, nurture subscribers/audiences/leads, generate sales/revenue, and grow a subscribed audience.
Little difference exists between top performers and their less successful peers when it comes to the adoption of generative AI tools and related guidelines. It will be interesting to see if and how that changes next year.
Budgets and spending: Holding steady
To explore budget plans for 2024, we asked respondents if they have knowledge of their organization’s budget/budgeting process for content marketing. Then, we asked follow-up questions to the 55% who say they do have budget knowledge.
Content marketing as a percentage of total marketing spend
Here’s what they say about the total marketing budget (excluding salaries):
About a quarter (24%) say content marketing takes up one-fourth or more of the total marketing budget.
Nearly one in three (29%) indicate that 10% to 24% of the marketing budget goes to content marketing.
Just under half (48%) say less than 10% of the marketing budget goes to content marketing.
Content marketing budget outlook for 2024
Next, we asked about their 2024 content marketing budget. Forty-five percent think their content marketing budget will increase compared with 2023, whereas 42% think it will stay the same. Only 6% think it will decrease.
Where will the budget go?
We also asked where respondents plan to increase their spending.
Sixty-nine percent of B2B marketers say they would increase their investment in video, followed by thought leadership content (53%), in-person events (47%), paid advertising (43%), online community building (33%), webinars (33%), audio content (25%), digital events (21%), and hybrid events (11%).
The increased investment in video isn’t surprising. The focus on thought leadership content might surprise, but it shouldn’t, says Stephanie Losee , director of executive and ABM content at Autodesk.
“As measurement becomes more sophisticated, companies are finding they’re better able to quantify the return from upper-funnel activities like thought leadership content ,” she says. “At the same time, companies recognize the impact of shifting their status from vendor to true partner with their customers’ businesses.
“Autodesk recently launched its first global, longitudinal State of Design & Make report (registration required), and we’re finding that its insights are of such value to our customers that it’s enabling conversations we’ve never been able to have before. These conversations are worth gold to both sides, and I would imagine other B2B companies are finding the same thing,” Stephanie says.
Top content-related priorities for 2024: Leading with thought leadership
We asked an open-ended question about marketers’ top three content-related priorities for 2024. The responses indicate marketers place an emphasis on thought leadership and becoming a trusted resource.
Other frequently mentioned priorities include:
Better understanding of the audience
Discovering the best ways to use AI
Increasing brand awareness
Lead generation
Using more video
Better use of analytics
Conversions
Repurposing existing content
Content marketing predictions for 2024: AI is top of mind
In another open-ended question, we asked B2B marketers, “What content marketing trends do you predict for 2024?” You probably guessed the most popular trend: AI.
Here are some of the marketers’ comments about how AI will affect content marketing next year:
“We’ll see generative AI everywhere, all the time.”
“There will be struggles to determine the best use of generative AI in content marketing.”
“AI will likely result in a flood of poor-quality, machine-written content. Winners will use AI for automating the processes that support content creation while continuing to create high-quality human-generated content.”
“AI has made creating content so easy that there are and will be too many long articles on similar subjects; most will never be read or viewed. A sea of too many words. I predict short-form content will have to be the driver for eyeballs.”
Other trends include:
Greater demand for high-quality content as consumers grow weary of AI-generated content
Importance of video content
Increasing use of short video and audio content
Impact of AI on SEO
Among the related comments:
“Event marketing (webinars and video thought leadership) will become more necessary as teams rely on AI-generated written content.”
“AI will be an industry sea change and strongly impact the meaning of SEO. Marketers need to be ready to ride the wave or get left behind.”
“Excitement around AI-generated content will rise before flattening out when people realize it’s hard to differentiate, validate, verify, attribute, and authenticate. New tools, processes, and roles will emerge to tackle this challenge.”
“Long-form reports could start to see a decline. If that is the case, we will need a replacement. Logically, that could be a webinar or video series that digs deeper into the takeaways.”
What does this year’s research suggest B2B content marketers do to move forward?
I asked CMI’s Robert Rose for some insights. He says the steps are clear: Develop standards, guidelines, and playbooks for how to operate – just like every other function in business does.
“Imagine if everyone in your organization had a different idea of how to define ‘revenue’ or ‘profit margin,’” Robert says. “Imagine if each salesperson had their own version of your company’s customer agreements and tried to figure out how to write them for every new deal. The legal team would be apoplectic. You’d start to hear from sales how they were frustrated that they couldn’t figure out how to make the ‘right agreement,’ or how to create agreements ‘consistently,’ or that there was a complete ‘lack of resources’ for creating agreements.”
Just remember: Standards can change along with your team, audiences, and business priorities. “Setting standards doesn’t mean casting policies and templates in stone,” Robert says. “Standards only exist so that we can always question the standard and make sure that there’s improvement available to use in setting new standards.”
He offers these five steps to take to solidify your content marketing strategy and execution:
Direct. Create an initiative that will define the scope of the most important standards for your content marketing. Prioritize the areas that hurt the most. Work with leadership to decide where to start. Maybe it’s persona development. Maybe you need a new standardized content process. Maybe you need a solid taxonomy. Build the list and make it a real initiative.
Define . Create a common understanding of all the things associated with the standards. Don’t assume that everybody knows. They don’t. What is a white paper? What is an e-book? What is a campaign vs. an initiative? What is a blog post vs. an article? Getting to a common language is one of the most powerful things you can do to coordinate better.
Develop . You need both policies and playbooks. Policies are the formal documentation of your definitions and standards. Playbooks are how you communicate combinations of policies so that different people can not just understand them but are ready, willing, and able to follow them.
Distribute . If no one follows the standards, they’re not standards. So, you need to develop a plan for how your new playbooks fit into the larger, cross-functional approach to the content strategy. You need to deepen the integration into each department – even if that is just four other people in your company.
Distill . Evolve your standards. Make them living documents. Deploy technology to enforce and scale the standards. Test. If a standard isn’t working, change it. Sometimes, more organic processes are OK. Sometimes, it’s OK to acknowledge two definitions for something. The key is acknowledging a change to an existing standard so you know whether it improves things.
For their 14 th annual content marketing survey, CMI and MarketingProfs surveyed 1,080 recipients around the globe – representing a range of industries, functional areas, and company sizes — in July 2023. The online survey was emailed to a sample of marketers using lists from CMI and MarketingProfs.
This article presents the findings from the 894 respondents, mostly from North America, who indicated their organization is primarily B2B and that they are either content marketers or work in marketing, communications, or other roles involving content.
Thanks to the survey participants, who made this research possible, and to everyone who helps disseminate these findings throughout the content marketing industry.
Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
About Content Marketing Institute
Content Marketing Institute (CMI) exists to do one thing: advance the practice of content marketing through online education and in-person and digital events. We create and curate content experiences that teach marketers and creators from enterprise brands, small businesses, and agencies how to attract and retain customers through compelling, multichannel storytelling. Global brands turn to CMI for strategic consultation, training, and research. Organizations from around the world send teams to Content Marketing World, the largest content marketing-focused event, the Marketing Analytics & Data Science (MADS) conference, and CMI virtual events, including ContentTECH Summit. Our community of 215,000+ content marketers shares camaraderie and conversation. CMI is organized by Informa Connect. To learn more, visit www.contentmarketinginstitute.com .
About MarketingProfs
Marketingprofs is your quickest path to b2b marketing mastery.
More than 600,000 marketing professionals worldwide rely on MarketingProfs for B2B Marketing training and education backed by data science, psychology, and real-world experience. Access free B2B marketing publications, virtual conferences, podcasts, daily newsletters (and more), and check out the MarketingProfs B2B Forum–the flagship in-person event for B2B Marketing training and education at MarketingProfs.com.
About Brightspot
Brightspot , the content management system to boost your business.
Why Brightspot? Align your technology approach and content strategy with Brightspot, the leading Content Management System for delivering exceptional digital experiences. Brightspot helps global organizations meet the business needs of today and scale to capitalize on the opportunities of tomorrow. Our Enterprise CMS and world-class team solves your unique business challenges at scale. Fast, flexible, and fully customizable, Brightspot perfectly harmonizes your technology approach with your content strategy and grows with you as your business evolves. Our customer-obsessed teams walk with you every step of the way with an unwavering commitment to your long-term success. To learn more, visit www.brightspot.com .
Stephanie Stahl
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Step 4: Calculate market value. You can use either top-down analysis or bottom-up analysis to calculate an estimate of your market value. A top-down analysis tends to be the easier option of the ...
Learn how to conduct a market analysis for your business plan, including industry, target market, and competitive analysis. Find out what information to gather, where to get it, and how to use it to show your understanding of the market.
Marketing analytics is the process of studying the metrics of specific marketing efforts, such as landing page sign-ups and social media engagement, in order to increase return on investment. Here, we focus on market analysis as one component of a thorough business plan.
Renewal rate = 1 / useful life of a desk. The volume of transactions = size of desks park x renewal rate. Value of 1 transaction = average price of a desk. Market value = volume of transactions x value of 1 transaction. You should be able to find most of the information for free in this example. You can get the number and size of businesses in ...
It provides a clear picture of the landscape in which your business will operate, enabling you to make data-driven decisions and develop strategies that align with your business plan objectives. A comprehensive market analysis for a business plan should include: Target market identification and segmentation. Industry trends and growth forecasts.
The market analysis section of your small business plan should include the following: Industry Description and Outlook: Describe your industry both qualitatively and quantitatively by laying out the factors that make your industry an attractive place to start and grow a business. Be sure to include detailed statistics that define the industry ...
These are the seven steps of conducting a market analysis: 1. Determine your purpose. There are many reasons you may be conducting a market analysis, such as to gauge your competition or to ...
The business plan market analysis section is the heart and soul of your strategy, impacting everything from marketing to operations to the financial forecast. The market analysis helps you understand your position within the industry, the potential size of your market, the competitive landscape, and most importantly, it assists in identifying ...
A market is the total sum of prospective buyers, individuals, or organizations that are willing and able to purchase a business's potential offering. A market analysis is a detailed assessment of the market you intend to enter. It provides insight into the size and value of the market, potential customer segments, and their buying patterns.
It involves researching and analyzing the target market, competitors, and industry trends in order to identify opportunities and challenges. Here are the steps you can follow to do a market analysis for a business plan: Define your target market: The first step in a market analysis is to identify the specific group of customers that you will be ...
7 steps to prepare a market analysis for a business plan. There are a few key steps on how to conduct a market analysis for a business plan. These business analysis techniques will help entrepreneurs get a clear picture of not just the market, but the future health of their company. 1. Identify the primary objectives of the business.
Now, let's go into each step in more detail so you know exactly what you need for your market analysis. 1. Industry overview. In this step, you'll describe your industry and discuss the direction that it's headed. You'll want to include key industry metrics such as size, trends, and projected growth.
Sections of your market analysis should include: Industry Description and Outlook. Target Market. Market Research Results. Competitive Analysis. Remember to properly cite your sources of information within the body of your market analysis as you write it. You and other readers of your business plan, such as potential investors, will need to ...
A marketing plan includes analysis of the target audience, the competitors, and the market so that teams can determine the best strategy for achieving their goals. The plan's length and detail depend on the company's size and the scope of the marketing project. A marketing plan is useful for all types of marketing, including digital, social media, new product, small business, B2C, and B2B.
Note that market analysis and marketing plan are two different things, with two distinct chapters in a business plan. As the name suggests, market analysis examines where you fit in within your desired industry and market. As you work thorugh this section, jot down your ideas for the marketing and strategy section of your business plan.
A marketing analysis is a process that helps you understand the various demographics and segments of your target audience, effective engagement strategies, the customer journey, and ways to improve conversions. Conducting a marketing analysis can help you improve your marketing campaigns, drive a better return on investment for your marketing ...
Marketing Plan vs. Business Plan. A marketing plan is a strategic document that outlines marketing objectives, strategies, and tactics. A business plan is also a strategic document. But this plan covers all aspects of a company's operations, including finance, operations, and more. It can also help your business decide how to distribute ...
Situational Analysis: One of the most crucial elements of your marketing plan, a situational analysis is an assessment of the internal and external factors affecting a business's performance. It should include research-based insights into market trends and dynamics, customer demographics and pain points, and internal resources.
Business Plan Section 5: Market Analysis. Find out the 9 components to include in the market analysis portion of your business plan, plus 6 sources for market analysis information. This is the part of your business plan where you really get to shine and show off that awesome idea you have. Of course, your product or service is the best!
Mine the research you conducted, as well as your own insights, for this information. Be brutally honest. This is the basis for your entire marketing plan, so if you lie to yourself here, your ...
A marketing plan fosters the review and analysis of the marketing environment, which entails market research, customer needs assessment ... studying new business trends, and continuous environmental scanning. A marketing plan integrates business functions to operate with consistency - notably sales, production, finance, human resources, and ...
Doing this can give you a higher possibility of bigger sales and wider market reach. You may also like event marketing plan examples. 3. Market movement, purchasing power and buying habits. The financial and sales aspect of the business should be prioritized when making a market analysis business plan.
McCarthy's novel approach was influenced by the still-recent "marketing mix" concept, which Harvard Business School professor Neil. H. Borden popularized in the 1950s. In fact, Borden himself had been influenced by a 1948 study written by James Culliton, in which the author equated business executives to "artists" or "mixer[s] of ...
It's important to evaluate your marketing activities. Analysing your results and being aware of new marketing trends is important to keeping your marketing plan up-to-date and reaching your business goals. You should tweak and change your plan as your business and market grow and change.
A lean business plan format is a shortened version of your more detailed business plan. It's helpful when modifying your plan for a specific audience, like investors or new hires. Also known as a one-page business plan, it includes only the most important, need-to-know information, such as: Company description; Suppliers; Key members of your team
Market analysis: This section of the business plan analyzes how well a company is positioned against its competitors. The market analysis should include target market, segmentation analysis ...
But in many organizations, content still isn't treated as a coordinated business function. That's one of the big takeaways from our latest research, B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends: Outlook for 2024, conducted with MarketingProfs and sponsored by Brightspot. A few symptoms of that reality showed up in the research:
Learn more. Marketers believe generative AI will transform their role but worry about accuracy. Despite how generative AI's relatively new status as a mainstream technology, half (51%) of the over 1,000 marketers Salesforce recently surveyed are already using it or are experimenting with it at work. Another 22% of respondents said they plan to use generative AI soon - which, if that pans ...