If you are in the business world, you’ve undoubtedly discovered the need to plan. From business plans and strategic plans to marketing plans, running a business is as much about strategizing your next step as it is reacting to the crisis of the day. However, many aren’t entirely clear on the difference between the many types of plan that business leaders are expected to produce and follow. This article will help explain the difference between two of the most common types of plan, the marketing plan and the business plan. To understand the difference, it’s important to think about what these types of plan are used for and who makes use of them.
Differences Between Business Plans and Marketing Plans
The Business Plan
A business plan is a strategic overview of your entire business. It includes an overview of the business and its place within the industry, a discussion of the products or services that the business offers and an outline of the business’s business model, including a summary of key marketing strategies for communicating key messages to stakeholders. The business plan also identifies the executive leadership and management team with a description of their responsibilities, and it provides a breakdown of the company’s financial obligations and expenditures, cash flow, and financial projections. In other words, the business plan provides a complete overview of all of the major parts of the business, with projections for how the business will develop and grow in the short, medium, and long terms. It contains a section devoted to marketing, but this is typically a summary of strategies with minimal detail.
A business plan is typically used by both the internal audience—the business’s management team—and also external audiences, such as investors and banks, who are stakeholders in need of specific information about the business in order to understand whether providing money to the business will be an effective use of funds.
The Marketing Plan
A marketing plan is a strategic overview of the marketing, advertising, public relations, and other efforts to communicate strategic messages to key stakeholders. The marketing plan outlines in detail the objectives of the business’s marketing strategy, as well as its goals and tactics. The plan provides a description of how the marketing strategy will be implemented and therefore serves as a road map for the business to follow in its implementation of the marketing strategies. The plan will also include specific sales targets that can be used to measure the effectiveness of the marketing strategies. In a larger business with a dedicated marketing department, that department will use the marketing plan to align the business’s products or services to specific marketplace positions. The marketing plan will also lay out specific channels of communication to deliver messages to stakeholders.
A marketing plan is typically kept in-house and is used primarily by the marketing and sales teams to plan strategic messages. Outside stakeholders typically are not provided with this document.
Similarities and Differences
As you can see, a marketing plan is a much more specialized document than a business plan, and one that is narrower in focus but much more detailed in that area of focus. If a business plan is a four-course meal that ends with a slice of cake, a marketing plan is a dessert bar with the whole cake and more besides. But both documents share some similarities. They are, first and foremost, plans used to plot out a strategy for the business in the short, medium, and long terms. They are also intended to systematically review the business’s strategic position in order to help management to make key decisions going forward. The business plan also includes a section on marketing, albeit not in as much depth. The business plan also provides specific information on cash flow, financing, and balance sheets, while the marketing plan does not provide this information.
As you work to develop your business, it’s important to know which plan you need to help your business grow. If you are just starting your business and need to convince investors that you have a sound and viable business, you’ll need a business plan. If you’ already in business and are looking to strategize the best way to move forward for your internal audiences, a custom marketing plan is likely the right choice for you.
These two types of documents contain a great deal of key business information, and there is a significant amount of overlap between them. If you have one document already complete, you can transfer some of the same material to help you develop the other.
What Happens When You Write Them in the Wrong Order (And What I Tell My Clients to Do Instead)
Most people write their marketing plan first because it feels more exciting. You get to talk about social media, content ideas, brand colours, and campaign concepts. The business plan feels dry by comparison, full of financial projections and operational details that nobody wants to sit with on a Tuesday morning. But writing your marketing plan before your business plan is one of the most common and costly mistakes I see, and I have watched it derail otherwise strong businesses more times than I can count.
Here is the core problem. Your marketing plan must be funded by your business plan, not the other way around. If your business plan has not yet established your realistic revenue targets, your cost structure, and your break-even point, then your marketing budget is essentially a number you invented. I worked with a founder in the health and wellness space who had built a 40-page marketing plan complete with influencer partnership tiers, a full content calendar, and a paid social strategy. When we finally sat down to build the business plan, it turned out her projected margins could only support roughly 8% of what she had budgeted for marketing. The entire plan had to be scrapped and rebuilt from scratch, which cost her six weeks and a considerable amount of money paid to a freelance marketing strategist.
The order I recommend to every client is straightforward. Write the business plan first, at least to the point where you have confirmed your revenue model, your pricing, your gross margin, and a realistic first-year operating budget. Only once those numbers are fixed should you open a blank document and start the marketing plan. This is not because one document is more important than the other. It is because the business plan sets the constraints within which your marketing plan must operate. Without those constraints, a marketing plan is just wishful thinking dressed up in a nice template.
There is one exception worth mentioning. If you are writing a business plan to raise investment, you will often need to include at least a high-level marketing strategy within the document itself to demonstrate market understanding to potential investors. In that situation, I advise clients to write a summary marketing section inside the business plan first, then return and build the full standalone marketing plan once funding is confirmed. This keeps investors satisfied without locking you into a detailed tactical plan before your budget is secured.
- Start with your business plan’s financial section before opening your marketing plan template
- Confirm your gross margin percentage before you assign a single pound to any marketing channel
- Treat the marketing budget line in your business plan as the ceiling your marketing plan must stay under
- Review both documents together at least quarterly, because a change in pricing or costs must immediately trigger a review of your marketing spend allocation
- If the two documents were written months apart, check them side by side for contradictions before showing either one to a bank, investor, or business partner
The two documents are meant to work as a pair. The business plan defines what the business needs to achieve financially and operationally. The marketing plan defines how you will attract and retain the customers who make those financial outcomes possible. Neither one functions in isolation, and a strong business is built on both of them being honest with each other.
The short version: A business plan is the master blueprint for your entire company, covering finances, operations, and long-term goals, while a marketing plan zooms in specifically on how you will attract and retain customers. Think of the business plan as the foundation of the house and the marketing plan as the strategy for getting people through the front door. Both documents are essential, but they serve very different purposes and audiences.
Frequently asked questions
What is the main difference between a business plan and a marketing plan?
A business plan covers the full scope of your company, including funding, structure, operations, and financial projections, whereas a marketing plan focuses solely on your target audience, positioning, campaigns, and strategies for driving sales. One is broad, the other is focused.
Can a small business skip writing a marketing plan if it already has a business plan?
Skipping the marketing plan is a mistake many small business owners make. A business plan tells you where you want to go, but a marketing plan maps out exactly how you will get customers to come with you. Without it, your business plan lacks the tactical detail needed to generate real revenue.
Which plan should you write first?
Write the business plan first. It defines your mission, target market, and financial goals, all of which feed directly into the more specific strategies you will build into your marketing plan. Trying to write them in reverse order often results in a marketing strategy that does not align with your core business objectives.
How often should each plan be updated?
Your business plan should be reviewed at least once a year or whenever there is a major shift in your company direction or funding needs. Your marketing plan, because it ties closely to campaigns, trends, and customer behavior, should be revisited every quarter to stay relevant and effective.
