Consulting
How to create a digital marketing plan that someone can actually execute (with template)
By JCUpdated 7 min read
A digital marketing plan that actually gets done fits on one or two pages: a sales goal with a number and a date, the customer you are talking to, 2 or 3 channels, the budget for each, who does what and when it is reviewed. If your plan has 40 slides and on Monday no one knows their task, it will not be executed.
Below is the process I follow and a template you can copy.
What is a digital marketing plan?
It is the document that links what you want to sell with what you will do each week in digital channels to achieve it: search engines, ads, social media, email, your website and your CRM. It says what is done, who does it, how much it costs and how it is measured.
What it is not: a list of ideas, a social media posting calendar, or a 40‑page diagnosis. Those pieces can be part of the plan, but on their own they do not tell anyone what to do on Monday.
Why most plans are not executed?
- Too many channels. Eight channels with a two‑person team become eight half‑finished things.
- Goals not measured in sales. “Grow on social media” or “position the brand” do not say how much to sell or by when.
- No one owns anything. If a task is “the team’s”, no one owns it. If you don’t have someone to lead the plan, see consultant, agency or hourly CMO? where I compare the three options.
- Tool before strategy. The CRM, agency or AI is hired before knowing what process it will support.
- No one reviews it. It is presented in January and opened again in December.
How to create a digital marketing plan step by step?
1. Start with the sales number
How many new customers do you need in the next 90 days and at what price? Everything else comes from that. If you don’t know how many of your leads become customers, measure it first with your sales funnel.
2. Write who you sell to in one sentence
For example: “Operations directors of companies with 50 to 200 employees in Mexico City who waste time with manual payroll.” A sentence like this defines which channels that person uses and what you will tell them.
3. Review where your customers come from today
Before proposing something new, look at your last 20 customers: how they found you, how long they took to buy, and how much it cost to get them. Often the channel that sells the most gets the least attention, like referrals or a customer base no one contacts again.
4. Choose 2 or 3 channels based on intent
| If your customer… | You need | Channels |
|---|---|---|
| Already searching for what you sell | Capture that demand | Google Search Ads, SEO, Google profile |
| Doesn’t know you exist, but fits a profile | Create demand | Meta Ads, LinkedIn, content |
| Already bought from you or already knows you | Repurchase and referral | Email, WhatsApp, referral program, CRM |
To choose between Google and Meta, see Google Ads or Meta Ads: which works best for what you sell.
5. Calculate the budget backwards
Desired sales ÷ close rate = leads you need. Leads × cost per lead = ad budget. Add content production, tools and the hours of the person who executes. If the total does not fit, adjust the goal or the timeline before cutting channels at random.
6. Assign an owner and a date to each action
One person per action, even if a provider carries it out. The owner is responsible for the result and alerts when something gets stuck.
7. Define how and when to review
A weekly 30‑minute review with 4 or 5 numbers, and a monthly one to move budget. If a review does not end with a decision, it was unnecessary.
Digital marketing plan template
Copy this table and fill it in. The example is fictional: an accounting firm in Mexico City.
| Section | What to write | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Objective | Sales with number and date | 12 new accounting clients before January 31 |
| Customer | Who you sell to, in one sentence | SME service owners in CDMX that bill more than 5 million per year |
| Offer | What you sell and why you | Monthly accounting with report in 5 business days and a dedicated accountant |
| Current situation | Where customers come from today | 80% referrals; website gets almost no contacts |
| Channels | 2 or 3, with their role | Google Search Ads (capture), email to current customers (referrals), Google profile (local) |
| Budget | Per channel, per month | Ads: 20,000 pesos plus VAT. Email and profile: team hours |
| Owners | One person per channel | Ads: external consultant. Email: admin coordination. Lead follow‑up: business partner |
| Numbers | Those reviewed each week | Leads per channel, time to first contact, proposals sent, customers closed, cost per customer |
| Review | When and with whom | Monday at 9:00, 30 minutes; month‑end with partners |
| Assumptions | What must be true | We close 1 of every 5 leads and answer in less than one business hour |
The assumptions row is the most often forgotten and the most useful: if a monthly review shows an assumption is false, you know what to fix.
First 90‑day calendar
| Weeks | What is done | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| 1 and 2 | Measure baseline: source of current customers, funnel and response times. Set up CRM and conversions | Marketing lead |
| 3 and 4 | Launch the first channel, with landing page ready | Channel lead |
| 5 to 8 | Adjust searches or audiences, ads, form and first‑contact script | Channel lead and sales |
| 9 to 12 | Launch the second channel if the first already brings sales at a reasonable cost | Marketing lead |
| 13 | 90‑day review: what stays, what stops, what’s next | Leadership and marketing |
What numbers should the plan have?
Few and tied to sales:
| Number | What it is for | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Leads per channel | To know which brings volume | Weekly |
| Time to first contact | Detect leads that cool down | Weekly |
| Close rate per channel | Know which channel brings buyers | Monthly |
| Cost per customer per channel | Move budget with data | Monthly |
| Sales vs goal | Know if plan is on time | Monthly |
Followers, reach and impressions help diagnose an ad, not decide the budget.
Common mistakes I see
- Copy a large company’s plan with a two‑person team.
- Put the tool at the center. The CRM, AI or agency are means; the focus is the sales number.
- Leave sales out. If sales does not take part in the plan, leads are lost in handoff.
- Measure everything and decide nothing. Twenty metrics on a dashboard no one opens are worth less than five that are reviewed each Monday.
Do I do it myself or hire someone?
If you have someone on the team with time and judgment, the template is enough to start. What is often missing is a person to keep it alive each week: someone who checks numbers, moves budget and holds providers accountable when something goes wrong. That is what a part‑time or monthly marketing director does: the expertise of a marketing director without the salary of a full‑time hire.
What I would do
- Write the 90‑day goal with a number and a date.
- Start with a single channel that reaches people already searching for what you sell, and measure it to the sale.
- Review each Monday, 30 minutes, the same 5 numbers.
I do marketing consulting by project and can also be your part‑time or monthly marketing director. If you want to build your 90‑day plan with me, schedule 30 minutes.