Growth & operations expertise

Annual marketing plan: a 12-month heading, for Toronto SMBs.

Navigating day to day means being at the mercy of events. We build your annual marketing plan: goals, actions, budget and calendar in a clear, manageable roadmap. For SMBs in Toronto and across the GTA.

Without a plan, marketing reacts to emergencies instead of serving a heading.

Many SMBs do marketing day to day: a promo here, a post there, a campaign when the order book empties. Without a plan, you react to emergencies, miss the key moments and never know whether you are on track.

Our role: build a concrete annual marketing plan. Quantified goals, actions sequenced by quarter, an allocated budget and a calendar of key moments. A roadmap that sets the heading and gets managed all year long.

This expertise is part ofFractional Growth & Operations
What the expertise covers

A roadmap that is clear and manageable.

Not a document that sleeps: a plan sequenced, budgeted and tracked all year long.

  • Quantified goals

    Clear, measurable marketing goals, aligned with your business stakes. The heading that guides everything else.

  • Action plan

    The actions to run, sequenced by quarter, with an owner for each.

  • Allocated budget

    A budget split by lever and by period, starting from what returns the most.

  • Calendar of key moments

    The key moments of your year (seasons, launches, events) anticipated, not suffered.

  • Tracking indicators

    The KPIs to know, month after month, whether you are on track, and adjust if not.

  • Visual roadmap

    A readable overview, shareable with leadership and the team.

  • Plan B & trade-offs

    Room built in to adjust without breaking everything when reality moves.

Our approach

From your goals to the executable roadmap.

We start from your business goals to deliver a concrete plan, not a theory.

  1. Goal framing

    We clarify your business and marketing goals for the year, and the means available.

  2. Building the plan

    We define the actions, the budget, the calendar and the indicators, sequenced by quarter.

  3. Roadmap & sign-off

    We formalize a clear roadmap and validate it with you, ready to execute.

  4. Steering

    We track progress and the indicators, and adjust the plan through the year.

Method & tools

What we build on.

Proven planning frameworks and your data.

  • Marketing plan
  • Roadmap (quarters)
  • Budget / lever matrix
  • Marketing calendar
  • KPI model
  • Dashboards
What it changes

Marketing that follows a heading.

Effects observed after an annual marketing plan is in place. They vary with your starting point.

  • 12 monthsof clear headingno more day to day
  • Anticipatedkey momentsseasons and launches
  • Budgetallocated and trackedby lever
  • Manageableadjusted continuouslyon the indicators

A marketing plan does not lock you in; it frees you: it stops the reacting to emergencies and lets you anticipate the key moments. Better an imperfect plan you manage than no plan you suffer.

FAQ

The questions we hear most about the marketing plan.

  • What's the difference between this expertise and your Fractional Growth & Operations service?

    The Fractional Growth & Operations service covers operations over time. The Marketing plan expertise is the planning piece: building the annual roadmap (goals, actions, budget, calendar). It sits inside the service and frames the steering that follows.

  • Isn't an annual plan too rigid?

    No, if it is designed to be adjusted. The plan sets a heading and anticipates the key moments, but it builds in room and gets revised during the year. The goal is to stop suffering events while staying agile.

  • What's the difference with an acquisition plan?

    The acquisition plan focuses on the channels to generate customers. The marketing plan is broader: it covers the whole year's marketing (acquisition, brand, content, loyalty), with budget and calendar.

  • Do you also steer the execution afterwards?

    We can. The plan can be executed in-house, with your vendors, or through our fractional growth & operations leadership. The plan stays useful whatever the execution mode.

  • How long does it take to build the plan?

    Between 2 and 4 weeks depending on the scope and the availability of the data. We deliver a clear, actionable roadmap, not a theoretical document.

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