How to Create a Highly Effective Daily, Weekly, and Monthly Online Marketing Plan (in less than 30 minutes!)
Gotta LOVE vs. HATE relationship with marketing plans?
I’m guessing you became a small business owner because you have a true passion for the product or service that you provide. And you’re likely beyond excited that you get to spend your time doing what you love AND get paid for it. #WIN
But quickly you start to realize that as a solopreneur you’re ALSO in charge of marketing, hiring, sales, admin work, accounting, and a bunch of other tasks that you may have little to no experience in…
….and the scary thing is that the success of your business largely depends on you getting them right!
So let’s knock one of those tasks off your every growing to-do list today!
—> By the end of this article, I’ll have shown you how to create a “Baseline” Online Marketing Plan for your business, so that you know the EXACT marketing plan steps what you need to be doing on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis to keep clients coming in on the regular.
Sound good? Let’s do this together and create your simple marketing plan!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll earn a commission, at no additional cost to you. Read my full disclosure here.
The “Secret Sauce” to a GOOD (and simple!) Online Marketing Plan
No matter how AMAZING your work is, if nobody knows about it, then your business WILL fail.
And it’s nobody’s job except your own, to ensure that the RIGHT people, who are desperately in need of what you do, actually KNOW that your business exists and is ready to serve them.
That’s where a good digital marketing strategy and plan comes into play.
When you understand exactly what your non-negotiable marketing tasks need to be on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, then it’s much easier to take those specific action each day, rather than wasting time trying to figure out your daily to-do’s on-the-fly.
But here’s the PROBLEM (and it’s a big one) -
If you’re anything like me (and I bet you are!) you’d rather be working on a NEW project idea, trying out a NEW strategy, or exploring that NEW creative inspiration that just came into your head, rather than implementing a mundane “marketing plan” that has be repeated again, and again, and again to get results. #UGH
Listen, I hear you!
We’re creative and big dreamin’ people. It’s why we’re cut out to be entrepreneurs. Many of us run the opposite direction from things are repetitive tasks.
BUT the fact of the matter is that CONSISTENCY is power.
Everything that you want out of your business (sales, influence, impact, raving clients,) is 100% achieveable by doing one *small* thing: being consistent.
So what’s the solution?
—> How do you stay consistent in your marketing plan, while also giving yourself the creative license to create, explore, and chase your passion on a daily basis?
Don’t worry I’ve got you covered….
Your “Baseline” Daily, Weekly, and Monthly Marketing Plan
The key to a good marketing plan is setting up a system of tasks that is concise, easy-to-implement, AND gets results.
When you know EXACTLY what marketing tasks you’re committed to checking off of your to-do list on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, AND you’re made a streamlined plan of how to accomplish those…
…then you don’t have to waste your creative time or energy on the planning and implementation of those tasks!
By taking 30 minutes right now to strategize, plan out, and set up your “baseline” marketing plan, you’ll be giving yourself the gift of never again having to think - “what should I be doing today?”
We call it a “baseline” plan because these are the bare-minimum and SIMPLE marketing tasks that you’re committed to doing on a regular basis, so that you can feel confident that your business is always growing.
Maybe one week you’re inspired to start a YouTube channel, try out a new strategy on Insta-Stories, or create a live class that you want to teach. That all GREAT…
…as long as you’ve ALREADY completed your Baseline Marketing Plan for the day. :)
Can you commit to that? If so, let’s dive in!
Finding your Ideal Daily Time Commitment to your Baseline Online Marketing Plan
Each of us has a different number of hours in the day that we can commit to our businesses. Maybe you’re working your business outside of a 9-5 job, maybe you’re a stay-at-home mom that does the “naptime hustle,” or maybe you have a full 6-8 hours per day to commit to your work.
—> Trying to implement the same baseline marketing plan in each of these scenarios would be a big mistake, and a recipe for failure.
If you’re spending 1 hour implementing your Baseline Marketing Plan each day and you only have 2 hours total per day to work on your business, then you’ll quickly get burned out and give up on your system. Not good.
Remember, our goal is CONSISTENCY!
So first, calculate the amount of time that you typically spend working on your business each day. Let’s take that same example of having 2 hours per day to work on your business.
Then take ¼ of your total daily allotment. In this example, that would be 30 minutes.
—> Our goal is for your baseline marketing plan to take NO MORE than 1/4 of the time that you devote to your business on a daily basis.
Calculate your personal amount of time that you can devote to your Baseline Marketing Plan, and once that number is in your head, let’s keep moving forward.
Total Work Hours per Day x .25 = ____________ (max daily time commitment to your baseline marketing system)
Picking your Audience Growth + Engagement Social Media Platforms
One of the keys to a successful Baseline Marketing Plan is to make sure that your daily tasks always include our 3 mains goals for your marketing:
GROW your Audience (and potential client base) - reach people that are new to your business, and introduce them to your “sphere of influence”
NURTURE your Current Audience - build and grow a relationship with the people who are currently in your audience
SELL your Offer - make your paid offers known to your audience in a way that authentically serves the needs that they have and creates revenue for your business
—> If you’re doing those 3 things CONSISTENTLY, then I can almost guarantee that you’ll find success with this system once it’s implemented and up and running.
Let’s take a look at the best ways to incorporate these 3 goals - grow, nurture, sell - into your Baseline Marketing Plan.
MARKETING GOAL #1 GROW -
Our goal with GROW is to reach new people that do not currently know you, and do not know what product or service your business provides. It’s important to always be bringing NEW people into our audience.
Before looking at the strategies of HOW to grow your audience, first you need to know what platform you’ll be focused on to begin growing your audience.
—> You’ll want to pick ONE primary platform, and ONE secondary repurposing platform.
Potential platfom options to pick from include:
Instagram
Youtube
Facebook
Blogging/Content Marketing
LinkedIN
TikTok
Pinterest
Your primary platform is where you are picking to go “ALL IN” with your audience growth goal. The steps that we add to your baseline marketing plan on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis will all be optimized and created specifically for this ONE platform.
Here are a few things to consider when picking your primary platform:
Is there a social media platform that you already have an audience on that you’re currently working on growing?
Is there a type of content that comes more naturally to you? (video, short or long from writing, etc.)
Where do you naturally enjoy spending your time and interacting with other users of the platform?
I believe these questions are of utmost importance, because (from experience!) I know that if you try to pick a social media platform that you don’t currently use (at least casually) and enjoy, then it’s going to be an uphill battle to continue to show up there regularly.
If after answering those questions for yourself, you’re still torn between two platforms, THEN ask yourself - “where are my most perfect clients most likely to hangout?”
I only ask this question as a “tie breaker” if it comes down to a decision between two plafforms, because I believe your own personal feelings and affinity for the social platform (affecting your commitment to staying consistent there) are one of the most important factors to your success in the long-term.
Your secondary platform will be where you re-purpose the content from your primary platform, to expand your reach further, but without adding much additional work. Maybe the content isn’t “perfectly” formatted or 100% exactly suited for the secondary platform, but we’re going for done is better than perfect!
We know that if you spread yourself too thin, then your results will decrease, so it’s important that the secondary platform you pick is truly about repurposing content from your primary platform and doesn’t result in a large amount of extra work (this often comes down to having the correct systems and automation in place, which we’ll talk about in this article).
—> Got your primary platform and you secondary (repurposing) platform picked out?
Great, let’s move on.
HINT: STRUGGING TO MASTER YOUR CHOSEN SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS?
Taking an online course that is specicially focused on the mastery of a single social media platform is often one of the quickest and most effective ways to get up to speed and gain a following.
These are a few of my personal recommendations for each:
Instagram - any of these courses by Alex Tooby
Youtube - trainings by Sunny Lenarduzzi
Facebook - start with this in-depth blog post
Blogging/Content Marketing - take this course on affiliate marketing
LinkedIN - try this class
Pinterest - this low-priced course and these templates
MARKETING GOAL #2: NURTURE YOUR CURRENT AUDIENCE -
Now, here’s some good news. When it comes to nurturing and developing the relationship with your current audience - the people that have already found you and are ready to learn more about you and your business - many action steps for this goal overlap with the GROW goal.
The content that you produce to grow your audience can often also serve the purpose of nurturing your current audience. People like to stick to their favorite social media platforms and ways to consume content, so if a person found you on Instagram, it’s highly likely that they’ll continue to engage with your future content on Instagram as well.
That means that the marketing steps that work for growing your audience will play double-duty in also nurturing your current audience. Woohoo! #lessworkforthewin
BUT…
There is one caveat here.
—> It’s EXTREMELY important (in my opinion) to collect the contact information from your growing audience members in a way that is completely separate from where they found you.
Taking the example of someone that found you on Instagram, our goal is to also gain that person’s contact information in a way that doesn’t involve using our Instagram account to contact them.
The absolute best way to do that?
Collect their EMAIL address.
When you have an email list, it is one of the few instances in online marketing where you actually “own” their information. An email address is a direct way to contact someone that doesn’t rely on a single system that is owned by someone else.
If something happened (outage, change in algorithm, account shutdown, etc.) on your favorite social media platform, you would have no way to continue to contact the people that you’ve attracted into your audience.
But if you’ve taken the steps to collect their name and email address, then you are “safe” because you have another alternative way to be in touch.
The problem is that people typically don’t hand over their email address without a good reason to do so.
—> You’re going to have to give them something in exchange.
This is typically called a lead magnet, content upgrade, or “freebie.”
Something that’s so enticing that they find it to be worth their time to manually type their email address into your form and hit “submit”. (sounds SO hard right? LOL but it typically takes a little convincing with a good incentive)
We’re covering email list building in-depth in another one of the episodes of this “Everyday Entrepreneurship” series, and I’ll link to it here as soon as it’s ready!
Now let’s move on to the final goal of our marketing system, which is to sell your offer. (the step that actually makes you a business!)
HINT: READY TO JUMPSTART YOUR EMAIL LIST GROWTH NOW?
These are the key programs and resources that I use to build my email list:
ConvertKit - for building my email list, and collecting and sending emails (they also have landing pages if you want to streamline your whole system -especially great if you’re just getting started). Free plan available.
Leadpages - if you want to “amp up” your landing pages a little bit, this is the next step up, and what I currently use (also great for sales pages, etc.)
Biz Babe Lead Magnet & Ebook Templates - for creating beauuuuuutifullllly designed ebooks and lead magnets without needing to be a graphic designer yourself. Free sample kit available.
Membervault - for creating an interactive mini-course (if you prefer this option instead of an ebook for your “freebie”) Free plan available.
Earn It with Email Starter Kit - my resource for writing interesting emails that people actually want to open, and that get results for your business. Free when you enter your email address to register. :)
MARKETING GOAL #3: SELL YOUR OFFER -
You’re not a business if you’re not selling, and if you’re not selling, you won’t stay in business for long. #TRUTH
If you truly believe in what you offer, then you’d be doing your future customers a disservice by not running a profitable business that allows you to keep offering what you do best for the long-haul.
To run a profitable business, that means that you’ve got to let people know what you have to offer in a way that inspires action, and shows them exactly WHY and HOW what you offer is exactly what they need.
When done correctly, selling feels like a total win-win for everyone involved in the transaction.
Let’s look at how you can ensure that the goal of selling your offer is a key part to your daily, weekly, and monthly Baseline Marketing Plan.
Instead of looking at straight-up “salesy” sales post as the only way to sell your offer, let’s consider the many different ways that you can insert selling into your marketing routine.
Here’s 10 potential ways you can “sell” without feeling like a salesperson:
Share your experience with a product or service that you personally use that you know could benefit your audience as well.
Use a “behind-the-scenes” post or video to show your process for the product/service that you offer.
Talk about the results of a past client or create a full case study.
Offer a “freebie” in exchange for an email address, and follow up with a series of emails that presents your offer.
Write an FAQ list, or record your answers on video.
Host a FB or Instagram Live that shows one possible way to use your product/service.
Share a blog post that teaches one small actionable process related to your offer.
Invite your audience to a “pop up” Facebook group for a short challenge that helps people understand the value of what you offer.
Offer a free sample of your offer, and implement a follow-up system to check in on their experience.
Reach out personally to develop 1:1 relationships with the people who comment on your posts.
And that’s just 10 ideas… there are SO many more!
—> Do you know see how it’s completely possible to “sell” every day, but not let your social media feed become a revolving advertisement in the process?
Planning out your Daily, Weekly, and Monthly Baseline Marketing Plan
Now let’s get to the part where we actually make it happen! It’s time to plan out your exact “Baseline” Marketing Plan on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis!
At this point, you’ve:
Calculated the amount of time you ideally should devote to your marketing system each day.
Picked your primary platform and your repurposing platforms.
Identified the 3 goals of your system - grow, nurture, and sell.
—> Now, how do you create your own Baseline Marketing Plan and decide what marketing tasks should make up your unique system on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis?
I’ll give you a few ideas and guidelines to follow as you set up your own system, but the MOST important thing to remember above everything else is to keep it SIMPLE and EASY.
Consistency is your key to achieving everything that you want in your business.
Making your Baseline Marketing Plan a set of simple tasks that you’ll actually DO every single day will be more impactful to your success than a more comprehensive (and complicated system) that quickly falls to the wayside as life gets busy. (and it always does!)
With SIMPLE and EASY at the forefront of your mind, here’s are a few other tips to consider when creating your daily, weekly, and monthly baseline marketing plan:
DAILY:
What’s the “best practice” posting schedule for your primary social media platform? Schedule this frequency (if you can fit it) into your schedule.
Your secondary (repurposing) platform will also need a (small) place in the schedule. Start looking at potential automation options for this step.
Relationships are key. Replying to comments and messages should be a part of your daily plan.
WEEKLY:
What tasks don’t fit into your time allotment for your daily plan? Add these to your weekly plan instead at a 1-2x per week basis.
Follow up is a key to sales success. Creating a weekly system for following up with leads is a smart move.
MONTHLY:
Now’s the time to create a general outline of topics for your next month’s marketing.
What stats are important for you to keep track of in your business? Track them here.
Is there one new marketing asset that can be created monthly? (new lead magnet, sales page, etc.)
Sometimes an example works best! So let’s take a look at an example “Baseline” Marketing System.
EXAMPLE OF A GOOD BASELINE MARKETING PLAN
Primary platform: Facebook
Seconday platform: Instagram
DAILY:
Once daily post to Facebook page.
Automated re-post to Instagram (using Facebook’s Creator Studio to schedule).
Respond to comments (both platforms), and invite post “likers” to like the page (FB).
WEEKLY:
Send email to list.
Live video on primary platform (FB page).
MONTHLY:
Record monthly stats: page likes, website traffic, email list, etc.
New blog post with “freebie” offer. (1x monthly)
It looks fairly simple right? And that’s completely the point!
CONSISTENCY is your key to success. And the magic is in sticking to the PLAN and not falling off course when business and life get busy.
Personally I like to schedule out as much as I can in advance, which results in me having MORE time each day for my creative endeavors because I’ve already checked off some of my Baseline Marketing Plan tasks in advance!
In this example marketing plan above, I would plan on “batch” creating and scheduling my daily posts to Facebook and automated repost Instagram for 1 month at a time, to avoid needing to always do them on a daily basis.
Final Step! Create a Simple Marketing Plan Checklist Tracking System
If you’ve made it this far, then you are well on your way to creating a systemized marketing plan that’s going to clear up your creative time and energy for doing the things that you LOVE!
BUT, don’t stop yet…
All the work you’ve done so far won’t make a difference if you don’t record your daily, weekly, and monthly marekting plan into a checklist-style tracking system that you’re actually use!
Remember, you don’t want to have to think about your daily tasks. You just want to be able to DO them. With check-off tracking system, you’re able to do just that.
I suggest creating a separate checklist-style tracking system for your daily, weekly, and monthly tasks. Depending on the program you use, you’ll likely want to create a “template” checklist for each, and then duplicate it the number of times that you’ll need it for a month’s use (daily-30x or 31x, weekly-4x, monthly-1x).
There are 3 different programs that I suggest for setting up your system:
Option #1: Airtable
This is the program that I personally use for setting up my baseline marketing system. The flexibility on how you can set up your checklist in AirTable is endless, with the ability to add links, create category tags, upload graphics, and view in both calendar and table formats.
Option #2: Asana
If you like linear checklists, then Asana may be the choice for you!
Option #3: Trello
Or maybe you prefer things to be a bit more visual? Do you enjoy the experience of dragging and dropping your to-do items into the DONE pile? Then Trello is going to be your cup-o-tea!
You made it! Did you create your own Baseline Marketing Plan in the process?
If not, I encourage you to block off 30-60 minutes to do the planning, create your checklist-style templates, and research any automations or programs that could help you along the way.
Get it done “good enough” and then put it to the test! a.k.a. DO THE SYSTEM! :)
As you work through your Baseline Marketing Plan during your first month of using it you’ll identify additional ways that you can speed up your process. Maybe that looks like creating a set of Pinterest templates to speed up your Pin design process, or reasearching and saving sets of hashtags to the notes app on your phone.
During that first month, any additional time that you spend to streamline and optimize your system into the smoothest process possible, will pay you back time and time again as you continue to use this system for months into the future!
