It fits on one page. This guide gives you a filled-in example and a blank version to copy.
Most marketing plans fail because they are too long to use or too vague to check.
This page gives you a one-page plan in table form, a filled-in example for a services firm, and a blank copy you can paste into your own document. It also says what to cut when your team is small. It is written for marketing heads and managers at B2B companies selling in India, the UK and the Netherlands.
What is a B2B marketing plan, and how is it different from a strategy?
A B2B marketing plan lists what you will do, in which order, with whom and by when, for a set period such as a quarter or a year.
A strategy is the choice behind the plan: which customers you will pursue, what you will say to them, and what you will leave alone.
In our view, write the strategy in a paragraph and the plan on a page. If the plan needs ten pages to explain itself, the strategy is not clear yet.
What goes on a one-page plan?
Six boxes. Each one answers a question your team should be able to answer without opening a file.
- Who you sell to: the ideal customer and the buying group
- Promise: what you offer them and why you, in two sentences
- Channels: the three where you will put the effort
- Goals: numbers you can check, with a date
- 90-day actions: who does what, by when
- Review: how often you check, and who owns the plan
The next sections take these in order.
Who are you selling to?
Write down the type of company and the people inside it who take part in the decision.
The company description should be tight enough to build a list from. Industry, size, country and a trigger event, such as a new market entry or a leadership change.
Then list the roles, because B2B purchases rarely have one buyer. Name the person who feels the problem, the person who signs, the person who checks budget, and the person who can say no, such as procurement or IT.
One line on what each cares about is enough.
What do you promise them?
Write the promise in two sentences a buyer would recognise: who it is for, what changes for them, and why you.
Test it. If a competitor could paste the same sentences on their site, the promise is too general. Replace claims such as "quality service" with something a buyer can check, such as a named process, a specification, a written scope or a response time you keep.
Do not invent proof. If you have no published case yet, say what you will do to get one.
Which three channels get the effort?
Pick three. A small team that runs six channels runs all of them badly.
Choose from where your buyers already look. Two studies give a hint, though neither is specific to your market. G2's March 2026 survey of 1,076 B2B decision-makers found 54% said AI chatbots influenced their shortlists, ahead of every other source listed, and it covered software buyers. Pew Research tracked 900 US adults in 2025 and found people clicked a traditional search result in 8% of visits when an AI summary appeared, against 15% when it did not.
The reading we would take: do not rely on a single channel, and make your pages easy to quote.
| Channel | Use it when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Search and AI answers | Buyers already know the problem | Slow to build; fewer clicks when summaries appear |
| LinkedIn from named experts | You sell expertise or a technical product | Needs a real person's voice and time |
| Email to existing contacts | You have past enquiries and customers | Consent rules differ by country |
| Paid media | You need meetings sooner and can test | Stops when the budget stops |
| Events and partners | Your buyers meet in person | Easy to waste without follow-up |
| Referrals | Customers already like you | Hard to scale on demand |
What goals can you check?
Pick one goal per stage of the buying journey, and give each a number and a date.
- Reach: the share of your target accounts that visited your site or engaged with you this quarter
- Interest: enquiries or meetings from those accounts
- Quality: the number of enquiries that match your agreed definition of qualified
- Revenue: pipeline and orders by source
Avoid goals that nobody can check, such as "raise awareness". If you cannot say how you would know it worked, it is not a goal yet.
What does a filled-in plan look like?
This is an illustrative example for a fictional services-led B2B firm: a 40-person IT services company based in the Netherlands that wants more clients in the UK. All figures are illustrative round values. Replace them with your own.
| Box | Illustrative example |
|---|---|
| Who | Mid-sized UK financial services firms with an in-house IT team and a stated cloud move. Buying group: Head of IT (feels the problem), CFO (budget), Procurement (contract), COO (sponsor) |
| Promise | We run the migration with your team, in fixed phases, with a written scope for each. You see what happens each month and keep the documentation |
| Channels | 1. LinkedIn posts by two named senior engineers. 2. A search-led resource page on migration risks, built for citation by AI assistants. 3. Email to past enquiries and existing contacts, within consent rules |
| Goals by end of quarter | 20 target accounts engaged. 8 enquiries that meet the agreed definition. 3 first meetings |
| 90-day actions | Days 1 to 30: list 100 accounts and map roles; write the promise. Days 31 to 60: publish the resource page; start the LinkedIn series. Days 61 to 90: email past contacts; review and decide what to stop |
| Review | Monthly, 30 minutes. Owner: Head of Marketing, with the Sales Director |
Notice what is missing: no list of 12 channels, no vague awareness goal, and no tool shopping.
What does a blank template look like?
Copy this table into your own document and fill in each row. Keep it to one page.
| Box | Your answer |
|---|---|
| Who: company type (industry, size, country, trigger) | |
| Who: buying group (feels the problem, signs, checks budget, can say no) | |
| Promise (two sentences: for whom, what changes, why you) | |
| Proof you can show today | |
| Channel 1 and why | |
| Channel 2 and why | |
| Channel 3 and why | |
| Goal: reach, with number and date | |
| Goal: qualified enquiries, with number and date | |
| Goal: pipeline, with number and date | |
| 90-day actions (who, what, by when) | |
| What we will not do this quarter | |
| Review dates and plan owner |
The row "what we will not do" is the most useful one. Fill it in first.
How do you plan with a small team and no big budget?
Cut, and write down what you cut.
- Cut channels to two if you have fewer than three people.
- Cut formats. One strong page and one strong series beat a weekly mix of everything.
- Cut reporting. Five numbers, one page, once a month.
- Cut targeting. Choose 50 accounts, not 5,000.
- Cut tools until the process works without them.
Spend the saved time on the one thing buyers notice: answers from a named person who knows the subject.
What changes in India, the UK and the Netherlands?
Treat these as checks, not rules. We have not verified how buying works in each market.
- Buying group. Who signs off, and does a procurement team or a parent company's head office have a say?
- Procurement norms. Are vendor registration, references or a formal tender expected before a first order?
- Outreach rules. In the UK, the ICO says PECR lets you email corporate subscribers (companies and other bodies) for marketing without the individual consent that individual subscribers need. It also says to keep a list of those who object. Data protection law can still apply to personal work addresses. Check the equivalent rules for the Netherlands, the EU and India with a qualified adviser.
- Channels. Which messaging apps, directories and search engines do buyers actually use in that country?
Write the answers into the "Who" box of the plan.
How often should you review the plan, and who owns it?
Review it monthly for 30 minutes, and rewrite it each quarter.
One person owns the plan. That is usually the head of marketing, but the sales lead should co-sign the goals. If sales and marketing disagree on what a qualified enquiry is, the plan will fail however well it is written.
At each review, ask what you did, what happened, and what you will stop, start or change.
