It’s one thing to know you need an annual marketing plan. It’s another to actually build one that’s structured, realistic, and ready to present.
In this guide, we’re bringing realistic annual marketing plan examples from brands and agencies that manage complex media strategies. Use these examples to learn what to include, how to sequence your campaigns, and how to tie your plan back to business goals.
Key highlights:
- The structure of your annual marketing plan (channels, timing, spend) should always match your revenue model, sales cycle, and funnel complexity.
- The most effective sample marketing plans combine short-term performance (retargeting, paid search) with long-term brand-building (video, CTV). Allocate budget accordingly and measure both.
- Don’t wait until quarter four to learn what worked in your marketing plan. Use MMM tools like Keen to simulate ROI upfront, test tradeoffs, and forecast impact.
Elements of great marketing plans
A strong annual marketing plan connects what you’re doing to why you’re doing it and what impact it should have on the business.
All our marketing plan examples include the following elements:
- Marketing problem scenario: Identify the situation your brand is in
- Business objectives and marketing goals: Define what you’re trying to achieve, tied directly to the scenario
- Target audiences or segments: Outline your ICPs, personas, or segments
- Marketing campaign roadmap: List key campaigns by quarter, including timing, funnel stage, target audience, and primary message for each
- Marketing channel strategy: Break down how you’re investing across paid, owned, and earned channels and why
- Content or messaging themes: Highlight the core narratives or content pillars you’ll focus on throughout the year
- Marketing key performance indicators (KPIs): Identify how you’ll measure impact with metrics like ROAS, iROAS, pipeline contribution, CAC, or brand lift
- Risks and assumptions: Flag anything that could affect performance, such as seasonality shifts, market changes, team members’ constraints, or more
Sample marketing plans by company type
There’s no one-size-fits-all marketing plan sample. Your strategy should reflect your business model, sales cycle, and market complexity. Below, you’ll find sample successful marketing plans from four common use cases based on how real teams structure marketing strategy, allocate spend, and align with business goals.
Use these as starting points, then adapt them to your own priorities.
Marketing plan example #1: CPG brand trying to balance awareness and promotional lift
Business scenario: A national CPG brand with multiple product lines sells through big-box retailers. Leadership wants to grow long-term brand awareness, but category managers are pushing for short-term promotional results, especially in Q2 and Q4.
The team needs to come up with a marketing business plan that satisfies both.
Marketing planning strategy: The team anchors Q1 in high-reach brand messaging, then shifts to promo-heavy advertising flights in peak seasons. They use TV and YouTube for scale, pair it with retailer media for point-of-sale lift, and reserve test budget for social creative experiments.
Performance is tracked via marketing mix modeling and store-level sales data.
Marketing plan sample structure:
| Element | Marketing plan details |
| Business goals | +10% aided awareness, +5% YoY revenue in Q2/Q4 |
| Primary marketing channels | TV YouTubeRetail media platformsPaid social campaigns |
| Budget allocation | 35% brand channels 45% promo media 20% test + evergreen |
| Campaign sequencing | Q1: Brand foundation Q2: Promo push Q3: Loyalty Q4: Holiday SKU |
| Marketing KPIs tracked | Brand liftROI by channelPromo marketing incremental impactStore sales lift |
Takeaway: When you’re juggling both brand and promotional goals, use sequencing instead of compromising. Anchor your brand early, then let retail and performance media drive short-term results where it matters most.
Read more: How to create the perfect balance of brand and performance media in your annual marketing plan
Marketing plan example #2: Retail ecommerce brand with seasonal spikes
Business scenario: A seasonal direct-to-consumer (DTC) ecommerce brand relies on Q4 for nearly half of its annual revenue. But growth targets require them to acquire new customers consistently, improve retention, and avoid blowing the entire budget on end-of-year promotions.
They need a plan that balances seasonal spikes with sustainable momentum.
Marketing planning strategy: The marketing team builds an always-on acquisition engine through Meta and Google, pairs it with influencer campaigns in Q3, and focuses Q4 on heavy retargeting and email automation.
Budget is front-loaded into acquisition and back-loaded into conversion and loyalty. Demand planning tools help them simulate Q4 saturation before scaling.
Sample marketing plan example:
| Element | Marketing plan details |
| Business goals | +20% Q4 revenue, +15% LTV:CAC, +10% repeat purchase rate |
| Primary marketing channels | MetaTikTokGoogle ShoppingEmailInfluencer partnership SMS |
| Budget allocation | 50% Q4-heavy spend25% always-on 15% retention 10% testing |
| Campaign sequencing | Q1: Loyalty and winbacks Q2: Product launch Q3: Influencer ramp-upQ4: Holiday push |
| KPIs tracked | ROAS by segmentLTV:CACEmail CVRRevenue from repeat customers |
Takeaway: Don’t treat Q4 as a fire drill. Use Q1 through Q3 to warm your list, refine creative, and test channels, so your biggest revenue push isn’t your riskiest.
]Read more: Seasonal brand optimization strategy
Marketing plan example #3: Multi-region and multi-product enterprise managing complexity
Business scenario: A global B2B company is launching two major products this year across five regions, each with different levels of marketing maturity, household penetration, team structure, and media performance.
The central team owns strategy, but execution happens regionally. They need a plan that gives local teams flexibility without losing visibility or control.
Marketing planning strategy: The central team defines shared goals, unified marketing frameworks, and budget guardrails. Product launches are phased by region, allowing staggered campaign support.
Local teams own execution and marketing channel mix within agreed budget allocations. Quarterly reforecasting ensures underperforming markets don’t drag down overall ROI.
Sample marketing plan structure:
| Element | Marketing plan details |
| Business goals | +15% EMEA revenue, two global product launches, unified marketing measurement |
| Primary channels | LinkedInPaid media buying Regional programmaticEventsWebinars |
| Budget allocation | 40% centralized (brand and product) 60% regional discretion |
| Campaign sequencing | Q1: NA/APAC brand Q2: EMEA launch Q3: Events and partner plays Q4: LATAM rollout and retention |
| KPIs tracked | MROI by regionPipeline per campaignLocal CPLSaturation signals |
Takeaway: When your business spans markets and teams, consistency comes from structure, not control. Centralize strategy and sales forecasting, but localize execution for speed and impact.
Marketing plan example #4: Media agency planning for a $20M client
Scenario: A media agency managing a $20M annual budget for a national B2C client. The client expects full-funnel optimization, from brand awareness to bottom-of-funnel conversions, with quarterly reporting tied to revenue contribution.
The agency must build a flexible, data-driven media plan that balances experimentation, efficiency, and accountability.
Strategy: The agency allocates budget by funnel stage: brand, performance, retention, and test. It uses modeling to forecast iROAS before launch.
Each quarter has a lead focus (acquisition and winback), and performance is tracked against both media metrics and revenue impact. Scenario marketing planning helps the team adjust in real time based on results.
Sample marketing plan structure:
| Element | Marketing plan details |
| Client goals | $50M attributable revenue, consistent brand visibility, -10% CPA YoY |
| Primary channels | CTVYouTubeMeta Paid searchProgrammatic ads EmailSMS |
| Budget allocation | 30% brand 50% performance 10% test 10% retention |
| Campaign sequencing | Q1: Brand relaunch Q2: Acquisition and influencer push Q3: Winbacks Q4: Holiday sprint |
| KPIs tracked | iROAS by channelCACBrand lift (survey and modeled)Revenue per campaign |
Takeaway: Clients don’t just want execution; they want you to take accountability, too. Tie media spend to modeled outcomes from the start, and you won’t be chasing performance after the fact.
See successful examples of a marketing plan built with Keen
The annual marketing plan examples above show you what’s possible when you plan with clarity, performance logic, and stakeholder alignment in mind. If you’re looking for a plug-and-play format to get started, download our annual planning template to build your own.
For more inspiration, take a look at marketing plan case studies built using Keen.
And if you want to go beyond static planning, Keen’s MMM platform helps you model the entire plan before launch. You’ll know what works, what’s at risk, and where to invest for the highest return.Ready to build a plan that performs? Request a demo to join leading marketers who use Keen to plan, forecast, and win budget.
